“God, I’ve wanted to touch you for weeks,” she confessed.

He brought his hands down from the wall to trace along her body until they reached her hips, and he pulled her even closer. He nuzzled his face into the side of her neck, nibbling it, and then he dragged his tongue up to flick it against her earlobe.

“I’ve wanted to be touched, Georgia. You’ve been making me crazy,” he told her.

Her nails dug into his ass, and then her fingers moved without hesitation up his body and under his shirt where they stroked his bare flesh.

Pulling his mouth away from her neck, he groaned in her ear.

“I want inside of you so badly.”

* * *

If it was possible, Shelly could have sworn that she just got wetter than she already was. It was hard to believe that the man held such power over her.

As they stood in complete darkness in the tiny room only a few feet away from their close friends, all Shelly could think about was how quickly she could remove her panties and hike up her skirt.

Apparently, that was all Josh could think of too because suddenly he disappeared from in front of her. She heard a soft thud and realized the man had gone down to his knees.

Yes, yes, yes! Shelly thought when she felt his big rough hands cup her ankles, make their way up her naked calves, and then over her knees until he reached the hem of her black skirt.

He paused there, and Shelly stood still, her harsh breathing the only sound thundering through her ears.

“Any reason I should stop?” he asked.

Shelly knew that he was trying to give her an out if things were getting a little too real for her, but as she stood there with her back to the wall and darkness surrounding them, Shelly couldn’t think of one reason for him to stop.

“Not if you don’t want me to die,” she said, trying to inject some lightness into the situation.

Instead, she felt his hands squeeze her legs, slipping a little ways under the hem of her skirt.

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to you ever,” he told her much more seriously than she had anticipated.

Shelly heard a rustling, and then his hands slid further up her thighs, the fabric slowly bunching up at his wrists and forearms. Then, she realized the rustling had been him rising up higher on his knees.

As he was kneeling in front of her in the dark with her skirt bunched up around her waist, he told her, “I promised that the next time I saw you I’d kiss you.”

Shelly took a deep breath in as he quickly ripped her tiny black thong away from her. She couldn’t have moved if the fire alarms had gone off and Mason had been pounding on the door. Her desire was so tangible that she was surprised her trembling legs were holding her upright. She supposed, somewhere in the back of her mind, that the wall was helping with that issue as well.

The fact that they were surrounded by darkness only added to her heightened sense of awareness. When she felt a rough finger slide back and forth between her slick wet folds, she couldn’t help the deep guttural moan that was wrenched from her.

“Oh yeah,” Josh groaned from his position down in front of her. “Goddamn, Shel, you’re so fucking wet.”

Whimpering loudly, she finally told him, “Now, Josh. Please. Do it now.”

* * *

Josh chuckled as Shelly leaned back against the wall for support, trembling in her heels with her skirt up around her waist. Since he had shredded her panties, she was naked from the waist down. As he took a deep breath in, dragging his finger back and forth through her juices, he licked his lips in anticipation.

When she started to beg, Josh moved his head in close and flicked his tongue out to play with her throbbing clit. It was so hard and wet from her excitement that it took everything Josh had to slow it down and not devour her.

Reaching up with his fingers, he spread her flushed lips a little further apart, and then ran his tongue back and forth against her juicy flesh. When she cried out in pleasure and gripped his head, Josh couldn’t help but grin wickedly to himself as he devoured the man-eater. What irony, he thought as she melted all over his tongue.

He pleasured her until her moaning and panting was almost turning to a sob, and then he felt her reach down and grip his hair tight.

“I need it now. Can’t wait. Need to feel you inside me,” she begged him as she tugged on his hair, trying to get him to move.

Not one to turn down such a sexy plea, Josh stood, unzipped his slacks, and pushed them down his hips. He heard her moan, and then he moved forward.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he reached down to grip her right leg behind the knee. Hitching it up to his hip, he held it there and rubbed his aching flesh against her, waiting for her next move.

* * *

Shelly was going to die if he didn’t put his cock inside of her right now.

As he played between her thighs, she gripped his hair at the back of his neck, tugging him forward in the dark, and kissed his mouth roughly. This time she heard him groan, so she pulled back and bit his bottom lip.

“Please…inside of me, Josh. I need to feel you stretching me, filling me up—”

He grunted softly against her mouth as he lined up the thick head of his shaft, and then he proceeded to thrust home.

Shelly screamed, biting down on his shoulder, as he entered her forcefully, banging her solidly up against the wall. While he continued to pound away at her with one of her legs hitched up and over his naked hip, Shelly couldn’t remember a man ever having such power over her. As she gave herself over to the powerful climax, screaming out his name and shattering all around him, she also knew there would never be another man who would.

* * *

Standing in the cocoon of the coatroom, breathing hard, Josh could feel a bead of sweat slide down his temple. He was still lodged deep inside of her, and her arms were still wound tightly around his neck. Their reunion had been nothing short of spectacular.

As her breathing calmed, she whispered, “Josh, I—”

“Shh,” he murmured against her neck. “Shh.” He was not quite ready to hear that yet.

He felt her tense a little.

She asked quietly, “Why won’t you let me tell you how I feel? I don’t understand why you’re making this so hard.”

Josh leaned in and kissed her lips. “I’m not trying to make it hard, Shelly.”

As he finally pulled away, she sighed. “Then, what are you trying to do?”

Josh thought about that, and then answered honestly, “I’m trying to make it right.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

The next morning Shelly woke up early. As she lay in bed, she couldn’t help but think back to last night with Josh.

It seemed that no matter how much she tried to open up to him, he was now the one pulling back. Or is he? It’s all so confusing, Shelly thought with a sigh.

One moment, she could swear he wanted nothing other than to touch her or hold her. Yet, in the next moment, when she tried to tell him her feelings, he always stopped her.

Maybe he was right to make them wait. He kept saying that he wanted things to be right. But how could they be when he was living somewhere else?

As the alarm sounded beside her, Shelly rolled over and looked at the time. 8:00 a.m. Rubbing her eyes, she decided that now was not the time to try and work out the enigma that was Josh. Instead, it was time to focus on one very important thing—a wedding at Promontory Point.

* * *

Several hours later, Shelly arrived at Lena’s old condo.

She was actually rather surprised she remembered how to get there since Lena was very rarely at the old place anymore, instead choosing to move in with Mason. She put her place up for sale, but in this economy, it still sat empty. It was now the perfect location to get ready and keep the bride away from the wandering eyes and hands of her impatient groom.

When she was buzzed in and let up to the floor Lena was on, Shelly had to admit that she was starting to feel nervous for her friend.

Today was a huge day in Mason and Lena’s life.

In front of family and friends, they were about to commit to one another, promising to love one another forever.

Forever.

That’s such a long time, Shelly thought as she waited for Lena to open the door. Just as it unlatched, Josh suddenly flashed into her mind, but she quickly pushed him aside when Lena appeared, beaming at her.

“And how is the lovely bride on this beautiful morning?” Shelly asked as she stepped forward.

Lena moved aside to let her in. “Ahh, the bride is nervous, and the groom has already called five times.”

Shelly had to laugh at that. It sounded just like Mason to be worried about his doctor today. The two of them had been through a lot to get to where they finally were now. He was probably having a minor case of paranoia, believing it wasn’t actually going to happen.

“Well, the groom is out of his mind. There is no way I’m going to be slacking on my duties, even if I have to pick you up and carry you to the wedding myself.”

Lena laughed as she closed the door, and Shelly took that moment to lay her garment bag across Lena’s couch.

“You don’t have to worry about that. There’s no other place I want to be this evening than standing at the alter with Mason,” Lena told her with a smile on her face.

Shelly returned it, reaching out to hug her friend. Shelly’s heart tightened. She felt herself getting somewhat emotional, hearing her friend so sure of her path and direction, not to mention, the person she intended to share it with.