“Thank you.” Then he thanked her the only way he knew how. He took her to her room and undressed her. He pushed her down on the bed and covered her body in kisses. He made love to her, and as he slid into her body, it felt like coming home after weeks on the road. Like he wanted to stay there forever.
He placed his hands on the sides of her head, and whispered into one ear, “Let me love you, Autumn.”
“Yes,” she said as she arched and met his thrusts. “Don’t stop, Sam.”
They were talking about different things, and for the first time in his life, he understood the difference between great sex and making love. For the first time in his life, Sam wanted more from a woman than she wanted from him.
Later, she lay in his arms, in the warmth of her bed and soft glow of good sex and two smal lamps. With her back pressed into his chest, he ran his hand down her smooth arm to her wrist.
“You covered my name with wings.” He raised her hand and kissed her pulse. “Does that mean you think I’m an angel?”
She laughed. “A dark angel from hel .”
“When did you get my name tattooed over?”
“A few weeks after I delivered Conner.”
“Ouch.” He winced. “That soon? I at least waited.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “How long?”
“A few months after.”
She turned on her back and looked at him. Within the soft light, her beautiful green gaze met his. “Every person I’ve ever known who has had someone’s name tattooed on them has lived to regret it.”
“It wasn’t one of my better drunken ideas.” He smiled and rested his hand on her bare stomach. “It’s right up there with the Hound Dog wedding and that Cher concert.”
She laughed, a lush sound of pure pleasure. “Cher wasn’t as painful.”
“Says you.”
“How would you even know? You slept through it, and we left early.”
Maybe that’s why he didn’t recal the actual concert. He’d always blamed it on the booze and mental self-preservation. “Wel , the good news is that Cher’s had about five ‘farewel ’ tours since. Barbra, too.”
She grinned. “Are you volunteering to go to a Barbra Streisand concert?”
Hel no. He’d rather get a puck shot in his nuts. Wait… “What would you give me?”
“A ONE NIGHT WITH BABS T-shirt. You could keep it in a drawer next to that Cher BELIEVE T-shirt you got married in.” She turned on her side to face him and a smile shone in her eyes. “Or you could wear it when you go out with your buddies.”
He didn’t do that so much anymore and real y didn’t miss it. He’d much rather be there, with his family, in Autumn’s bed in her split-level house with bad wal paper and old carpet.
His family. He wasn’t sure when he’d started to see them as a family, maybe in Moclips, but it felt right to him.
“The guys would probably stage an intervention and kick my ass. Instead, maybe you and I and Conner can go tour some castles in Germany this summer.”
Her brows lowered. “ ‘Old stone buildings?’ ”
“Sure.” He’d much prefer white sandy beaches and Autumn in a bikini, but what the hel ? “If that’s what you and Conner real y want to do.”
“Don’t you spend your summers in Cancún with the guys?”
“I’d rather spend time with you and Conner than on a boat with girls in bikinis.” When had that happened? “Who needs girls in bikinis?”
“You.”
He slid his hand down her hip. “I just need you in a bikini. Al that white skin in need of sunscreen and someone to rub on it on you.”