Goodnight Kisses by Wilhelmina Stolen Page B

a petition of his name.
“McCrea.”
    “Are you ready?”
    She knew now the control he spoke of and that he was
exercising it at great cost. His whole body vibrated with a
restraint she couldn’t comprehend. When she answered him with a
nod, he dropped to an elbow to kiss her forehead and drew back. The
friction lifted her head up with a gratifying moan.
    He shuddered and pushed into her again. “So tight,”
he whispered against another thrust. “And so damn sweet.”
    Hoarse cries of an unfamiliar voice
escaped her lips, and she transformed in his arms.
He took down the fortress around her heart and freed her.
The cold, lonely world she knew before disappeared. With
McCrea’s love, everything was possible. All things were new, and she was his, and though he hadn’t said it, she knew he
loved her. How could he not? Everything he was doing reflected it.
His touch. His words. His kiss. His eyes, all spoke of
it.
    The poignant moment brought her to tears, and she
was moved to honesty. “You’re the one, McCrea.” 
    “The one?” his voice was rough with the
question.
    Her lips trembled under the weight of her words, and
she gazed up at him through misty eyes. “The one I love.”
    He froze.
    She held his face with both hands
because she wanted to savor the memory of this moment. He kissed
her palm. First one and then the other. She waited for him to say
something ─anything. But his words never came. As he made love
to her, a twinge of hurt mingled with their unbridled
passion. She reminded herself McCrea wasn’t a man who expressed
love easily and his intimate, and ardent lovemaking was
enough. He would voice his love in his own time.
    When he couldn’t hold back, he
unleashed what restraint he had left. He drew her higher, and
closer to the sun than she’d ever been before. The thrust of his
hips was tempestuous and his body tight like a whip-cord.
Her legs clenching tight around his hips. “Please.”
    A final heave finished him with a groan and washed
her in ecstasy. He fell, spent, to her breasts and with hearts
pounding, neither said a word.

Chapter
Five
The Proposal

    McCrea shifted his weight to the bed and rested his
head on her shoulder. She kissed his forehead and caressed his
shoulder with a brush of her fingertips. Never had she felt more
attractive, desired and loved than she did right now. He couldn’t
deny the love between them or the magic of what they had just
shared.
    “McCrea?” He was so still, she thought he’d fallen
asleep
    “Yeah,” he answered with a hollow voice.
    “I love you.”
    He rolled to his back and closed his eyes.
“Darlin’,” he said with a sigh as he sat up on the edge of the bed
to grab his jeans from the floor. “Never let sex make you say
things you don’t mean.”
    Wounded by his coldness she sat up to explain. “Sex
didn’t make me say it. I wanted to tell you earlier but…” 
    He heaved one leg into his jeans and then the other,
jumped to his feet and headed into the living room.
    “Where are you going?”
    “To the truck. I need a cigarette.”
    She heard the front door open, the truck door slam
and his footsteps on the porch. He didn’t return to the bedroom,
and the longer she waited the more nervous she became. Why was he
distant all of a sudden? Had she done something wrong? She slipped
his shirt on, and took the lantern into the living room. He was at
the door, staring out across the porch and into the rain with his
back to her.
    Smoke from his cigarette billowed around him as he
exhaled.
    “McCrea?” She sat the lantern on an
old table near the fireplace, and circled his waist to lay her
cheek against his rain-soaked back. “What’s wrong? Was it
me? Was it because it was my first time?”
    His hand covered hers and lifted it to his lips for
a kiss. “No, Eleanor. Your gift to me was priceless.”
    Her gift? He considered her virginity a gift. A
priceless gift. God, she loved this man. Her arms tightened around
him. “Then what is