Intense seconds passed, then Daniel quite suddenly gave up the fight. His mouth came crashing back down upon hers. He lifted her up, her legs encircling his waist as he carried her to the bedroom. They fell upon the bed, Daniel on top of Sam, his desire for her now in complete control. One of his hands found its way under the skirt of her dress and up to her panties. He grabbed hold of the waistband and pulled it down, his hand then grasping her bottom. Sam let out a sound that was halfway between a moan and a cry. She got his pants unfastened and pushed them and his boxers down far enough to release him from their confinement. She then began yanking down her panties in a frantic effort to get them off. With Daniel's help, they were soon gone. He all but ripped his T-shirt off, then took hold of the straps of Sam's dress and bra and pulled them down. The dress and bra were soon bunched around her waist.
Daniel's hands and lips fell upon Sam's breasts. Sam clutched at him, her head tilting up, back arching as he filled his mouth with her.
After several more exquisite seconds, Daniel's lips left Sam's breasts, and he rose back up. He could feel her need for him, and it was matched by his own for her. Unable to wait a moment longer, he buried himself all the way inside her. She cried out, her arms and legs tightening around him. The sound of that cry made his desire burn even hotter. He launched into a hard, fast tempo that soon had him soaring upward toward climax. He held it off, wanting, needing Sam to come with him. His gaze went to her face, and he found himself transfixed by the look of rapture on it.
At that moment, Sam's eyes opened and locked upon his. The wild light of ecstasy within them broke his control, and, suddenly, he was coming. Two seconds later, Sam cried out his name and followed him into the bright abyss.
Long seconds passed before they emerged, thundering hearts gradually slowing. Their eyes met again, each of them seeing in the other a matching wonder over the power of what they'd just felt. Daniel lowered his mouth to Sam's, and she took it eagerly. It wasn't until the kiss ended that they became fully aware that they hadn't even managed to get completely undressed. Neither of them really cared, and they had no desire to move any time soon.
Daniel kissed Sam's cheek and jaw, then moved down to her neck and shoulder. One of his hands slipped between them and went to her breast, his thumb stroking the nipple. He felt the reaction in Sam's body and realized that, though it would be a while before he'd be ready again, the same was not true for Sam.
A sudden desire took hold of Daniel. Every time he made love with his wife, he had wanted her to experience as much pleasure as it was possible for him to give, and, now, he wanted to give that to Sam.
With that thought in mind, he lifted off her and got out of the bed, quickly dispensing with his pants and boxers. He took hold of her dress and the bra beneath it and pulled them down her hips and off. For a moment, he just looked at her, his gaze traveling over her body as she did the same to his. He then held his hand out to her, and she took it. He pulled her off the bed and led her to the bathroom, where he started the shower running.
As they stepped into the warm spray, Daniel moved around behind Sam and angled the shower head so that the water was spraying down on her body. His hands slowly slid up her sides from her thighs to her breasts. They curved over the soft mounts, cupping them fully, then sliding down to gently hold their weight. He noticed how his lightly tanned hands looked dark compared to the creamy whiteness of her breasts.
Sam's head had fallen back onto his shoulder, her eyes fluttering shut as Daniel's thumbs skimmed across the hardening peaks, the feather-light touch making her gasp. By the time he left her breasts, she was fully aroused. His hands slowly traveled downward, finger skimming her skin until he reached her lower belly. He teased the soft skin with his fingernails, making Sam's breath catch. When hiss fingers went lower still, Sam let out a soft cry. She moaned his name and bucked up into his hand as he touched her in ways that sent lightning bolts of pleasure through her body.
"Oh, God. Daniel!" Sam cried out. It wasn't long before Sam was climaxing. Daniel watched as she came, the sight filling his heart.
He kept holding her as she came down from the high, her body trembling in reaction. He turned her around in his arms and lowered his lips to hers in a long, slow kiss. That's when she felt the first stirring of his arousal. As a corner of her brain admired the fact that it was happening this soon, she reached between them to that part of him, makingDaniel's breath hitched in his throat.
In an amazingly short period of time, Sam had Daniel fully aroused. He lifted her up, turned around, and pressed her against the shower wall, her legs going around him. His mouth met hers in a deep kiss as he slowly sank into her.
Slowly and gently Daniel began to move, each of them to feeling every part of the sensation. Sam closed her eyes and let herself get lost in the glorious feeling, the fact that it was Daniel she was with making it feel so much better than any other man ever had.
As for Daniel, he could not believe how wonderful this felt. Their first two times had been spectacular, the most intense, wildly passionate sex he'd ever had, but, this time, making love to Sam slowly and giving himself the time to really feel every exquisite second of it, was, in some ways, far better. He had believed that making love to any other woman wouldn't make him feel as good as Sha're did, but he now knew that he'd been wrong.
At last, Daniel's body reached the stage where it was demanding more. His pace quickened and intensified, the slow fire flaring brightly as his climax rushed toward him. In Daniel's mind was the thought of making this last long enough for Sam to come again, but he didn't know if he could hold out. As it turned out, he didn't have to worry, for Sam was right there with him. Her cries grew in volume, the pressure in her core building until it suddenly detonated, sending wave after wave of rapture crashing through her body. Daniel's climax slammed into him seconds later.
"Daniel, I love you! " Sam cried out. "I love you!"
Daniel was too immersed in the wildfire blazing through him for the words to impact immediately upon his brain. He shuddered out the end of his release, then slumped forward, his head resting against the shower wall, chest heaving.
The seconds ticked by as they remained unmoving. It was when Daniel's respiration had almost gone back to normal that he lifted his head and stared at Sam, surprise, wonder, amazement, and a million other things in his eyes.
"Sam?" he said questioningly. She knew what the question was.
"It's true, Daniel," she admitted. "I love you. I don't know when it happened. Maybe it started from the day I met you. I just know that I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my life."
Daniel could not name the emotion that filled him upon hearing those words. Sam didn't just want him; she was in love with him. Another beautiful, spectacular woman had fallen in love with him. It was amazing and utterly incomprehensible. What could a fantastic woman like Sam possibly see in him?
Silently, they left the shower and dried off. Sam glanced at Daniel several times, feeling very nervous and concerned about how he was taking the news. When he looked at her and saw the expression in her eyes, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
"It's okay, Sam. I'm not upset, although, to be honest, I don't know how you could feel that way about me. I'm not even close to being in your league."
"That's not true at all! How could you think that? You are a wonderful, amazing person, Daniel. One of the reasons I fell in love with you is the kind of man you are. I am most definitely not out of your league."
"Thank you. I don't agree, but thank you anyway." Daniel smiled. "You are good for my ego."
They returned to the bed and got under the covers. Daniel held an arm out to Sam.
"Come here."
With a smile, Sam closed the distance between them and rested her head on his chest. She wrapped an arm around his waist and felt his arm go around her. It felt so good to be like this with him, two lovers who had just made the most amazing love together. But was that what they really were? Daniel had wanted this, but that didn't mean that it would happen again after tonight.
Daniel's thoughts were also on what just happened, specifically on what had been revealed to him. Sam being in love with him should make him feel some trepidation since he did not feel the same, yet, for some reason, it didn't. So what did it make him feel? He tried to pin it down, and it suddenly came to him. It was something that he lost the moment he found out that Sha're was dead and never coming back: hope, a hope for happiness, a hope that he could have someone in his life who would fill the void in his heart.
Daniel did not understand how he could feel that way. Whenever he thought about Sha're, he longed for her, ached for her. The sorrow over her death was still like a weight upon his heart. And yet, whenever he thought about Sam, his spirit lightened, a warm glow spreading within that same heart. The wonder and power of their lovemaking filled him so full, pushing out everything else. Even just holding and kissing her made him feel really good, as did the rapture on her face when they made love. How was it possible for him to feel both things? How could he be so in love with Sha're, yet feel so much when he was with Sam?
The thing was that, taking Sha're out of the picture, he knew that he and Sam could really have something together. Their personalities and intellects were very compatible, despite the differences in their fields of expertise. In fact, he felt a bond with her the likes of which he had never felt with anyone else. Most important of all was that he loved her. It was the love of a friend, but it was strong and deep.
But could he really do this? Wouldn't it be a betrayal of Sha're's memory to jump right into a relationship with another woman? He had believed that the act of making love to another woman so soon after her death was a betrayal, so how much more would this be one? What would Sha're think? He knew the answer even as he asked the question. With her generous and giving heart, she would want him to find whatever happiness he could. But that didn't mean it was the right thing to do.
'I don't know what to do, Sha're,' he said in his mind, as if speaking to his dead wife. 'I miss you so much. I would do anything to get you back. But when I think about Sam and being with her like this, it makes me feel alive again. I think about ending it here and now and going back to just being friends, and it actually hurts. I just don't understand how I can feel that way.'
Daniel looked at Sam. Her eyes were closed, and she looked so utterly content that it made him smile. It made him want to kiss her. Instead, he just kept holding her. In time, her breathing deepened in sleep.
With Sam's warm, soft body in his arms, Daniel lay staring at nothing as a war battled inside his mind between what it was telling him he should want to do and what his heart was telling him he did want to do. The minutes passed into hours as the war continued without a winner. Tiredness crept over Daniel, making his thoughts drift. The last one that passed through his mind before sleep claimed him was that perhaps the morning would bring an answer.
