what she could while he was here in her arms because too soon he would be gone forever.
Finally, she gave a thought to their time and place.
“Zach, there are other people in the house now,” she whispered, wondering if her protests fell on deaf ears.
He kissed her, silencing her conversation. When she felt him tug on her sweater, she grasped his wrists. Breathing hard, he looked at her as she shook her head.
“We’re downstairs. Nigel and Rosie are here. Within the hour you should leave for your flight to Dallas to see your doctor. We have to stop loving now.”
Combing long strands of hair from her face, Zach looked at her mouth. “You’re beautiful. We’ll come back to this moment tonight when I get home.”
“We shouldn’t,” she whispered. “You need to get lunch now before you go.”
“I know what I’d rather do.”
She shook her head. “Lunch is on the schedule.”
“Ok, come eat with me.” She nodded, walking beside him, unable to resist. Through lunch he was charming, making her anxious for his return before he had even left the house.
While he was gone the house was quiet and she read, stopping occasionally to stretch, or pacing the room and reading as she walked.
Late afternoon shadows grew long and she added a log to the fire. It was winter and the days had grown shorter with a chill in the air. She heard his whistle before he appeared. When he came through the office door, he closed it behind him. Her heart thudded against her ribs. She took one look at him and knew her job was over.
Vitality radiated from him as if he had been energized while he was in Dallas. She didn’t have to ask what the doctor had said. Zach crossed the room to pull her to her feet and kiss her heatedly
In minutes, clothes were tossed aside. The fire was glowing orange embers, giving the only light in the darkened room during early evening.
“Zach, we’re downstairs and not alone in the house.”
“The door is closed. No one will bother us,” he whispered between kisses. “I want you, Emma.” He kissed her before she could argue and she yielded, loving him back with a desperate urgency.
They moved to the rug in front of the fire. Heat warmed her side while Zach’s body was hot against her own. He got a condom from a pocket and returned to kneel between her legs while he put it in place.
Orange sparks and embers highlighted the bulge of muscles and his thick manhood while the planes of his cheeks and flat stomach were shadows. Another memory to lock away in her mind and heart.
A log cracked and fell, sending a shower of sparks spiraling up the chimney. The sudden flash of red and orange dancing sparks illuminated Zach even more for a brief moment. He looked like a statue, power and desire enveloping him. She drew her fingers along his muscled thighs and heard him gasp for breath.
Lowering himself, he wrapped his arms around her to thrust slowly into her, filling her. He was hard, hot, moving with a tantalizing slowness as she arched beneath him.
“Zach,” she whispered, wanting to confess her love, longing to hold him tightly and tell him she loved him with all her heart.
Their rhythm built, increasing need and tension, until release burst, spinning her into ecstasy, taking him with her seconds later.
She lost awareness of everything except Zach in their moment of perfect union. A physical bonding at the height of passion that carried with it an emotional bonding. Clinging to him with her long legs wrapped around him, she did not want to let go as if she could hold the moment and delay time itself. This man, so totally different from her, had become vital to her. Right now she couldn’t face letting him go.
They slowed, calmed while she caught her breath. Her hands were light touches, caressing his shoulders and back while she drifted in paradise.
When he rolled over, taking her with him, he kissed her tenderly. There was still enough glow from embers to reflect on Zach and she touched his cheek lightly. “The doctor said your foot is healed, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he did,” Zach said, smiling. “I can toss this boot and wear my shoes. My own boots have to wait a while, but eventually, I can wear them.”
“So my job ends this week. Christmas is coming and I wanted off anyway.”
“I’ll be gone for Christmas, but I’ll come back afterwards and that’s when I’m taking you out. I’d stay if you’d stay with me for a few weeks, but you’ll want to be home for Christmas.”
“Yes, I will,” she said, hurting, even though she had known this time was approaching.
“I’ll be in touch with you,” he said. Glancing over his shoulder, he shifted away to stand and put another log on the fire. He returned to pull her close against him, warm body against warm body as he wrapped his legs with hers.
He combed her long hair away from her face with his fingers. Tingles followed each stroke and she could feel their hearts beating together.
“This is paradise, Emma.”
How she longed to hear him say words of love. Common sense told her that would not happen, but wishes and dreams came with his strong arms holding her and his light kisses making her feel loved.
All were illusions that would disappear with the morning sun. For now she could pretend, wish, hope, give herself to fantasies that normally she wouldn’t entertain for a minute.
She kissed him lightly in return.
The fire crackled and burned, causing dancing dark shadows and bathing Zach’s body in orange.
“You’re very quiet,” he said.
“I’m savoring the moment.”
“I’m savoring holding you close. Sometime tonight we’ll get in a bed, but not yet.”
Eventually, they gathered their clothing and each went to shower. They put away the dinner Rosie had cooked and made sandwiches to eat in front of the fire and sat and talked until Zach stood and took her hand.
“Let’s go upstairs and I’ll build a fire in my room. I can do stairs now with ease.” He placed his arm across her shoulders as they climbed the stairs, leading her down the hall to his suite of rooms where he took her into his arms to kiss her.
Wednesday, she gave all her time to the letters. Zach’s work had dwindled as Christmas approached, so since Thanksgiving she had devoted her time to trying to get through as many of the letters and memorabilia as she could.
She hoped someone else in the Delaney family wanted the letters because the few she had read to Zach and the ones he had read himself had not changed his feelings about them. He always sent them to the discard pile.
By Friday, the tension from being constantly around him—loving him, but not able to make him truly hers—was greater than ever. Today would change everything. Today she would return to Dallas, to her life before meeting Zach. Even though he
