Owen moved under her uncomfortably. “Sorry about that,” he mumbled. “Didn’t mean to scare you, but that—it really affected me. I, uh, maybe you should get down now.”
“No.” Leah lifted her chin, not wanting him to think, as he had for so many years, that he was a monster she was frightened of. “No, I’m fine where I am.” She sat back again and settled firmly against him. And even though she could feel the length of his cock rubbing against her, pressing against her swollen pussy through her thin panties, she refused to move away.
“Leah,” he said in a low voice. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Do what?” she asked challengingly.
Owen’s voice was thick. “I can feel you…feel you against me. You don’t have to.”
“Can you feel this?” Daringly, she sank lower, pressing against him until the hot, hard shaft parted her pussy lips and spread her open to him through her lacy panties. She didn’t allow herself to think about how good it felt, even though a shiver of pure pleasure ran through her at the intimate contact. God, if her panties hadn’t been in the way… She could feel the ridge of his cock rubbing right over her clit. And she was so wet…
“Leah—” he began again in a choked voice.
“I’m not afraid of you, Owen,” she said softly. “And I don’t hate you for wanting to kiss my breasts either. Or for…for getting hard when you kissed them. That’s natural. In fact”—she cleared her throat—“I think it’s time we moved on to something else.”
“Something else? What do you mean?” he demanded.
“I mean, you can’t tell me that all you fantasized about doing that night was sucking my nipples,” she said. “I know…know you wanted more. And I want you to show me.”
“Show you—”
“Show me where else you wanted to touch me,” Leah said. She took one of his hands and placed it below her bare breasts. “It’s all right, Owen. Go ahead,” she encouraged.
“I don’t think I should,” he said in a low voice, but he was already sliding his hand down her abdomen.
“Yes, you should,” Leah insisted. She rose obligingly when he slipped his fingers lower to cup her pussy through the thin pink panties, and then settled herself firmly into his palm. “This is what you wanted?” she asked, arching an eyebrow at him.
“This is where I want to touch you,” he clarified.
“But how?” she insisted breathlessly. “You need…need to show me how. Just the way you did with my breasts—my nipples.”
“I shouldn’t,” he said darkly. “I shouldn’t want to do this with you.”
“We’re not going to go too far,” she assured him, still pressing against his palm. “I won’t let you actually…”
“You won’t let me actually fuck you,” he said roughly. “Is that what you meant to say?”
She swallowed hard. “Exactly. That would be too much. But this… Don’t you see, Owen? This is necessary if we’re ever going to be right with each other again.”
“No, I don’t see it.” But he wasn’t moving his hand away, she noticed. He was waiting, listening.
He wants me to convince him. He needs this—we both do. Leah thought of the vision again, and again a feeling of rightness overwhelmed her. Although she had to draw the line somewhere, right now it was important to keep going. “Owen,” she began.
“Don’t you think it’s wrong to even do this much? What we’ve already done? Or what…what I want to do?” he asked.
“Owen,” she murmured. “All these years you’ve been harboring this guilt, feeling like a monster for what you wanted to do to me. You need to know I’ll love you no matter what. That even if you touch me the way you wanted to all those years ago, I won’t turn away from you.”
He shifted against her, and she sensed again that he wanted to be convinced. But his voice was still harsh when he spoke again. “That’s a beautiful reason, Leah, and I appreciate your wanting to heal our relationship any way you can. But the fact is that we’re getting damn close to incest here. Are you sure you can handle that?”
He wants to make sure of me. Make sure he won’t scare me away. Leah lifted her chin. “I can handle it. I love you, Owen. Let me show you how much.”
He sighed softly and then looked her in the eyes. “All right. But if you want me to show you exactly how I want to touch you, you’ll have to take these off.” He stroked the crotch of her panties lightly with his fingertips, making Leah bite her bottom lip and squirm. Still, she had expected nothing less.
“Fine,” she said evenly. “Here, just let me…” She maneuvered awkwardly for a moment, and then she slid the damp panties off.
“You’re sure about this?” Owen asked.
“I’m sure.” Defiantly, she dropped the panties over the side of the bed. Then she straddled him again, this time completely nude. “Go ahead, Owen.”
“Leah…” he muttered hoarsely, and then he lifted his hand hesitantly to cup her again.
Leah sucked in a breath at the intimate touch. Her legs were spread wide around his hips, causing her pussy to open as well. She could feel the heel of his hand pressing lightly against her clit, and her whole body seemed to ache from that simple, hesitant contact. Lifting her chin, she smiled. “See, that isn’t so bad, is it?”
“No,” he said in a low voice. “It’s not.”
She looked at him, meeting his gaze in the dim light. “And it’s not all you wanted to do, is it?”
“I want…” His voice choked off for an instant. “God, Leah, it’s not right what I want to do to you.”
“Take it slowly, then,” she urged, even though her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was trying to get out of her chest. “One step at a time. Tell me.”
“I want…I want to see how wet you are,” he whispered, his voice raw.
“Do it,” Leah told him. “Please, Owen.” But he seemed frozen, unable to act. Leah felt like someone was squeezing her heart. God, the agony he was going through. But they had to keep going. Had to get through the pain to be together and heal their relationship.
“I shouldn’t want to do this,” he said at last in a low voice. “Shouldn’t want to spread open your pussy and touch you there.”
Leah’s breath caught in her throat at his hot, dirty words. God, had she ever been this turned on in her life? She didn’t think so. But the important thing here wasn’t how she was feeling; it was how Owen was feeling. And she could still hear the guilt in his tone. It wrung her heart until she wanted to weep. I’m hurting him. But I have to in order to heal him. We need to be together.
“Owen, I want you to,” she told him. “Please.”
“You don’t mean that,” he said flatly.
“Yes, I do. Here, I’ll help you. You said you wanted to see how…how wet I am? Well, here.” Pushing aside the embarrassment she was tempted to feel, she reached between them and used her forefinger and middle finger to spread open her swollen pussy lips. Then she settled herself more firmly against his hand, rubbing his fingers directly over her slick folds and the aching button of her clit.
“God,” Owen said as she moaned softly. “Leah, I can’t believe you’re letting me do this.”
“I want you to know I love you,” she whispered, still pressing against him. “And nothing can change that.”
“Even if I do this?” He slipped his fingers deeper into her folds, and then he was circling her clit firmly with one fingertip.
“Even that,” Leah assured him breathlessly. “Anything, Owen.”
“Anything but putting my cock in you, you mean,” he clarified.
Leah bit her lip. Despite how much she cared for him and how desperately she wanted to heal their relationship, despite the urging of the golden angel in her dream, there had to be some limits. Some lines they wouldn’t cross. If she let him penetrate her, fill her with his cock… That would be incest. There’s no other word for it. And I don’t know if I’m ready to go there. Or if I ever will be. “No,” she murmured.
“Not that. But anything else. Was there…was there something else you wanted to do? Another way you wanted to touch me?”
Owen rubbed a little harder, his blue eyes lazy with lust in the dim bedroom. “I want to see how tight you are,” he admitted in a low, harsh voice. “I want to slide my fingers deep inside your pussy and finger-fuck you, Leah. Could you love me after that?”
“I’ll always love you,” she told him and leaned forward to kiss him lightly on the mouth. “Do it,” she whispered against his lips, spreading her thighs wider to give him easy access. “Touch…touch inside me, Owen. Put your fingers inside me, inside my pussy. I…I don’t mind.”
Owen groaned, and then they were kissing again as his long, strong fingers invaded her pussy and slid deep into her tight channel.
Leah cried out at the invasion, and he swallowed her cries eagerly, kissing her deep and long, probing her mouth with his tongue as he was exploring her pussy with his fingers.
And then the broad pad of his thumb began a slow sweep across her clit at the same time that his thick fingers fucked her. Leah felt as though she’d been holding off for hours, and the pleasure was tightening like a wire inside her, threatening to snap at any moment. The feeling of rightness at having his hands on her so intimately overwhelmed her, and suddenly, she couldn’t help it. With a low moan, she started to come, riding his fingers as he rubbed her exactly the right way.
She wasn’t sure, but she thought that Owen might be coming too. Whether he was touching himself with his other hand or whether finally touching her in the way he had wanted to so long ago had been too much for him, Leah didn’t know. She only knew that his low cries mingled with hers for a long moment, and then they collapsed against each other, panting.
Finally Owen stirred against her. He slowly withdrew his fingers from her pussy, and Leah made a soft sound of protest at the gentle, sensual gesture.
“Sorry,” Owen said stiffly. “I didn’t mean to… I mean, are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said softly. “Better than okay.”
“That’s good. I mean…I guess I’d better clean up.” He got out of bed and disappeared quickly into the bathroom, leaving Leah to wonder what he was thinking. He sounded upset. Was he regretting what they had just done together? Was she?
The uncertainty in his voice squeezed her heart, but she still believed that what had happened between them had been necessary, a cathartic release that had been ten years in coming. She had been right to follow her instincts and the promptings of her dream.
There was another reason she wasn’t feeling as guilty as she might have been—it was the simple, undeniable fact that what she had done with Owen had felt right. Even though the world and society might condemn them, there was no denying the perfect way they fit together, the way their bodies responded to each other. It’s as if our souls are in communication when we touch, not just our bodies. It reminded Leah of the golden vision again, telling her that Owen was her true mate, the other half of her. The one man in the universe who could complete her. It was irrational, but she couldn’t shake the feeling they belonged together.
Feeling justified in her actions, Leah started to get up and hunt for her panties and the T-shirt, but then she had a sudden thought. What if Owen thought she was trying to cover herself, to hide herself from him? He might think she was sorry about what had happened between them. And she wasn’t—not a bit.
She decided to sleep naked instead. It was more comfortable, after all, on such a warm night. Sometimes it got so hot in Tampa that even the best and most expensive AC unit had trouble coping. And God knew she was certainly overheated enough already after the exertion she’d just been through.
After what seemed like a long, long time, Owen finally came back. But instead of climbing in bed with her, he stood at the edge of the mattress, radiating uncertainty and indecision.
“What’s wrong?” Leah asked, sitting up. She held out a hand to him. “Come back to bed.”
“Are you sure you want me to?” he asked in a low voice.
“Of course I’m sure, silly. Why wouldn’t I want you to?”
“Because.” He cleared his throat. “I thought maybe…maybe you might be regretting what we did just now.”
“Are you?” Leah asked directly.
Owen nodded shortly. “I’ve wanted that—what just happened between us—for a long time. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s wrong.”
“Come here.” This time he complied, climbing into bed to lie stiffly beside her. “Come closer,” she insisted and pressed herself against his side.
“You’re not wearing anything,” he said in a slightly strangled voice.
“Is that a problem? It wasn’t a minute ago,” she pointed out.
“Well, it is now.” He frowned. “What we did—we shouldn’t have done it, Leah. And I just don’t want to be tempted to do anything else in the middle of the night.”
“Let me tell you something, Owen,” Leah said, looking up at him. “What we did just now, it was supposed to be a onetime deal. Just to let you get your feelings out.”
“I understand.” He started to move away from her, but Leah wouldn’t let him.
“Let me finish,” she insisted. “I said it was supposed to be a onetime deal. But if you forgot yourself and brushed against me or…or touched me again in the middle of the night, it still wouldn’t change how I feel about you.”
“It wouldn’t?” he asked.
“No,” Leah said firmly. “And let me tell you something else. Nothing you can do or say will change the way I love you.” She paused for a moment, searching for words that were strong enough to convey her emotions. “Even if”—she took a deep breath—“even if we made love. Even then, I would love you.”
His eyes were wide in the darkness. “Leah, don’t even talk about that. You said you didn’t want me to—”
“And I don’t,” she said, cutting him off. “But I didn’t say you, Owen, I said we. If we lost control of ourselves—the way you were so afraid of losing control all those years ago—if we couldn’t help it and we went too far, I would still love you, even then.”
“You mean if I raped you.” His voice was hoarse. “Leah, I would never—”
“I never said that,” she interrupted fiercely. “Don’t you understand? I’m not going to lose you again for any reason. We’re in this together, Owen. You didn’t do anything to me tonight that I didn’t want you to do.”
“Leah,” he whispered. “Don’t…don’t talk like that. You don’t have to say that to me.”
“Yes, I do.” She gently nuzzled his cheek with her own. “Because you still seem to be in some doubt as to how I feel. I love you, Owen, and I’m not going to stop. We… I know it sounds strange, but I can’t help feeling like we belong together. Do you understand?”
“I do,” he murmured. “I’ve felt that way for a long time myself—years. But that’s not how the world would see it.”
“How are they going to know?” she demanded.
“That doesn’t matter. We know—I know it’s wrong. And we can’t do this again.”
“We won’t,” she promised gently. “We’re over that now, don’t you see? You did what you wanted to do to me all those years ago, and now you know I still love you. You do know that, don’t you?”
“Yes,” he said in a low voice. “I know you love me, more than you should. You give more of yourself than you should because you care too much.”
“There’s no such thing as loving or caring too much,” Leah assured him. She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. “And now I think we should get some sleep. Do you have to operate in the morning?”
“No, no, I don’t.” He seemed about to say something else, but then Leah snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes.
“I’m tired, Owen,” she said, yawning. “Rebuilding our relationship is strenuous business.”
He sighed. “Tell me about it. All right, then. Go to sleep. And sweet dreams. Let me know if yo
u see those angels again—the ones you dreamed about when your fever was so high.”
“I will,” she murmured. She wanted to say more, to tell him that the angels were never far from her mind, that they meant something, something important. But before she could find the words, sleep took her, and she drifted away.
“That was wonderful—excellent.” An excited rustling of wings. “We’re close—so close!”
A long pause. “Maybe.”
“What? Why aren’t you excited? Did you see what happened just now? Ariel went to him. She gave herself almost completely.”
“‘Almost’ being the operative word. And did you hear what Micah said? He’s determined it won’t happen again.”
“Why are you being so negative? It doesn’t matter that they didn’t completely join tonight. They were close. We were close. And as long as they’re under the same roof, they can’t help but get closer, no matter what he said. Did you see the way she expressed her love for him?”
“I saw it, all right.” Grimly. “Look, don’t you understand? What we saw tonight was Ariel’s loving, giving nature at work. She was always like that—willing to do anything for the one she loved. Always willing to give of herself.”
“Right, and she gave herself to Micah.”
“No, she gave him what he needed. What they both needed. She wants him even if she still loves him like a sibling, still thinks of him as a brother.”
An impatient sigh. “Does it matter? She as much as offered herself to him right before they went to sleep. Next time Micah is sure to take her completely, and we know now that she won’t resist.”
“You’re assuming a lot. Do you really think Micah will so easily do something he thinks is wrong?”
“How can he resist her? She’s so beautiful, so lovely. And Micah is her soul mate, the other half of the angel twain. How can they help but come together?”
“If Micah has anything to do with it, they will. He can be incredibly stubborn. If you want proof, just look at the last ten years he spent keeping them apart.”