Page 74 of A Hard Habit to Break

They burst through the water’s surface, gasping for air. Where their bodies touched, passion ignited, and Rachel felt his mind drift, but not away. She connected with Noah on both a physical and emotional level. Every cell clamored for his attention. Noah had to feel the change he wrought in her. As if by instinct, his hips bucked. Rachel’s legs, still around hiswaist, clamped down, locking together. When she looked at his face, his lips parted, not in a cocky grin, but in relief.

“If it takes all night,” he whispered, “I’ll show you that you can trust me with heart, your body, your soul.”

The rush of water crashed into their bodies, pushing them, washing away restraint, leaving only love in its wake.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

NO ONE COULDhave prepared Noah for the afterburn of experiencing Rachel’s absolute trust in his bed. The woman was everything he’d ever dreamed up. Her touch satisfied him like summer rain falling on sun-dried earth. He felt renewed, reborn, even. He was used to winning, but nothing felt as good as earning a love so vital that he thought he’d wither from neglect without it. Yes, she’d made him over.

Like fire igniting every fiber in his body, she forged him anew, and he enthusiastically returned the favor with everything he had until love, passion, and something inextricable that linked him to this woman consumed every part of him, branding his heart with one name—Rachel. Even with his body sated and exhausted, he burned for her. Noah welcomed the sting and craved the reminder. What man could resist a flame willing to blaze at his touch?

“Hey,” Rachel groused, her voice still weighted with slumber. She shifted her legs beside his, though she barely moved underneath the coverlet, seeking his heat.

Noah smiled. “Your lady grumble is the sexiest sound I’ve heard ever.”

She lifted one hand in mock surrender. “If that’s the case, then good morning, good-looking.”

He laughed, knowing he’d replay this exchange a thousand times in his head. Some of his best memories were of them trading sexy jabs after lovemaking. The stakes had been high back then, two inexperienced teenagers, one dreaming of small-town life, the other longing for adventure.

“You hungry, sweetheart?” Noah certainly was. They had a lot of loving to catch up on. As if reading his mind, Rachel slid her hand across his chest, caressing his pecs. Yeah, he was hungry for more of that, too.

“Quit teasing, Six.”

She giggled, and then her eyes popped open, the amber clear as gemstones. “I could eat.”

“Good, ’cause I can cook.”

She twisted in his arms until his chest served as her pillow. “That’s even better.”

He glanced down at her. “Don’t tell me all these years away, you still can’t see the joy in cooking.”

“Fine, I won’t tell. Andcan’tis not a part of my vocabulary. There are choices and consequences. I choose not to cook often because I don’t want to stomach the consequences.”

He pulled her flush on top of him, nestling her slim, taut body between his bare legs. “I love you, funny girl.”

She reared back, her arms folded, lifting her face off his chest. Her gaze bore into his as if he were an aberration. There was nothing cloudy about his confession. He’d tell her a thousand times a day, if it meant she’d stay.

“You’ve changed,” she whispered. “You’re not the same cocky, from-the-window-to-the-wall, win-at-all-costs boy that I remember.”

“It’s still me. Winning is important. Losing you is not an option.”

She kissed his cheek. “Yeah,” she croaked, “I know who you are.”

But did she? If she questioned his commitment, his love for her, then she’d missed the biggest part of him… which included her, in every way possible. “Did you hear what I said?”

“I heard you, Noah.”

Lifting his hand, he brushed his fingers along her cheek. “Do you need to hear it again?”

She swallowed, then nodded her head. “I think it might help. Maybe if you say it enough.” She rolled her eyes heavenward. “This slice of happiness will take up permanent residence in our cabin by the water.”

She shrugged, a wood splinter of doubt burrowed deep in her memory. He’d give them new remembrances to ease away the hurt of the past.

“I love you, Six. Through the years, through the miles, through the silence, I never stopped yearning for you, for your love. You trust me with your body, trust me with your heart, and your soul. I won’t fail you a second time.” Noah swallowed old fears that he couldn’t be enough, that somehow everyone had one up on him, no matter how hard he tried. “Can you love me back?”

“I love you backward, forward, sideways, up and down, Noah Calvary. There’s never been a time when I didn’t love you.”

“Yeah,” he hollered, peppering her face with wet kisses.