“Del, don’t,” she said, reaching down to cover herself with the edges of her dress.

His gaze met hers. “Don’t what?” he asked. “Touch you?”

He demonstrated the action by sweeping a single finger between her legs. Despite herself, she moaned.

“Don’t what?” he repeated, then lowered himself so that he could kiss the top of her left thigh. “Don’t think you’re lovely and wonderful? Don’t imagine myself deep inside of you? Don’t remember how it felt to take you and be taken by you?”

Each word fell on her, branding her, making her recall how it had been between them. Her breathing quickened. When he swept his hands up the length of her legs, she found if she didn’t think about it too much, she actually didn’t mind. She felt the ridges of her assortment of scars and knew he felt them, too. But he didn’t look at them. Instead he kept his gaze locked with hers.

Slowly he reached forward and pulled down her panties. Then he returned to her side and drew her into a sitting position. When she’d shrugged out of her dress, he unfastened her bra and slid it down her arms. Finally he settled her back on the bed and stretched out beside her. His mouth returned to hers while his fingers resumed their delicate torture.

But this time was so much better. This time there wasn’t anything between them, not fabric, not even air. He brushed against her swollen wetness and dipped into her waiting heat. Over and over he thrust into her, mimicking the act of love to follow. His mouth trailed down her throat, then moved lower until he took one nipple between his lips. His tongue flicked against her. That combined with the gentle movements of his fingers was too much for her. She clutched the bedspread and prepared herself for flight.

Higher and faster and lighter and over and around. How he touched her. He knew when to concentrate on that single spot and when to push a finger inside. The pace increased. He returned his mouth to hers, kissing her deeply until she couldn’t hold back anymore. It had been so very long, and she’d so missed making love with Del.

That was her last conscious thought as the pleasure shuddered through her. Her body trembled with release. She called out his name over and over as she soared into the perfection of the release. And when she was finally still, she found herself cradled in his arms.

Seconds passed, then minutes, where she struggled to catch her breath. When she was finally still, he brushed her hair away from her face.

“I want you,” he murmured.

“Yes,” she told him. “Please, be inside of me.”

He rose to his feet and quickly stripped off his clothes. Shirt, shoes, socks, jeans, briefs. Until he was naked.

Josie looked at him, at the breadth of his shoulders and the way dark hair lightly covered his chest. Time had honed his muscles. He was still beautiful, especially that most male part of him. He was also very aroused. The proof of his desire made her feel safe and wanted.

He moved to rejoin her on the bed, but she raised her hand to hold him off.

“Protection,” she said. “I’m not on anything and parts of me are still completely intact.”

“No problem.” He opened the nightstand and pulled out a sealed box of condoms. After opening the container, he removed one, then returned to her side.

They kissed deeply. Although she’d already had her pleasure once, Josie wanted more. She needed to feel Del inside of her, filling her the way he used to. Tension radiated from him-more proof that he was as ready.

“It’s time,” she murmured against his mouth.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Just go slowly. I don’t know how much I’m going to bend.”

His gaze turned serious. “Tell me if anything hurts. I don’t mind stopping.” He hesitated, then grinned. “Okay, I’ll mind a little but I’ll still do it.”

She nodded, then parted her legs as far as she could. Del applied his protection and positioned himself between her legs. He stopped long enough to grab pillows and place them under her knees, then he gently moved his hips forward.

She felt him enter her. Slowly, so very slowly, filling her until she knew she couldn’t stand anything more of this extraordinary pleasure. She stretched around him and felt her body collecting for the first pulse of her release.

When he was all the way inside, he paused. “Are you all right?”

She nodded. There was a slight tugging in her hips, but nothing she couldn’t ignore. She desperately wanted to tilt her pelvis to invite him in further. However she knew the folly of that move. Spending the next fifteen minutes screaming in pain would be a mood breaker.

Instead she let him do all the work. She tightened around him with each thrust but otherwise was still. Del moved slowly but steadily, filling her over and over again. Tension increased with each penetration until she couldn’t hold back anymore. The first shuddering release swept through her.

He groaned with her climax. His gaze sought hers.

“I can feel that,” he gasped in amazement, his features tight with passion. Then he swore and bent low to kiss her.

She found herself caught up in a chain reaction. With each thrust, she lost a bit more of herself to the release. The slow rhythm was making her crazy in the best way possible. She never wanted it to stop. Over and over she shuddered until she was exhausted and content. Finally he gave one last, deep thrust and was still. She was so in tune with him that she felt the pulsing rush of his own competition. They stared at each other in that moment of perfect communication, two truly united as one.

Del pulled the covers over Josie and himself, then drew her into his arms.

“You okay?” he asked.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed. “That’s the fifth time you’ve asked me. I’m going to stop saying yes in a second.”

“I want to make sure I didn’t hurt you.”

“Del, you redefined my role in the universe, but you didn’t hurt me.” She snuggled closer and closed her eyes. “Thank you. That was spectacular.”

“I liked it, too.”

She shoved at his arm without opening her eyes. “Don’t you dare pretend it wasn’t amazing.”

He smoothed the hair from her face and smiled into the night. “Amazing works for me.”

Amazing and a bunch of other words like incredible or unbelievable. Sex with Josie had always been great, but tonight was one of the only times he remembered making love with her. There’d been a closeness, a connection he didn’t recall from their past. Being inside of her had changed everything. Or maybe it had just exposed the truth.

He was falling in love with her.

Del shifted so he could raise his free arm and slide his hand under his head. Josie’s slow breathing indicated that she was already falling asleep. He’d always appreciated that she wasn’t one of those women who liked to talk after sex. That hadn’t changed.

But many other things had, he thought, remembering her concerns about him looking at her scars. She’d been scared and vulnerable. Two very unnatural states for his ex-wife. But she’d faced down her fears, which was 100 percent Josie. He was having trouble reconciling the person she’d been, with the person she’d become.

The impatience was gone, as was her anger, he thought, although given what she’d been through in the past year it made sense that she would be more intense. Instead Josie had gentled. He felt different, as well. Maybe they’d used the time apart to grow up. Had they changed enough?

He stroked her hair and heard her murmur his name. If he was falling in love with her, what was going to happen now? He hadn’t allowed himself to think about the future, but here it was-looming.

He thought about all the women he’d been with after the divorce. He’d enjoyed them but he’d never loved anyone but Josie. She’d claimed his heart eight years ago, and he’d never bothered to get it back.

“I like you holding me,” she whispered in the dark, sounding sleepy. “You feel good.”

“You, too.”

“Was I…” Her voice trailed off. “Were you surprised?”

At first he thought she was asking about them making love. Then he realized she meant the scars. Had they shocked him? He thought about the lines on her legs. Some were pale, others were still red and thick. There were scars on her stomach, her arms and a thin one down the side of her left breast. Three years ago she’d been physically perfect. Today she was everything he wanted.

“I wasn’t surprised that it was still good between us,” he told her. “You always were a hot babe.”

She giggled. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.” He turned and kissed her forehead. “The scars only matter to me because they meant you were in pain once. Otherwise, I don’t even see them.”

“But we had to do it differently. I couldn’t get in any weird positions.”

“I don’t care about that. I like doing it the old-fashioned way. Making love doesn’t have to be a sporting event every time.”

She sighed. “We used to do it standing up, Del. I can’t do that anymore.”

He pulled her tighter against her. “When you were gone, I missed the sound of your laughter and the way you smelled. I missed making love, but when I thought about that, I never once imagined us doing it against the door. I swear.”

“You promise?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” She sighed and was still.

Del enjoyed the feel of her curves next to him. What exactly were they talking about, he wondered. It seemed to him they were skirting around the issue of their marriage. They were living in the same house and they’d just become lovers. Did that mean they were going to give it another try? He wanted to believe it might work, but he wasn’t sure. Josie had lived her life to be independent, and he wasn’t interested in a relationship in which he wasn’t needed. So where exactly did that leave them?