"Do you remember that night I came to see you and was crying?"

His hand stilled, then he continued to caress her cheek. "Yeah, I remember."

"Why did you stop what was happening between us?"

"Do you know how difficult that was for me?"

She shook her head. "I assumed it was because you didn't want me."

He chuckled. "You know exactly how much I wanted you. You were rubbing my hard-on through my jeans while I sucked your nipple."

He couldn't be sure in the dim light, but he thought he saw a blush bloom in her cheeks. "You were definitely hard. So why did you stop? It couldn't have been because of me. I was certainly willing."

"There were a lot of reasons."

"Like?"

Dray set his wineglass on the table next to Shaula's. Moving closer to her, he touched her knee while he continued to caress her neck and jaw. "You were hurting from what that asshole Mullins and his idiot friends said to you about your weight. I didn't want to take advantage of you when you were in pain. I was leaving the next day for college. We'd been friends for years. I didn't want to mess that up by fucking you in your car and taking off. How would that have made you feel?"

Shaula shrugged. "I don't know. I never got the chance to find out."

"Did you want to find out? Did you want to be...more than friends?"

"You talked about your girlfriends and sex all the time, Dray. Yes, I was curious. I didn't know what I was curious about since a boy had never touched me before you. But you went off to college, then you got married, then I moved to Flagstaff. We never had the chance to...explore each other."

Dray ran one knuckle into her cleavage. It pleased him to hear her breath catch. "I'm not married anymore. We're here together. Is there any reason why we can't explore each other now?"

Taking his hand, she pushed it inside her bra. Her warm breast filled his palm. "No, there's no reason."

His breathing grew rough as he caressed the firm flesh. He found her hard nipple and circled it with his thumb. This is where he'd wanted to be so many times...close to Shaula, touching her. He'd treasured her friendship, so never pushed for anything more from her. Knowing she'd wanted more all along made him regret the time they'd lost.

Dray moved next to her. He'd never kissed Shaula. Even though they'd almost had sex seventeen years ago, they'd never shared a kiss other than a peck on the cheek. It was definitely past time to change that fact.

He cradled her face with both hands and lowered his lips to hers. Warm, liquid silk. Dray inhaled sharply at the sweet taste of her. He mentally yelled at himself for never kissing Shaula in the past. If he had, he doubted if he ever would have left her.

One kiss led to two, then three. She parted her lips for the thrust of his tongue. Dray dove deep, gathering her unique flavor and taking it back into his mouth. She followed, her tongue beginning a playful duel with his.

Dray drew back and looked into her eyes. Her breathing sounded as uneven as his. "I want you," he said, his voice husky.

"I want you, too."

"Do you? Be sure, 'cause I'm ready to start tearing off clothes."

Taking his hands in hers, she kissed each palm. "Tearing off clothes sounds good to me."

a