Page 59 of Wandering Souls

Her fingers slipped the top button of his shirt out of its loop, and then the second, before fingertips touched his chest. Surprised, Ray broke the contact to suck in air. Mischief and sass danced in her eyes as her mouth curled into a sexy smile.

Who was this woman?

Not so long ago, she seemed defeated and tired. Not today. Had finding her family re-energized her? Did time away from the life that nearly killed her remind her to enjoy herself? Ray didn’t know but he liked what he saw.

Around them, the raging drum of rain eased and thunder rolled in the distance. As fast as they came, Wills Crossing’s thunderstorms disappeared with haste. About to speak, he opened his mouth but she stopped him with a finger to his lips.

“Is it too much?”

A glimmer of uncertainty flickered in her eyes. Ray shook his head. “Not for me, but you need to be comfortable, Abi.”

She blinked, long and slow. “You were right. I’m attracted to you. A lot.” Her hopeful smile warmed his heart. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Ray caressed her cheekbone with his thumb. Like a cat, she leaned into the touch and rubbed herself against him. A small voice deep his brain wondered how her past relationships had treated her, but he shut down the worry with force. He already knew she’d leave, and likely take his heart with her, but hope whispered in his ear.

Don’t take anything for granted. Assume nothing.

With a smile, he pressed a kiss to the center of her forehead. “Abi.” He pulled back and waited until she looked him in the eye. “Forewarned is forearmed. We both know the score going in here, right?”

Her features softened as she nodded. “Right.”

“Then there’s nothing to fear.”

~

Abi saw the twitchof muscle under his right eye and knew he didn’t believe the words any more than she did. There was hurt enough in this—whateverthiswas—for the both of them and she should put a stop to it. Casual affairs—the kind where no one expected anything from the other or made demands of the other—she could do. Ever since Margery died, they were the only kind she could accept.

Ray wasn’t that kind of guy. She saw it in the way he came to her rescue and the selfless support of her. He was on her side, now and always, and not because there was anything in it for him. Guys like Ray didn’t do casual affairs, they did marriage, the white picket fence and the two-point-five children. He already had the dog, didn’t he?

As if reading her mind, Bruce let out a soft chuff and pressed his cold, wet nose to her cheek. Ray chuckled and guided the doggy snout away from their intimate moment.

She wanted to tell him she wasn’t looking for a happily ever after. She was too messed up and had too much going on to commit herself to him, or anyone, but the hopeful glimmer in his eye stayed her tongue.

“I’m not asking for forever, Abi,” he whispered. Who was he trying to convince? “Just for now.”

Attraction wasn’t the issue. Not physical. Nor emotional. Hell, if she were honest, Ray was a unique appearance in her life. No one had quite appealed to her as much as he did. Sure, she’d been surrounded by hunky pilots and soldiers most of her adult life, but their arrogance and ego warned her off their type. They all thought they were God’s gift to women, and most of the military groupies agreed, but she saw through their bravado to their little-boy insecurities. Spend enough time with the fly-boys, and one got to see that even thin-crust pizza had more depth than they did.

In less than three months, she would walk away from him, and this town. Did he really understand that? Or did he hope to convince her to stay? She opened her mouth but he rushed forward and stopped her with a kiss. It was madness. A sweet kind of madness, but crazy all the same.

Abi didn’t know why she allowed his caress to encourage her but she closed her eyes and enjoyed the play of his lips on hers. His tongue teased, tasted and tempted. Wishful thinking got the better of her and drew her into the sensual tangle. The skin of his chest under her fingertips heated. She dragged her nails through the sprinkling of hair, releasing another of his shirt buttons.

Raindrops hit the roof, intermittently at first but gathering in pace and power until the car filled with the loudness of another rainstorm. Her heartrate matched the fevered pitch of the rainfall. Anticipation stalked along her skin. An image of their naked bodies flashed through her mind; the thought of his weight pinning her to a mattress as he pleasured her spiking her temperature.

Ray pressed kisses along her jaw to her ear, where his hot breath made her scalp tingle. He bit her earlobe playfully, his labored breathing echoing hers. Abi released another of his shirt buttons and pressed her palm to his chest. Ray hissed at her ear before kissing his way down the side of her neck. Sliding her hand deeper into his shirt, she found his nipple and flicked it.

“Okay.” He sucked in a deep breath and pulled back. “If we keep this up, Bruce is going to get an eyeful.” The fire in his eyes suggested he didn’t want to stop.

Abi glanced at the dog, who lay on the backseat with his head on his paws, ignoring them. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed they’d fogged up every window in the car and had to laugh. Ray followed her gaze, his eyebrows lifting in surprise.

“At least we have some privacy,” he whispered, turning back to her. “I think I like having you all to myself.”

She felt her cheeks burn and started to remove her hand from inside his shirt. Quick as a flash, he placed his hand over hers and held it against his skin. Beneath her palm, his heart beat furiously and his chest rose and fell with deep, heavy breaths. Slowly, he took her hand out, turned it over and kissed the center of her palm.

“Have dinner with me tonight.” He kissed the inside of her wrist. “Please tell me you don’t have any plans.”

He pushed the sleeve of her sweater up and kissed her forearm. The heat of his lips seared her. She wanted to tell him there was no rush, but the words jammed in her throat. “What time?”

Pressing his lips to the inside of her elbow, he sighed and closed his eyes. “I swear I thought you were going to turn me down.”

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