All Night Long

crazy.”
    “No, you’re just processing.” He pulled her hard against his chest. “Go ahead and cry.”
    She pressed her face into his shirt. “I thought men got nervous around crying females.”
    “I’m a Marine, remember? We’re trained to handle anything.”
    She started to laugh and then, to her shock, she was sobbing. Great racking, gushing, cleansing sobs poured forth from the very core of her being.
    She could not fight it, so she abandoned herself to the storm.
    Luke held her tight until it was over.
    Afterward he made her a cup of tea. She sat with him at the little table looking out at the lake, awar hat something inside her was now calm.
    “Better?” he asked.
    She realized she could smile again. “Yes.”

----
    Irene was in bed when he got out of the shower. Luke stopped in the doorway, one hand securing the knot of the towel wrapped around his waist. He took in the sight of her propped against the pillows.
p. Waiting for him, he thought. Urgent need unfurled inside him. Within the space of a couple of heartbeats, he went from being exhausted to fully aroused.
    This was not a good time, he thought. Between that visit to her nightmare house and Pamela’s message from beyond the grave, Irene had gone through some very heavy stuff today.
    He reminded himself that he was in control. He was always in control.
    He took two steps toward the bed and then stopped a second time.
    “Luke?” Her brows drew together in concern. “Is something wrong?”

    “I should probably use the couch,” he said, aware, even as he said it, that he wanted her to argue with him.
    “Why?”
    “I’m feeling a little restless. Might be a while before I can get to sleep. You’ve had a tough day. Yo eed your rest.”
    She looked pointedly down at the bulge in the towel. When she raised her head, her expression ha urned sultry and knowing.
    “I think what you need is a sleeping aid,” she said. She smiled slowly. “Lucky for you, I’ve got just the thing.”
    Delight and anticipation burned through him.
    “Does it involve batteries?” he asked.
    Her laughter danced and sparkled in the room. “Come here and find out.”
    He switched off the bedside light and released his grip on the towel. But when he got into bed an tarted to lower his mouth to hers, she planted one hand flat against his chest, stopping him.
    He raised his brows. “Something wrong?”
    “I told you I’m going to help you get to sleep, remember?”
    “Sleep is the last thing on my mind at the moment.”
    “Let’s just see if you’re still saying that after I’m finished with you.”
    She pushed firmly against his chest. He hesitated and then rolled obligingly onto his back. She cam own on top of him, soft and warm and smelling of exotic seas and flowers that have no name.
    He folded his hands behind his head, enjoying the seduction. “Now what?”
    She did not answer. Instead her hand slid down across his belly. When she reached her goal and

    encircled him with her fingers, he felt everything inside him clench with eagerness.
    “That works,” he said.
    “I noticed.”
    And then she found him with her mouth, and he thought he would shatter. He unfolded his arms and caught her head between his hands.
    “You might want to go easy there,” he managed.
    She looked up at him through her tumbled hair. “Thought Marines never did things the easy way.”
    “Exception to every rule.”
    “Not in your case.” Her tongue tripped lightly along the length of his erection.
    He groaned, squeezing his eyes against the hot pleasure.
    She released him to glide up his overheated body. He opened his eyes and watched, riveted, as sh ettled herself astride and took him deep inside. She was so tight, so hot and so very wet.
    Sensation pounded through him. He wasn’t going to be able to last much longer, he realized. He coul eel his climax thundering down on him like a runaway train. He gripped her waist, intending to reverse their positions.
    “No,” she said, flattening her palms on his chest. “You don’t have to be in control every time. Jus et go.”
    “You’re not there yet.”
    “We’ll worry about me next time.”
    “No.” He knew he was dampening the sheets with his perspiration. “I want you with me.”
    “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
    The soft promise in her words sent him over the edge.

    Suddenly he was flying.

----
    A long time later, he came back to his senses. The room smelled of sex and satisfaction. No