He handed her the brandy snifter. Their fingers brushed and just that light touch flooded her with heat.
“What else do you want to know?” he asked gruffly.
“Everything.”
The dim light played off his hard, hard cheekbones and his beautiful mouth. “Narrow the field a little, would you?”
“Tell me about us,” she said carefully. “Not the us of today. But the us of the night of the accident.”
“I don’t believe in living in the past.”
“I know. But help me understand one more time that night, so that I can try to reconcile what I thought I knew, with what I’ve learned tonight. Please.”
*
Colm held his breath a moment, battling with himself, and his judgment. Tonight was supposed to be special. Tonight was supposed to be about his and Ava’s future. But here they were, once more, battling the past.
“You and I met at a fundraiser for the ballet. I was enamored with you from the start. I took you out after a performance and we stayed in that restaurant, in that corner booth, talking for hours. Then I took you back to my place, and made love for hours and we never looked back. It worked. We worked. We were happy.”
“But we didn’t talk about the future, did we?” she asked.
“No.”
“What did we talk about?”
Her eyes were wide and dark and very somber. Colm’s lips lifted faintly. “We didn’t really talk about anything. We just enjoyed each other. And we did enjoy each other.” He hesitated. “But we’d also agreed to a relationship that had no strings, no rules, and no commitments.”
She looked skeptical. “I don’t believe that. I can’t believe I’d ever agree to such a thing.”
“You were career focused. Ballet was your love.” He shrugged. “It’s what you told me, time and again.”
“And you believed that?”
“Maybe I wanted to believe that, yes. I was happy to believe that.” Again his shoulders shifted beneath the crisp white shirt. “I didn’t want to fall in love. My marriage with Eden was so painful, I knew I’d never marry again, so a physical, sexual, pleasurable relationship with no strings attached sounded perfect.”
“That’s why it was such a shock for you when I told you I was pregnant.”
“Not just pregnant, but almost five months. I couldn’t believe it. You were so tiny. You carried so small. I told you I didn’t believe you. I told you that even if it was true, I didn’t want the baby.”
“Or me,” she whispered.
He inclined his head. “I regret every angry word I said.”
“I can understand now why you were so upset. It must have been like déjà vu. There you are with another Eden.”
“I’ll never forget how devastated you were, Ava. I will never forget the look at your face as I put you in that taxi. I’d broken your heart. Shattered you—”
“Don’t.” She shivered. “Don’t go there. It’s too sad.”
“But I remember it all. And as if it wasn’t bad enough that I put you in the taxi, shattered, I then get a call that you’re at the hospital, dying.” His voice cracked. “By the time I arrived at the hospital you weren’t expected to last the night. And then the doctors added that you were pregnant, close to five months, and did I want them to try to save the baby?” Pain darkened his eyes. “You hadn’t been lying. You were telling me the truth. And there you were, pregnant with my son, and dying.”
After a moment he continued. “I was desperate. I vowed that I’d do everything in my power to make sure you and the baby survived.” The intensity in his eyes nearly leveled her. “And I have.”
Ava inhaled at the wash of pain. They had both been through so much. “No wonder you don’t like to look back. I don’t blame you.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed next to her, and took her hand, kissing the back of it, and then the palm, and up the inside of her wrist. “I’ve learned to be grateful for every day. And I count my blessings every, single day, which means I thank God for you and Jack every day, because you two are my greatest blessings.”
She smiled then, a slow smile that curved her full lips and made her lovely dark eyes shine. She was beyond beautiful. She took his breath away.
“We’ve been through a lot, and the past three and a half years haven’t been easy,” he said, “but I’d do it all again if it meant we’d be here today.”
He meant every word, too. He’d always found her physically appealing but now their bond wasn’t just the physical. They were bonded through struggles and challenges and unexpected joys. And then there was Jack, a testament to love and life and hope.
“I love you, Ava,” he said, cupping her face and lowering his head to hers. His mouth brushed her lips, and then again.
“I know.”
Chapter Fourteen
‡
The great thing about being loved by Colm, was that he was very, very good at making her feel good and beautiful. And loved.
Ava’s eyes closed as he kissed her again, his lips traveling ever so slowly across hers, from one corner of her mouth to the other.
By the time he lifted his head, her heart was thundering and her body trembling. She wanted him. She couldn’t imagine a time where she wouldn’t want this fierce, beautiful, loyal man.
“Ava?”
There was a question in his voice but he knew what she wanted. She knew he knew.
She reached for Colm, tugging at his shirt, pulling him closer, craving more contact.
“All these clothes,” she murmured. “Far too much fabric.”
“You’re reading my mind,” he said, turning her to begin unfastening the dozens of little hooks at the back of her fitted gown, working from the top of the bodice down. She shivered as he peeled the dress away and his lips kissed her bare back, close to her shoulder blade. He kissed his way down her spine, kissing the dip and then the curve of hip.
She felt so hot and sensitive, her skin covered in liquid velvet. He stroked her, his hands pushing the silk skirts down, freeing her legs. His hand slid between her thighs, and he caressed her, teasing her, warming her, and slowly starting to do what he did so well: drive her mad. “Love me,” she whispered.
“I do, baby.”
And then he was thrusting into her and showing her how much he did love her. She couldn’t imagine anything feeling better than this. It wasn’t merely sex, but a union of hearts, minds, lives.
She didn’t want to come, didn’t want the pleasure to end. But Colm was too good and the sen
sations too intense and when she climaxed, Colm was there with her, just as he’d been there every step of the way.
*
Later, after the fire burned out and the champagne shifted in the silver ice bucket, Ava lifted her head and looked down at Colm. His blue-green eyes met hers and held. He was happy. She knew it without him saying so. They didn’t need words between them, not after all they’d been through.
She felt the same happiness, as well as a great peace. She’d made it. She’d been through the fire. She’d survived and come out the other side and it was all worth it.
“Can we go check on Jack?” she whispered, running her hand across Colm’s hard chest. She could feel the thump of his heart. “I know he’s asleep, but I’d love to still tuck him in.”
He reached up, caught her face and brought her back down to him. He kissed her thoroughly before letting her go. “I can’t think of a better way to end the night.”
The End