“Yes,” she answered huskily.
He dragged her down to the floor, all patience gone. Buttons popped as he tore open his shirt and she helped him with hungry hands. She pushed back his jacket and ran her palms over the bare skin accessible under his dress shirt, needing to touch as desperately as she needed to feel him touching her.
Jay fumbled briefly with his pants, too far gone to bother undressing. He jerked them open, yanked the satin scrap separating them away and surged into her in one urgent thrust.
“Sweetheart,” he managed to get out in a voice rough with passion. “I shouldn’t be doing this to you. I still have my shoes on.”
“So do I,” Anna answered wickedly. She was certain a really bad girl wouldn’t stop at a time like this to remove her shoes.
He gave a half-laugh, half-groan at her response.
“Jay, there’s a time for romance but right now I don’t want to wait anymore,” she whispered. Then she kissed him until he quit fighting and gave them both what they needed.
In the glowing candlelight, they came together in a sudden firestorm that consumed them both and then left them to rest together in the embers.
Chapter Twelve
Jay propped himself up on one elbow and slowly traced the outline of Anna’s face. She smiled and turned into his touch. Her eyes were still closed and he feathered a caress over her soft lashes, stroked the line of her nose and brushed the width of her velvet lips.
“Honey?”
“Mmm.”
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
The worry in his voice prodded her to open heavy eyelids and smile at him. “You could never hurt me,” she assured him.
He smoothed a long strand of hair back from her forehead. “I should have at least taken my shoes off,” he said with a frown. He ran his hands over her smooth legs as if to reassure himself that no bruises marked the white skin.
“Jay. I’m fine.” Amusement and satiation glimmered in her jeweled eyes.
“No thanks to me.” He gathered her up and cradled her against his chest as he carried her to bed. “Was the floor too hard?”
Anna groaned and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I can’t believe you would worry about the floor at a time like this,” she informed him. She wound her arms around his neck and snuggled closer.
Jay hugged her in response. “I won’t do it again. I’ll make sure that there’s something soft in every room in case desire overtakes us again.”
Anna laughed at that statement. “Not a bad idea, lover. I think the chance of desire overtaking us too far from the bed again in the near future is very good.” She toyed absently with the remaining buttons on his shirt. “But you have to admit some things are worth a little sacrifice.”
He settled her against the pillows and she propped herself up to watch as he finished undressing before he came back to remove her shoes and carefully roll down her stockings.
“I think I like this,” she teased, arching her foot and raising her leg for him. “It’s so much more fun when you take my clothing off me than when I put it on.”
Jay gave her a thoughtful glance. “I don’t know. I was having fun watching you put these on.”
“Yes, I remember.” She smiled in sweet satisfaction at the memory.
He dropped the filmy stockings by her shoes and joined her against the pillows. Anna took advantage of his nearness to nibble happily at his chin and lips.
“What are you doing, wench?” Jay yanked her on top of his sprawled form and cradled her head against his chest.
“Enjoying myself.” The smug tone in her voice rang clearly and he found himself smiling slightly at it.
“Honey, I meant to go slower. I’m sorry.” He kissed her forehead lightly and smoothed her long wavy hair down her bare back. “Next time, I’ll make it better for you.”
Anna laughed again at that statement. “Better than that? You’ve got to be kidding. If you do, I guess they’ll say I died happy.” She nuzzled his chin and cuddled closer.
“Don’t try to make me feel better,” Jay grumbled. “I was being romantic and I ended up throwing you on the floor and driving into you without even taking off my clothes.”
“Well. If you hadn’t gotten your pants unzipped, I admit it could have caused a problem,” Anna agreed solemnly.
He considered that.
“You really didn’t mind?”
“Oh. I get it. You want feedback.” She settled herself more comfortably, draping one thigh over the outside of one of his and nestling her other knee in between his legs before she provided the praise he was waiting for.
“Jay, the candlelight was very romantic. The music was wonderful. You dance like Fred Astaire, only better, and I find it incredibly sexy that you were so overpowered by the sight of me in nothing but my stockings and high heels that you nearly did permanent damage to yourself before you got your pants open.” Laughter lurked in her honeyed voice.
Jay rubbed his cheek against the softness of her hair. “Incredibly sexy, huh?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You liked the music and the candles?”
“Very, very romantic,” she assured him. “Soft and dreamy. Perfect.”
“You think I dance like Fred Astaire?”
“Better.”
While he thought that over, she added, “Besides, I don’t know what you’re worried about. It’s not the first time we ended up on the floor.”
“True.” Jay kissed the top of her fiery curls. “But I wasn’t setting out to romance you and sweep you off your feet at the time.”
“I’d say throwing me to the floor in a fit of passion qualifies for sweeping me off my feet,” she pointed out drowsily. “My feet were definitely pointed up in the air, not flat on the floor.”
She did have a point there, he mused. That did qualify for being swept off her feet.
It just wasn’t the way he’d wanted to do it.
“I wanted it to be really special. Like something out of a movie. Something like Rhett Butler carrying Scarlett up the stairs. Or James Bond.”
She smiled against his bare skin. Only he would consider James Bond as romantic as Rhett and Scarlett on the staircase. “I’ll take away your license to thrill. Will that make you feel better?”
She playfully nudged his calf with her toes and he responded by trapping her foot with both legs.
“No.”
“Hmm. As the one who inflamed you beyond your ability to resist and ruined your plans, I feel a certain obligation to keep you from pouting,” Anna murmured. “What would make you feel better?”
He toyed with her hair and said what he’d been wanting to say for days. “Move in with me.”
She didn’t answer immediately and his heart sank.
It was too soon. He’d pushed her before she was ready. And after he’d sworn he wouldn’t make an issue of it.
“Let me guess,” Anna said finally. “You had an ulterior motive for wanting to romance me and sweep me off my feet. You planned to ask me this after you had me properly swooning.”
“That’s it, honey,” he agreed dolefully. He hadn’t intended to do anything of the kind. He’d been afraid to press his luck that far. But he didn’t really have anything to lose by brazening it out at this point.
She gave a sleepy yawn and stretched against him like a cat.
“No.”
Jay’s heart plummeted to somewhere in the vicinity of his toes. It would have fallen further if it could have.
Then she sent it soaring with her next words.
“I think it’s time you made an honest woman of me.”
For several heartbeats, his world hung suspended in space and time. He couldn’t breathe.
“I think we should get married,” she continued calmly.
Air rushed back into his lungs and he jerked her underneath himself. He pinned her flat with his weight and stared at her.
Jeweled amethyst eyes sparkled back at him.
“Anna, do y
ou mean it?” His voice was taut with tension and his black eyes glittered intensely.
“What, are you waiting for me to get down on my knees?” she scoffed, brows raised in condescension. “Fat chance. If you don’t say yes, I’ll bash you with my shoes and tie you up with your own tie. Then I’ll get Lyle to help me haul you up in front of the judge.”
Her threats were music to his ears and returned the rhythm to his heart.
She wanted him. Forever.
She wanted marriage.
She wanted commitment.
And it still wasn’t enough, he realized in distant shock. “Anna, I love you,” Jay stated roughly. “Don’t play with me. I have to know how you feel.”
She batted her lashes at him.
“Flat. I feel distinctly flat at the moment.”
“You’re going to feel more than that in a minute if you don’t answer me,” he threatened.
“Ha! I knew it all along. I just knew you were into spanking,” Anna teasingly accused him, as if her backside wasn’t in dire jeopardy of a sincere paddling.
“Answer me,” he insisted.
“No. I asked first, you answer me.” Then she impudently stuck her tongue out at him, Jay noted, incredulous.
“I must be nuts,” he said finally. How could he say no to the one thing he wanted most?
Anna wanted him and she was willing to commit, publicly and legally.
She’d never wanted any other man.
She’d given herself to him completely.
She’d learn to love him, if she didn’t yet, Jay vowed fiercely. He’d woo her, romance her and lay a thousand sneaky traps for her heart.
“Yes, Anna, I want to marry you,” Jay said seriously.
Her smile widened. “Good. I’m glad that’s settled. Good night.”
She closed her eyes and feigned sleep.
Jay frowned. “Some genius. A truly smart woman would know when to quit,” he warned her. “Stop teasing me. You’re baiting the bear.”
She raised her head to give him a sweet kiss. “But you’re not really a bear, Jay. You’re an otter on the inside, remember?”
He gave a fierce growl that would have done credit to a grizzly. “Don’t count on it.”
She laughed, not in the least concerned.
Until he flipped her over his lap, her bottom in the air.
“No!” She shrieked and struggled to shield herself from his vengeance but she was laughing too hard to be effective. Giving up, she resorted to pleading for mercy. “No, please. Please, Jay.”
He shot back, “Please, what? Please don’t?”
Anna collapsed in a helpless heap against him, laughing harder than she ever remembered laughing in her life.
Jay let out a disgusted sigh and righted her.
“You should have been born a few hundred years ago,” he muttered darkly. “Men back then would have known how to deal with you.”
She smiled sweetly back at him. “You’d give me up to another man?”
He gave her a black look that made him appear as devilish and dangerous as he’d first seemed, before he opened his mouth and started to tease and proposition her.
“You know the answer to that, precious. I’d break the arms of any man who laid a hand on you.”
That sobered her. “Jay, I have something to tell you.”
He swore loudly and inventively. “Now what? Anna, I swear, if you tell me you want some kind of New Age open marriage, I really will spank you until you’re black and blue. And don’t think I’ll let you be on top until it’s better, either.”
Anna jabbed his ribs with a sharp elbow. “Oh, cut it out, Jay. You’d never do something like that and you know it.”
“Don’t bet on it.”
She sat up and straddled his thighs at that statement. Her long legs hugged his waist and she laid her cheek against his shoulder. A waterfall of flaming curls tumbled over them both, wrapping them in a fiery cloak.
“But I would bet on it, Jay,” she said seriously. “You’re gentle and kind. You’re generous, sensitive, tender and caring. You’re strong and loving and giving.”
He realized with a start that she was crying. “Anna. Baby, don’t cry. Please don’t cry,” he begged, hugging her closer. “I didn’t mean to scare you, angel. Don’t cry.”
She sniffled loudly and wiped her tears on his bare chest. “I’ll cry if I feel like it,” she announced. “I have emotions, too, you know. I’m a woman, not some soulless thing.”
“I know you are, baby,” Jay agreed, rocking her.
“I have feelings, too,” she sobbed. “You’re not the only one who’s in love.”
“I know, honey, I—” Jay cut off abruptly as her words sank in. “What?”
She brushed more tears from her cheeks and buried her face in his chest. “I said, I love you.”
When he continued to sit, frozen and silent, she jabbed him in the ribs again. “Don’t act so surprised. You think scientists can’t fall in love?”
He grinned slowly, a wave of happiness rising from his toes to his head. “Oh, sweetheart. You really love me?”
Anna nodded and burrowed deeper into his embrace. Jay automatically tightened his arms, cradling her and soothing her.
“Then why are you crying?”
“Because,” she grumbled crossly. “I had plans, too. I was going to romance you and make you swoon. Then I was going to tell you. You messed it all up,” she accused.
She didn’t seem to notice how ridiculous it sounded.
Jay wasn’t about to point it out to her, either.
She’d just handed him all his dreams on a silver platter and a smart man didn’t question a gift like that.
“You can start all over. How about that, honey?” he suggested helpfully.
“No. It’s too late. You already know now.”
Jay hid a smile against her hair. She was something else. As unpredictable, explosive and brilliant as the fireworks she made.
“You could tell me again,” he offered.
Anna grew quiet under his soothing hands. He continued to hold her and offer comfort. And wait.
“I love you, Jay. I love you so much. And I didn’t even know it,” she added, sounding so surprised that he was glad she couldn’t see his grin.
If Anna thought he was laughing at her, they’d have to start all over again.
“I’m glad, sweetheart,” he answered.
She didn’t respond and after a while, Jay realized that she’d fallen asleep in his arms.
Oh, yes, she was really something else.
He lay down with her, taking care not to wake her as he rearranged her against his sprawling length and tucked the quilt around her.
“Sleep well, love,” he whispered. She sighed and curled against him as if she responded to him even in sleep.
Anna loved him.
Jay hugged the knowledge to his heart as tightly as he cuddled her length against his own.
Anna wanted to marry him.
They’d have the wedding in his garden, he decided. Spring was in the air, buds were appearing and leaves were opening almost overnight. The garden would be perfect by the end of May and the apple blossoms would be at their peak.
His beautiful Anna would wear a flowing white dress.
He paused in his daydream and frowned. Who would give his Amazon away?
Nobody, he decided firmly. She belonged to herself. She’d come to him on her own and they’d belong to each other forever.
He could almost see it, his breathtaking bride walking toward him, love shining in her amethyst eyes. They’d begin a new life together with the fresh, green spring around them. He could almost smell the apple blossoms and hear the birdsongs. A morning wedding to signify a new chapter in their lives, as full of sunlight and promise as a perfect May.
And they’d go on, together, forever.
“Forever, Anna,” he promised again, hugging her closer. “Just wait. It’ll be so beautiful.”
He slept
then, dreaming of their future and his bride growing rounder and softer with new life. His life. Their baby.
“Anna.”
Oh, no. Not again. Not already. She hid from the persistent voice and slid deeper into the warmth surrounding her.
“Anna. Sweetheart. My love.”
She wanted to groan. She wanted to kick him. Didn’t he ever sleep?
Didn’t he ever lose interest in sex?
“Oh, go ahead,” she moaned, keeping her eyes stubbornly shut. She rolled onto her back and sprawled in what she hoped was an accessible position. “Go ahead, climb on, just don’t wake me up,” Anna pleaded.
Low laughter greeted what she considered a very generous offer.
“What a proposition. Let me think about it and get back to you,” Jay teased.
“Jay, you have a problem and you need help,” she ground out through clenched teeth. “I suggest you get some professional counseling about your sleep disorder.”
She then promptly rolled into a ball and burrowed back into the covers, only to have them persistently tugged back.
“Come on, honey, it’s morning. Wake up.”
“It is not, it’s the middle of the night and you are a chronic insomniac!” Anna shrieked in helpless fury.
Jay only laughed. “Come on, love.” He cuddled her in an attempt to appease her, she supposed. “It really is morning. I let you sleep all night.”
She slowly opened one wary eye.
Yes, it was morning all right. Jay wasn’t the only source of sunshine in the room. Too much of it streamed brilliantly through the windows.
Anna slipped further under the covers and snuggled against him persuasively. “Jay, let me sleep just a little longer. Please. Please, please, please.”
Jay hugged her closer and cupped her belly with one hand. “Don’t you want to hear about the wedding plans?”
That cleared away the remnants of sleep in a hurry. There was no telling what he’d come up with while she was sleeping.
“What wedding plans?” Anna opened both eyes wide, forgetting about the sunlight.
That launched him on an unbelievably detailed description of his lunatic plans to hold their wedding outside in his garden. In May.
When Sparks Fly: Love and Rockets Page 18