Ted was waiting for her in the bar when she arrived, flustered and with heightened color, her blonde hair half up and half down as if she'd just got out of bed but somehow on her it looked incredibly sexy, not the least bit messy.
"I'm sorry I'm late." She said meeting his eyes briefly. "It was one of those days."
"How about a drink to settle your nerves?" He suggested.
She lifted her chin at him. "I'm not nervous."
He smiled and watched as the color in her cheeks delicately spread. He lifted a finger and stroked it along the rosy curve of her face. "Yes, you are."
Her mouth twisted ruefully as she slipped on to the bar stool beside him. "All right, I admit it. I am."
"You do not need to be nervous, Rebekah." He said. "This evening is re-establish a friendship between us."
She looked at him with wide uncertain eyes. "Do you think ex-lovers can ever truly be friends?"
He looked down at her upturned face, his gaze lingering on the soft bow of her mouth. "Who knows?" He said, meeting her gaze once more. "I had every intention of giving it a try, but as soon as you walked in I wanted to take you upstairs and—"
She put a finger up to his lips to stall his speech. "Don't, please…this is hard enough without you tempting me like that."
He captured her finger and, bringing it up to his mouth, pressed his lips against it. "So you are tempted?"
She drew in a husky little breath. "A bit…"
"Only a little bit."
Her lips curved upwards in another twisted smile. "Okay, a lot."
He brought her finger back up to his mouth and sucked on it, his eyes still holding hers. Rebekah felt the tug of desire between her legs, heat exploding like a burst of fuel-driven flame. How could she have ever thought they could simply be friends? It was impossible with this need pulsing between them. She could feel it in the air as it tightened around them. She could see it in his eyes as his pupils flared and she could feel it in his touch. The touch her body remembered so well it positively ached to feel it again.
"Ted…"
"No." He used the same tactic she had done to stop herself from speaking, his finger making her lips buzz with sensation. "Listen to me. We have a past that will not go away. I can feel it like a living breathing entity between us."
"I can't give you what you want."
"Yes, you can." He insisted. "You can relieve me from this torment of longing. We were so good together. We can be so again. I know it. I feel it every time I touch you."
"Ted…." She took a breath to prepare herself. "There's something you should know…"
"I know all I need to know." He said. "You still want me. We can never be just friends, Rebekah. There is too much passion between us."
"We can't have a future unless we deal with the past."
"The past is in the past, Rebekah. I do not want to revisit it again. I believed you to be guilty of a crime you still say you did not commit. I want to believe you are incapable of lying but I think it best that we leave it at that. It bears no relevance to what is between us now."
Rebekah felt the crushing weight of her guilt press against her chest. She could hardly breathe for the unbearable load of it. She was deceiving him at this very moment.
"This is a second chance for us." He said. "I was wrong to cut off all contact with you. I see that now. It was born out of anger and pride and it served no purpose. I should have listened to your explanation. I owed you that at the very least but I was too damned proud."
"Ted...I don't know how to tell you this but—"
"Do not say you hate me, for I do not believe it." He said, interrupting her.
"No, I don't hate you, but I…" She swallowed the rest of her words.
"I know you're uneasy about us resuming our relationship. You were hurt before and no doubt still feel vulnerable, but I will try not to rush you, even though it is killing me."
She gave him a little smile in spite of her anguish. "You only have two speeds, Ted: fast and faster."
He grinned at her. "You know me so well even after all this time."
"Excuse me, Mr. DiBiase." A hotel employee approached them. "The meal you requested is no ready in your room."
"Thank you." Ted said.
Rebekah raised her brows. "We're eating here? At the hotel?"
He took her hand and helped her from the stool. "I hope you do not mind. I wanted us to be alone."
She nervously followed him to the bank of elevators. She had been expecting a public restaurant and a dance floor with other couples, not a private intimate meal in his penthouse suite. Resisting him was going to be a whole lot harder without an audience to restrain her desire to be in his arms again.
He opened the door for her and she stepped in to see fragrant flowers in every corner of the room, candles flickering and a bottle of French champagne sitting in an ice bucket beside the table, which was set for two.
"You've gone to so much trouble. I don't know what to say…"
He pulled out a chair for her. "Come and sit down and we will enjoy the meal the chef has prepared specially."
Heat coiled her stomach at the look in his eyes as he took the chair opposite. He was so dangerously sexy when he looked at her like that. She had no defenses to withstand the temptation of his smile, let alone his touch.
He served their meal from the dishes set on the table, each movement of his hands reminding her of how those fingers had known every inch of her body. She had given herself so freely to him. Her lack of experience had not been an issue; she hadn't even mentioned it until after they had made love. Her body had felt no discomfort in receiving him the first time; she had felt as if she had been made for him and him alone.
"Shall we dance?"
"Dance? Here?"
He pulled her to her feet. "You loved to dance, Rebekah, remember? You always moved in my arms as if we were one person."
He flicked the switch on a remote control and the soft strains of a romantic ballad filed the air. She felt his arms come around her and her feet moved in time with his, her body so close to the warmth of his, she felt her heart begin to increase its pace.
"See." He said his deep voice a sexy rumble against her breasts. "You fit so well against me."
Rebekah gave herself up to the music and the feel of his body moving in time with hers. Her arms looped around his neck, which brought her even closer to his growing erection. She felt it harden against her and when she looked up into his eyes she knew there was no way she would be able to resist him.
His hands were like hot brands on her hips, his muscled thighs moved against and between hers as they moved together until she was almost mad with the need to feel him fill her. His mouth swooped down and covered hers with a searing kiss of passion. His mouth was a burning pressure on hers, the movement of his hands as they found her breasts making her gasp with pleasure.
"You're wearing too many clothes." He growled as his fingers found the zip of her dress and slid it downwards.
"So are you." She said and began to undo the buttons of his shirt, lingering to press a hot little kiss as each part of his chest was exposed.
He groaned when she got to his belt and lifting her, carried to the bed, joining her in a tangle of limbs and half-discarded clothes. Rebekah put her hand over his as he reached for her panties, which only just covered the seam of her scar. "Can we turn the lights down?"
"But I want to see all of you."
"I'm not as slim as I used to be…"
"You look wonderful to me."
"Please, Ted."
"All right but next time I want to see every inch of you."
Rebekah felt the thrill of his urgent arousal as he came back over to her, his hands tearing at her clothes as she tore at his, their bodies straining to join in the most intimate of all embraces. She ached with the need to feel him inside her.
His mouth moved to her breast and sucked hard, the rasp of his tongue making her toes curl and her back arch in response. He moved to her other breast, his hands stroking her and moving lower until he found the secret heart of her, his fingers stroking into her slippery warmth until she was writhing with pleasure. She felt her body begin to tingle with the first waves of release but it wasn't enough. She reached for him, her fingers shaping his turgid length, his agonized gasp inciting her to increase the pressure until he was struggling to contain control.
He grasped at her hand but she pushed him with her free one until he was on his back, his chest rising and falling as she began to move her mouth from the flat taut plane of his abdomen in teasing little wet kisses until she came to the pulsing heat of him.
He groaned again when she licked at his swollen length, her tongue tasting him before she opened her mouth over the satin-covered steel of his body, drawing him in with stroking and rolling movements of his tongue.
"Enough!"
He pulled her away from him and flipped her on her back, rummaging quickly for a condom and applying it before driving into her with such urgency she cried out in sheer relief that he was finally where she most wanted him. His movements were hard and fast but she was with him all the way, her body rocking against his as it climbed towards the pinnacle of release it craved.
"I'm going too fast." He said breathlessly against her mouth.
"You're not going fast enough." She urged him on with her body, rising to meet each forward movement of his. Suddenly she was there.
Her whole body tightened and then exploded, splintering into a thousand tiny pieces, each one of them shivering with the aftershocks of pleasure. She felt his explosive release hard on the heels of hers, every muscle in his body tensing before he let go with a deep primal groan. They lay still intimately entwined, basking in the afterglow of deep contentment.
Ted eased himself up on his elbows to look down at her. "I had planned to take things slowly but you made it impossible. Your body excites me like no other."
"You're pretty exciting too." She said reaching up to stroke his jaw with her hand.
He captured her hand and pressed a soft kiss to the middle of her palm. "Have you had many other lovers since me?" He asked.
"Why do you ask?"
"It is selfish and chauvinistic of me, I know, but I was hoping you have not."
Her expression contained a hind of reproach. "I'm sure you haven't been celibate for the last four years."
"No..."
"Have you been in love with anyone?"
"No, I have not allowed myself to feel that way about anyone."
Rebekah felt hope begin to rise in her chest, did he still feel something for her? His eyes gave nothing away as they connected with hers but she could feel his body thickening inside her. His hands began to explore her breasts, his thumbs reacquainting themselves with the rock hard pebbles of her nipples, his hot moist mouth moving down to suckle on each of her breasts until her head was spinning and her ears ringing with the pleasure of having his strong arms around her and his lips and tongue playing havoc with her senses all over again.
Ted pulled away from her breast and looked down at her with a quizzical expression. "What's that noise?"
"What noise?" She asked dizzily, her mind still reeling from his sensual onslaught.
"It sounds like a cell phone on vibrate."
Rebekah felt her stomach lurch in panic. It was late and the only people who would be calling her at this hour would be either Christina or Jennie.
"Um...I'd better answer it."
He looked at her incredulously, his body pulsing with need inside hers. "Now?"
"It might be my sister." She said and eased herself out of his embrace. She walked on unsteady legs to her evening bag but the phone had stopped vibrating by the time she got to it. She stared at the screen as a message icon appeared. She pressed the key to display the text and her heart came to a stumbling halt when she read what was there.
Emily hurt—but don't worry—have taken her to the Children's hospital—C xox
Rebekah hadn't even noticed that Ted had come to stand beside her until she heard his deep voice ask in a tone that demanded an immediate answer. "Who's Emily?"
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