Oliver swallowed the rest of his questions and kissed her belly. Laying his head against her stomach, he hugged her lower body. No one should have to endure the death of a child. Between them they shared too much death and grief.
Lisbeth was stunned and moved by his actions. She bent over him and kissed his head. Ran her fingers through his hair. He was kneeling at her feet. He was kissing her stretch marks—all she had left of the little boy she had loved so much and held in her arms for so little time.
He didn’t seem appalled, as she had thought he would be by yet another terrible, shameful truth from her past. He kissed her belly button. He looked up at her from his place on the floor.
“What was his name?”
“Daniel.”
“I don’t care what Blackhurst thought of you,” he said. “It only matters how much you loved Daniel while he was here. I am sure he knew how much you loved him, despite everything. How much you still care about him even now. Just like I care… about you.”
Tears threatened again but she somehow kept them at bay. She did not deserve a man like Oliver. He made her feel good when all she’d felt for years was sad or mad or both. Lately she had just stuck to mad. How had this all happened? She was naked with a man who was not demanding she fight him off. Or pushing himself into her in the darkness uninvited. He was waiting, even now, for her to give him permission to love her. She didn’t know quite what to do. She felt so incredibly humbled. How had she ever thought him stupid and witless?
Physically, she wanted him like she had never wanted a man before. Emotionally, she needed him like one needed safe harbor against a storm. With him she had felt her confidence return. She could battle any storms if he was beside her.
Lisbeth took his hand and urged him up onto his feet. She kissed him, wanting him with every beat of her heart. A heart she had thought would never beat with love again. Love? No, it couldn’t be. It was just her emotions getting confused—easilydone in such a circumstance. Oh, but he was wonderful, and her heart swelled with affection when she looked at him.
Oliver smiled up at her. “We all have scars, Lisbeth. I’m sure you have seen that I have a few scars of my own.” She had noticed, but on him they did not seem as shameful as hers. It was to be expected, she supposed, for a man who had fought in many a battle to have some war wounds.
“See this one here?” he pointed to a rather nasty looking scar on his right side. “Saber.” He then showed her a round puckered scar on his shoulder. “Lead shot. Had a fever for three days.”
“I want to know all about your time in the military,” Lisbeth blurted out, reaching out to caress dent of his shoulder wound.
He looked up, surprised. “Now?”
She laughed. “Not this very minute…”
He kissed the inside of one of her elbows, distracting her completely.
“Good, because I need to make love to you, Lisbeth. Right now, in fact. There are certain parts of the male anatomy that are very impatient.”
“Really?” She smiled.
He pulled her into his embrace. “Really.” He kissed her long and hard. Less hesitant now, less controlled. He picked her up and laid her on the bed, climbing on after her. She opened her arms to him, and he gave her his cheeky half-smile before settling himself between her thighs.
Oliver framed her face and looked deep into her eyes. “Have you any idea how beautiful you are?” She blushed and shook her head. These were not the type of words she heard in relation to herself. She would not have believed them from anyone else but Oliver.
He rested his forehead against hers and she felt him nudging at her opening. She tensed for a moment but then he kissed her and drew her legs up around his waist. “Trust me.”
Lisbeth closed her eyes.
“No, don’t shut me out. I need to see that you want this too. Do you want me, Lisbeth?”
She wriggled underneath him, unable to say the words aloud, trying to show him how much she wanted him to press deep within her. When she finally opened her eyes and looked into his, she saw the concern there. Knew it was all for her. Tonight she had promised herself so much, and now she could see it was time to make true on those promises. Tonight he was hers and she was his. She would entrust him with her body and her heart. Just for tonight.
“Yes. I want you. Please, Oliver, make love to me.” She clutched at him wanting him closer.
He plunged deep, filling her, and an overwhelming sense of relief washed over her. There was no pain, just the fullness of him inside, as he moved within her, slowly, languidly, building their pleasure. Lisbeth knew then, with a clarity she had never known before, she did love him. She had tried to deny the truth, but the evidence of her feelings drummed through every part of her. It filled up the empty spaces within her, creating something wholly new and wonderful.
Sensation slid over every nerve and fiber. Her skin tingled from her scalp to her toes, centering on that place between her legs that was currently occupied by a man who, at times, made her question her sanity. Sanity be damned! Her body was floating in a bliss that could not be denied. Heat curled within her, her body moving without conscious thought. Climbing and coaxing, yearning and needing what only he could give her.
Sounds escaped her that she had never heard before. Oliver responded to her moans with grunts and growls of his own. Like before, when he had kissed her between her legs, the pleasure inside her made her writhe and buck beneath him. The pressure, the feeling, the loss of all reality grew until she nearly screamedin frustration. Then it hit her. The most amazing, wonderful vibrations took over her body. She gave in to pleasure, every nerve in her body twitching with it. The fulfillment of every promise he had made to her. He shouted her name as he pulled out of her just in time.
The shock of his withdrawal made her gasp. Lisbeth knew how hard the retreat must have been for him; she had felt bereft but also grateful. Oliver distracted her with his lips, and she soon forgot everything but him.
They kissed each other tenderly. And though no words were spoken they both knew that nothing would ever be the same again.
Chapter Fifteen
