Free Petite Madeleine: Drew's Story (Meadows Shore Book 3) by Eva Charles

again.
    “We can’t, not here.”
    It was all the encouragement he needed: we can’t, not here. To him, it meant, we can somewhere else , so he whisked her outside, behind the barn, before she changed her mind. From their secluded spot, they could still hear the music. “Dance with me.”
    Her hands made their way across his shoulders, and down his back. She pressed her hips into him, rocking against the hard bulge, swaying until they were both practically delirious.
    “Cass, God , I’ve waited so long for you to kiss me like this, so damn long.” And he explored her mouth, their tongues playing off each other like a finely tuned orchestra.
    Feverish, she forgot to be on guard until he skimmed his hand over her breast, making her leap back.
    “Hey, baby, what’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” he pulled her toward him, working a soothing hand up and down her spine.
    “Nothing,” she panted. “We shouldn’t do this here. Someone might walk in on us.”
    “So what? We’re both adults. No harm as long as we keep our clothes on. Although you don’t have to.” He nipped at her lower lip. “I can’t imagine anyone would complain about seeing your gorgeous body naked. But then I’d have to kill them, and that might put a damper on the wedding,” he said whispering into her skin, alternating between nipping at the soft flesh of her neck, and laving it with his hot tongue.
    “I should get back to the hotel. My flight leaves early in the morning.” She was panting like she’d run a marathon.
    “I’ll go back with you.”
    “No.” The sharpness of her tone, the finality of the single word, made him step back.
    “You need to stay with your family until the wedding’s over.” Her voice was gentler now, but every muscle was tight, and she was queasy.
    “Don’t be afraid of what’s happening between us, Cass. Please don’t be afraid. We don’t need to finish this tonight.” He pulled back her hair from her face, combing the thick glossy length between his fingers. “We can stop well short of the end. You have my word. But I’d like to kiss you some more. Touch you in ways that make you beg for relief. Like I used to. I want to feel you come apart in my arms … all night long. I don’t need to be inside you for that to happen.”
    He had one hand planted on each side of her face, and she rested her hands over his. “Not tonight.”
    He looked over her, up at the stars dotting the expansive Midwestern sky, and then into her eyes.
    She could feel his frustration, the energy throbbing between them. But it was the defeat that she saw in his eyes that made her heart clench. “You said you’d give me time. I need a little more … please,” she begged.
    “A little more, Cass, just a little more. I think that’s all I have in me.”
     
    * * *
     
    Lying in the hotel bed, Cassie thought about the wedding. It had been beautiful. Cole was so happy, and he looked at Alexa like she hung the moon and every one of the stars.
    She wanted that too, and her stomach knotted. Sure, Drew looked at her like she spun straw into gold—now. But he hadn’t seen her naked, or heard her sad story, and when he did, the aura would surely be tarnished.
    Stop! No more negative self-talk tonight. She needed to talk to Reece, who was the only person who wouldn’t put up with her self-pity. And with a witty remark or two, she’d have her laughing in no time. Even cancer hadn’t been a subject too serious for Reece to inject some humor. She’d made her laugh at a time when nothing seemed all that funny, and she’d taught her to find humor in the darkest corners.
    Cassie glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand, and after calculating the time difference, she reached for her phone.
    “Reece, did I wake you?”
    “No. Everything okay?”
    “Yeah. I’m in Minnesota.”
    “Minnesota? Oh, yeah, the wedding. How was it?”
    “Beautiful.”
    “How about being with Drew’s family?”
    “After about ten minutes, all the years