Wish You Were Her(61)
Jonah hated that so many other people’s opinions lived inside her head, making her question everything that she felt. He moved behind her as she shrugged out of her robe. He circled his arms around her middle, pulling her back to his front. Gentle but firm. The noise she made brought his mouth down to her neck.
“You have the most beautiful body.”
She brought her hands up to cover his. “People write stuff every day, saying that’s not true.”
“Those people are losers.”
He kissed her neck again and she moaned. She started to pull his hands further down her stomach.
Then she suddenly stopped.
“You okay?” he asked instantly.
“Sorry,” she murmured. “Thought something moved out there…”
“Maybe a deer?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
She turned and kissed him, making him forget whatever it was he had been about say. He groaned and pushed her up against the window. She draped her arms around his neck and he lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist.
“Take me upstairs,” she said against his mouth.
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah.”
She led him upstairs, to the warm, darkened room with the rain lightly falling outside. He sat on the bed and she sat on him. He kissed her and tried to tell her through doing so that he wanted all of her. Bodies could only express and inspire so much. The soul she let him glimpse was far more beautiful. The part of her that had ignited that fear in him on their first meeting. The part that had created the spark between them, a spark they had turned into quarreling; a stupid disguise for an obvious attraction. The confident parts, the anxious parts. The parts that were assured, the parts that doubted. The parts that he had yet to meet.
It was the simplest thing—something he had always thought would be messy and complicated. And it was so easy.
* * *
Allegra had always felt the world a little more than some. Lights were always brighter, sounds went through her ear and into the backs of her eyes. Smells and tastes and touch were electricity in the nose and mouth and fingertips. So when sitting in Jonah Thorne’s lap and kissing him brought pleasure, it came in a way that was intense and overwhelming.
After about half an hour of kissing without drawing breath, it was only a cough from Grace in the other room that made them both pause. Allegra smiled against his neck and whispered, “I want this … but maybe not in a house with three other people.”
Jonah, who was a little out of oxygen, nodded. “Yes. But please tell me the millisecond you change your mind.”
As they lay side by side, she threw one leg over him and rested her head against his chest.
“This is such a nice house,” she finally whispered.
“It is. The Montgomerys are a big deal in these parts.”
“Small-town royalty?”
“Exactly.”
“So, how did Arthur…?”
“How did he land Jasper?”
“Yeah.”
Jonah shrugged. “Not sure. They’ve been together for years now. I thought they hated each other when they were at school.”
“Guess you never can tell.”
He grinned at her. “Seems so.”
Allegra glanced across at the bedside table. She slid open its tiny drawer and withdrew a pink device, with two silver balls.
“What is that?” demanded Jonah, with a laugh in his voice.
“Possibly something very dirty. Oh, no, I know! I was sent three of these last year. It’s a skincare thing.”
He eyed her dubiously and, as she pressed a small indentation on the pink body of the device, it began to vibrate which caused both of them to shake with laughter.
“That is not skincare, Allegra Brooks.”
“Yes, it is! Look, I’ll try it on your face.”
“You will do no such thing!”
She slowly dragged the vibrating device up and down his jawline, causing him to grimace.
“It stings.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“It does! It’s tingling.”
“Men are such babies.”
“What exactly is it doing for me?”
She smiled as she took in his beautiful face. The long, dark lashes fanned out on his flawless skin. Dark curls and just the smallest hint of stubble beneath the silly skincare aid.
“Not much,” she said honestly. “You look pretty great already.”
* * *
They slept for a few hours. Allegra woke to find him spooning her, with his hand splayed out across her stomach. She normally hated people touching her middle but she didn’t mind when it was him. She had done kissing scenes for work, and she had dated a few people, but nobody made her feel the way Jonah did. It was not just arousal, it was something deeper. She felt him stir, waking as she had done. He kissed her neck and gently turned her chin so he could kiss her face.
She rolled over to take his face in her hands and kissed him again. When she ran her hands through his black hair, he groaned again.
“You’re going to kill me.”
She smiled and then both of them started as the shrill sound of a telephone from downstairs pierced the air. It rang and rang, an insistent new guest in the house. Jonah and Allegra listened as Jasper slipped downstairs, with light ballerina feet.