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  “Thank you, I sincerely appreciate that.”

  She didn’t say it was ok, because it wasn’t. It never could be. She let him hurt her so many times. She forgave him, even back then, because she loved him. But she was angrier at herself for going through it and accepting it. God only knows what might have happened if she’d refused to accept it, if she’d stopped turning a blind eye to everything. It might have made him stop and be what she needed him to be, to be the man she knew he was.

  “I knew that if I ever got the opportunity to talk to you again,” he continued, “I needed to tell you how much you meant to me. You were my first love, Natalie. And if I was ever lucky enough to see you again, even if just through a window, I would be a happy man.”

  She wanted to scream at him to stop, please don’t do this to her again. At the same time she wanted to tell him she never stopped loving him, even after all that he did, and all the years.

  “That’s beautiful, thank you.”

  Natalie’s mind took charge and decided to play it safe.

  “I’ll be down in North Carolina in a few weeks, I’d love to see you. We can catch-up, laugh, and spend time together.”

  Her body tensed with apprehension. She had to bring up the obvious and most important thing.

  “You’re a married man, Michael.”

  It seemed he was ready for that as he took another deep breath.

  “Technically I am. But that’s an unusual situation. I’ve kept it together for the kids until they get out of high school, which is a couple of more years. After the first two, I didn’t want to leave my kids in a fatherless environment. I grew up without a dad, and I didn’t want to do that to my kids. When she got pregnant, it was an accident, and I wanted to kick myself. But, even if it killed me, I wasn’t going to leave them.”

  Natalie was torn as a new frustration filled her along with wanting to commend him for doing the right thing. She hadn’t done it when she was in an unhappy marriage, and she knew the devastation that followed her horrendous divorce.

  “Michael,” she said tightly, “but you’re still married.”

  “Natalie, we haven’t shared a bedroom in years. We are both here only for the kids.”

  And within all he just told her, she couldn’t help feeling there was something else he wasn’t saying.

  Finally she gave in, “Ok, I think that would be nice. Just send me the details of where and when and I’ll make arrangements.”

  She told herself she didn’t have to sleep with him, they were two old friends meeting again after a lot of years. They were only getting together.

  Which was total crap.

  “I will. I can’t wait to see you again, Natalie. I’ll send you the information. If you have any questions, please let me know.”

  “I will, I’m looking forward to it, Michael.”

  “Can I call you tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Sure, that would be great,” she answered him, cautiously holding back her excitement.

  “Ok, tomorrow then,” he said.

  “Talk to you tomorrow, bye,” Natalie replied.

  “Bye, Natalie.”

  There was a moment of silence before the line went dead.

  Natalie sat holding her phone staring at the screen. So many feelings ran wild within her: fear, excitement, hope, apprehension.

  One thing was certain though, she was not going into this trusting anything he said. She may have wanted to with everything within her. But she wasn’t that stupid anymore.

  She hoped.

  ***

  It’s been four weeks since Natalie answered Michael’s message, and many texts and phone calls. Life had been some sort of surreal place when she allowed herself moments of the past to blend with an unreal magic, swirling with emotions and fantasy.

  She’d checked into the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro two hours ago, a bundle of nerves and a screaming conscience. As she walked onto the outdoor veranda at sunset, she smiled at the vision of candles and big comfortable chairs spread out before her, instantly helping to ease her still frayed nerves. She stepped to the side of the door and scanned the tables and guests, searching for Michael.

  The world stopped as their eyes met across the courtyard. A slow smile spread across his savagely handsome face as he stood and walked towards her.

  ‘He’s even more than I imagined,’ Natalie thought, mesmerized.

  Her heart beat faster and she was already sweating as she watched his body move. It was a familiar walk, confident and sure, but so much more. He was a man now. Big, powerful, and commanding. There had been glimpses of this man in his younger, sexy, sinewy self. He was a jaguar before. Now he is a lion, an alpha, a true leader, and he has perfected it beautifully.

  His suit was impeccable and obviously very expensive, his full head of soft hair didn’t have a strand out of place, and his expression still wore that adorably mischievous look, as if he were up to no good.

  Natalie wanted to turn and run. She was afraid, he was so much. But she couldn’t move, she just stood and stared, her body reacted to him, pulled towards him, with an uncontrollable desire. It was more than lust, it was a soul deep need, a yearning so old it was embedded in every cell of her being. She may as well just lay herself down at his feet now, offering everything to him in sacrifice. She was already lost.

  “Hi,” he said smiling as his voice stroked her.

  “Hi,” Natalie whispered back, wanting to laugh and pass-out at the same time.

  He lifted his hands to her arms and held her as he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. The heat of his touch sent tremors through her, and she was sure he could feel it.

  “Thank you for coming, it’s so good to see you,” he said softly as he moved to her side and rested a hand on her lower back, guiding her to where he’d been sitting.

  Natalie thought her legs were going to give-out underneath her as she walked across the patio.

  He stood behind a chair, offering Natalie a seat, and waited for her to sit down. She did, before she fell down. He took a seat next to her making her body hum from his closeness.

  “I ordered a bottle of wine, I hope its ok. I thought you might need it, I know I did,” he laughed lightly.

  Natalie couldn’t help but laugh as well. She’d always loved the sound of his laughter, deep with a hint of mischief. “You’re nervous?” she asked him disbelievingly.

  “Of course I am. I’m half expecting you to give me the well-deserved slap I should have gotten years ago for all of the crap I put you through,” he laughed again, half-joking.

  “The night’s still young, Michael,” Natalie said, taunting him, smiling.

  “That it is, thank God,” he said, smirking, his words having a double meaning.

  Heat oozed through her veins as images of the sexual innuendo played in her mind, and body.

  He poured Natalie a glass of wine and handed it to her, then lifted his own. He raised his to toast and she followed, waiting to hear what he might say.

  “Here’s to tonight, to you, and to happiness,” he said searching her face. His eyes sparkled with something she didn’t want to imagine, as her new friend Caution tapped her shoulder.

  “Cheers,” Natalie said, lifting her glass higher.

  They weren’t children anymore. Each of them had a life, obligations, and commitments. But right now, right here, in this moment, it was only the two of them, and the magic that always pulled them together.

  They talked – a lot – and laughed even more. They spoke about their kids, and all those crazy stories of what happened while they were growing up. She answered his questions about her brother Vinnie and the rest of her family. They filled in the gaps of the years they’d missed, what happened to each of them, how their lives had progressed, and some of their struggles.

  Dinner was delicious, salmon and asparagus with a fresh salad, but Natalie barely tasted a thing, she was so engrossed in the man in front of her.

  Michael’s expression became focused as h
e looked at Natalie.

  “I looked for you, Natalie. I wanted to find you,” Michael said quietly. The words penetrated Natalie with their intensity and unsaid meaning.

  She lowered her gaze as she squirmed under the weight of his words and thought of the time she’d tried to find him as well.

  “I tried to find you too, Michael,” she confessed to him.

  “You did?” he seemed shocked as a pleased smile lifted his beautiful lips.

  “Yes, apparently my mother had your mother’s phone number, she told me years after I left New York. We had been talking about you one night and she mentioned it.”

  She lifted her eyes to his and was riveted by the depth of emotion she saw in them.

  “I never forgot you,” Natalie told him with a smile that was laced with sadness.

  “Neither did I Natalie. Why didn’t you call?” Michael asked as different emotions passed over his face.

  “We did, but the woman who answered the phone said she wasn’t your mother and didn’t know you,” Natalie replied, shrugging her shoulders.

  “If we had stayed together, we would have three, four, or maybe five kids,” Michael said with a faint smile and a sense of nostalgia of things that never happened.

  The corner of Natalie’s lips lifted slightly as a hint of melancholy began to creep into her.

  “Michael, I can do the ‘should’ve, would’ve, could’ves, but let’s not, ok?”

  Natalie’s mind yelled, ‘You were the one who left me, asshole!’ but she pushed it aside. She wasn’t going to let the loss of a life they could have had together, or the pains of the time they’d had together, ruin their night.

  “Ok.” He seemed to understand what she meant and wasn’t saying.

  Frank Sinatra’s voice filled the night air with Just The Way You Look Tonight.

  Michael took her hand and said, “Dance with me, Natalie.”

  She stood slowly and he led her to the open floor, then took her in his arms. Her senses filled with all that he was, his unique familiar scent, the intoxicating feel of his body against hers, and the way he held her. Everything and everyone else disappeared inside the soft white lights that canopied above them.

  A possessive tremor slithered through Michael, something he hadn’t felt in a very, very long time. He wanted to kiss her the way he’d longed to, passionately and thoroughly, relish her taste on his tongue. He wanted to tell her this is where she belonged. With Natalie in his arms, he felt home.

  They glided together as he sang the words in her ear. If that is all he could do right now, then that would have to be enough...for the moment.

  They must have looked like they were in a cheesy romance movie, because that’s how she felt.

  When the song ended he whispered, “You haven’t changed at all, you’re still beautiful and perfect, even lovelier today than you were twenty-five years ago,” but he wanted to say so much more. He savored the feel of her body against his, and didn’t want to let go.

  He held Natalie tightly for a long moment, each lost in their own thoughts and feelings, as the tidal wave of Michael crashed down on her, and she was drowning, lost in him…again.

  “I had some wine sent to my room, we can talk there in private,” he whispered again.

  All Natalie’s nerve endings pulsed inside her. She didn’t say anything as he looked into her eyes and took her hand. He led her from the floor, through the patio and the hallway of the hotel, then to the elevators. They waited in silence with his thumb stroking Natalie’s hand, and her heart pounding, as she trembled from his light touch.

  Each of them burned with their need for each other, still as potent today as it had been the first time Michael made love to Natalie.

  When they reached his floor and entered his suite, Natalie nervously stepped in first and took in the luxurious surroundings. The décor was elegantly modern, with floor to ceiling windows enhanced with artistic detailing, all done in neutral tones. It was clear Michael only did things first class now. He wasn’t the guy from Brooklyn anymore.

  “Natalie,” her name slipped from his lips.

  She slowly turned to face him and was struck motionless by the look in his eyes. This was the man she remembered, her dark angel.

  This was it. This was the night she’d fantasized about for so long. She was here with him. Finally. And in that moment she vowed to submerge herself in him completely, enjoy him the way she’d always longed to, and get lost in loving him, the way she’d always yearned to. Just for tonight. Because there was no tomorrow. Only tonight.

  “God, I have thought about being with you so many times.” His words came out as an aching plea.

  Michael still couldn’t believe Natalie was here with him, in his arms, and he was going to love her the way she deserved, the way she wanted him to, the only way he needed to: completely and without stopping.

  He took the step that separated them. His mouth took hers in a kiss that rocked her, it was hungry, needy, and possessive. His hands were in her hair, grabbing handfuls as he ground Natalie into him, they couldn’t get close enough. She slid her hands under his jacket, feeling his body underneath his crisp white shirt. Her fingernails raked down his back, pulling a deep moan from him. His mouth moved to nibble and suckle her lips, as the ferocity of his wanting made her gasp. His hands slid from her hair, down her back, over the curves of her ass, as she pushed into him harder, needing more.

  His mouth licked down the column of her neck to take her collarbone lightly between his teeth, sending shockwaves through her body, straight to her core.

  “Oh, God,” Natalie moaned.

  She felt him growl, vibrating against her body, making her shake with its force.

  “I need to make love to you, Natalie,” his voice was deep and thick and guttural.

  “Please Michael,” Natalie almost begged.

  His mouth lifted to consume hers again as his hands pulled her shirt up, exposing her breasts. He took them in his hands. They were heavy and hungry for his touch. His thumb teased her hardened nipples, sending shock-waves to her sex. She panted heavily, silently begging him to take them in his mouth.

  ‘She’s so delicious,’ Michael thought as his tongue stroked along her flesh, her flavor intoxicating him. ‘I could live on her taste and die a happy man.’

  His tongue found its way down Natalie’s chest and began to lick along the outline of her bra. Natalie’s desire skyrocketed as he teased her, pushing her further and further into its thick, burning oblivion. As his teeth tugged on the pebbled points poking through the fabric, he pulled the shirt from her body. Natalie grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pushed it down his arms and off his back. He had a lot more clothes on than she did and she was going to enjoy watching the layers unwrap.

  He found the zipper of her slim skirt and eased it down, the sound mixing with their heavy breaths. Michael slid his big, square hands into the open waistband of her skirt and smoothed them along the bare flesh underneath, pushing the skirt down. It fell to the floor with a silent thud, leaving her only in her lace bra and panties, and her thigh high hose and heels.

  To Natalie, she wasn’t a young girl anymore, but a woman, and a mother of two children. This was the moment she was dreading the most. The big unveiling of her body. Never had she felt so vulnerable and exposed as she did right now.

  “Let me look at how beautiful you are.” Michael’s voice was gravelly, and it made Natalie tremble.

  He took a step back and his eyes drank her in. He made her feel sexy, made her feel wanted, but more than anything else, he made her feel beautiful.

  Michael couldn’t move, he was stunned by the intensity of everything he felt. He had never wanted anyone, even Natalie, as much as he wanted her at this moment. To him, she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He could see the depth of all she was feeling, and it was breathtaking. Because she was feeling it for him. She was lush and delicious, strong and feminine, sexy and utterly intoxicating.

  “Get on the
bed, Natalie, I want to look at all of you,” Michael commanded quietly.

  Another spasm of fire surged through her. She sensed the beast inside him, ravenous and ready to devour. And he wanted her. Natalie’s breasts ached, and her already wet sex clenched with his words. She couldn’t wait to be his meal, hoping he’d take his sweet time, then lick his fingers when he was done with her. She lowered her hands to roll down her stockings before moving to the bed.

  “No, I want to do that,” he said firmly, stopping her, his voice husky with his arousal.

  Her heart quickened in anticipation with the idea of his hands moving across her skin, removing the last pieces of fabric that would separate them.

  She slid out of her heels and turned to crawl to the center of the bed.

  “Fucking beautiful,” Michael’s voice rumbled behind her.

  Natalie turned to look at him. His shirt was unbuttoned and falling to the floor. A look of pure animalistic hunger was in his eyes as he devoured the sight of her ass lifted to him. She felt another gush of her desire seep from her knowing she did that to him, it was her he wanted and hungered for. And it felt empowering.

  As she laid on her back, he opened his pants and they fell to the floor with his shirt, allowing him to step out of them. The outline of his huge erection hugged by his tight boxers made everything inside her tighten with need, her emptiness begging for him. He slipped his thumbs into the waistband, pulled them down and off his feet in one move, then pulled off his socks.

  Michael straightened and stood naked before her, his beautiful penis bobbing and waving at her. ‘God, he is beautiful,’ Natalie moaned quietly. Raw and powerful, beautiful and savage, sculpted and big. She wanted to wrap her hands and lips around his shaft, take him in her mouth, and have the taste of him explode on her tongue. The tip of it glistened with his desire, making her lick her lips for it.

  “Come here, Michael.”

  “You couldn’t keep me away, Natalie, I’ve waited way too long for you.”

  He was going to take his time, revel in her completely, taste her from the top of her head, to the tips of her toes, feel every inch of her with his hands, lips and tongue, burning the taste, feel and smell of her into his soul.