Chapter Ten

Lorelai harbored similar sentiments as her daughter as she turned off her phone and set in its cradle. Strong arms entwined around her waist and she leaned back into the firm chest behind her. "How long were you listening?"

She could hear his grin as he whispered into her ear, "Apparently, there's a man in your bed."

"Oh yeah. Him." Lorelai's back arched as his hot breath tickled the skin of her neck. It sent electricity coursing down her spine. She missed the connection he brought her. The way he made her feel alive and needed with just a touch or a glance.

"Should I be concerned?" His lips grazed the edge of her ear as his hands traced circles on her stomach.

"Oh yeah. He's a bad man." Lorelai smiled and played with the small hairs at the base of his neck. "He does naughty things." The foreplay was great, too.

"Hmm…" Luke bent down, pressing his lips to her neck. "Maybe I should go and teach him a lesson about sleeping in my girl's bed."

"Your girl?" Lorelai's heart thrilled. His girl. This was permanent. He wanted her back!

"I hated being away from you."

"Me too. Let's not do it again." She dragged her nails down his arm and covered his hands with her own.

"I agree." His hands stopped moving and he took a steadying breath.

"Luke, is this 'the talk'?"

"I don't know. Is it."

"We need to have it."

He sighed. "I know. I'll go make some coffee."

She instantly regretted the decision as the sudden withdrawal of his touch brought goose bumps to her flesh. She had been too long without his presence, and keenly felt any absence no matter how brief. Lorelai needed to touch him and be touched by him, if only because it would reaffirm her place in his heart. She needed to be sure that the dream had finally become reality. She followed his heat to the kitchen, and blinked in momentary blindness as the ceiling light seared her eyes. "Ow! Bright!"

"Oh, heh, um, here do you have any candles?" She pointed towards the draw underneath the stove. He nodded and dug one out after turning on the coffee pot. In one fluid motion, he lit the candle on the burner flame and set a kettle on to boil. "I'm not going to ask why they're in there."

"So we can light them easily." She took the candle from him and set it in a holder on the table.

"Of course." He turned towards her, his breath hitching in his throat as the candlelight cast her body in soft glows and shadows. His flannel hung from her shoulders down to her silken thighs, its partially opened front revealing a tantalizing glimpse of her cleavage. He blushed and stepped back into the shadows. "Coffee will be ready in a minute." He turned back to the stove. "Do you have any tea?"

It was Lorelai's turn to blush as his broad back and shoulders glistened in the light. Each dip and valley between the muscles lined in shadows seemed to make him a man carved from living marble. She found her eyes drifting down to the small of his back, resting just above his boxers then back up to his thick arms and shoulders. This was going to be hard. "Third shelf, still in your can. Your mug should be there, too."

"You didn't pack it up?" Lorelai could hear the smile in his voice. He poured their drinks and turned back to her. She was already sitting and fiercely watching her hands atop the table.

"I couldn't. It hurt too much." She braced herself as she gazed across the table into a pair of blue eyes that shimmered in the candlelight. Tears threatened to burst from her as she forced herself to look back upon their time apart much as she knew Luke was willing himself to do the same. It would be torture for them both.

So much needed to be said and explained.

They nodded slightly to each other and took final steadying breaths. It was time.