by Lise Fuller
She looked at him and bit her lip. “I didn’t mean to upset anyone.”
He squatted alongside the car door as she stared at his uniform now soaked with tears and stale beer. “Oh, Jake, your shirt.”
He glanced at it. “Yeah, well, it seems this cultured lady I know likes to mess up my clothes.”
A smile tugged at her lips then sadness filled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Jake. I don’t mean to be a bother.”
“Yeah.” He sighed.
“This is the last good dress I have.”
“I understand.” He rubbed her cheek and nodded. “Let’s go before you catch your death from pneumonia. You’re freezing.” He stood and closed the passenger door then got behind the driver’s seat.
He watched Marie stare at Katie’s house in the rearview mirror as they drove off, a worried frown plastered on her pretty face. He scowled. He wanted to know which one of her things could be that important.
The snow thickened as he reached the county highway. He slowed at the stop and gazed at the fort. Did Gramps know what had happened to Marie before she arrived at Fort Bridger? Probably, but it didn’t really matter. Even if Gramps did, the old coot wouldn’t tell him. He looked in the mirror again at Marie. She’d folded her hands and held her palms to her forehead—like she was praying.
Jake took a deep breath and turned onto the road, saying a small prayer himself, thankful Marie was unhurt, grateful she at last let him take her home.
—
Ghostly eyes watched as the police vehicle passed the old fort. As the apparition rocked on the aged wooden porch of the officers’ barracks, he lifted the bottle of beer and took a sip. The bartender spoke true. It had been a hell of a fight. Damn shame the tavern got wrecked but the result had been worth it. Jake would have let Marie walk outta his life if he, Thad Colder, hadn’t done something to stop it.
Gramps pulled his army cap over his eyes then slid lower in the rocker and put his feet up on the railing. “Yep,” he claimed and with great satisfaction, “brilliant idea of mine to throw the first punch. Amazin’ how li’l it takes tuh git some fellers fightin’ these days. Now, Josephine…” He put his hand over his heart and gazed at the crescent moon. “If we can git the li’l lady’s problem solved.”
He rubbed the moisture off the bottle as a smile crept across his mouth. “All in all, though,” he sported a cocksure grin, “it’s been a good night’s work.”
Chapter Ten
The warm fire crackled in the hearth. The wind battered the window behind Jake and howled in protest at his small measure of comfort. He breathed in the burned pine and cedar scents as he sat in the overstuffed chair in the parlor and stared into the flames. Marie didn’t delight in being back. All the way home, she gazed out the window, pensive, looking like she would cry.
He rolled the cool, empty shot glass between his fingers. Gramps had told him she’d leave soon if he didn’t pay attention. Would she have left tonight?
A strong gust grazed the house and banged the shutters as if in answer to his question. Of course she would leave. If not now, eventually. She was on the run and the one thing a person on the run wouldn’t do is get attached. He looked at a picture of Jesse on the wall and his heart almost broke. He couldn’t let that happen to the boy again. He couldn’t let it happen to himself.
The house stayed quiet except for the fire and the pipes from the shower. Jake was grateful Marie had peacefully headed for the bathroom when they got home. He didn’t know if he could handle any more arguments with her and if she’d cried one more time, his steel police demeanor would have folded for sure. When she closed the door, he called Cal. He’d hoped to catch his son awake to tell him they were back but Jesse was already asleep. He’d told Cal to let the boy know of Marie’s safe return then hung up. The water stopped. Marie had finished. Jake looked up and wondered how long the statement would be true.
The hair blower whirred. He heard the hum through the walls. Jake rose and walked to the antique cupboard to pour himself another shot of whiskey. Could he have read Marie wrong? Was she the type of woman who could live in the wilds of Wyoming with him? He tasted the bitter amber liquid and stepped back then let himself drop into the chair. It didn’t matter to his heart. He loved her. The truth was as simple as that.
Jake took another sip and pondered what he knew. The answer lay in whatever crime she’d gotten involved in, except now he knew it was more serious than he’d first suspected. She was afraid of a jail cell. Terrified. Yet it was her issue that caused his dilemma. He didn’t know where to turn without arousing suspicion. If she was guilty, he’d turn her in, but if she wasn’t…
He needed facts. He wanted to be sure first. He ran the tip of his finger through his drink. He knew he’d wait for her in any case.
He gazed blankly at his glass and formulated a plan. So far he’d respected her privacy but she seemed too attached to that bag of hers for it to be more than a place for her to keep her clothes. Perhaps he should take a closer look at the suitcase—and at her car.
The firelight shone through the shot glass. The beams created a prism that showered kaleidoscope markings on his hand. The golden light sparkled over his fingers and brought his mind back to the present. He lifted the drink and peered through the liquid to let the warm, amber color bathe him.
Then he sniffed the whiskey, smelled the potent scent and hoped the odor would shock him into reality. The attempt failed. Miserably. He downed the stuff. The liquid burned all the way to the pit of his gut. He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees and eyed the bottom of the glass. Sighing, he ran his hand through his too-long hair. What did he have to do to get Marie to stay? Life had been hard when his first wife left. With Marie, it would be devastating.
He thought about getting another shot until he heard the soft patter of feet on the wooden floor. Marie appeared in the doorway, her hair damp, her body loosely covered with only the thin bath towel. His jaw dropped. Lust grabbed his crotch. The remembrance of her body joined with him in the moonlight taunted him.
“I didn’t have…” She pointed down the hall.
Jake’s throat went dry. He held the glass to his forehead and closed his eyes to control the blood that rushed to his gut. “Sorry.” He started to rise. He hoped she wouldn’t see what her practically nude body did to his groin. “I’ll get my bathrobe.”
“Don’t.” She licked her sensuous lips and stepped into the room. Her chest rose as her inhalations deepened. “Don’t get up, Jake.”
Her voice was soft, breathy. The sound did things to him, stirred his hunger to have her naked and moaning beneath him. He leaned back and gulped, rested his forearms on the padded sides of the chair for moral support. A muscle worked in his jaw as he looked at her. He kept his eyes on her face, tried to subdue his budding erection and focus his mind on her fears. Those were what kept her away from him. Her problem was the most important thing now.
She padded forward. The top of her shapely legs exposed themselves in the warm glow of the firelight. Her mouth parted. Her lips were wet. A look of seduction burned in her eyes.
“Marie,” he choked, “if you come any closer, I guarantee you, there’ll be no turning back.”
She pressed her full lips together and clutched the white towel. “Jake…” Her breathing became labored. “I don’t want to turn back. I don’t want to leave. I…” She blinked. Tears glittered in her lashes. Jake fought the urge to hold her.
She looked at the floor a moment then at him. She opened her mouth to speak then paused. The carnal need in her gaze locked on him and spoke for her.
The depth of desire in her green eyes torched his tormented soul. Then time ceased, transmuted into a dark void. Jake watched the passion rise in Marie’s face. The seconds began again as the pulse raced in his neck. Marie’s fingers loosened the edges of the towel, barely pried apart the ends. By inches, the movement exposed the soft white mounds of her body, the erect rose-colored peaks of her breasts that were ready for
a man’s mouth to suckle.
Jake gripped the armrest with his free hand and held his breath. Her breasts rose with her shallow pants then her flesh quivered as the towel slumped silently to the floor.
His empty glass slipped from his fingers and thudded on the Oriental carpet. An arm’s length from him, Marie’s moist, dewy body shimmered in the firelight.
“Marie…” His voice thickened.
Her eyes enveloped him with their carnal intensity.
He moved toward her as if magnetized then froze as he remembered her confusion and pain. “How sober are you?” His eyes gravitated from her body to her face.
“Very. I had my last drink over two hours ago.” She licked her lips. Fear and hope radiated from the gesture.
He ran the pad of his thumb across her warm mouth. “Marie, I…”
“I want you, too, Jake. Maybe if we get the lust out of our systems, you can see things more rationally.”
“I doubt it.” The hunger in her eyes stirred the erotic craving within him. His floodgates dropped. “But I’m willing to try.” He swept her into his arms and pressed the flesh of her body against him then captured her lips with his. He needed her. Had to have her like he had to have his next breath. If this would be the only time he could show her, then so be it.
Marie’s hands reached for his belt. Her fingers slipped into his waistband. His cock pulsed in his pants. “Oh, Jake, I need you so.” Her breath skimmed the faint hairs on his neck, made his penis beat harder with anticipation.
Her admission gave him hope. She shook in his arms. Sadness racked her body. “Make love to me, Jake, like you’ve never made love before.” Her voice cracked. He heard the tears she wanted to shed.
Not tonight. He didn’t want her to cry. He wanted her to fly.
Jake pulled his head away. Looked into her forest-green eyes and smiled. He knew what he had to do. He had to make slow love to her, test and taste each part of her, let himself know her body completely. And with each move, he would let her see how much he loved her, how much he needed her—how much she needed him.
Marie was his life now. His woman. He couldn’t let her go.
He brought his head down to her. Let his lips brush across hers. She moaned from the touch. Her soft body curved into his. Her hands slid up his chest and fingered the buttons on his shirt.
“Go ahead,” Jake whispered against her. “Undress me.”
She glanced at him and licked her lips. His testosterone shot higher. He liked to watch the pink tip of her tongue, wanted to see it do other things—to him. He wondered how much game she had in her.
Tonight would be the time to find out.
He rubbed his fingertips across her back then let the outer side of them slide against her ribs. Marie’s eyes fluttered shut. Her breathing deepened. As he moved his hands up her sides, she gripped his shoulders. He spread his fingers and grasped the underside of her breasts then pressed his palms into her flesh, letting his touch glide across her satiny skin as he eased his fingertips together. Her mouth parted. Jake grasped the turgid peaks and pinched them. She mewed. He pulled on them, just a gentle tug, and twisted them slightly. She gasped. Her fingers gripped into him. Her body yielded to his touch.
Jake bent to her, pinched one nipple harder and teethed the pert bud after first laving the skin then sucking on it.
“Mmmm,” she cried. He liked the sound of sex in her voice, the need that burned for physical pleasure.
Marie forced her eyes open. An effort, he could tell. Her hands trembled. She pulled the shirt from his pants and worked the buttons, first undoing the bottom clasp then each one in succession. He liked the way she looked when she touched him, liked the shyness she seemed to have even while her heart beat faster against his hand.
He straightened so she could reach the rest and let his thumbs slide over her pebbled nipples.
A small moan escaped her. Before Marie could undo the last button, her lashes closed once again. She freed the fastening then slipped her hands into his shirt and glided them along his skin. Marie leaned into him. Her breasts pressed into his chest. Her palms rested against his shoulders. The feel of her naked body against his made his insides shudder with want.
“Jake.” She breathed against him, tasted him, licked his chest then moved to his smaller nipple and raked it with her teeth.
His turn came to groan. He shrugged off his shirt but pre-cum from his aroused state wet his uniform. Good thing he still had his pants on, otherwise, as hard as his cock was, he’d have taken her by now.
He lifted her, cradled her to him, dropped to one knee and sat her on the soft threads of the thick antique carpet. She leaned back and let her arms support her. Her slender legs folded toward the fire. The firelight encased her with a reddish-gold hue. The pert buds of her breasts were rosier, even more inviting with the glow. Marie moistened her lips, looked at him with that mixture of desire and modesty that tempted every fiber in him.
Jake got on his knees in front of her. Pulled Marie’s legs apart and opened her to him. Her labia glistened with her wetness. The trimmed hair around it glimmered. She drew an uneven breath through her sweet, parted lips. Her legs trembled but Jake knew it wasn’t from the cold. She wanted him. Her lust waited for him, heady, strong. And too much to be denied. In the daylight, her mind might refuse them this pleasure, but tonight she let her body rule.
Thank God. His eyes took their fill of her. The way she wanted and needed him healed a hole his troubled soul, a tender spot he had nursed for too long. The flames crackled as he hung there. Marie’s mouth parted. His cock swelled, hardened like a stone.
Jake put his hands on her knees, ran his palms against her inner thighs to her crotch. He thumbed the skin around her labia. She dropped her head back. Another moan escaped her. He stooped to her cunt, inhaled the flowery scent of her arousal and sucked her delicate flesh into his mouth.
Her hips bucked to him and she pressed her clit against his face. He nipped her then dipped his tongue into her vagina. A hint of salt. Mostly sweet. He hummed against her. “I love the taste of you.” He suckled on the nib of her sex again.
She mewed. Her head rolled to the side. He slipped his hands under her tight ass and squeezed as he lifted her higher to give him better access to her depths.
Marie lowered her upper body to the ground. Jake bent his legs and slid his knees under her thighs to raise her up. He liked to play with her, liked the sensations that rippled through her and showed in her face. He lifted her hips, licked her, raked her clit with his teeth. He used his thumbs to massage the edges of the crevice between her rear cheeks as he outlined the curve of muscle that led to her sex. Jake dipped the tips into her vaginal opening, got them wet then slipped them back and used them to coat her rear. Her muscles clenched. Marie moaned.
His pants tented with his rock-hard erection. He pressed a thumb against her anus as he kept up the pressure with his mouth on her clit and labia. Her cries grew louder. “Jake…” she uttered. “Oh God.” Her fingers touched his hair then she reached above her and grasped one of her wrists with her opposite hand and straightened her arms. It was as if she didn’t know what to do with them. “I want to touch you.”
“Not yet,” he rasped against her.
“Mmm…” She pulled her hands to her body and slid her fingers over her rib cage.
“Touch yourself for me, Marie.”
“Huh?” she whispered through her sexual haze.
“Pull on your nipples for me. Let me see you.”
“I’ve never…”
He smirked. “Good. Do it.”
She closed her eyes. Her small fingers found her breasts. She rubbed the tips.
“Pinch them.”
She grasped the tops and did. He nipped her clit. Her slow moan about made him come.
Jake’s erection grew painful. He needed release. He took one of her hands and put it on her mons, ground her fingers into the clit and dipped the middle one inside her. “Play with yourself,�
� he said while he shrugged off the shirt. “Let me watch.” She glanced at him under heavy-lidded eyes. Her hand moved, a little at first, then more vigorously as she toyed with herself. Jake unzipped his pants and yanked them down. His erection popped out hard and proud. He kicked off his shoes, shed his socks and pants in a hurry, then came to Marie and hovered over her. She still fingered herself and looked at him with want.
He smiled. He liked her soft and sultry under him like this. Bending, he kissed her. “You’ve never done this in front of a man, played with yourself, have you?”
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “No.”
“Well, we’ll have to see what else you haven’t done.” He grasped her wrist and licked her fingers, tasted the flowery emission from her sex, then set the hand on her breast again. He let his erection waver against her clit and vaginal opening. She closed her eyes and jutted her hips to him.
She was ready. But he didn’t want to take her. Not yet.
He leaned on one elbow and took his cock in his hand. He coated the tip with her juices, rubbed his flesh against her. He let the head barely ease in and out of her with each pass against her clit. She whimpered, twisted against him. “Oh Jake, I want you in me.”
That was what he wanted to hear. He plunged into her, slipped an arm around her shoulders and rolled to bring her on top of him. “Move for me.”
She did. Ground her hips against him, moved her clit over the top of his pubic bone while her vaginal walls clenched his cock. Her gyrations about drove him insane. He wanted her to come before he did.
She rode him. Rode him hard. Her sensual cries urged him on. She was on the edge. Jake knew it. He slapped her ass. Not hard, just enough.
Then did it again.
Her breath hitched. He’d surprised her. She pressed harder. Soared. Her head lifted. Her eyes shut. He felt the small muscles within her spasm around him. He grabbed her rear cheeks and squeezed.
She screamed with her release.
Jake relished the emotions that played across her face when she did. He would never get enough of her.