Content now that her skin touched his, Trent allowed Addie to remain in control and enjoyed her caress as her hands wandered down his back, across his ass and to the tops of his thighs. When she reached his legs she started a path back the way she came, only this time when she reached his hip, she slipped a hand between them and ran a single finger down his penis. The simple touch brought his already burning desire into an inferno stage. With one simple movement, he rolled off her enough to remove her panties and then grabbed a condom from his wallet on the nightstand.
“Damn, you’re beautiful,” Trent said, unable to look away from Addie as he tore the condom package open. “Absolutely perfect.” He slipped the condom on, then covered her body again with his.
Addie embraced him. “I wouldn’t say—” Before she finished, he covered her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth as he slid inside her.
***
“Have thunderstorms always scared you?” Trent asked from next to her on the sectional in the entertainment room two hours later. After they’d made love they’d cuddled in bed until both their stomachs demanded food.
Addie shook her head and swallowed the grape in her mouth. “No, at least I don’t remember them bothering me until I was eight.” Her eyes followed his hand as he reached out and grabbed a square of cheese from the platter in front of them. As if they had a mind of their own her eyes traveled from his hand, up his arm and to his bare chest. When they’d left his room, he’d only pulled back on his jeans and she was rather happy about that fact.
“What happened when you were eight?” he asked before he bit into his food.
She glanced back at the movie as the memories resurfaced. “We moved back to Rhode Island when I was seven and my family bought this huge old farmhouse in Burrillville. The house had been built during the Civil War, and my dad planned to remodel it in his free time. Anyway, the night before I turned eight, there was a huge thunder and lightning storm. It woke me up it was so loud. Lightning struck the electrical wires attached to the house. At first we all just thought the power went out, but then my brother smelled smoke. By the time the firefighters got there the house was engulfed.” Visions from that night played through her head. Even after all this time she could hear the sirens as the fire trucks approached and smell the smoke in the air as the fire devoured the old wood.
Trent touched her cheek. “That’s terrible. Did anyone get hurt?”
Addie swallowed back the emotions bubbling up. “My dad suffered some burns on his arms because of me, but otherwise everyone got out okay.”
“How could that have been your fault?”
Although she’d never change what she’d done that night, she still regretted the danger she put her dad in. “We all managed to get out of the house fine, but once outside I realized Hersey, my dog, hadn’t followed me, so I ran back in to get her. When my dad realized what I did, he rushed in after me. I found Hersey hiding under my bed. By the time my dad got to us in my room, the stairs had caught on fire. We ended up going out my brother’s bedroom window onto the porch roof below and then to the ground.” She shivered at the memory of rushing down the hall toward Rock’s bedroom, Hersey in her arms. “I have never seen my father so angry at me as that night once we were all safe. And I knew even then that it was a stupid thing to do, but I just couldn’t leave her in there.”
Trent took her hand and kissed it. Once agai
n she shivered, but this time it had nothing to do with the unpleasant memories.
“If one of my children ever did something like that I’d react like your father, but I get why you did it.”
Trent a father, now that made quite the vision. With no effort she could see him holding a little baby with sapphire blue eyes and dirty blond hair
“What happened after?”
“We lived with my aunt and uncle for a little while, and my parents had a new house built where the old one had been. They still live there.”
Without any warning he scooped her up and sat her on his lap, the hem of the T-shirt she’d borrowed riding up her thigh. “And you’ve hated thunderstorms ever since,” he said as more a statement than a question.
“Pretty much. If I’m tired enough sometimes I’ll sleep through them, but otherwise they always make me jumpy.”
“I think we just discovered another way for you to make it through a storm without it bothering you.” Trent’s hand slid up her bare thigh and under the hem of the T-shirt as he kissed her neck.
Addie laughed. “Then I guess whenever a storm is predicted I’ll make sure you’re close by.” She placed a hand on his chest. Beneath her fingers she felt the muscles move as he continued his caress on her thigh.
“Now that sounds like an excellent idea.” He moved in toward her as if to kiss her just as she turned her head and yawned. “Tired?”
“You could say that,” she answered, uncovering her mouth. “I’m sorry. It’s been a busy week.”
Trent’s hand slipped out from under her shirt and went around her waist. “No need to apologize. Why don’t you spend the night here with me? Tomorrow we can go back to your place so you can get clean clothes.”
She’d never spent the night at a man’s house, let alone a man she’d known less than a month. Even so, the idea of falling asleep and waking up in Trent’s arms was something she couldn’t pass up. “Sounds perfect.”
Chapter 10
Addie pulled at the cotton sheet, but it refused to budge. Yanking a little harder, she managed to move it a little further up her body. How could the thing be stuck? There was nothing in or near her bed for the sheet to get trapped by. Opening her eyes she caught a glimpse of the windows, which covered much of one wall. Heavy curtains covered them, blocking out much of the sunlight, but enough seeped in so Addie could see. Confused, she blinked a few times. This wasn’t her room or her bed. Sitting up, she saw Trent’s legs tangled in the sheets, and she remembered everything. With a smile her eyes made a path up his bare legs across his naked torso and to his face. His eyes were closed and the corners of his lips curved upward as if in a smile.
Careful not to wake him, she leaned forward and placed a light kiss on his mouth, then climbed out of bed. She’d never fall back to sleep now, but that didn’t mean he had to get up. While she waited for him, she’d grab some coffee.
It took Addie a few minutes to figure out just how to use the fancy-looking coffee machine on Trent’s kitchen counter. The thing had more buttons and switches than the inside of her car. Thanks to the directions she found in a drawer, she managed to brew herself a perfect cup of coffee. But before she sat down and enjoyed it, she heard the muffled beep of her cell phone. Turning back into the kitchen, she grabbed the phone from her purse. Sure enough she’d missed three calls, and as she held the phone a text message popped up on the screen.