She labored for air, wrapping her limbs around him. “Now, Jack, please.”
“Yes,” he said softly. “Now.”
He lifted her farther onto the bed and shifted between her thighs. Braced above her, he met her gaze.
Melanie went still, her nerve endings exposed. Her heart exposed. She’d wanted this for so long, and gazing up at him, she reached between them and closed her fingers around his arousal.
Then she let the silken tip of him slide against her.
“Melanie, honey.”
She smiled like a cat and guided him. He sank into her slowly and she watched his muscles tighten, his head drop back for a second or two. His entire body flexed as he pushed and filled her completely.
“Mine,” she said, and moved, her hip retreating. He plunged. “Don’t you forget it.” Her voice cracked and she pushed harder against him, demanding, claiming.
He met her tempo, a smooth cadence heightening their pleasure with each stroke. Jack felt it climb up his spine, shatter his will. She touched his face, kissed his mouth, his chin. Jack grabbed the headboard, leveling himself, watching her as he left and plunged into her body. She stretched beneath him, long and willowy, utterly feminine in her passion. He was aware of her every nuance, every movement and sound she made. Yet it was the tears in her eyes that snagged his soul and tore through his heart.
He called her name, his chest vised with tenderness. Desire slapped at them like waves, splashing over them. The slick folds of her gripped him, drew him back.
Pleasure, it beat. Love is here, it whispered.
Soft and womanly, she yielded to his strength, his power.
Bronze captured in a delicate pearl, he was her prisoner.
Their passion was like a living thing, curling around them, simmering on the edge of their skin. It throbbed from one to the other, twisting until they were more one being, than simply two joined. He held her gaze, never breaking eye contact, never ceasing his movements.
Then he lowered onto her.
“I need you,” she whispered, and her voice caught. “I need you for more than this, Jack.”
His throat thickened, and he knew what she couldn’t say. He felt it. In his bones. Then exquisite heat rolled up his body, into her and exploded. It blinded him with its power, and he thrust hard. She cried out, bowing like a silken ribbon beneath him, and he pushed and pushed, shoving her higher on the bed as their climax dragged them over the edge of rapture, and kept on dragging. It razored through him and into her, ripping out on a soft groan.
Desire suspended between them, a silent thread of a moment. Fused to her, Jack buried his face in the curve of her shoulder and held on tightly. Passion wouldn’t let him go.
When it began to fade, when he thought there would be nothing left of him but ashes, Jack knew his heart had left him somewhere, and he prayed it landed inside hers.
Nine
He smoothed her hair back from her face and kissed her deeply, with as much fervor as before, with a devouring hunger that lent itself to the side of demand.
She responded instantly. She didn’t have a choice; he owned her desire. Possessed her when she hadn’t thought she wanted to be possessed so strongly. But she did, she was, and when he rolled to his back, taking her with him, Melanie lay draped over him and sighing with satisfaction.
They didn’t speak, still catching their breaths, yet he palmed her spine, her buttocks, in a slow roam. She lifted her head, then folded her arms on his chest, propping her chin there. His expression was serene, his eyes closed.
She wanted to tell him what she was feeling, but she just wasn’t sure. And she wasn’t ready to commit her heart so deeply, though she already knew she’d taken a tumble when Jack walked back into her life. Now he was in her bed again, making her feel much more than before, and she wanted him to know how much of a woman she was with him, but she decided that he already knew. He was the only man who could make her rip apart with her desire and still want more.
He opened his eyes. “Hi.”
She smiled. “Hi yourself, Lieutenant.”
He squeezed her buttocks. “I’m almost afraid to hear what you have to say.”
“I’m not talking myself out of anything, Jack.” She inched up, running her tongue over the seam of his mouth before she kissed him.
He groaned, trapping her in his arms.
“We’re amazing together, aren’t we?” she said, and he shifted them to the side, running his hand over the curve of her hip.
“Oh, yeah.”
“So what happened when you stayed in the water for hours?”
He cocked a look at her, amused. “I didn’t think you were listening.”
“I wasn’t, but that much I caught.”
“We finally got to come in and we ate the leftovers from the previous meal out of the trash can.”
“Eww,” she said, sitting up. “That’s disgusting.”
“All a matter of survival, darlin’. You’re hungry, you eat what’s there.” From his position, her bare breast was too much of a temptation. He tipped his head and took her nipple deep into his mouth.
Her sharp indrawn breath filled the room, followed by a low throaty moan. Melanie knew she was moaning. It was hard not to be vocal when Jack touched her like this. He cupped her breasts, kneading them as he sucked, the pull sending spirals of sweet sensation out to her fingertips.
Her toes curled.
Only him, she thought, scrubbing her hands over his chest and then lower. The muscles of his stomach flinched and she smiled to herself. He nuzzled between her breasts and Melanie shifted lower, leaving hot grinding kisses in her wake. His breathing labored, his grip on her tightened.
“Melanie.”
She met his gaze, stroking his stomach, her hand gliding over his skin, then slowly closing her fingers around his arousal. He was already hard. She arched a brow.
He just shrugged and grinned. “It’s a perpetual state with you around.”
Then she bent and licked. He howled and she took him.
“Oh!”
Jack was helpless. Sinking fast and furiously into the sensations rushing and churning inside him. His body reeled in ten directions at once. His hands fisted in the sheets. His blood shimmered in his veins and rushed to collect where she touched. She tasted. He couldn’t stand it. He wanted to stand it, but he was almost embarrassingly powerless.
He grasped her under her arms and pulled her upward. “We better do something about that,” he growled. “Now.”
“Thought I was.” Melanie smiled as she straddled his hips. He didn’t give her a second to breathe, pushing into her and bucking. She laughed and spread her hands over his chest, riding him, rocking hard and watching his face. He rose up, pulling her legs around him, then quickening their motion. Gazes met and locked as their bodies beat a frantic rhythm.
Sweat trickled, damp flesh melted. She gripped his shoulders as he pushed and pushed.
“You are so hot,” he said against her mouth. And she told him what he did to her, what he felt like inside her, thick and pulsing. It fueled him and he tossed her on her back and thrust harder, faster, and she laughed and begged for more. He sent her across the bed and they fell to the floor, never stopping. Groping, pushing, filling.
Then the shock came. Like a savage beast, their climaxes roared through them, pulses pounding. Blood boiling and spilling back into their hearts.
“Melanie,” he chanted over and over as they fused, smiling as his body poured into hers. He shuddered hard and she trembled with the power of it. He went slack, sapped of energy, and he sank onto her for a second, then knowing his weight was crushing her, shifted to his side.
“Hoo-yah,” he groaned into the bend of her throat.
She laughed between gasps for breath. “Go Navy.”
He burst into laughter, then kissed her into another mindless puddle of desire.
Eventually they made it back into the bed.
Jack belted his robe, running his fin
gers through his damp hair and staring down at Melanie. On her stomach, a pillow tucked close, the sheet draped her behind and nothing else. His gaze moved over her long hair, down her slender spine. The legs that had trapped him to her last night. He smiled and shook his head, amazed and pleased. Hell, more than pleased. But then, he’d known it would be like that. Tender, wild and all over the place.
Beyond the windows the sun rose over the river, and he took the cordless phone and moved out onto the balcony where he’d set up their room-service table. He smiled. He’d refused to let the bellman inside. He wanted no interruptions, nothing to disturb these moments alone. Reality would show itself soon enough.
His gaze on her, he dialed her house, waiting for her mother to answer. Melanie would be anxious to know how Juliana fared without her. He was not anxious to know how either of his women would fare without him. But his time was growing short, his leave was almost over. His country, he knew, would soon call.
Melanie sat up sharply, confused, and when she realized she didn’t have a baby to care for, she sank back into the bed. She stretched, taking a refreshing breath, and realized she was alone. Quickly she scanned the room and found Jack. Her heart did a little leap and she tossed the covers aside. He was already sitting on the balcony, reading the paper and sipping coffee, and when she walked near, he looked up and smiled.
“Now that’s a pleasant sight in the morning.”
She smiled and reached for her robe.
“Damn.”
“I don’t think the town is ready for nudist dining.”
He smiled and she sat beside him. He poured her a cup of coffee, and she tipped her head back, enjoying the warmth of the morning sun.
“What shall we do today?”
“I need to call Mom.”
“Already done. The princess is, as we speak, being whisked away to the park, then the beach and then shopping.”
Melanie smiled, trying to not miss her child and to focus on Jack. “Did you have something in mind to do today?”
He gave her a velvety look.
“Besides that.” Last night they’d played and explored and discovered. And Melanie thought, he’s not running off to some mission. I can still get him near for a while.
“Sailing, a tour?” He hesitated. “Shopping?”
She laughed. He looked utterly horrified at the possibility. “I wouldn’t dream of forcing you to shop. Besides, I really don’t need anything.”
“Considering your gender, that’s a first.”
She nudged him. “Chauvinist.”
Jack smiled, and his heart did a little lurch when she brushed her hair back and the sun glittered off the diamonds on her hand. The last time he’d made love to her, he’d slipped out in the early morning and headed to Asia. He never forgot about her. Too many times to count he recalled being on ship in his bunk and wondering what she was doing, if she’d forgotten about him. She was in his blood.
Now she was his wife. She wore his ring and he wore hers. He looked down at the ring she’d placed on his finger during the ceremony, the simple band of gold meaning more to him than he thought possible. Forever, he thought, and met her gaze. She was watching him.
“You can’t wear that on missions, can you?”
“No. No identifying marks. Does that bother you?”
“No, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt because of a ring and I don’t believe a ring makes you married. It’s more than that.” She sipped her coffee, breaking off a piece of a muffin and popping it into her mouth.
“Keep going.”
She glanced at him, then looked out over the water. “It’s commitment, compassion, honesty. Trust. Those things are marked with a ceremony and a ring, but they don’t make them happen. I learned that the hard way.”
He caught her chin, pressing his lips to hers, then pulling back enough to say, “School’s over, baby.”
Her eyes teared and she touched the side of his face, falling into his kiss. “I know.” Her voice wavered. “I really know that.” She searched his features and Jack saw her uncertainty, saw the fears.
“Talk to me.”
“I don’t want to let you down, Jack. You’ve done so much.”
He tipped her face up. “Hey, this isn’t about who does more, Melanie. I’m getting all the benefits—a wife, a daughter…a friend.”
“You haven’t mentioned lover.”
He smiled.
“Kiss me again, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Boy, did he. Melanie felt her insides yank tight the instant his mouth touched hers.
“I’ll want to do that forever,” he whispered against her mouth and pulled her onto his lap.
Melanie sank into him. Forever. It was the same for her. She knew she wouldn’t have agreed to marriage if she wasn’t sure there was more than sex and a baby between them. She couldn’t admit to herself that she loved him. Not yet. Trust was coming, but her heart had tricked her badly before. She would have sworn she loved her fiancés, but this was so different. Jack was different, strong, patient, powerful.
Did she have to choose badly twice before she chose wisely? she wondered when Jack’s hand worked inside her robe and her train of thought disintegrated. He palmed her breast, whispering how soft she was, how he loved just holding her.
“You’re more than holding, Singer, and you best stop or get busy,” she teased, and he grinned and his hand shot downward between her thighs. He nudged them apart and pushed two fingers inside her.
She choked.
“Busy enough?”
“Oh, yeah,” she moaned, curling toward him as he stroked her to incredible passion. Her hips rocked and Jack stood, carrying her into the bedroom and setting her on the bed.
Melanie was on fire and she tore at her sash and flung her robe open. “Hurry,” she said. “Right now, Jack.”
He tore off his robe, his arousal full and throbbing. “Aye, aye, ma’am,” he growled. Lowering himself and spreading her thighs, he pushed into her.
“Oh, Jack.” She dragged his name out, long and soulful, as he plunged and plunged, cupping her buttocks and lifting her to greet him.
There was nothing gentle in their lovemaking, only a frantic passion that overtook them in seconds. They clawed and dug at each other as they met and parted. Bodies didn’t sheathe, they captured. Kisses were deep and hard and devouring. The crest rose with each thrust, and when Jack thought he’d hurt her, she’d demand more. He gave it, wanting this pleasure only with her. It was never typical, each touch seemed to be fresh and new and yet familiar. He plunged maddeningly deep and she locked her legs around him as they reached the summit and grabbed for more.
The explosion ripped a cry from her. Jack bit his lip to keep from screaming like a fool as pleasure erupted in savage demand. His legs and arms trembled as shudder after shudder razored through his body.
And when it subsided, when they were limp and sated, Melanie laughed.
He lifted his head to stare down at her. “You laugh? Laugh when I can barely breathe?”
“No, I laughed because I remembered why I went to the hotel room with you in the first place.”
“My charm?”
“I knew it would be mind-blowing exciting.”
He rolled off her and lay on his back. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Don’t. Your ego is large enough.” She stood and he watched her cross the room to the bath, his gaze on her behind. A second later he heard the shower running.
“Hey, Singer,” she called. “You waiting for an invitation or what?”
Air. He was waiting for breathing to come easily again, he thought, smiling as he pushed off the bed, crossed the room, then pushed open the door. Through the clear glass he saw her in the shower, wet and soapy. All she did was arch a brow and run that sponge over her breasts, and he was ready for her again.
He stepped under the spray and murmured, “You’re going to kill me, woman.” Then pushed her up against the tile wa
ll and loved her again.
Melanie stared out the window into her backyard, watching her father inspect Jack’s handiwork on the castle-style gym he’d built for Juliana. The two men hit it off famously, sharing some secret bond. Her father had told her already that he thought Jack was more than a good choice for her, but he didn’t elaborate on what the “more than” meant. She wondered how shocked her father would be that she and her new husband had been romping all over the place, buck naked till the wee hours.
Smiling privately, she watched Jack and her father inspect a joist. Jack’s father, David, had passed away two years ago, which was the reason Jack had escorted his little sister down the aisle at her wedding, but she learned that David had been a wonderful, calm man. She suspected Jack got that from him.
“You don’t know what to do with yourself, do you, honey,” her mother said, and Melanie glanced back over her shoulder. Jack’s mother and hers were sharing Juliana like a great prize. The baby was in Grandma heaven.
“Both of you are going to spoil Juliana so badly I’ll be tearing my hair out when you’re not here.”
“Grandmas’ privilege,” Laura, Jack’s mother, said. “We get to have all the fun and none of the work.” With that, Laura handed Juliana a biscuit. “Do you have any chocolate?” she teased.
Melanie laughed and, shaking her head, went into the kitchen. Jack’s mother was great, a cut-up like Lisa. It was all…perfect. Perfection in anything but numbers on a bank account scared Melanie. And it was strange. Strange having Jack in her house, his things in the bathroom. She wasn’t territorial or anything and had made room for him. But she had to smile when they awoke in her very feminine bedroom. He looked a little silly there. But that was the only place. Waking up beside him, staring across the dinner table, talking late at night, it was all so real and comforting. And it had only been a few days. While Jack learned she gave great back rubs, she realized he could repair just about anything. Juliana loved that her daddy was near, and though Melanie had some time off, she almost dreaded going back to work. And dreaded the moment when Jack would leave for duty.
The SEAL’s Surprise Baby Page 11