No Time To Dream

by Treva Harte

  It boggles my mind that I have brothers and sisters who are a little older than Vicky. And Daddy seems to fear I might have too much in common with his wife, who is a lot closer to my age.

  Perhaps she should go. It would help Jack, who hated going to Texas to his family and—even more importantly—it might show Mike Logan and Lisa that Jack was interested in someone besides his stepmother. After all, Jen now had a vested interest in this man.

  Jack stopped his pacing, turned to smile at her as she stared at him. His worried expression changed as he smiled. A slow and sexy smile. When he walked back to the bed and leaned over, she was reminded of a panther on the hunt.

  Jen kissed Jack's ear. As he began to nuzzle her throat, she blinked. A vested interest? Did she have one? Well, she must. Why else would she have made love with him—three, no four, well now it looked like it would be five times in a little more than five hours? It was just that her brain seemed to have clicked off of any rational thought. All she really wanted was to keep on making love and ignore anything else. Jack was a wonderful lover. She hadn't even imagined some of the things they had done together and she and Victor had certainly managed—No. She wouldn't think about that. She would concentrate on what Jack was doing. Jack made it very difficult to do anything else.

  Her bite marks were on his shoulder. His hands were on her. Jack was already making her wet as he just brushed her breasts lightly. Her body knew exactly what was coming next and was begging for more.

  "You know how to keep a girl from feeling awkward when she wakes up the morning after," Jen managed to say, lightly. She wasn't feeling awkward at all. She was on fire. Her legs shifted restlessly. His hands moved to touch the insides of her thighs. She gasped.

  "The only thing I want you to feel the morning after is me," he growled and proceeded to demonstrate as he stroked her nipples. Oh God. All she could feel was him. That and hot anticipation. "Besides, I need to prepare myself for the rest of the morning. Maybe we can have some foreplay on the plane under a blanket, but I foresee a hell of a lot of frustration until we touch ground. Hours and hours of frustration."

  "I haven't said I'll go."

  "You are going to be there with me, aren't you, Jen?"

  "I don't know—"

  His voice was suddenly a little strained and tight. "You aren't regretting this, are you?"

  "Jack, I don't know how I feel about this except that I know I enjoyed myself very, very much last night."

  "Then you are coming, right?" His fingers were reaching further up her legs, up her thighs, up to the pubic hair. They slid inside her, touched her swollen, slick clitoris. Greedily, she clenched those fingers tight. She shuddered. Jack had found his way to all her most sensitive nerve endings last night and he hadn't forgotten any of them.

  "I think I am—this morning and right now." Her voice cracked on the last two words. "I can't say no."

  "That's damn straight," he growled, as he spread her legs, spreading them wide across his shoulders.

  One finger. Two fingers. Jen arched up, desperately, as he slid them up high inside her.

  "Oh God, yes."

  "Yes, what?" His fingers eased back, just a little. Grazed her sensitive clit again and then danced more deliberately against it. Shocks scattered through her sensitized body, from the clit outward.

  "Yes, yes, I'm coming!"

  Which was how Jen found herself on a plane taxiing out of Reagan National early that afternoon, holding a wildly excited toddler with one arm and—well, she hoped a wildly excited male on the other. She was glad she didn't have to explain anything at the office, since it was the weekend and Jack made it clear they would not stay at his father's ranch for long. She hoped that what they had been doing in the office the night before wasn't clear to the cleaning crew, since she hadn't had a chance to go back and tidy up as she had half-decided to do before she found out she was leaving. Was that being paranoid? She figured it probably was.

  Leaving so abruptly had made her explanations mercifully brief for Molly and Cee Cee as well. Beyond the simple truth that she had been at Jack's and telling where she and Vicky intended to go in the next few hours, she hadn't had time to say much more. The girls' faces promised more questions were coming, but they all scrambled to put together a suitable wardrobe for a weekend with a Texas oilman and his family. Jennifer had only seen Lisa once or twice in her life, but she remembered that casual was not Lisa's style.

  Jack had picked up Victoria and put her on his lap as the plane lifted off, giving her a pacifier to soothe her sobbing and her sore eardrums. He leaned over the armrest and gave Jen a quick kiss on the cheek.

  "Sleep while you can, hon," he soothed. "I know you didn't get much last night. It won't do to face the family in a weakened condition."

  Jen smiled, would have protested, then yawned. Maybe he was right. Perhaps she could nap a little. She was asleep in minutes, her head against his shoulder, feeling vaguely soothed and protected even in her slumber. Funny, she hadn't been on a plane since—well, since before Victor died. Somehow she had thought she would be terrified. Maybe it was because Jack felt so comforting that she could sleep. If there was any terror lurking, exhaustion chased it away.

  Jen, I love you…

  She woke up, breathing hard, disoriented. For a moment she almost remembered what she'd dreamed. What was it? Then Jen's eyes focused on the people next to her and her uneasiness disappeared.

  Vicky remained asleep, slack-jawed, on Jack's lap. Jack, however, was awake. He touched Jen's hair, briefly, when he saw Jen staring at him.

  "More rested now?" he asked.

  "Much, thanks." She leaned over to him and whispered, "I'm sorry we had to take a rain check on the foreplay under the blanket, though."

  "There's still the ride back," he pointed out. "I'll hold it under advisement."

  Jack held Vicky and most of the carry-on luggage as they left the plane. Jen, who had struggled to get places with an increasingly heavy and lively toddler in tow, marveled at how simple it was to transport her daughter with some masculine strength to help.

  "Miguel will be meeting us," Jack said.

  "And Miguel is—?"

  "The ranch foreman. My dad actually has some aspirations about keeping the place a working ranch." Jack began to scan the faces in the crowd. "Fortunately he bought it as a hobby. Cattle ranching is a risky venture."

  "That was after he sold his oil business and did his stint in Congress?" Jen asked.

  "Dad has lots of hobbies." Jack shrugged. "Come to think of it, I suppose the ranch must make money. All his previous hobbies have done well for him."

  What was she doing with this man, Jen wondered as Jack picked Miguel out of the crowd and introduced them. She was a middle-class woman-in fact, middle-class was too lofty a term for how she lived now that her parents were dead. She had only moved in next door to Jack because her parents had bought in the right neighborhood at the right time. But when she was with Jack she forgot the amount of money his family had. That was either a tribute to Jack or showed her amazing stupidity. It should be hard to forget that someone came from millions of dollars.

  She wondered uneasily whether the clothes she had borrowed from Cee Cee were going to be enough to maintain the illusion that she and Jack belonged together. She had a feeling Lisa, at least, wasn't going to be fooled.

  It took a while to drive to the ranch gates. Jack kept his arm around her but said little until they reached the entrance. Then he looked at her, smiled, and gave her a hard kiss. She shivered.

  "Don't turn tail on me just because Lisa's a snob and my old man's an S.O.B., huh?" he murmured. "I need you here."

  That was a comforting thought. It remained her sole comfort as they arrived in time to see the nanny bring down Jack's little brother and sister—he had been accurate enough about their ages so that Vicky was easily absorbed into the nanny's routine and taken away for luncheon.

  Lisa was exactly the way Jen remembered. Jen's chin went up when sh
e saw Lisa surveying Vicky and her.

  Let Lisa think what she wanted about Jack being with someone who had a child already, a child who had a lot of the same features as most of her servants. As long as Lisa stayed quiet, Jen would be quiet, too.

  Jack excused himself after lunch and went to visit his father in the hospital. Jen noticed that Lisa didn't rush to visit, too, but since both of them were saying as little as possible to each other, Jen decided she could keep on staying quiet only if she was out of the house and well away from Lisa.

  "I believe I'd like to swim, if you don't mind," Jen said. "Jack mentioned a pool."

  "Yes, of course." Lisa graciously gave permission the way any lady of the manor should. "I believe Rachel has unpacked your things by now. Shall I show you to your room?"

  "Yes, thanks." Jen tried to sound gracious, too.

  "So tell me more about yourself, Jennifer. I believe you are Jack's—secretary—"

  "Legal assistant," Jen said through her teeth.

  "It must be so fascinating to work with a lawyer. I had toyed with the idea of going to law school myself before Mike and I met," Lisa said, without missing a beat. "I'm sure you find it a benefit to work with so many interesting men."

  "There are a number of interesting women lawyers there as well." Jen worked hard to keep her voice clear of any emotion. "Yes, I'm fortunate to be able to work. It's nice to be able to feel useful, don't you think?"

  "Certainly." Lisa didn't sound as if it was any work at all to keep the emotion out of her voice. "Your room is here. One of the servants will be happy to tell you where the pool is. I'm rather busy at the moment."

  Meow, Jen thought. That was a catty exchange—and could still be seen as polite on the surface. Well, if Lisa thought of her as a desperate secretary on the look out for a man, so what? Calling Lisa useless in turn was only fair.

  The pool was a refreshing change from Lisa. It was huge and lined with Spanish tile. Jen swam leisurely back and forth, before finally floating idly on her back. Maybe living the life of a decorative ornament had more advantages than she thought.

  The sound of running footsteps opened her eyes. She had just enough time to see Jack execute a neat dive into the pool before the water hit her.

  Laughing, Jen swam toward him, intending to splash back.

  Abruptly Jack pulled her against him in the pool. She felt him straining behind his swimming trunks as he rubbed himself against her. Didn't he ever get tired? He seemed to have a teenager's sexual drive and stamina. She wrapped her legs around his hips, her arms around his shoulders and smiled. Why complain? The water lapped over them as they remained together, Jack keeping them chest deep in the pool.

  "God, that feels good," he said. "I was beginning to think I wasn't going to get my hands on you for the rest of the day."

  "Has seeing your dad been tough?" Jen was concerned. "How is he feeling?"

  "He's feeling about as hardheaded as he always has. I don't know about his heart." Jack tried to sound nonchalant and then the concern crept in, too. "His color is off, but he seems alert and strong enough."

  Even as he spoke, he continued to rub himself against her. Her lips parted, just a little and he slipped his tongue between them. Jen sighed.

  He pulled back from her mouth to look at her closely.

  "How're you feeling, baby?" he asked. "I gave you a strenuous workout last night. Are you sore? I know it's been a long while."

  "Not too sore," Jen told him, quickly.

  He looked skeptical before he changed the subject.

  "I love seeing you with your hair undone." He let the long length of wet hair run through his fingers. "You never wear it loose in public any more."

  "Not for years," Jen agreed. "It gets in the way."

  "That's true," Jack nodded. "I know it'd be all I would think about if you left it undone like that at work. It's too damn sexy."

  "My hair? I just pull it back, braid it and forget about it."

  "You scared the hell out of me when you started talking about cutting your hair that day."

  "Men are so predictable," Jen snorted. "They always want to see women with long hair, no matter how big a pain long hair is or whether they look good in it—"

  He moved against her again and she lost track of her conversation. They flowed together in the water, not moving for a long moment, just absorbing each others' need.

  Jen was the one who pulled his swim trunks down and then wiggled her swimsuit bottoms lower.

  The weightlessness of her body as she shifted against him entranced her. Seeing the drops of water on his eyelashes and being able to raise herself against him to lick them off fascinated her.

  The doubts that had settled on her during the visit so far whisked away as Jack nipped her earlobe. She was bewitched and dazzlingly in lust with him, just as she had been last night. She didn't have to think with him nearby. She just had to feel.

  He was so beautiful, too. She loved that lean body, the almost hairless chest. She also liked the thin branching of hair from nipples down to his crotch. She traced it right then and felt the muscles tense. She loved to feel his muscles bunching under her fingers, just as she loved to watch him lying spent and relaxed, after they had made love. How did she get so lucky? How could she have missed all this for so long? She dug her nails into his shoulder once, twice, just for an excuse to touch.

  Jack slipped easily inside her, as if he was a part of her. He felt so good. His cock was warmth among coolness, hardness against the give of the water. Jen hid her face against his neck, fighting tears, fighting a cry of fulfillment.

  This was perfect. She could feel her own heat building.

  "Excuse me." Lisa's voice was cooler than the pool water. "Your father is on the telephone. He wanted to speak with you."

  Oh God, this was embarrassing.

  Jack barely acknowledged her presence as he took the phone from Lisa. With his other hand he kept his grip on Jen, forcing her to remain exactly as she was. He shifted his own body, keeping Jen shielded from sight.

  For a moment she tensed, feeling Lisa's eyes on them, then Jen forced herself to relax.

  Wasn't this what Jack wanted? It was one of the reasons she had come along with him. Lisa was going to get the idea that Jen had staked her own claim on Lisa's husband's son. Jen lowered her head to Jack's shoulder and felt his hand caress her back briefly again as he spoke on the phone, just as he had early this morning.

  So what if she felt totally out of her league today? So what if they'd been caught in the act? Lisa expected her to be embarrassed. The woman had done her best to intimidate her while Lisa showed off what Jack was used to. Servants, expensive furniture, the life of leisure and wealth.

  It didn't matter. None of it. Jack may have come from this, but he wasn't a part of this life. She knew more about how he lived than his family did. And they had chosen each other, at least for now. Jack wasn't ashamed of anything they'd done.

  He seemed intent on the phone call but he stayed hard and inside her the whole time. Ashamed? He was proud. Jen tried not to move, but even with their audience she could feel her tits hardening, knew she couldn't stop the small clenching movements of her vaginal walls against Jack's erection.

  "I don't really see any reason to do that," Jack sounded bored. "Oh, very well. We'll be there as soon as visiting hours allow."

  He handed the telephone back to Lisa with a civil, if curt, "Thank you."

  Then he turned his attention back to Jen.

  "The old man wants both of us to come visit him this afternoon."

  "Of course," Jen agreed, although she was curious. Mike Logan had never wanted to see her before.

  "Will you be back for dinner?" Lisa asked, staying exactly where she was.

  Jack could be proud of her, her insides could be screaming for more, but Jen was not going any further with an audience. She gave Jack's chest a little push, silently commanding him to stop.

  With a small smile at her, Jack eased himself ou
t of Jen, pushed their swimsuits back into place. He took his time, his hands lingering as he smoothed her clothing back into place. Jen wasn't sure why the water didn't sizzle around them.

  Lisa cleared her throat but Jen refused to look at the other woman. She was having enough problems calming herself down.

  "No, probably we'll eat out." Jack began to pull himself out of the pool.

  "I'll let Carmen know." Lisa walked away.

  "She sure doesn't care for me, does she?" Jen murmured.

  "She probably figures you're in the way. Last time I was here she came sniffing around. Things got a little—problematic." Jack was very careful and lawyerly as he chose his words. "I wasn't interested, but I never handled a situation like that before."

  "I'm honored to be your bodyguard," Jen told him. "Especially against her."

  "She's a piece of work," Jack said. "So beautiful, so intelligent, and so damned cold. My dad has a talent for finding that kind of woman. My mother isn't much better."

  "Speaking of your father—"

  "Yes, I know. We need to go visit him now." He leaned down into the pool, pulled one swimsuit strap off of her and kissed the hollow of her shoulder. "You have to make me behave, Jen. I'm starting to think we won't get any privacy during our stay here and I'm getting just a little desperate."

  "I'll meet you by the front door." Jen hastily pulled herself out of the water. "Fifteen minutes?"

  "Fine. We'll go somewhere casual to eat afterward," Jack called and she felt his eyes following her out of the courtyard.

  "Damn it. Damn Lisa and her prying!"

  Jack dressed quickly, still feeling Jen's body against him as it had been in the pool. He shut his eyes and fought his arousal. Even the thought of Jen got him harder than he had been in his life.

  Lisa had put them in separate bedrooms while he was gone. Bitch. Did she really think she was going to keep him away from Jen for the whole visit? On the other hand he didn't want to embarrass Jen by telling Lisa exactly what to expect if she kept trying these tricks. Jen wasn't used to his stepmother and didn't know what Lisa was capable of. Jen had been uncomfortable enough with the scene at the pool. He didn't want her to feel cheap.