by Karen Ward
Once in the truck Barry says, "I'm sorry about this morning Jacob. You know I would never move in on your territory don't you?"
Jacob answers, "Yeah, I know. I acted like a jerk. I didn't really even realize how much I care about Jana until I saw her in your arms. It was quite a wakeup call. I guess it's time I let her know."
Jacob and Barry spend the afternoon touring the adjoining property. The house is opulent with ten bedrooms all with adjoining full baths plus two additional full baths. The two huge living areas, a state of the art kitchen, a garden room, huge stone patio, and meticulous lawns make it perfect for entertaining. It has an indoor pool and fully furnished gym too. A caretaker's cottage and bunkhouse are across the yard next to the burned out barn but are in good condition. The only thing that needs work is the barn. It was damaged in a fire the previous summer.
"Well, what do you think?" asks Jacob.
"It's absolutely perfect!" replies Barry. "I'll make an offer today. Now, I just need to find someone to share it with. You know Jacob I really am envious of you and Jason. Both of you seem to have found the perfect mates. I hope I am as lucky some day."
Thoughtfully Jacob answers, "You know, Jana hasn't agreed to be my mate yet. I hope I haven't screwed it up."
"Man, are you blind? That woman loves you so much she glows with it. I would have known the day I walked in the door that she was taken even if you hadn't put your arm around her. She had an off limits sign on her forehead too big to miss." Barry laughs.
Barry leaves for Los Angeles as soon as he finishes his conversation with the realtor. The realtor tells him he feels sure the seller will accept his offer and he should plan to close right after the first of the year. Barry is thrilled.
******
When Jacob returns to the ranch, he corners the security chief and asks him if any of his men have been out in the back pasture. When the security chief says no, Jacob tells him about the tire tracks leading to the property next door and they call the FBI to check out the property.
After a thorough investigation, the FBI determines that Sam Willard has been staying in the burned out barn on the property next door. That explains how he was able to get to the house on the Rocking J without being seen the night of Dani's play.
Even though he appears to be gone now, Jacob is concerned Willard has access to his property. The FBI agrees to post agents at the house for the next few weeks to make sure he doesn't come back.
******
Later that evening, after everyone has retired to their rooms, Jacob raps softly on my bedroom door. I have already taken off my clothes and am dressed only in my silk gown and a lightweight robe when I answer the door.
"Can I talk to you for a few minutes?" asks Jacob.
"Sure, do you want to come in?"
Jacob looks past me at the bed, takes a deep breath and says, "No, I think it will be better if we go downstairs."
He takes my hand in his and leads the way down the stairs into the great room. He guides me to the sofa where he pulls me down onto his lap. He looks into the deep blue pools that are my eyes and smiles.
"This is the first opportunity we have had to be alone in a long time. I just want to hold you a little while tonight. Is that all right with you?" asks Jacob.
I smile back and tease, "All you want to do is hold me?"
"It's too dangerous to do much else, but we might make out a little."
He smiles as he lowers his head and brushes his lips against mine. The usual zing zips through his veins as he nibbles, tastes, then savors my lips. When I open for him, he dives into the depths of my sweet mouth with a hunger that takes my breath away. My hands find their way into his hair then dip inside his collar to caress the skin of his neck and shoulders. A moan escapes his throat. He moves his lips to the curve of my neck. His hand slowly caresses the curve of my hip then makes its way underneath my gown and up to cup my full breast. A gasp escapes my lips as he rolls my swollen peak between his fingers. He parts the front of my robe leaving my breasts only covered by the sheer silk of my night gown. He can see the dusky shadow of my nipples through the thin material. He is mesmerized. His head starts its descent toward their sweetness...
A door closes upstairs. He jerks back to reality and touches his forehead to mine. He pulls the sides of my robe back together with shaking fingers as our breathing returns to normal. "You are so sweet! I lose my head every time I touch you. Come on, I better walk you back to your room." Jacob helps me to stand and then follows me up. He puts his arm around my waist and we head up the stairs.
I am grateful for the support of Jacob's arm because I am not sure my wobbly legs will support me. That was some kiss, even more potent than the last one.
When we reach my door, Jacob tenderly strokes his fingers down my cheek and places a light chaste kiss on my lips. "I love you Jana." Then he turns and proceeds down the hall to his room.
I am stunned. My feet seem rooted to the floor as I watch Jacob enter his room. Slowly, I close the door to my room and sink to the floor. Jacob loves me! A long time later I manage to climb under the covers and slip into a deep sleep filled with dreams of Jacob and the kiss.
Jacob steps under the icy cold spray of his shower and a grin slides across his face. Yes, he is definitely in love with Jana. He can't believe how quickly and how powerfully he responds to her. He completely loses himself in her. Tonight he would have taken her on the sofa if not for the door closing upstairs. He is looking forward to the day he can take her into his bed and spend hours exploring this chemistry between them. They are going to be magnificent together!
******
The next morning I am standing at the stove preparing breakfast. Dani is sitting at the table eating pancakes when Jacob enters the kitchen. He walks straight to the stove and places a warm lingering kiss on my lips. The zing of electrical energy zips through our veins and Jacob smiles warmly at me.
Dani is surprised ... and thrilled. Her Daddy kissed Jana! Maybe Jana will be her new Mommie after all. That would be the best Christmas present of all. She'll write to Santa Claus and ask. She quickly finishes her pancakes then she takes her plate to the sink and runs up the stairs to her room. She takes paper out of her backpack and proceeds to write her letter asking Santa to please make Jana her Mommie for Christmas. She folds the paper and places it in an envelope that she addresses to Santa Claus, North Pole, USA. Then she runs back down stairs and searches for her Uncle Jason. She finds him in the laundry room getting ready to head to the barn.
"Uncle Jason?" calls Dani.
"Hey Pipsqueak, what's up?" answers Jason.
"Will you mail my letter to Santa for me please?" asks Dani.
"Sure. I'll drop it off this afternoon," replies Jason.
He sticks the letter in his coat pocket and heads out to the barn. A short time later he sees Jacob and hands him the letter.
"Dani gave me a letter to mail to Santa this morning. I thought you might want to read it," says Jason.
Jacob sits down on a bale of hay and opens the letter.
Dani wrote,
'Dear Santa,
I have been extra good this year because I want a really special present. You don't have to bring me anything else but please, please, please, bring Jana to be my Mommie. I love her and she'll be the best Mommie ever.
Love, Dani Murray.'
Jacob wipes the back of his hand across his eyes to remove the moisture. He hands the letter to Jason. After glancing at the words, Jason asks, "Are you going to give her what she wants?"
Jacob looks at his brother, "I'm going to try."
Jason smiles at his twin.
******
That night after Jacob is absolutely certain that Dani is sound asleep he again knocks on my bedroom door. He intends to go back downstairs and hold Jana in his arms, kiss her until she is breathless and then ask her to be his wife.
When I answer the door I am dressed only in my sheer silk nightgown.
His breath catches in his lu
ngs at the vision before him. His heart kicks into overdrive and his breathing becomes shallow and labored. His male member springs to immediate attention. She is so gorgeous. Her blonde hair is falling in waves around her shoulders and her rosy puckered nipples are straining against the sheer material of her gown begging for his attention. He gazes deeply into her stormy blue eyes then he reaches for her hand and without a word leads her down the hall to his master suite.
He closes and locks the door then he turns to me and tenderly strokes a finger down my cheek. "Jana, tell me now if you don't want this because I don't think I'll be able to stop once I touch you."
I answer by wrapping my arms around his neck and placing my lips against his. The expected zing crashes through our bodies. Jacob wraps me in his arms and plunges his tongue into my warmth drinking deeply of my sweetness with a hunger he didn't know he possessed. He picks me up and lays me gently onto his bed, following me down.
"Oh God, Jana, I have waited so long to have you in my bed." He tenderly strokes my body as he delves deeply into the sweetness of my mouth. "You are so sweet!" His heart is slamming against the wall of his chest and his member is throbbing, straining to escape his jeans.
I am lost. The minute Jacob's lips touch mine all thought flies out of my head and I becomes a boiling, seething cauldron of feelings. My heart is pounding with anticipation, my breathing coming in short shallow gasps and desire pools heavily low in my belly. I reach for the buttons on Jacob's shirt craving the feel of his skin beneath my fingers. When finally I part the sides of his shirt and touch the bulging muscles of his chest a moan of extreme pleasure escapes my lips.
When Jana's hands touch the muscles of his chest Jacob experiences a pleasure as never before. His breath catches in his lungs. He has to possess this woman, now! Jacob breaks their kiss long enough to stand and strip his clothes from his body.
My breath catches in my lungs when I see his magnificent body bared to my view for the first time. I slowly move my eyes down from his gorgeous face, over the bulging muscles of his chest and shoulders, down over the hard abdominal muscles to his male member, standing proud in all its glory.
I raise my arms beckoning him to join me and he sits down on the edge of the bed next to me. He grasps the hem of my gown and slowly raises it up my legs baring them to his view. His eyes are glowing with warmth. Just before baring my most private part to his view he stops and opens the drawer of the bedside table. He reaches inside and grabs a handful of condoms laying them on the table top. He quickly opens one and sheathes himself, then looks back at me.
I am smiling and beg, "Hurry Jacob, I need you so much!"
He quickly raises the gown over my head and drops it to the floor. He brushes his palm across the nipple of my breast and hears my sharp intake of breath. Then he lowers his head and takes my puckered nipple into his mouth suckling. Oh God, she is so sweet! He is in heaven.
When Jacob places his mouth over my nipple sucking, sharp streaks of pleasure zip through my body straight to my center causing me to gasp with pleasure.
"Oh, Jacob!" He feasts on first one and then the other breast causing me to move restlessly beneath him.
He moves one of his hands down my body through the curls at my apex into the folds of my warmth. Finding my center, he slowly inserts a finger, then two. Raising his head, he is gazes deeply into the depths of my stormy blue eyes. He probes me gently and finds me hot and wet. He whispers, "Mmmmm, perfect! God, Jana, I need you so much!"
Panting with need, I cry, "Now, Jacob, I need you now!" I have never craved joining my body with a man before but I crave Jacob. My body aches with the need to feel him filling me, stretching me.
He positions himself between my legs. Gazing intently into my stormy blue eyes, he smiles and slowly enters my body. A moan of pleasure escapes his lips. His pleasure is so great it takes every ounce of his control not to lose it all at that moment. He lowers his lips to mine and drinks deeply of my sweetness as he begins the dance as old as time.
As Jacob slowly slides his member into my warmth, I think, this is it. This is home. This is where I am supposed to be. Pleasure more exquisite than I have ever experienced before flows through my body and tears of joy slide from my eyes.
Seeing her tears, Jacob freezes and asks, "Jana?"
"Please Jacob, don't stop!" I pull his head down to mine and kiss him deeply as he slowly moves in and out of my body.
As we crash over into the world where lovers go, Jacob smothers my cries of ecstasy with a deep kiss. As we float back to earth he moves to my side and pulls me into his arms. He whispers, "Jana, why are you crying? I didn't hurt you did I?"
I am sobbing quietly, "No, Jacob, you didn't hurt me. It was just so ... magnificent! I've never experienced anything like it before."
Smiling Jacob says, "I know what you mean. I knew we would be explosive because of the sexual attraction between us. But, wow! It was magnificent! I love you Jana."
And he spends the rest of the night showing me time after time just how much.
CHAPTER 9
Heavy snow is forecast for Christmas Eve, but I still have a few things I need from town so I decide to head out right after breakfast. I am in a hurry so I don't bother waiting for one of the guards to go with me.
I quickly get what I need in town and head back to the car. A light snow has already begun to fall. Being from Texas I don't have a lot of experience driving in heavy snow, but I feel I have enough experience to make it back to the ranch safely even on unplowed roads. From the time I pull out of the downtown parking lot I have a prickly sensation along the back of my neck. I'm not sure why, maybe just nerves because of the snow. I better stay alert just in case, Sam Willard is still around. I check my purse to make sure my Glock is ready just in case.
******
Jacob is busy in the barn finishing up last minute chores before their client is to pick up the ten horses he and Jason have been training. His cell phone rings,
"Jacob Murray"
"Hey Jacob, it's Tom."
"Merry Christmas, Tom, what's up?"
"Sam Willard was spotted again last night in Cody. He managed to elude the police but he is around. I wanted to make sure everyone at your house is safe," says Tom.
"Damn. Jana went into Cody a little while ago. I hope she carried one of the security guards with her but I'm not sure. I better go check. Keep me posted Tom."
"Will do," replies Tom.
******
By the time I get about three quarters of the way home, the snow is falling so fast and hard that the wipers can't even clear it off the windshield. While my SUV is 4-wheel drive, it sits very low to the ground and is having a lot of trouble pushing its way through the deep snow. I am getting nervous but I keep driving, praying for my safety. All of a sudden I feel a hard bump from behind, then the steering wheel jerks out of my hands and the car slides into the deep ditch along the side of the highway.
Oh God! What's going on? My heart is pounding with fear. Someone just pushed me off the road! Checking the rear view mirror I see a dark sedan with tinted windows right behind me. It's Sam Willard! I try to back out of the ditch, but the wheels just spin. I reach for my purse to call Jacob and grab my Glock. That's when I realize I left my phone charging on the kitchen counter. Oh, God, how could I have been so stupid! I place the gun in my lap and look out the windows. The snow is falling so fast I can't see anything outside the car. I check to make sure the doors are all locked and slide down as far as I can in the driver's seat.
The back window shatters and I hear the report of a large caliber handgun. Oh God, he is going to kill me. I can't see anything through the windows because they are covered with snow.
******
Jacob is pacing back and forth from one end of the great room to the other. Jana should have been back by now. He tried to call her but when he heard her phone ring in the kitchen he realized she had forgotten it. Damn!
"Jason, I'm going to look for Jana. She should have be
en back by now." Jacob states.
Jason replies, "I'll go with you. We can take the sleigh Dad used to deliver feed to the cows out in the pastures back in the day."
"Great idea, I'll go get it hitched up while you explain things to Jenny. Try not to worry Dani, all right?" says Jacob. Then he places a call to the sheriff in Cody to make his way from town toward the ranch.
******
I know I am in trouble. Sam Willard is outside my car somewhere. He's already shot at the car once.
I know Jacob will undoubtedly come looking for me but I have to survive until he gets here. I try to open the door of the SUV but the snow is so deep I can't push it open. If the snow is that deep I know it must be above the tail pipe so I turn off the engine to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. At least the snow will be just as deep on his car. I grab the blankets from the back that Jenny insists I always carry in my car in winter and wrap them around my body to try to stay as warm as I can while I wait. I slide down in the seat as far as I can so I can't be seen from outside. My heart is pounding with fear.
It seems like hours have passed but I know in reality it is only a few minutes. I hear a scraping on the side of the car. I am shaking with fear and my heart feels like it is going to jump right out of my chest. The scraping sounds like it is coming from the passenger side so I take my gun in the grip I was taught in CHL class and aim it at the door.
Sam Willard screams, "Where is the rest of the money bitch? I know you have it and I'm going to get it! Tell me where it is and maybe I'll spare your life!"
I climb into the back end of the car where the window is shattered in case Willard decides to start taking pot shots trying to hit me. I lie flat to try to make myself as small of a target as I can. I am wrapped in the blankets and praying Jacob will hurry.