Divine Charity by Heather Rainier Page A

him. “Is this it? Does it begin now?” Her voice sounded small in her ears, maybe because her heart was pounding so hard.
    “Put it on and find out, pretty baby.”
    No further request for consent was needed. She laid the soft blindfold to her eyes and tied the ribbons at the back of her head and then put her palms against the hot, lightly furred expanse of Justin’s chest, grounding herself as her head spun a little from arousal and the wine.
    She lowered her head and breathed in his unique, masculine scent as she slid her hands of up his pectorals to his throat. The heat and energy built up between them with the soft growl that vibrated in his throat beneath her hands, making her tremble.
    The mild breeze off the lake caught the ends of her hair and her other senses came alive. She heard the slight splash of a fish catching its dinner from the water’s surface and the distant call of a bird that echoed over the water.
    Justin’s hands were hot as he traced them up the outsides of her arms, causing a sudden shiver to race through her body. Heat streaked across her cheeks and they both chuckled at her intense reaction to his simple touch.
    His caress continued around the curve of her shoulders to her throat until his fingers wrapped delicately around the back of her head. His lips pressed against the underside of her jaw. She arched her back, pressing to him like a magnet against steel, needing to feel him against her as he gently cradled her head in his hands once more. “ All mine . Mine to play with however I want to.”
    She clung to his forearms and her eyes stung at the deep well of emotion in his simple words. “Yes.”
    He wrapped his arms around her, lifted her, and then laid her down so her head was at the foot of the chaise. She hooked a calf behind his thigh to keep him close but he loosened her foot and lifted it up to stroke and kiss it.
    Another warm breeze blew across her overheated skin and her heart flip-flopped with a wonderful sensation of déjà vu. Their honeymoon twenty-two years before had been spent in another much smaller cabin somewhere on the other side of Bowie Lake. It’d belonged to his parents at the time and had been the perfect honeymoon spot, especially considering how limited their finances had been back then. They’d opened the bedroom windows that first night and made love with all the eagerness of youth and then had fallen asleep with the lake breeze wafting over their damp skins. They’d sated themselves on each other throughout that first night and in the days to come. Ever since, sleeping with the windows opened when the weather allowed it always gave her sweet dreams.
    A fingertip brushed her lips and she realized Justin had gone still above her. His chuckle came from right above her. “Tell me what makes you smile like that.”
    “Memories of our wedding night.”
    Justin laughed. “And you’re thanking God that I’ve developed more finesse than that horny eighteen-year-old boy?”
    Her voice hitched as she spoke. “No, babe. That was our beginning and one of my sweetest memories.”
    “I hope someday you look back on this night the same way,” he murmured as his lips slid in a hot path down her torso to her abdomen, raising a trail of heat that centered between her legs as she quivered with anticipation. “Remember the picnic table last June?” he murmured as he pressed his lips to the dip between her mound and her upper thigh. “You did as I told you. Remember?”
    “Oh, yeah,” she whispered, letting out a long sigh. “I remember.”
    She was transported back to that hot night. The temps had soared during the day but the real heat had come as the night progressed. Not one to enjoy the sweltering summer all that much, she’d been blissfully ignorant of it after Justin had helped her remove the leather halter she’d had on during the day.
    He’d smiled down at her when she’d turned to him, the steady breeze cooling her bare skin as he’d stroked her