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She could go on being afraid that it might end badly. That she wasn’t good enough.
But what if their relationship wasn’t damaged? What if he could love her?
Lying in her lonely bed, she spoke aloud. “We’ve both been such dummies.”
And she left T. Rex sleeping peacefully.
* * *
Dane paced the room, strategizing like an army general. “By God, I will not fail at this. She will be mine, and I’ll be hers.”
He wanted nothing more than to race down the hall and knock on her bedroom door. To make love to her the way he’d thought about all the years they’d lived under the same roof, and even before. To feel her skin beneath his fingertips, her lips against his, her body taking him to all the places he’d dreamed of.
But she needed to make the next move. He knew in his gut it was the only way it could work. He could knock on her door, and she’d probably let him in. She’d probably even let him make love to her again if he pushed.
But that would be her letting him. Him pushing her. Instead of her wanting it as urgently as he did. And choosing what she wanted.
He was thinking so hard he almost didn’t hear the soft knock. Then he thought it had to be his imagination. But who wouldn’t let his fantasy walk right through the door? He hurried to answer it.
She wore the most adorable flannel pajamas with polar bears all over them. They made him want to gather her up and kiss her senseless.
But she was already talking. Even as badly as he wanted to shower her with kisses, he needed to hear every word.
“You’ve been my whole world for so many years,” she told him, her eyes wide, their soft jade color darkened almost to emerald.
His body wanted to burst into flames. His heart wanted to soar into the night.
“In every way but one.” Her gaze traced the contours of his face. “And I’m ready—really, really ready—to fix that.” After only one step into his room, she added, “You’re the missing piece of my puzzle.”
If a heart could burst wide open and spill over the floor at her feet, his did right then.
He got everything she was saying, totally. She’d thought of him for the past twelve years, just as he’d dreamed of her. She hadn’t said she loved him. He couldn’t say he loved her. But he could show her in every way possible.
He grabbed her up in his arms, holding her tight. His hands on her rear, she hooked her legs around his waist, and he whispered, “You have no idea how many nights I’ve dreamed of this.”
She bent her head for a kiss so gentle and so sweet, it felt like butterfly wings caressing him. Then she opened her mouth and delved deep into his inner being. A wealth of emotion, so much bigger than anything he’d ever felt in his life, welled up inside him. And he took her mouth as if he’d never kissed anyone before, as if she was the only one he’d ever kiss again.
Memories were supposedly so much more poignant than reality. You built them up in your mind, turned them into something reverential. Yet her lips were softer than they’d ever been. Her skin beneath the pajama top was smoother than he’d ever imagined. Her legs around his waist were tighter, begging him, owning him before he’d even entered her.
He felt more powerful than he ever had in his life as he carried her to his bed.
“Nothing could be sweeter than your taste.” He let her fall to the bed and came down on top of her. She was so delicate beneath him and so strong.
He’d heard her siren’s call for the last twelve years. And now he would make her his.
Her eyes were bright in the dim light of the lamp by the door, but he wanted more light. He wanted to see every inch of her. The last time, they’d done things in the dark. But he never wanted to be in the dark with her again. So he reached past her to flip on the bedside lamp, bathing her in soft golden light.
“I want to touch you everywhere. I need to taste every part of you.”
She blinked. And then she whispered, her voice husky, sexy, “What are you waiting for?”
A piece of him wanted to go absolutely wild. But another, bigger part wanted to slow everything down and savor each moment.
“It’s going to be so much better than before.” He reached between them and flicked open the buttons of her polar bear pajama top. Instead of going for the gold, he trailed his fingers across her cheek, nibbled the tender flesh of her lobe, licked the shell of her ear.
Cammie shivered, reminding him of how much she liked that, how delicate and sensitive her ears were. With one last lick and a warm breath, he whispered, “There’s so much more of you I want to see.”
