“It’s awesome. I love it. It makes me think of you. So if you have any doubts at all about whether we have a chance—”
He broke off when she flung herself into his arms.
“Thank you. Thank you for not forgetting me. Thank you for buying my work. Thank you for buying this cabin so I could find you again.” She arched her back to look up at him. “Why did you buy this cabin?”
He grinned. “I guess I kind of bonded with it. It’s where we met, you know? I got it cheap, too. It only took two months of ramen.”
After that, they settled onto the bed and curled up in each other’s arms. Despite the ache of desire burning through him, all they did was talk at first. About everything from the past five years. The big trial. Janine’s courage in confronting Dearborn. The media madness that made the Knight family switch to unlisted numbers. The restraining order Mia filed to keep Darren away. The sadness of her mother’s death. Her new job working on a popular superhero comic book.
The topic of Aiden’s nephews and nieces took quite a while to discuss. Will and Merry had a rambunctious two-year-old boy. Merry was now the editor in chief of the Mercury News-Gazette. Luckily, Will had plenty of experience with child-raising and a more flexible schedule. They were juggling but wildly happy.
Carolyn and Tobias had adopted another girl who had escaped the Light Keepers compound. Ben and Julie were only weeks away from becoming parents; she was extremely pregnant and Ben was so nervous he refused to take on any flights longer than an hour.
Then there was Cassie, Aiden’s only sister, and her husband, Kevin. They had twin three-year-old boys who kept the entire town on their toes. A few weeks ago, the twins had hidden onboard one of the Knight and Day Cessnas, unbeknownst to the pilot. A few days after that they’d snuck onto a fire truck that Cassie was working on. They’d nearly ended up at a fire before Cassie figured out where they were. They were impossibly charming; every shopkeeper on Constellation Way had been warned not to give in to their pleas for ice cream or cookies or pizza.
The next generation of Knights was definitely making its mark on Jupiter Point.
“I bet you’re their favorite uncle,” Mia murmured as she slid her hands under his sweater. He shivered at the feel of her soft hands. “You’re the fun one, right? The one who gives them piggyback rides and extra dessert?”
“Whatever it takes so they love me best.”
“Aw, they’d love you no matter what. You’re the most lovable person I’ve ever met.”
“In a teddy-bear kind of way? Or a let’s-get-rid-of-these-clothes kind of way?” He kept his tone light, because he didn’t want to assume that just because they were lying on a bed they were going to get naked.
“Definitely the second kind.”
She sat up to slide her leggings off her body, then straddled his hips. Just like she had back in the cave. Funny how every moment of that night was still crystal clear to him.
He felt her warmth through his pants, so close, but still so far. “That night, we never actually took our clothes off.” He ran one hand along her silky thigh. “I always wondered what you looked like under all that long underwear.”
“Well, shall we find out?” she asked teasingly.
“Yes please.”
She pushed his sweater up, and he sat upright to rip it over his head, along with the t-shirt he wore under it. Even though he did it quickly, he nearly missed the spectacular vision of her stripping off her black zippered top.
Underneath it, she wore a creamy bra and panties so simple they were sinful.
“Absolutely worth a five-year wait,” he said with total sincerity. He put his hand back on her leg, his thumb gliding over her inner thigh, where the skin was so meltingly tender it quivered at his touch.
“I’m really glad we don’t have to wait five more years.” She trailed a finger down the muscles of his stomach. “Do you know how many times I masturbated while thinking about the cave?”
With a grin, he gripped the plumper flesh of her thigh, just under her pussy. “You’ve gotten bolder since then. I like it.”
“I have. It’s true. I used to be embarrassed by sex, and by wanting sex. Not anymore. I want to make love with you. And I want you to take your pants off.”
He laughed and rolled her off of him so he could unzip his khaki pants. He tugged them down his legs with clumsy hands. “They’re gone.”
Her dark eyes scanned his body. “I know we didn’t see this much of each other last time, but were you always this…”
“No. The hotshot training is tough. Then we spend days on end working a chainsaw and hiking. It’s so much work, but I love it. You see places in the wilderness where no one’s ever been. It’s incredible.”
She traced the arrow of hair that led past his briefs. His cock hardened until it felt like one big ache. He had to touch her, that smooth skin, those plump little breasts hiding behind her bra. When he brushed his thumb across one pretty peak, it went instantly hard and dark.
“How does a fire start when no one’s been there?” she asked in a faint voice.
“Lightning strikes,” he managed.
She moaned as he pulled aside the fabric of her bra and teased her bare nipple. “They say lightning never strikes twice in the same place.”
“Obviously that’s wrong. We got scientific proof right here.” He unhooked her bra and rolled her onto her back, then took off his briefs. Together, they slid off her panties, revealing the sexiest sight he’d ever seen. Her sweet little cleft, already wet for him. He moved against her, dragging his erection against the velvet softness between her legs.
Every touch of their bodies generated a zing of electricity. “God, Aiden. That feels so good.” Her naked body arched under his, reaching for contact.
He smiled in satisfaction. Five years was a lot of built-up sexual tension. A lot of wondering what it would feel like to really be with Mia. To plunge into her body, to stroke deep until she screamed. “Good,” he told her. He slid his hand into her heat, her slick wetness. His fingers found her engorged clit, so slippery and swollen it made his mouth water.
He had to taste. He slid down and parted her legs with impatient hands. The first touch of his tongue against her vibrating clit drew a scream from her. It was electric; she was electric. Her entire body came off the mattress as he worked his tongue against the swollen little nugget of nerves. Her taste intoxicated him, pure and sweet as wild strawberries. He gorged himself on her as if he’d been starving for the past five years, which of course he had.
Because with Mia, lightning had struck. And he’d never been quite the same afterwards.
She came in a riot of moans, her clit pulsing against his tongue. While she was still trembling and breathless, he came onto his knees. His cock was hard and thick and pointed like a missile right at her.
He had condoms in this cabin somewhere. Right, his duffel.
“Stay where you are,” he told her. “Be right back.” He rolled off the mattress and ran into the other room, nearly ripping down the curtain in his rush. What if she disappeared again? What if he was imagining this whole thing? What if it wasn’t a miracle, but a hallucination?
But when he got back, condom in hand, she was still there, still naked, still completely real and wanting him. She beckoned to him seductively and he dove onto the mattress. He spread her legs wide, bent them back toward her chest. She was so juicy and ripe, the aftereffects of her orgasm written in sweet liquid on her thighs.
“God, you’re incredible.” He paused for a moment to just stare at her.
“Come on,” she urged him. “I’ve waited five years to feel you come inside me. Now you’re just tormenting me.”
“I’m afraid,” he admitted, rolling on the condom. “This is going to go so fast. I don’t want to disappoint you after all this time.”
“You won’t. This is already more than I dreamed, coming here. There’s no way you can disappoint me. All I want is to feel you inside me. I want to look into
your eyes while you move in me.”
He knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted that connection, that bond they’d felt from the very beginning. He wanted the same thing. Now that she was here, he didn’t know how he’d managed without it.
Holding her gaze, looking into those dark eyes, emotion singing between them, he eased into her. Each inch was a kind of slow-motion battle of willpower as he fought to keep from coming—at least until he finished a stroke. Pleasure streaked through him, danced through his balls, his spine. She arched her back and wrapped her legs around him and it was so glorious to be embraced by her soft flesh. He had to pause, gritting his teeth again.
“You know this is just the beginning, right?” Mia gasped. “You don’t have to hold back. We have time. I’m not going back until tomorrow.”
He blocked out the mention of her going back. He didn’t want to think about the future. Just today, now, his erection buried deep in her body, her hands fluttering over his back, her lips parted, smiling at him as if he was the king of the world.
Instead he drove deep, watching her as he moved inside her. And there it was—that glorious connection that always hummed between them, but better now, stronger, more intense, more real. It blew his mind to smithereens, along with all ability to control himself.
He came, hard and fast. The orgasm pulled from the deepest part of him. It wasn’t just pleasure, it was…Mia. Being with Mia. Inside her. As close as another human could be. It didn’t matter how long they’d known each other. They understood each other. They were…soul mates.
And if she really had to leave, he’d just have to talk her into letting him go with her. No way was he letting her disappear again.
“I changed my mind,” Mia said as they lay on the mattress, sweat cooling on their bodies. Making love with Aiden was everything she’d fantasized about, and more. But she had decisions to make, and as soon as her head had cleared after that incredible experience, they nagged at her. “I’m not going to burn the letter. I’m going to call Kai so he can take me to meet my father and the rest of my half-family.”
“I’ll come with you,” he said right away. “You might need moral support.”
“What? No, that’s silly. You have a job here. It’s the fire season.”
“Oh right. Forgot about that. Employment seems so trivial right now compared to being with you.”
She laughed. “I’ll be back, don’t worry.”
“In what, five years?” he grumbled. She laughed at his grouchy face.
“I’m sure it won’t take that long. I have no idea what it’s going to be like, or how it’s going to go. They might not really want me there.”
He stroked her hair, tucking a stray lock behind her ear. “They’re going to love you. How could they not love you?”
The word “love” hung suspended in the air, like a sweet bomb neither of them was quite ready to touch.
“If it’s awkward and you need a rescue, will you promise to call me?” Aiden said lightly, defusing the moment. “I have proven skills when it comes to rescuing you.”
She rolled onto her side so she could slide her leg along his. “You don’t have to prove anything, Aiden. Not to me. Maybe I have something to prove.”
“Like what?”
“Like that I know how amazing this is, this thing between us. That I’m not going to walk away from it again. That I’ll be back.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Good.” He kissed her deeply, making her practically liquefy with pleasure.
After the kiss ended, he ran his thumb across her bottom lip, a thoughtful frown on his face. “Last time, we didn’t have a plan. Maybe we should try again with the whole plan thing.”
“Like what kind of plan?”
“Like a live-in-the-same-town kind of plan. How are we supposed to give this a chance if we’re not near each other?”
“Fresno isn’t terribly far from Jupiter Point.”
“It seems like a different planet, so to speak.” He gave her a wry, tentative grin. “What if I come to Fresno? I can live wherever I want in the off-season. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t invade your space. I’d find my own place and we could just…date.”
She gazed at him in shock. “You want to move to Fresno?”
“I wouldn’t put it that way. I just want us to have a chance. It’s like a wildfire. The lightning bolt struck. We got, you know, fried. Something’s smoldering here between us. But it might go out unless it gets more fuel. A wildfire needs oxygen. Air. And something to burn, like brush. Am I taking this too far?”
She couldn’t help laughing at his fire metaphor. “Maybe, but I get it. I know what you’re saying. You want to start a wildfire in Fresno.”
He snorted. “I want to start a wildfire with you, babe. Wherever you are.” He ran a finger down her arm, his light touch already starting a wildfire of tingles along her skin.
What if she could have this every day? What if she could have Aiden in her life, bringing sunshine and wildfire? But not in Fresno, where so many ghosts still lingered. Somewhere fresh and new, with nieces and nephews and family and Cessnas and sticky buns and stargazing and…
“Do you think they’d let someone who doesn’t know a single constellation live in Jupiter Point?”
His face lit up. Flipping her over, he braced himself on top of her, all eagerness and hope. “Are you serious? You want to stay here? You would do that?”
“It’s a lot prettier than Fresno. And I could use a fresh start. And there’s a whole hotshot crew here to fight any wildfires we start.”
He lowered himself down to brush a quick kiss across her lips. “I got the wildfires covered. I’m trained. It’s my thing.”
A feeling of such joy swelled in her heart that she thought she might burst. “Can we really do this? Live in the same place? Spend time together? Be…happy?”
He laughed, giving her such a tender look she nearly cried. “You’ve really had a hard time, haven’t you? Yes, we really can do this. You can really live here, that would be incredible. I’ll move you myself. I’ll drive the truck, pack the boxes. And I want to spend as much time together as I can, though the fire season will be tough. As for being happy? That’s up to us. I promise to do my damnedest.”
This time it was her turn to arch up and kiss him on the lips. Their mouths clung, so sweet and promising, like a wish upon a star.
All the wishes she’d ever made came back to her in a rush. She’d wished for a family, for brothers, for love, for a home.
She’d also wished for her mother not to die, over and over again, through tears and prayers—so wishes didn’t always come true.
But maybe the end wasn’t really the end. It was the beginning of what came next. If that meant Aiden and Jupiter Point and getting to know Timothy Van Ness and her half-brothers, then she’d open her heart to every bit of it.
She was Lady Lionheart, after all.
She smiled at Aiden, his clear eyes showering love on her. Even though they hadn’t said the words, she knew love when she saw it. She knew it when she felt it, too. This was love, the real thing, and if there was one thing she knew how to do, it was love the people in her life as if they might be gone tomorrow.
“You know what I want, as soon as we wear out this mattress?”
“What?” He licked her neck, making her giggle.
“Someone owes me a flight tour. And what about the galaxy’s best ice cream? And the stargazing? If I’m going to live here in Jupiter Point, shouldn’t I get to know the place?”
“Absolutely. Your wish,” he moved lower, to the upper curve of her breast, “is my command. But first, I have a wildfire to deal with here.”
She lay back with a blissful sigh, catching a glimpse of the world outside the window as she did so. The sun had gone down while they were caught up with each other. Deep twilight hung in the forest.
And above the treetops, in the darkening sky, the first evening star gave her a bright wink. She could imagine exactly w
hat it was saying, in its faraway language of light.
Remember to look up at the stars.
* * *
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About the Author
Jennifer Bernard is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance. Her books have been called “an irresistible reading experience” full of “quick wit and sizzling love scenes.” A graduate of Harvard and former news promo producer, she left big city life in Los Angeles for true love in Alaska, where she now lives with her husband and stepdaughters. She still hasn’t adjusted to the cold, so most often she can be found cuddling with her laptop and a cup of tea. No stranger to book success, she also writes erotic novellas under a naughty secret name that she’s happy to share with the curious. You can learn more about Jennifer and her books at JenniferBernard.net. Make sure to sign up for her newsletter for new releases, fresh exclusive content, sales alerts and giveaways.
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Also by Jennifer Bernard
Jupiter Point ~ Firefighters
Set the Night on Fire ~ Book 1
* * *
Burn So Bright ~ Book 2
Into the Flames ~ Book 3
Setting Off Sparks ~ Book 4
Jupiter Point ~ The Knight Brothers
Hot Pursuit ~ Book 5
Coming In Hot ~ Book 6
Hot and Bothered ~ Book 7
Too Hot to Handle ~ Book 8
* * *
Seeing Stars
(Prequel and Hope Falls Kindle World Novella)
One Hot Night Page 10