True believer - Nicholas Sparks [101]
The melody played softly in the background as they began to rotate in slow circles, and though she felt embarrassed at first, she finally leaned into him, relaxing into the warmth of his body. His breath warmed her neck, and as his hand tenderly skimmed her back, she closed her eyes and leaned further into him, dropping her head onto his shoulder and feeling the last of her resolve slip away. This, she realized, was what she had wanted all along, and in the tiny kitchen, they moved in rhythm to the gentle music, each of them lost in the other.
Beyond the windows, the waves continued to roll, washing toward the dune. The cold wind whistled around the cottage, vanishing into the ever-blackening evening. Dinner simmered quietly on the stove.
When at last she lifted her head to meet his eyes, he wrapped his arms around her. He brushed his lips against hers once, and then twice, before pressing them close. After pulling back slightly to make sure she was okay, he kissed her again, and she kissed him back, reveling in the strength of his arms. She felt his tongue against hers, the moisture intoxicating, and brought a hand to his face, tracing the stubble on his cheek. He responded to her touch by kissing her cheek and neck, his tongue hot against her skin.
They kissed in the kitchen for a long time, both of them savoring the other without hurry or urgency, until Lexie finally pulled back. She turned off the burner behind her, then, taking his hand again, she led him back to her bedroom.
They made love slowly. As he moved above her, he whispered how much he loved her and breathed her name like a prayer. His hands never stopped moving, as if proving to himself that she was real. They stayed in bed for hours, making love and laughing quietly, savoring each other’s touch.
Hours later, Lexie rose from the bed and slipped into a bathrobe. Jeremy put on his jeans, and joining her in the kitchen, they finished cooking dinner. After Lexie had lit a candle, he stared at her over the small flame, marveling at the lingering flush of her cheeks, as he devoured the most delicious meal he’d ever tasted. For some reason, the act of eating together in the kitchen, him shirtless and her naked beneath the thin robe, seemed almost more intimate than anything else that had happened that night.
Afterward, they went back to bed, and he pulled her close, content to simply hold her. When Lexie eventually fell asleep in his arms, Jeremy watched her sleep. Every now and then, he brushed the hair from her eyes, reliving the evening, remembering it all, and knowing in his heart that he’d met the woman with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life.
Just before dawn, Jeremy woke and realized that Lexie was gone. He sat up in bed, patted the covers as if to make sure, then hopped out of bed and put on his jeans. Her clothes were still on the floor, but the bathrobe she’d worn during dinner was gone. Snapping his jeans, he shivered slightly in the chill and crossed his arms as he made his way down the hall.
He found her in the easy chair near the fireplace, a cup of milk on the small table beside her. In her lap was Doris’s notebook, opened near the beginning, but she wasn’t looking at it. Instead, she was gazing out the dark window toward nothing at all.
He took another step toward her, the floorboards squeaking underfoot, and she started at the sound. When she saw him, she smiled.
“Hey there,” she said.
In the dim light, Jeremy sensed that something was wrong. He sat on the armrest beside her and slipped his arm around her.
“Are you okay?” he murmured.
“Yeah,” she said, “I’m okay.”
“What are you doing? It’s the middle of the night.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “And besides, we have to be up in a little while to catch the ferry.”
He nodded, though he wasn’t completely satisfied by her answer.
“Are you mad at me?”
“No,” she said.
“Are you sorry about what happened?”
“No,” she said, “it’s not that, either.” She didn’t, however, add anything else, and Jeremy pulled her closer, trying to believe her.