Love Uncovered (Forbidden Fruit) (4 page)

It was her turn to freeze. His words sent a ripple of pleasure through her. She wanted to make love with him. God, she did. She just couldn’t stand the idea of him revealing inch after inch of cellulite and stretch marks.
As much as she wanted him, she didn’t want to make herself vulnerable while he revealed her flaws.

It wasn’t like they never made love during the day, but it was rare and she tried to stay covered in a shirt or under the sheets. How pathetic was that?
God, what happened to her?

He looked almost the same as he had when they got married. If anything she was more attracted to him now than she had been then. She couldn’t imagine the same was true for him and she didn’t think she could take seeing it in his eyes in the clear light of day.

“I’m waiting for an answer, Jules.”

“Okay. I’ll get undressed if you get off me. I can’t breathe.” It was a lie. The look on his face told her he knew it, but he climbed off her, settling himself on the mattress
, watching and waiting.

She scooted away from him, burro
wing under the covers a little. Hidden by the blanket, she undid the snap on her jeans and shimmied out of them. She sat with her back to him and pulled off her t-shirt, unclasping her bra in record time. With her back still to him, she lay down and pulled the covers over her before turning to face him. She smiled, but instead of smiling back, he looked at her like she’d lost her mind.

“What the hell was that?”

“What?”

“The weirdest striptease ever.
What are you doing? We’ve seen each other naked before, Jules.”

“I know.” She reached for his hand and tugged. “Come under here with me.”

“No, no, no, not until we get this sorted. Why are you hiding your body from me?”

She was tempted
to pick a fight, to make him mad just to get this over with. Who wished away a husband who wanted them? She really was pathetic. Nothing was going to change if she didn’t change it. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, grabbed her courage and threw off the blanket. She lay naked in front of him and felt her face flush. When he didn’t say anything, she opened one eye and peeked at him.

He smiled down at her with love shining in his eyes. Gently, with feather light caresses
, he touched the stretch marks that made the skin on her stomach feel like corduroy. She cringed inwardly even as his touch sent delicious tremors over her skin.

“Is this what you’re worried about?” His fingers stroked back and forth tick
ling and teasing her.

She
nodded, her pulse racing and her throat tight. He bent over her and kissed his way across her belly. His mouth followed the path his fingers had taken and her breath caught in her chest.

“Silly girl.”
Back and forth, he kissed and licked over the soft mound of her belly, tasting and teasing as she struggled to maintain control. “You got these when you were pregnant with Emily.” He whispered the words against her skin. “I was there remember? How could I see them and not remember the way you carried our babies inside you?” He slid down between her legs, pausing a moment to rest his face against her belly. “And this.” He place soft kisses on the scar that ran along her bikini line. “This is from Jake. I was so scared and you were so brave.” Tears filled her eyes as he worshipped her body with his words and lips. “You are my world. You gave me everything that’s important to me. How could I look at your body and not want you, beautiful girl?”

The tears slipped from her eyes and rolled off her cheeks. It wasn’t the first time he
’d told her she was beautiful, but for the first time in a long time, she believed him.  She looked at him stretched out between her legs, his mouth hovering inches above her mound and she believed him, believed he really wanted her. She reached for him, intending to pull him up to her so she could kiss him and take him inside her.

“Not yet.
Not until you come apart for me.” He grinned up at her. “We have all the time in the world.”

Usi
ng his hands, he spread her open for his mouth and licked along her labia, deliberately avoiding her clit. Her hands clenched, fingers tangling in his hair.

“God,
Max.” She breathed the words like a prayer.

He hummed with pleasure and licked and sucked, drawing her tender flesh into his mouth. He worked his way betwe
en her swollen lips, his mouth licking everywhere but where she needed him most. The fact that he hadn’t touched her clit made it stand out, more sensitive than ever.

Julie
moved underneath him, unable to stay still or to get close enough to his mouth to find relief. She alternated tugging his hair and clutching fistfuls of the sheet in her hands while his mouth made her frantic. When he speared her opening with his tongue, she cried out in pleasure and raised her hips to meet him.

“Please, please, please,” she chanted, her head thrashing back and forth.

He raised his mouth and she whimpered in frustration. “Please what, baby?”

Oh God, he knew what she wanted. “Make me come.” There, she’d said it. When he didn’t move, she pleaded. “Please touch me. Please.”

“Do you mean here?” Lowering his mouth he nibbled at the crease between her thigh and mound. His rough morning whiskers scraped deliciously over the inside of her thigh, making her breath catch.

“Not there.” She squeezed the words out
of her too tight throat.

“Here?” He bit the tender skin in the inside of her opposite thigh and then used the liquid heat of his tongue to soothe the small hurt.

“No.” She reached for him, intent on guiding his mouth to her aching clit, but he pulled out of her reach, laughing at her frustrated noises.

“What about here?” Gently, he slid two thick fingers through her slick heat and inside her. He curved his fingers and stroked the spot just inside her
opening, and she went wild. Hips bucking and hands tangling in the sheets, she cried out for him. Still stroking inside her, Max lowered his face and blew across her mound. “Or here?”  Taking her aching clit in his mouth, he sucked and teased the tight bundle of nerves with his teeth and tongue.

S
he was close, so close. His mouth drove her on while his fingers tortured her. She wanted to come, needed to come, but she just couldn’t quite. Get. There. Please. The words bounced around in her head and her body tightened, begging for release. He felt so good. Everything he was doing felt so good. Why couldn’t she come? Wet, swollen and aching, she flexed her feet and tensed her legs. She just needed to…God what?

Max
took his mouth off of her, and she growled in anger and frustration. What the fuck was wrong with her? She’d just had a shower. His mouth and words had made her less self conscious than normal. There was no reason for her not to enjoy this. She reached down to pull him up to her, but he stayed anchored between her legs, his face hovering over her sex, his fingers still inside her.

“Relax, baby. I can feel you thinking down here.” He curled his fingers and her back bowed. “We have all day. I’m not
stopping up until you come. You may as will give in.” He sounded so cocky and sure of himself, and she loved him so much.

“Sorry. Sorry it’s taking me so long.” She squeezed her eyes tight in frustration

He actually laughed out loud. “You’re sorry? Because I have my naked wife writhing in pleasure under my mouth? What the hell are you sorry for?” Not waiting for an answer, he lowered his mouth and bit her. It was just a nip, not hard but firm. He caught the flesh of her mound in his teeth and held it for a moment while she froze, dumbstruck. He made a growling noise deep in his throat before he let her go and she dissolved in giggles, her frustration melting away. “Get out of your head, Jules.”

This time when his mouth found her the laughter died on her lips replaced by a growing, blooming pleasure. He alternated licks and open mouth kisses, working his way over her sex and along the tender skin of her inner thigh. Every time she thought she’d figured out what came next, he’d nip at
her. Not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to get her attention. Eventually she stopped trying to figure things out, stopped thinking altogether and simply gave into the pleasure of his mouth on her.

When the orgasm came, it caught her completely off guard.
There was no tensing, working for the climax. It crashed over her, swamping her in the pleasure of it. Before she finished chanting his name, before she stopped pulsing around him, he slid up her body and replaced his fingers with his cock.

She rode wave after wave of overwhelming pleasure as he thrust inside her. His body tensed and he grabbed her head
, cradling her face against his chest as his own climax rocketed through him. She opened completely to him, taking him as deep as she could while he clutched her to him and roared his release.

The
door opened onto the deck and Julie staggered out, blinking in the bright sunlight. After they made love, she’d collapsed and slept for – Max glanced down at his watch – four hours. He’d slept a little but not nearly as long as she had. He’d even managed to start the generator and shower without waking her. The thought that he’d fucked her senseless made him obscenely happy and proud of himself. He closed his book and smiled up at her.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty.”

“Time is it?” Her voice sounded groggy and she squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light. The deck was bright after the dim light of the cabin. She reached for the deck chair and collapsed into it, looking more relaxed than he could remember seeing her.

“A little after two.”
That brought her upright, and he laughed out loud. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.” He shook his head and got up. “You’re such a freak. I need a refill, do you want coffee or ice tea?”

“Tea, but I’ll get it.” She started to rise, but he put his hand on her shoulder.

“I got it. You stay here and wake up.” He grabbed his own glass and ruffled her hair on the way into the cabin.

Julie
shaded her eyes with her hand and looked down over the lake. She wanted her sunglasses, but she wasn’t entirely sure she could get up. She opted for closing her eyes and dropping her head back. The sunlight warmed her face and made her eyelids glow. She couldn’t believe how loose she felt. She never slept in the middle of the day. Never.

She didn’t even remember falling asleep.
She drifted off after their amazing lovemaking. Max had been perfect, telling her exactly what she needed to hear, loving her the way she needed to be loved. He knew her so well. The way he’d kept her off balance and got her out of her head made her orgasm so much stronger.

God, she loved him – more today than when they’d started. She made herself a silent vow to take the time to show him.

She’d started to doze again, baking in the afternoon sun, when Max came back carrying a tray with glasses of tea and a sandwich. He set the tray on the table next to her and handed her  her sunglasses.

“These should help.” He smiled at her, squinting as she tried to look at him under her hand. She took the offered glasses gratefully and reached for her tea. “Sandwich, too,” he said. “Eat up. I want to go fishing.” She fought a groan, but he must have read her reaction on her face. “Come on. You don’t have to do anything. Take a book. Take a nap. I just want you with me.”

So much of her life had turned into scraping together a few moments for herself. She’d lost track of what it had been like to just be together – not doing anything special, simply wanting to be with him. “I’m in,” she said reaching for the sandwich. She took a bite and grinned at him. “But isn’t the battery still at the bottom of the lake?”

She’d started out reading but ended up stretched out in the bottom of the canoe, leaning on a life vest propped against the seat. Max sat in the seat in the back and paddled them around the lake. Every once in a while, he’d point out a great blue heron or a turtle sunning itself on a log, but mostly they drifted on the smooth water. He trailed his line in the water in a half-hearted attempt at fishing, and Julie tried to get in touch with her inner turtle. She kept her sunglasses on, closed her eyes and relished the feel of the sun on her face and legs.

Even though they were completely alone, she couldn’t imagine being comfortable enough to be naked outside in the daylight.
But the sun felt so good on her skin, she wondered what it would feel like to have the heat of the sun on her naked breasts and belly. Stretching, she arched her back over the seat of the canoe. The position flattened the roll at her waistband that usually made her self-conscious.

Almost timid in her movements, she carefully raised the hem of her t-shirt enough to expose a few inches of her belly.

“Take it off.”  Max spoke the words with a quiet force, coaxing rather than teasing her.

She smiled in spite of herself. “I can’
t do that.”
She couldn’t. Could she?

“No one
will see you. Do it for me.” The anticipation in his voice sent heat flooding low in her belly. The lake was small but private, and her family owned all the land around it. No one but family ever came there. No one would see her. No one but Max. “Please.” That single word held both longing and promise, and her breath caught in her throat. Why shouldn’t she? He wanted her to; she could hear it in his voice.