His eyes narrowed, and then he was on his feet, her legs still wrapped around his waist as he carried her down the hall. Too many years without her slayed any semblance of caution, any pretense of restraint.
They were out of their shoes and tearing off their clothes and then falling onto the bed in each other’s arms. Foreplay was the angst of fourteen years apart. He was hard and aching as he slid between her legs and closed his eyes, remembering this part of her that she’d given only to him.
Nora had made love with the boy he’d been, but never the man he’d become, and the only thing that went through her mind before she lost it was that there was no comparison. Dominated by his size. Cherished in the ways he held her. The words he whispered. The vow he made her. She was finally whole once more.
* * *
They lay sprawled upon the covers, wrapped in each other’s arms with hearts pounding and pulses racing—waiting for the last of sanity to return.
Nora’s hair was tangled in his fists—a last gesture of not wanting to let go.
“I love you still. You know that, don’t you?”
“No doubts, Ash. You know I do.”
“I can’t stay long. I have tonight and then I have to fly home tomorrow.”
She frowned. “I don’t know why, but I guess I thought you drove here.”
“I have a helicopter. I flew here,” he said.
“You own a chopper?”
He heard the surprise in her voice and grinned. “I inherited a chopper. That’s two different things.” He began to explain. “I signed up for flying lessons on my twenty-first birthday, then six years ago, the man who’d been my flight instructor and had become a good friend, died unexpectedly. He had no family, and no heirs to inherit, but he’d left a will, dividing up his property as he saw fit, and that’s how I became the owner of a Bell Turbine 206B III helicopter. It’s a beauty, and I have used it since for work, as well.”
“I am impressed,” she said. “And with the land area of Texas being what it is, I would imagine it comes in very handy, as well.”
“That, too,” he said, and then hugged her. “I didn’t have much breakfast, and we seemed to have missed lunch as well. I’d just as soon let Pearl feed us at the Yellow Rose, if you are willing.”
“That would be wonderful. I haven’t had much of an appetite lately, but I am suddenly hungry for everything,” she said.
“We’ll have to drive your car. I walked here from the bar.”
She raised up on one elbow, tracing the shape of his mouth with the tip of her finger.
“Since you just drove me crazy, I am more than happy to reciprocate. Yes, we will take my car. Is Jacob expecting you to stay the night with him?” she asked.
“Only if you sent me packing,” he said.
“Well, that’s not happening. You know, we’ve never slept together. Ever.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “But we made love all over Crossroads for years, so I’ll be looking forward to hearing you snore.”
She frowned. “I do not snore.”
“I wouldn’t care if you did. You are perfect in my eyes. Now grab your drawers, woman. There’s a burger waiting for us somewhere.”
By the time they got to the Rose, it felt like all those years apart had never happened. And for the first time, Nora saw past the routine of her life, to the future she’d hoped for, and walking in together made a good many heads turn, which they tried to ignore. Unfortunately, Asher had already set himself up for interrogation by arriving in a helicopter.
Nora watched and listened with delight as he talked his way through the answers without giving away anything of his personal business. She was witnessing yet another aspect of the man he’d become, and she liked it.
They turned in their orders, but it wasn’t until their food came to the table that they were finally left in peace. By the time they finished, they were the last ones in the dining room, and Pearl came out smiling.
“I will say, it’s a sight to see you two together again. Hope it sticks,” she said, and set a sack on their table. “Pie on the house, and drop one by for Jacob, will you? He likes my pie.”
“Thank you!” Nora said. “We’d love to. I know he’ll appreciate it.”
Pearl gave Asher a look and shook her head. “Flying around in a helicopter. You’re as flashy and dangerous as your daddy used to be,” she said, and flipped herself back to the kitchen.
