The Saint's Wife (14 page)

“She told me everything. Including the fact that as soon as she started gaining weight when she was pregnant—with
his
child—he started getting on her case.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Joanna exhaled hard. “Son of a bitch.”

“Yeah. He is.” David combed his fingers through her hair, the contact simultaneously sending a pleasant shiver through her and putting a lump in her throat, but he still wouldn’t look her in the eye. “You’ve always deserved better. I’m just sorry I pushed you to come back to him.”

“You didn’t know how bad it was.” Heart thumping, Joanna touched his chin and turned his head so they were facing each other. “And I never knew you stood up for me.”

“Someone had to say something to him,” David whispered. “He was being an idiot. You’re…” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t know why he’s never realized that you’ve been perfect since the day he met you.”

She stared into his eyes. After years of catching hell for every extra pound or for daring to let a gray hair survive undyed, she was stunned.

“Your husband is an idiot, Joanna.” David drew her in. “You’re beautiful.”

Before she could respond, he pressed his lips to hers.

And everything just…stopped.

The sting in her eyes faded away, and the lump in her throat disappeared. The tenderness of his kiss made her knees shake, but she was in no danger of collapsing as he gathered her in his arms and held her to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, losing herself in the warmth of his gentle embrace.

After what seemed like hours, he broke the kiss, and their eyes met.

“I don’t care what he says,” David whispered. “You’re beautiful.”

She tried to smile, but guilt crept in and as she reached up to touch his face, her wedding rings glinted in the low light. Guilt tore at her—she should have left those damned things at home tonight.

“Shit,” she whispered.

David caressed her cheek. “We don’t have to do this.”

“I know. I want to, though. I…”
Shouldn’t. Can’t. Need to.
“Damn it.”

“Come here.” He pulled her close, and she rested her head beneath his chin.

“After everything he’s done,” she said, barely choking back tears, “why do I feel so horrible about wanting to cheat on him?”

David stroked her hair. “Because you’re a better woman than he ever deserved.” He kissed the top of her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t see that sooner.”

She closed her eyes. “The thing is, I’ve never asked him to put me ahead of anything else. I’ve played second fiddle to every fucking thing in his life.” Lifting her head and meeting his gaze, she added, “And you know what I wanted from him? The one thing I desperately wanted?”

David shook his head.

Joanna forced her voice to stay even. “The last few years before he got sick, all I wanted from him was to just,
once in a while
, look at me like I was the only thing he was thinking about right then.”

David’s lips parted.

“That’s why I came here tonight,” she went on. “That day in my workroom, I felt that way. For just that short time, I felt like there was no one there except you and me, and nothing else mattered.” She pushed out a ragged breath. “I want to feel that again.”

“I…don’t…”

Joanna sighed. “I won’t hold it against you if you say no, but I…” Her cheeks burned, and she lowered her gaze.

He tipped her chin up. “You, what?”

Joanna sighed, forcing herself not to look away. “All I want is to feel wanted. Even if it’s just physical. I don’t care if it’s true, or if he’s lying through his teeth, but for one goddamned night, I want to feel like I’m the center of someone’s universe.”

David didn’t say a word.

He cupped her neck in both hands, drew her in and kissed her. Not like he did a moment ago, though. He was still tender, still gentle, but there was an entirely different degree of intensity this time. His fingertips twitched against the back of her neck as if he were struggling not to grab her hair. She wished he would grab it, pull it, throw her down.

Please, David…

Judging by the way his kiss became steadily more forceful—first gently parting her lips, then demanding more access to her mouth—she had a feeling his restraint wouldn’t last much longer.

She pressed against him, rubbing her hipbone across his erection, and he sucked in a sharp breath through his nose. His hand slid down her back, stopped just above her ass, and pulled her even closer to him. Joanna moaned softly, gripping his shoulders to stop herself from melting to the floor at his feet. Anticipation electrified every inch of her body—she needed him. All of him. Against her, on top of her, inside her.

Abruptly, he broke the kiss and released her. “We can’t do this here.”

No, no, don’t stop!

Before she could protest, though, he said, “Let’s go somewhere more comfortable.” Then he laced their fingers together, and without another word, led her down the hall.

In the bedroom, he shut the door, and they faced each other. Joanna was afraid to speak. Afraid that a single word would break the spell and remind them of why they shouldn’t be here. And she wasn’t entirely certain she could speak. Staring back at David, looking at him as a lover, if only for tonight, she couldn’t find any words anyway.

Without breaking eye contact, David undid his cufflinks. He came closer and reached past her to set the cufflinks on the dresser with a quiet but somehow startling click. She jumped.

He cocked his head. “You all right?”

“Yeah.” Apparently she could speak after all. “Just a little…”

“Nervous?”

Nervous. Guilty. Ashamed. Turned on. Going out of my mind.

“Yeah.”

“Me too.”

His admission settled something in her, and at the same time made her tense again. She opened her mouth to speak, intending to ask if he was really sure if they should do this—because she suddenly wasn’t so sure—but he spoke first.

“Just so we’re clear,” he said, sliding his arms around her, “when I make a woman feel like she’s the center of my universe, it’s never a lie.”

Prove it,
she wanted to say, filling her voice with playful challenge, but she’d forgotten how to speak.

“Anyone who’s ever made you feel like less than the center of his universe”—he leaned in close and let his lips
just
brush hers—“is a fucking idiot.”

And he kissed her. Full-on this time.
Hard
. He pushed her lips apart, and as his tongue met hers, she thought she really was going to melt against him.

Yes. Yes, this is what I want. All this and more.

David’s hands slid up her back to the top of her dress. The first tug at the zipper made her heart skip.
Yes.
As he slowly unzipped her dress, the subtle vibration reverberated along the length of her spine, as if nerve endings were coming to life while the back of her dress came open. The snug fabric loosened all around her. Her pulse pounded faster, and she breathed faster, almost panting now, as if the dress had been constricting her too much to let her inhale deeply, even though it hadn’t been nearly that tight.

David guided one strap, then the other, over her shoulder. Then he hooked his finger in the front of the dress and tugged it gently, and the straps tickled her arms as the whole thing slid downward. The dress pooled at her feet. Though the room was comfortably warm, the air was cool against her skin, emphasizing the heat of David’s hands when he rested them on her waist and drew her closer.

The smooth, warm fabric of his shirt and trousers felt amazing against her skin, and she pressed against him, seeking more of his body heat. He leaned in to kiss her, and as their lips moved together lazily, he ran his hands up and down her sides.

“I want you so bad,” he whispered between kisses. “You don’t even…Christ, you don’t even know.”

“Mmm, I think I do.” Joanna pressed against him again and wobbled slightly on her sky-high heels. She broke the kiss and glanced down as she toed off her shoes and kicked them aside. Without the heels, the height difference between her and David was extra pronounced, and she liked it. It wasn’t intimidating at all. He felt…safe.

“You’re still dressed,” she said.

He grinned. “So are you.” A second later, her bra went slack. He slipped it off her arms and let it fall to the floor, and when he pulled her close again, her nipples brushed his shirt, and she shivered. He trailed his fingers up the center of her back, tracing the line where her zipper had held her dress together. “Much better.”

“Mmhmm.” She pulled back and looked him up and down. “But I think it’s your turn to lose a few things.”

David grinned. She returned it and reached for his tie. She hooked her finger under it, just as he’d done with the top of her dress, and for a moment, the only sound in the entire world was the soft hiss of the knot sliding free. When it was completely untied, she let the loose ends hang and started on the top button of his shirt.

As she started on the next button, though, he gently grasped her wrist. “Wait.”

“What?”

David held her left hand and slid her wedding and engagement rings free. Then he turned, carefully placed them on his dresser by his cufflinks and faced her again.

Joanna’s knees shook. The bare spot on her third finger was cool and conspicuous, the faint tan line glaring back at her like a silent accusation.

“Joanna.”

She looked up at him.

His eyebrows pulled together, and he tilted his head slightly. Though he didn’t speak, his eyes asked,
Are you sure about this?

Well. Am I?

Yes.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, raised her chin and kissed him.

David didn’t miss a beat. He pulled her close, and his hands were all over her, tracing curves and angles that hadn’t been touched in far too long. She convinced her own hands to find his shirt again, and she continued unbuttoning it. They were both breathing faster now, kissing hungrily as they stripped him, and they separated only so he could kick off his boxers. And while he did that, she took off her panties and finally—finally—they were both completely naked.

She looked him up and down. Holy hell. He was ripped. Powerful. Smooth where he needed to be, sharp where he needed to be, and that dark trail of hair leading downward from his navel drew her gaze right to his fully erect cock. Oh yes, he was exactly what she needed tonight.

Their eyes met again.

David cupped her face. “You know, right now, there is nothing I want more than to throw you down and fuck you good and hard.”

She bit her lip and pressed her thighs together. “Then we’re definitely on the same page.”

He flashed a grin that sent a jolt straight down to her pussy. “Yeah, we are.” Caressing her cheek, he added, “But if I do that, this will be over too soon.”

A mix of disappointment and anticipation rippled through her. She didn’t want it to be over soon—she wanted this to last as long as they could both stand it. Yet at the same time, after so long without a man’s genuine touch, she wanted it all right now.

David drew her closer, gathering her in his arms. “I have every intention of giving you exactly what you want tonight.” He kissed her softly. “You’re going to be the center of my universe, and there’s no way in hell I’m rushing us through that.”

A whimper slipped through her lips. She wanted to cry. She wanted to come. She wanted to do everything in between.
How did I go so long without this?

He kissed her again and nudged her back until her calf bumped the bed, and then he guided her down onto the mattress. The comforter was cool beneath her skin, especially compared to the near-feverish heat of his body on top of hers.

After an absolute age, he broke the kiss and pushed himself up. “Before we get too comfortable…” He leaned to the side. She craned her neck and watched as he pulled a couple of condoms from the bedside table and set them beside the lamp, but he made no move to put one on. Instead, he came back to Joanna and kissed her again.

“Put…put one on.” She didn’t know if she was pleading or demanding, and didn’t care. “I want—”

“I will.”

“But they’re right there.”

“Mmhmm. Just keeping them handy,” he murmured against her lips. “Don’t need them quite yet.”

Joanna moaned, squirming beneath him. “But—”

He silenced her with a deep kiss. “I will,” he whispered. “I promise, I will.” He kissed the corner of her mouth, then her jaw, and as he inched along her throat, he added, “Not yet, though.”

He kissed her neck all over, from her collarbone back up to her jaw and down again, taking his sweet time over long-neglected erogenous flesh. Even as he moved downward, he was in absolutely no hurry. He spent forever teasing her nipple—pressing it gently with his teeth while teasing it with the tip of his tongue, tracing soft circles around it, teasing it again. Then he moved to the other nipple and did the same.

“For the record,” he murmured, “you are insanely hot.”

She bit her lip, glancing down at him and taking in his powerful arms and shoulders. “Likewise.”

He grinned and then kissed between her breasts. He moved downward again, slowly—one soft, lingering kiss at a time. She squirmed, arching into his little kisses. God, she hadn’t been touched in so long, and she’d
never
been touched like this, like a man had all night to turn her inside out.

“I’m starting to think you’re a tease,” she said.

He laughed, and the rush of warm breath across her skin made her abs contract. “I’m not a tease.” He flicked his tongue just above her navel. “I’m just not in a hurry.”

She started to speak, but then he pressed his lips just above her hipbone, and her pulse went crazy. She couldn’t even remember the last time someone had gone down on her, and if his mouth was that talented when he kissed…

She bit back a whimper of anticipation.
God, yes, David…

“I hope you’re not in any rush.” He gently pushed her knees apart and settled between her legs. “I like to…take my time.”