Through The Window

by Wendy Campbell

  “This is better than all the fantasies put together.” She made her words breathy and hot and whispered them right into his ear.

  Jordan groaned and she moved, tilting her hips to draw him in. Achingly slowly, he pushed deep inside her. Their gazes met, and held. A deep, primal knowledge passed between them. He was hers, and she was his.

  “Mel,” he said as he kissed her neck, “you feel so good. Too good. Give me a minute to catch my breath, okay?”

  She chuckled, which drew a gasp from him.

  “Just hold still a minute.”

  “Are you kidding? I finally have you, and I want you. Now.” With a self-satisfied smile, she tightened her inner muscles, and he moaned as his entire body went rigid. She felt him tremble, knew he was on the edge of his control, so she did it again. He moaned even louder, so she did it again, this time holding the tension.

  The guttural cry that escaped his lips as he lost control pushed her over the edge with him. They moved in a frenzied rhythm, sometimes in sync, sometimes not as one or the other would push them even faster, even harder.

  For an instant, her world seemed to stand still, and she had a fleeting moment of perfection, of ultimate fulfillment. Her body was on the edge, her nerve endings tight, pulling her inward. She didn’t even breathe, just gloried in the feel of him on top of her, inside her. Then he got even harder, even bigger as he moved. Pressure built until he touched a spot inside her that she hadn’t even known was there. Her body erupted. Her vision dimmed. She saw stars, and fell into oblivion as Jordan’s guttural cry followed her own.

  She didn’t know how long it took for her awareness to return, but she did know she never wanted to move. Jordan rolled them onto their sides before she could tell him not to. She felt the rapid beat of his heart and smiled. He kissed her forehead, and she nestled into his arms, feeling content and safe as she drifted into sleep.

  ****

  Later, she woke to a dark room and an empty bed. He’d left without even saying goodbye, she thought. She refused to let the disappointment in. Instead, she forced herself to remember how it’d been at the beginning, how his body felt, how he made her feel. With dismay, she realized her plan to get him out of her system didn’t work. No, it’d been like a single lick of ice cream. Now she wanted the whole banana split, with all the toppings.

  Charm wasn’t in her usual spot, so she slipped a T-shirt over her head and found the back door open. Charm tromped around, and Jordan sat on the top step with his back to the door. Giddy delight made her smile.

  The cool outside air washed over her, refreshing and alive. She wanted to imprint this moment on her memory. In the dim moonlight, she could see his bare shoulders, the dark color of his jeans. His legs were crossed at the ankles, his feet bare. He tossed the ball into the crisp, clean night. Charm raced off in pursuit, and he held a hand out to Mel.

  “It’s a nice night.” His voice held a thread of something that made her uneasy.

  She fingered the hem of her shirt, only it wasn’t hers. Jordan’s jersey wrapped around her like a hug, and she never wanted to take it off.

  She took his hand and sat next to him on the folded blanket. When Jordan remained silent, she tucked her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Doubts tried to worm their way into her head, but she held them back. Charm dropped the ball on the ground by Jordan’s feet and danced around. He tossed the ball, then put an arm around Mel’s shoulders.

  The silence continued, thick and heavy, until she couldn’t stand it. “I thought you left.”

  He gave her shoulders a squeeze. “It’s not even midnight.”

  “It was silly, that fantasy stuff.”

  “It was fun.”

  When she didn’t respond, Jordan gripped her chin and turned her face toward his. “What’s up?”

  She couldn’t find the words to explain her unease. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Oh, no you don’t. Even I know when a woman says ‘don’t worry,’ the man better worry. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  “You sound…unsettled, I guess.” She shrugged and couldn’t help nestling closer to him.

  Far off, a coyote made the odd cackle that sounded more like a woman’s scream than a canine call. Another answered. Mel shivered. Charm raced back and squeezed between them. Jordan let the pup crawl onto his lap until Charm stretched over both of them, quivering in fear.

  He waited until the pup settled, then looked at Mel. “Maybe a woman can’t understand how it feels to see your lover tremble, to feel the heat and know you’re responsible. That you made it happen.”

  She remembered the power she felt when he’d trembled with desire. “I know—”

  “Wait. There’s more. Sometimes, knowing you’re causing the pleasure is better than receiving.” He brushed a finger over her lips. “You make me feel like a god, and I can’t imagine anything better.”

  Her heart simply dropped at his feet. She couldn’t stop it, couldn’t hold back even a tiny portion of it. She was his, and he was hers.

  “I owe you an apology,” he said. “I made you a promise that I didn’t keep. Remember the night we went dancing? I promised you the first time we made love it would be slow and sweet and take all night.” He gave a rueful chuckle and looked away. “I got carried away.”

  So many emotions flooded through her, it was tough keeping a straight face, but somehow she managed. “That’s right. I’m not sure I can let this go.” She waited a beat. “No, definitely not. You’re in the doghouse, unless you can make it up to me.”

  “Any suggestions on how to do that?”

  She tossed the ball. When the puppy flew in pursuit, Mel swung onto Jordan’s lap, facing him. Since she hadn’t bothered to put on panties, she pressed intimately against him, feeling him get hard beneath his jeans. She rocked, just a bit and heard his quick intake of breath.

  “Only one thing will do,” she said as she leaned back and unfastened his jeans. He wasn’t wearing underwear either, so she wrapped her hand around him, slid it up and down until he moaned in pleasure.

  “You let me have my way with you.” She took his mouth in a hot kiss, pulling his tongue into her mouth and playing with it as her hand continued to explore. Then she slowly leaned back and grinned. “I get you all night. Your body is mine, to do with as I please.”

  “Oh, God,” he said with a groan. “Please do. Please do it right now.”

  He gripped her hips, lifted her, but she held her position a fraction of an inch before settling on top of him.

  “Condom,” she whispered. “Do you have one?”

  “Front pocket. Right side.” He shook with need, but she braced herself on her knees and took her own sweet time getting the condom out of his pocket. And if she spent a little time exploring, if she made him moan and tremble even more, all the better.

  He returned the favor by pulling her nipple into his mouth through her shirt, and sucking hard.

  Electric lust shot through her and she about flew off his lap, which made him chuckle, but he didn’t let her go. She ripped open the condom. Then she rolled it on, taking as much time as she dared, exploring each and every ridge. She stroked the hot, smooth length of him until they were both panting with need.

  “You do have wicked hands,” he said between clenched teeth. “I knew it.” Then in a move so quick it left her head spinning, he pulled her down on top of him until he was fully inside her.

  “Hey,” she protested. “I get to have my way with you, remember?”

  “Right,” he panted and grabbed her hips. “Have it your way.” He lifted her up, then brought her down, inch by agonizing inch. “Just have it now.”

  She laughed, even as her body took control. With her hands braced on his shoulders, she rode him hard. It didn’t take long until she heard him groan, low and deep, and knew he was about to come.

  In the moonlight, she could see his head thrown back, his eyes closed, his mouth open. Then his muscles clenched and his finger
s dug into her hips as he pushed her harder and faster, and she knew he’d been waiting for her. As her body flew apart, so did his.

  Seconds later, Charm tried to jump between them as she covered their faces with sloppy licks. Mel wrapped her legs tight around Jordan’s waist, and hung onto his shoulders so the puppy wouldn’t knock her over.

  Jordan grinned, wrapped his arms around her and stood, taking her with him. He was still inside her as he carried her to the bedroom to fulfill another hot, sweaty fantasy.

  ****

  Hours later, she snuggled beside Jordan, exhausted and sated. Never, not even in her wildest fantasies had she imagined a night like this. Now she could understand why people would change their lives to be with a person who made them feel so wondrous and alive. Rather than let herself go to sleep and miss out on having his warm, hard body next to hers, she rolled to her side and rested her head on his shoulder. His eyes opened, and he curled an arm around her. More than anything, she wanted to freeze this moment, stay exactly as they were. Forever.

  Moonlight filtered through the window. Once, long ago, this room must have felt new and fresh. Now it was cozy, even without the trim boards along the door and the missing dresser drawers, but she had a sudden urge to fix it up, to make it hers, like Jordan had done with his farmhouse.

  “Jordan, did you work in construction when you left high school?” She made patterns on his chest with her fingertips.

  “No, why?”

  “The work you’ve done on your house is amazing. If I stay here, I’ll need to fix this place up.”

  “I can help. I like remodeling.” His fingers wove through her hair.

  “Why did you become a firefighter?”

  “It’s a job.”

  “Why that one? At career day, in high school, you said you wanted to be an engineer.”

  Now he laughed, and she put her hand on his chest to feel the vibrations. “You have a good memory.”

  “Where it involves you, I do. The rest is open for debate.” She regretted her loose tongue, then decided it didn’t matter. He already knew.

  He took her hand and kissed the tip of each finger, almost making her forget the question.

  “Well?”

  “It fit, I guess. The work is interesting, it always changes. I don’t get bored, and I get a lot of days off.”

  His tongue traced the lines on her palm, and she lost the thread of conversation. When he took his mouth away, she ran her foot up and down his calf.

  “Did you always want to be a firefighter?”

  “When I was a kid? Sure, just like I wanted to be a Ninja warrior and a superhero.”

  “Kids only see the glamour, not the awful parts of a job.” She hadn’t seen the harm of Mick’s game until she’d broken into Jordan’s house. Then it became real, and wrong. But she wouldn’t think about that, not on her special night. Reaching forward, she tickled his nipple with her tongue.

  “Don’t you get scared when you go into a burning building?” she asked. That had to be worse than going into dark houses to steal.

  “Yes.” He stroked her breast.

  “Why do you do it? You’re risking your life if something goes wrong and there’s nothing more important than your life.”

  When he didn’t move, when the silence lasted so long she thought he might not answer, she began to move away. He hooked a leg over both of hers, took her other breast, and rolled her nipple between his fingers. “Other lives are stake. When we’re at a call, we shut off emotions and do the job, whether it’s a car accident, a fire, or something else. The adrenaline rush gets us moving, training keeps us safe.”

  “Is it like you’re two different people, Jordan the man and Jordan the firefighter?” That’s how she felt. Melanie the cat burglar was different than Melanie the woman, even though they both lived inside her.

  “I never thought of it that way.” He put her pointer finger into his mouth, sucked on it, and she forgot her next question.

  “Still want to talk?”

  “About what?” she whispered as she slid on top of him.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Monday morning Mel floated to the office, unable to wipe the smile from her face. She spent Sunday in bed with Jordan until she left for Last Chance. Later, he met her at the cabin for another glorious night. How could she feel so good with only a couple hours sleep?

  Yesterday’s rain rinsed the dust away. The morning sun bathed the Valley in fresh light as she drove the silver Honda Civic Alex delivered the day before. The little car was cuter than she’d expected, and the engine ran smooth. Best of all, the interior smelled like vanilla.

  Even the ancient trailer park looked clean and full of hope. Flowerboxes rioted with color. An elderly woman pulled weeds from a small vegetable garden while a little girl played nearby.

  “Someone got lucky,” Nicholas said as she walked in.

  The giggle escaped before she knew it was there. She clamped her hand over her mouth, feeling like an infatuated teenager. She wiggled her eyebrows and grinned.

  It took a moment to realize Nicholas wasn’t grinning back. “I hate to be the one to bring you back to earth, but take a look.” Nicholas pointed to his computer screen. The headline on the website for the Denver Post read, “Schuster Employee Arrested for Embezzlement.”

  Without a word, she sank into his chair to read the rest. “Curt Gibbons was arrested.”

  “How could he get away with taking money from retirement plan contributions? Aren’t there cross-checks?”

  “Of course there are.” She walked to the window and stared at the pile of dirt that would soon be landscaped, her mind spinning. After Tishnell quit, Curt Gibbons had been her only competition for this job. He’d pulled some dirty tricks in the past, but she never suspected he might venture outside legal limits.

  It surprised her that Steven hadn’t called immediately. When she started with Schuster, she discovered she had a knack for troubleshooting, without stepping on toes in the process. Until now, she’d been proud of the reputation she’d earned, proud of the fact Steven relied on her to fix things. That’s the real reason she was still employed after her fiasco with the files, but she didn’t want to be the one to fix this problem because it would mean going to Denver.

  How could Curt have gotten away with taking employees’ money? One idea after another popped into her head, but she discarded them all.

  “What happens now?” Nicholas asked. “Will Steven need you in Denver?”

  “Probably. He just lost his last senior analyst. Marla Penders is in Oregon, and Pete Waterman quit two months ago.”

  The phone rang, and Mel wasn’t surprised to see Steven’s number. While Nicholas talked, she tried to think. Steven couldn’t recall Marla from Oregon; their office was three times larger and scheduled to open in five days. Nicholas handed her the phone.

  “Hi, Steven.”

  “Melanie.”

  In that one word she could hear the mix of anger and panic in his deep voice.

  “We’ve got a problem.”

  “I know,” she said calmly, “I read the Denver paper.”

  “It’s worse than that. I need you here to sort out this mess. Shirley’s booking you on a flight home tomorrow.”

  I am home, she suddenly realized, but she couldn’t tell him that. “I can’t leave yet. We open—”

  “I know when you open,” he snapped, “and I need you here. I’ll find someone to send. Nicholas can handle the work until then.”

  “Not by himself. He’s—”

  “He’ll deal with it,” Steven snapped.

  Taking a different approach, she said, “Steven, can the auditors communicate with me here? Shirley can fax the reports, and this afternoon we’ll be connected to the main database. I can do the computer analysis from here. I can video-conference with you and the auditors, and when there’s a lag, I can catch up on the work here.”

  “You’re meeting with the legal department tomorrow at noon. Be here.�
�

  “How long will the auditors be there?” Maybe she could get it resolved quickly and get out before Steven started dumping projects on her.

  “As long as they need to be.”

  “If I can work full time, we might figure it out before the end of the month. We could still open here on schedule.”

  “Whatever,” he said, sounding harassed. “The meeting’s at noon. If you’re not here...” He left the threat hanging and disconnected.

  Mel immediately dialed his secretary. Once she was back, she feared Steven wouldn’t be anxious to let her leave, not until he hired another senior analyst. And maybe not even then.

  “Hi, Shirley,” Mel said when the woman answered. “About my flight to Denver, I just talked to Steven, and he said to make it a roundtrip. I’ll be coming back to Washington two weeks from today.”

  “When do you leave?” Nicholas asked, walking back in the room as she hung up.

  “Tomorrow morning.” When he swore, she held up a hand. “But, Steven kind of agreed I’ll only be there two weeks. If we can’t resolve it by then, I’ll do follow-ups from here. I hope.”

  Nicholas took a deep breath. “What if he insists that you stay in Denver?”

  “I’ll talk him out of it.” And she spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out a way to do just that.

  ****

  “Get your ass out of bed!”

  Melanie bolted upright as a door slammed. Mick stormed into her bedroom. Charm jumped to her feet and snarled.

  “Hey!” The light he’d turned on blinded her.

  “Get up. Now!” Mick grabbed her arm.

  “Stop it!” She jerked free as Charm launched herself at Mick. Melanie snatched her out of the air before Mick could knock her aside.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Hurry up!”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Get your ass moving. I’ll tell you on the way.” His words made her blood run cold.

  “Dammit, I told you I’m not doing this. If you want more, get it yourself.”

  “This isn’t about money.”

  “Then what? Are you looking for another hideout?”