Page 164 of The Havenport Collection

Maggie

A ll the pain, hurt, and resentment I harbored toward Josh was being soothed away, one kiss at a time.

The more he kissed me, the more I forgave.

Sadly, it had always been this way. We’d started our relationship as shy virgins who spent hours making out in our dorm rooms. Even after all these years, we still loved a good make-out session.

He was focused, intense, and so perfectly Josh.

But tonight I would not be satisfied with only a hot and heavy kissing session.

My body vibrated with need in a way I hadn’t felt in years. Like I would die without him inside me.

I pushed back and took off my sweatshirt, grinning at the look on his face when he caught sight of my breasts in my bra.

He immediately reached around me to unclasp it, kissing my neck while deftly removing the lace barrier between us.

I savored the feel of his lips on my skin.

It had been so long, and I had missed him so much.

I grabbed at his sweats, eager to get things going, but he put his hand on top of mine, stopping me. “Maggie, I’m going to take my time.”

I bit my lip, studying his earnest expression.

“It’s been almost two years since I’ve worshipped your incredible body. I’m going to take my time and savor every inch of you.” He resumed kissing my neck, traveling slowly to my collarbone.

Josh was trying to kill me. That was it. He was murdering me slowly with his tongue. As a medical professional, I knew that wasn’t possible. But God, I couldn’t take it. I was a woman obsessed.

After spending the day ogling him on the mountain, I was a tightly wound coil of sexual tension. And I needed release. Badly and as soon as possible. Please and thank you.

And damn, Josh hadn’t even taken my panties off yet. Who was this man? We had mastered the super quickie years ago when we would hide in the bathroom and get each other off before Peppa Pig ended.

I arched my back off the floor, feeling his fingers flex on my hips.

“Tell me what you want,” I said, spurred on by the heat pumping through me.

“Everything,” he murmured, gently biting my earlobe and sending me into the stratosphere as his hands traveled south to the waistband of my sweats and then on to my panties, which, in fact, were still on my body and had not spontaneously combusted. Huh. That was a pleasant surprise.

He kissed his way down my stomach and lingered between my legs. “I want everything, Maggie. I want you and only you forever.”

He eased my panties down as he buried his head between my legs, gently licking and teasing and working me into a frenzy. My thighs shook and I pounded my fists on the floor. “Josh, please,” I begged.

He smirked. That motherfucker smirked at me. And then he kissed his way up my body, taking his sweet time as I writhed beneath him.

“I’ll give you what you need. Don’t worry.

I know exactly what you like, Maggie,” he whispered in my ear as he pushed inside me and paused to let me adjust to his size.

Nothing had felt so right a long, long time.

Our bodies fit together so perfectly—this was where we were supposed to be. This was what we were supposed to do.

Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around him, needing him deeper.

He moved slowly, with deep, hard thrusts that drove me wild.

“More, Josh,” I cried, a delicious tension pooling in my core.

“No, baby. I told you. I’m taking my time. Enjoying every clench of this sweet pussy. I know the rhythm you like, and I’ve gotta start slow.”

He continued at the perfect pace, lavishing my breasts with attention and giving me the deep, steady thrusts I needed, just like he promised. Soon, my orgasm took hold, sending me spiraling ever closer to the edge.

He grasped my hand, intertwining our fingers. We were connected on every level, closer than we’d been in years, eyes locked as we came together.

Naked and curled up in front of the fire, we sipped hot chocolate, unable to keep from touching one another.

“Here,” Josh said, grabbing a blanket from the couch and wrapping it around us.

“Josh, this is cashmere. We can’t put our naked, sweaty bodies on it.”

“Lucas probably has ten more, and I don’t want you getting cold.” He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close as I watched the flames in the fireplace dance.

I was struck by a moment of panic. We hadn’t used protection. Josh had a vasectomy after Jack was born, so we hadn’t bothered with birth control while we were together. After all, we had lost our virginity to one another. But it had been more than a year. We should have been safe.

“We should have talked about protection before we did that,” I said, looking into my mug.

Josh shifted uncomfortably. “Why?”

I peered up at him. He looked so handsome with his hair disheveled and the firelight illuminating his glorious cheekbones. “Have you been with anyone else?” I asked quietly, worried I didn’t really want to know the answer.

He dropped his arm. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Of course not,” he scoffed, anger radiating off his skin. “Why? Have you?”

“God, no,” I said. “I wasn’t trying to insult you. But we’ve been separated for over a year, and I didn’t want to assume. We never discussed it; we never set ground rules for our separation.”

“I don’t need rules, Maggie. We said vows. And I would never, ever break them. Yes, we were apart, but there is no other woman I could ever want.”

“Sorry,” I said, lowering my head and focusing on the dredges of cocoa in my mug. “I thought maybe you’d be curious.”

He shifted farther away from me, the blanket dropping off his back. “Fuck no. I’m not curious. I don’t want anyone else, Maggie. I only want you.”

“You don’t have to get mad. I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

Josh stood up, his hands balled into fists at his sides. “I would never, Maggie.”

I nodded, fighting back tears.

Josh took my mug from my hands and placed it on the coffee table. Then he lifted me up and wrapped me in his arms, surrounding me in his warmth and strength and security.

“If I haven’t made my devotion and attraction to you clear, then let me lay it all out right here,” he said.

“You are a goddess, and I’ve known that since the first day I laid eyes on you when I was nineteen.

Every minute I’ve spent with you since has only confirmed that you are the only woman in the universe for me. ”