smelled wonderful but if she had to choose between
Noah and the lavish breakfast offering, the food would lose.
He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. His lips
pressed softly to hers. “Mmmm. You smell good enough to eat. Again.” He kissed
her more thoroughly as if to prove his statement.
She felt her cheeks warm as her mind registered his
innuendo. This…familiar teasing between lovers was new to her but she already
liked it. Though the kiss ended, he continued to hold her in a loose embrace.
She looked up at him and asked, “How long have you been awake?”
“A couple hours. I don’t need a lot of sleep but I didn’t
want to wake you so I went down to the fitness center, worked out and used the
shower there.”
“And ordered breakfast for a half-dozen people.”
He shrugged. “I have a healthy appetite and guessed that you
still do too.”
“Aha. So you did notice how much weight I’ve put on.”
He squeezed her ass with both hands. “Not so much noticed as
appreciated. In fact, last night I remember thinking you could afford to put on
a few more pounds.” He gave her another squeeze for emphasis.
She pushed at his chest and he released her. “Liar. Anyway,
it smells wonderful and I’m starving.”
“Good. Get back in bed—which is where I had hoped to find
you—and I’ll serve.”
Minutes later he had set up a buffet across the bottom of
the bed and set a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice and a cup of coffee on
the nightstand next to her. At his insistence she put a little of everything on
her plate.
“Did you have any strange dreams last night?” Noah asked in
between bites.
“I don’t think so. Why? Did you?”
“I’m not sure. But I woke up with a jolt, like my heart was
given a jump-start. It was racing like I’d been having a terrifying nightmare
only I don’t remember any of it.”
“ You have nightmares?” Maggie’s eyes widened. “I read
the beginning of one your books last night. If I hadn’t been so distracted
afterward I probably would have had some scary dreams for sure.”
He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. “You’re welcome.”
She tapped him on the nose. “I was referring to the girl in
the bathroom mirror. Your contribution was…something else entirely.”
“Hmmm. Something else. I don’t think I’ve ever had
such high praise.”
She tore off a bit of the cinnamon toast she was eating and
threw it at him. He picked it off his shirt, swallowed it and gave her another
kiss.
As expected, everything was very good, but the shrimp Mornay
omelet deserved a second helping all by itself.
As soon as Maggie had the last forkful in her mouth, Noah
began clearing away the bed picnic. For a while she had forgotten she was
supposed to be working. “Oh my,” she said. “I didn’t realize I was taking so
long. I’ll be dressed in a minute.” She practically bolted from the bed but he
stepped into her path.
“I don’t think so,” he said with a crooked smile and untied
the cord holding her robe closed.
She was held captive by the raw desire in his eyes as his
fingers slipped beneath the collar of her robe and slowly eased it off her
shoulders. The plush fabric slithered down her back and off her arms to puddle
at her feet and leave her standing naked before him.
“Since you had trouble describing how I helped distract you
last night, I thought you must need a little reminder. So tell me, Maggie, what
would you call this?” He held her shoulders as he angled his mouth over hers
and made love to her with his lips and tongue until her knees grew weak. He
kissed his way across her cheek and nipped her earlobe and neck and licked the
hollow of her shoulder blade.
When more than a second passed without further attention,
she opened her eyes to see him looking at her with a questioning expression.
“Oh, I, uh, I’d call it…intoxicating.”
“I like that word. How about this?” His hands grazed down
her arms to her fingertips then
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