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He put his hand around the back of her neck His fingers felt warainst her skin She leaned back just a little so that she felt anchored by him, held close

“Do you want me?” he asked

She felt the softness of his breath against her lips She wanted to close her eyes or look away; anything that would allow her to pretend But the truth was in his eyes, as clear and visible as a starfish at low tide He was still in love with his wife

But she’d been lonely for a long tily close, she couldn’t make herself push it back She moved closer and looked up at him “I want you”

His kiss was a cool glass of water to her parched soul and she drank greedily When they finally drew back, she saw her own desire reflected in his eyes

“Co him into the house and down the hall and into her bedroohts, she stepped out of her robe and nightgown and pulled him into bed

He kissed her until she begged forto him with all the desperate passion of a wo Her release was an exquisite blending of pain and pleasure, and she cried out, al at the emotions that came with it

“That was great,” he said, lying back into the pillows and pulling her close

She lay beside hi since she’d been in bed with a otten how s felt, how nice it was to have someone kiss your bare shoulder for no reason at all

Long into the night they talked and kissed and later they ain At around four o’clock, Winona finally put on her nightgown and went into the kitchen When she returned to the bedrooh toast with fresh local honey and orange juice she’d squeezed herself

Mark sat up in bed, letting the covers fall away from his naked chest

She climbed in beside him

“It’s been a long time since someone cooked for me,” he said, and then leaned sideways to kiss her

The truth was that she had at least a thousand recipes in her card box at the house in town She’d been collecting the for so to him as he talked He told her about the countries he’d visited and the probleirl alone for the past year, and how happy he was to be starting over in Oyster Shores

After breakfast, he pulled her into his ar on their sides, their legs entwined, their heads on separate pillows, staring at each other