Once the kiss ended, he began to move his hips. In and out of her he pumped slow and steadily. She arched up again to meet him thrust for thrust, and it wasn’t long before he went faster and he released a deep groan.
Faster and more frantic they moved against each other, and then she was there…at the top of the cliff once again. She tumbled over it, her orgasm crashing through her with a tremendous force.
He moaned once again and found his own release. He stiffened against her and when he was finished, he collapsed on the bed next to her. The only sound in the room was their panting breaths.
Finally, he propped himself up on one elbow and gazed down at her. “Well, this was certainly a big surprise, Miss Santori.”
She laughed. “I’m a woman who knows what I want, and tonight I definitely wanted you.”
“I certainly hope I delivered,” he replied.
She smiled up at him. “Oh, you did, Chief LeCroix. You totally delivered.”
He frowned suddenly. “This all happened so fast I didn’t even think about birth control.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m on the pill, and it’s been a very long time since I’ve been with a man.”
“And it’s been a long time since I’ve been with a woman,” he said.
“Stay the night with me?” she asked. She didn’t even know she was going to ask him this until the words fell out of her mouth. At least for the night, if he stayed, she would know for sure she’d be safe.
He leaned over and kissed her on her bare shoulder. “Okay, I can do that,” he agreed. “But I’ll need to leave early in the morning.”
“I’ll want you to leave early and get back to finding bad guys. You can use the bathroom first.”
He slid out of the bed and once again she was gifted to a view of his perfect physique as he picked up his boxers from the floor and then left the room.
She liked Daniel and now she had slept with him, but that certainly didn’t mean she wanted any kind of a relationship with him. He was only the first in a string of lovers she might take as she guarded her heart against any entanglements, she thought.
It didn’t take him long to return to the room. Clad in his boxers he got back in bed. She got out of the bed, grabbed a nightshirt and a clean pair of panties from a drawer and then went into the bathroom.
For a long moment she stared at her reflection in the mirror that hung on one wall. Her hair was mussed and her lips were slightly swollen. She looked like a woman who had just been completely sated by lovemaking. And that’s exactly what she was.
Daniel had been an amazing lover. At times tender and at other times half wild, he had fulfilled her completely. She’d instinctively known it would be good with him, and it hadbeen better than good. She cleaned up, put on her panties and nightshirt and then returned to the bedroom.
“Don’t we need to talk about this?” he asked as she got back into the bed.
“What’s there to talk about? We wanted each other…we acted on it and now it’s done,” she replied lightly. “Don’t make it any deeper than it is, Daniel.”
He held her gaze for a long moment and then nodded. “Okay.”
“Do you want to turn out the light?”
He reached out and shut off the lantern. The only light in the room was now the moonlight that drifted in through the window. He then gathered her into his arms, pulling her close against him in a big spoon fashion.
She snuggled into him, loving the way he felt against her back and how his arm fell around her waist. She felt safe…so safe with him next to her.
The sounds of the swamp drifted in. The water lapped against the legs of the shanty and frogs croaked their night songs. Sleep had been elusive since the night she’d found her mother’s body, but now she felt herself drifting off, safe in Daniel’s embrace and with the lullaby of the swamp to soothe her.
Chapter Seven
Daniel awakened just around dawn. At some point during the night, he and Angelique had separated from each other. She was now curled up on her side and faced him.
He gazed at her for several long moments, her features barely discernible in the early morning light that seeped into the nearby window.
Even in slumber, the woman was beyond beautiful. Her hair was a cloud of darkness against the lilac-colored pillowcase and her lips were parted slightly as she breathed in and out in the deep rhythm of sleep.
He could have lingered there and gazed at her forever, but he only looked at her for several more long moments, and then he finally slid out of the bed. As quietly as possible he retrieved his clothing from the floor and his gun from the nightstand. Thankfully he managed to get out of the room without waking her.
