Page 94 of Blood Moon

Her sleep shorts went the way of her tank top.

Their legs slid against each other as they readjusted, hers separating, his opening them wider. Then, with intent, he pushed into her. When he was fully buried, he lowered his head and kissed her, open-mouthed but with tenderness.

As he began to move inside her, passion intensified. The kiss didn’t end; it escalated into an exchange of thrashing breaths. John never wanted it to end. At the same time, his thrusts grew more urgent in a rush toward the finish.

Beth was already there. Her fingers dug into his butt cheeks, her back bowed, she cried out.

He plunged in deep, she clenched around him, and he came. And came. And came.

When completely spent, he settled on her, enfolding her beneath him. He pressed his face into her neck and breathed in the fragrance that was uniquely hers. Tension drained from her slowly. Her legs relaxed but continued hugging his thighs, only less tightly than moments before. Her fingertips trailed along his back and lower, past his waist. Far past his waist. Her leisurely exploration delayed him going soft inside her.

They stayed like that for a long time.

When he finally separated them, he drew her close and pulled the covers up over them. She nuzzled his chest, breathed his name, and fell instantly, peacefully, to sleep.

Chapter 26

Wednesday, March 12

John came awake and was immediately and keenly aware that he and Beth hadn’t changed positions since they’d fallen asleep. Her head was still on his chest, her hand on his pec, her knees tucked into his lap.

He turned his head and looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was damn early, but past time to plunge back into cold reality.

He tugged on a strand of her hair. “Beth?”

“Hmm?”

“We have to get up.”

“I don’t want to.” She snuggled closer to him.

His dick was giving him fits. “This isn’t going to work. We can’t lie here naked without something happening, and we don’t have time for it. There’s a lot to be dealt with today.”

“I don’t want to,” she repeated on a moan. But sheturned away from him, worked her way over to the side of the bed, and placed her feet on the floor. He reached across and stroked her back, which she arched and stretched while she sat there clearing the cobwebs.

Once fully awake, she looked at him over her shoulder and smiled shyly. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

The look she gave him would have melted an iceberg in ten seconds; then she left the bed and picked up her two articles of clothing where they’d landed when he’d sent them sailing.

As she opened the door, he said, “Mind letting Mutt out on your way through the main room?”

“I’m naked.”

He chuckled, “I don’t think he’ll mind.”

She went out. He heard her greeting Mutt with an admonishment not to get any fresh ideas, and that caused John to smile.

And the sappiness of that smile brought him up short.God in heaven, what am I doing?He vigorously dry-scrubbed his face, got up, and went into the bathroom. When he looked at himself in the mirror above the sink, gone was the goofy smile.

In its place was grim resignation. The man reflected in the mirror knew that one potent bout of hot sex wasn’t going to change the circumstances.

This isn’t going to work, he’d said to Beth, talking about their cuddling under the covers.

But he could have been referring to their future. Or their lack of one. Her life was a thousand miles away. His was atrain wreck, and the wreckage was piling up. And he was too old for her, anyway.

When this was over, however it ended, she would go back to New York, and he would go back to being his old self, the master of not giving a damn.

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