by Jacobs, Ann
His heated gaze seared her clear to her toes. When he swept aside the quilt and patted a spot for her beside him, she lifted the hem of the concealing gown and brought the garment over her head. It slid onto the floor—and she slid into her husband’s arms.
The sheets felt soft against her skin, warm from Jared’s body heat. He touched her as gently as though she’d been made from porcelain, as reverently as if this would be their first time making love.
Slowly they explored each other’s heat. She etched the masculine angle of his jaw and tested the texture of silky hair on the taut, satiny skin of his chest. Too eager to wait longer, though, she moved her hand lower to caress the steely, pulsating proof of his desire.
His gorgeous body was hers to share now without fear or shame. Eager to taste him, she bent and took him between her lips, sinking lower on him when he let out a very sexy moan.
“Oh yeah, your mouth feels like heaven on me like that. Stop, though. I can’t wait if you keep it up—“
“Don’t wait.” She was already hot and wet for him, and his need fueled the flame inside her. Lying back on the bed, she lifted her arms and welcomed him when he sank inside her and began to thrust, slowly at first, then faster when she urged him on. Tension built inside her until it burst in a mutual explosion of ecstasy that was familiar yet somehow new.
For a long time afterward they lay together in silence, savoring the afterglow. Vaguely she registered him pulling the quilt over her shoulders when she started to shiver.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” He brushed a strand of hair back from her cheek.
She cupped his cheeks between her hands and lost herself in his dark, sexy gaze. “My pleasure.” It had been, was and would be her pleasure to love him like this for the rest of their lives.
His arms went around her, held her so tight she knew he’d never let her go. “I love you, sweetheart. God how I love you.”
Since she’d agreed again to marry him, he’d been saying the words without hesitation. And she had no trouble returning them in kind. “No more than I love you, husband.”
The way he smiled told her he loved his new status. Lifting her hand, he kissed her wrist, just below where the bracelet hung. “It’s fitting that you’re wearing my heart on your sleeve. Because, sweetheart, it belongs to you just like this little bauble does. I feel like I’m the luckiest man on earth.”
She tilted her head back so she could look into his compelling eyes. “No luckier than I am to have you. I’m glad you let me talk you into spending the first night of our honeymoon at home.”
“Me too,” he said, his lips curving in a smile. “For the first time I feel as if the wanderer in me has finally settled in. I’ve come home to you, and I couldn’t be happier.”
The end
About the Author
Ann Jacobs is the author of more than 100 novels, novellas, and short stories. First published in 1996 by the Berkley Publishing Group, she writes very sensual romances, most of which are contemporary, although she occasionally pens an historical, urban fantasy, or paranormal story or series. Some of her works are erotic romances, in that they contain BDSM and/or ménage scenes. These books are clearly marked as such at her website.
A PATCHWORK ROMANCE, first released in 1999 by Kensington Publishing in their short-lived Bouquet Romances imprint as COMING HOME, is strictly romance: one man, one woman, overcoming conflict to arrive at happily ever after. It has been updated and heavily revised, to reflect the characters accurately—and to ensure that the book is presented in language that illustrates the good taste the author intended.
Probably best known for the many erotic romances she wrote for a former publisher that still holds some of her books, Ann has worked hard since getting many titles reverted, to revise and in some cases re-write books that reflect not her taste but rather the requirements of that publisher to include excessive crude language and salacious, repetitious description of human body parts. It is Ann’s belief that “erotic” does not necessarily mean using language that is crude and tasteless in her view—something the former publisher more or less insisted upon, in order to meet its guidelines.
She hopes readers will enjoy her re-worked stories. She requests that lovers of her works refrain from purchasing any of her few remaining titles that are still held by Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc., as she is not proud of much of the content, in addition to the fact that the publisher has breached many of her contracts by unilaterally changing the basis on which royalties are to be paid, without having obtained a written modification to terms, as is specified in those contracts. Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc. has underpaid Ann by well into six figures due to these breached contracts, and it has not paid royalties timely for over a year, a fact admitted to by the company’s chief executive officer.
Ann has removed all her Ellora’s Cave titles from her website. All of her current titles and backlist (other than the remaining EC books) are included, broken down for readers among romances, erotic romances, and her one nonfiction book on writing. She hopes you will visit, and also check out the blog entries in which she discusses the changes she made or is making to give her readers an awesome reading experience! Visit her here: http://annjacobs.net.
All of Ann’s books are available from Amazon (all countries), and the books published other than independently are also available from most online booksellers. Several of her reverted titles are available in print as well as in digital versions.