Stop this. Stop this now.
But it was too late. Her heart was beating louder. Running wild and free like a mustang across the sagebrush grasslands. She wanted him. Wanted the kiss. And now she leaned into him and brushed her lips against his. Her belly clenched with desire as their warm breath mingled, and then their mouths met blindly, fiercely. Any thoughts she had of stopping were forgotten, all doubts and memories and pain dropping away as the taste of him went straight to her head and there was nothing but his solid body and his warm breath.
She felt his hand move to her cheek, the callused thumb stroking the soft skin there. This was right, she thought, feeling the heat beneath the light caress. This was what mattered.
Heat flared inside her as his fingers slid from her cheek, down over her collarbone to cup her breast. A galaxy of tiny stars exploded inside her head as his fingertips grazed the nipple. She twitched, muscles tightening. Heat was flooding her limbs, dissolving her body, and she felt the kiss change, felt him change.
Lips parting, her breath quickening, she could feel his heart, feel his pulse beating into her body. His mouth was moving against hers, shaping her desire, and then he shifted her weight, tipping her forward, and she felt the hard press of his erection against her pelvis.
He took a quick breath, like a gasp, and she arched helplessly into his groin, breasts aching, a shivery pleasure dancing through her veins as he forced her head up, deepening the kiss, sliding his hands beneath her top to find hot, bare skin. Touching, teasing, tormenting...
Closing her eyes, she rested her forehead against his. Oh, how she had missed him...missed this. This was what she needed. He was what she needed. Only Omar could do this. Only he could feed the hunger and soothe this tenderness in her chest, soothe this ache that felt like a huge, dark bruise swallowing up her heart.
‘Delphi... Stop, we have to stop...’
Her eyes opened. The carousel was slowing. Omar’s hands were on her shoulders, his thumbs gripping her collarbone.
Breath snagged in her chest and something like a sob rose in her throat. She was fighting him, trying to pull him closer, her mouth seeking his, her body not fully under her control, and she realised with shock that her face was wet with tears.
‘Shh...’ he said soothingly. His hands were gentle, but he was holding her firmly. ‘You’ve been so brave, so strong. Let me take care of you.’ As her body went limp, he clasped her face, thumbs stroking the tears from her cheeks. ‘It’s okay.’
He tipped her gently off his lap onto the bed and she lay down, feeling suddenly, brutally tired.
‘It’s okay,’ he said again, tucking the covers around her body and lying down next to her.
His hand was moving gently through her hair, like the breeze through the woods that surrounded the ranch house.
‘You’re not alone, Delphi. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere. You can sleep now.’
Sometime later, Delphi stirred. She felt warm and safe, just as she had as a child but as her eyes fluttered open, she saw not Dan but Omar sprawled in the armchair, her dress clutched in his arms, his head resting awkwardly in the crook of his arm.
She knew she was dreaming, but it was still calming to see him there, and for a moment she watched the rise and fall of his chest, feeling the rhythm of his breath inside her own body. And then her eyes closed again, and sleep pulled her back under.