But I did. Mel loosened her grip on his neck to look at him. Jake’s face was contorted with indecision. Fine lines tracked out from his eyes. Shadows softened the fine skin beneath them. Mel reached out and with one finger, touched the place that would be his dimple when he smiled.
“We were too young back then,” he said. When he smiled, Mel felt the indention in his cheek. “Maybe things have worked out for the best. At least we found each other again.”
Mel withdrew her hand and tried to pull away from him. Jake wouldn’t let her. She fought to keep the fear from reaching her eyes.
“What’s the matter, Mel?” he asked in a quiet voice. “Don’t you feel it too? This strange pull that draws us together?”
“Yes.” She was breathless. “But there are things I need to tell you about my past.”
“I don’t want to know what happened in your marriage. If I find out that bastard mistreated you, I’ll kill him.”
Mel’s heart froze. He was talking about Lenny, of course, but he had used that disgusting word that her ex-husband had used today. It sickened her. What she’d done sickened her.
“It’s not about Lenny,” she told him, trying once more to pull away.
“Don’t, Mel. Let me hold you. It’s been so long.”
She allowed him to draw her once more into his arms. He cradled her head under his chin. She couldn’t talk. Could barely think. The rise and fall of his chest was the very comfort she had been seeking. For ten years, she’d searched for a fulfillment that she’d never found. But here it was in Jake’s arms—the contentment and peace, she’d always longed for.
“I’m hoping there may be a future for us,” he admitted in a low voice.
“What I have to tell you might affect our future.” Mel shut her eyes, knowing the solace of his arms would soon be gone.
Jake just held her tighter. “Tell me later. Right now, all I want to do is love you.”
Mel was silent. The rhythm of his beating heart and the increased cadence of his breathing lulled her into submission.
“Please.”
His mouth came down upon hers again, hard and incessant. His urgency fueled hers, and drove her to return his kisses with a ferocity she hardly expected.
Jake maneuvered her toward the cot. “Let me see you,” he said, and unbuttoned her blouse.
She stood there like a little girl letting him undress her. She was pliant, in a fog of swirling desire. She allowed him to remove her blouse. He dropped his mouth to the mound of her breast, nuzzling the bra aside, and tickling her nipple with his tongue.
“Oh, Jake,” she moaned, putting her hands on his own shirt.
Frantic, she tore through the buttons. Reaching up, she tried to take off his shirt, but he was too tall. He helped her then, dropping it into a heap on the dusty floor. Mel reveled in the hair on his chest. Kissing the soft curls, wrapping her tongue around his hard nipples, she felt him thrust up to meet her, seeking her in a ritual as old as time.
“Take off your jods.”
“You take off your slacks.” Jake grinned. His eyes glazed over with a deep yearning, and sat down on the sofa to pull off his boots.
Mel kicked off her flats and fumbled with the button on her jeans. Jake was there in front of her, dressed only in striped boxer shorts and socks. He helped her zip down her zipper. She stepped out of her jeans, leaving her panties on.
He was too hard, muscled handsome, with his boyish grin and eager blue eyes. When her gaze traveled downward, Mel saw his arousal beneath the fabric of his boxers. She knew his gaze mimicked hers and subconsciously sucked in her stomach.
“You’re beautiful,” he gasped. “Every part of you is just right.”
Mel smiled shyly. The throbbing within her was unrelenting.
“Come here,” he said in a husky voice.
He tugged her toward him, running his hands up and down her bare arms. Her skin shouted at his touch. Mel stepped closer to him, feeling the coarse hair on his thighs. As she wrapped her arms once again around his neck, Jake pulled her upward, so that her feet left the floor. He supported her buttocks with his hand. Automatically, Mel folded her legs around his waist. His love-filled gaze stroked her face, beseeching. She responded to his desire with a kiss that deepened and lingered, its very force rushing through her body to the tip of her toes.
“This won’t be perfect,” he murmured into her mouth.
“Yes it will,” she sighed in reply.
With that, he angled himself toward the canvas cot. Her arms were tight around his neck, and he used a free hand to quickly position the pillow. Then he sat down with Mel riding easily with him.
There wasn’t much room. Mel’s legs dangled over Jake’s hips and thighs onto the chilly floor. But she didn’t mind. Her senses were focused on the hard length of him. Only the cotton of her panties and the fabric of his shorts separated them. It was frustrating, but only for a moment, because they shed them. Then Jake fitted on a condom.
Mel balanced herself with her hands near his head. Using her lower body, Mel began to rub against him. She circled him, her stomach pressed hard against his. Jake sought her mouth once more and seized it fervently. Then he drove deeply into her.
Mel accepted him willingly. Concentrating on her own pleasure, the wild sensations swelling and cascading through her, she was savage in her response to his kisses.
“Mel.” Jake moaned her name, his face contorted with his own pleasure.
She lifted her lips from his, finding it hard to breathe. Half-closing her eyes, she threw her head back, focusing on his hardness and her own yielding softness.
“Yes!” he cried.
“Oh,” she groaned in union with him. “Oh!”
The torrent of her satisfaction astonished her. She melded to his body, and dropped down on his chest, turning her check to rest under his chin. His arms slipped around her, limp with his own release.
As his heartbeat slowed, Mel wondered at their closeness, their ability to please each other so completely.
Chapter Thirteen
The soft strands of Mel’s auburn hair brushed Jake’s nose, tantalizing him with its lavender scent. He tightened his arms around her slim shoulders. She felt so good to hold. Barely feeling her weight, he reveled in the firm curves of her hips as he dropped a possessive hand on her backside. Relaxed, she shifted position slightly and sighed. Mel was almost asleep.
In the afterglow of their lovemaking, Jake wondered how it had happened. He’d resolved not to touch her, to control himself. Her presence in the stall had bested his resolve. Mel had looked so lost, so alone. He’d wanted to comfort her and ease whatever pain that caused her eyes to grow wide with grief.
His good intentions had backfired. When he’d felt his arousal, he’d acted on impulse. When she’d responded, he had rejoiced in their passion.
Mel had been an exquisite sight, standing in the dusty office wearing only her panties. Her ivory skin had looked even paler in the bad lighting. Her small breasts, rising and falling, had charmed him. Jake remembered how her nipples had gone hard against his tongue.
Mel was so different from other women he had known. Her thighs, straddling his body, were firm, and her stomach taut from constant exercise on horseback. He smiled into her sweet-smelling hair. Like most women, Mel was self-conscious about her appearance, reacting to his look by sucking in her stomach, as if she was afraid he’d think her fat. She was wrong. His hand lightly roamed the soft skin on her compact derriere.
Desire, long denied, flared within him once again. He felt himself harden. As he was shattered by his climax, Mel had made tiny, desperate sounds of culmination too. Jake smiled. Her enjoyment had been his triumph. Jake ran a gentle hand along Mel’s back, the love he felt for her swelling within his heart.
He wanted to lose himself in her, really lose himself forever. Only when he had truly made her his own, would their lovemaking reach perfection. That would come. They had time.
Holding her in his arms was
like heaven, something he’d longed to do for ten years. She stirred. He eased her to his side, and turned slightly. With his arms wrapped around her as if he never wanted to let go, Jake suppressed his yearning and shut his eyes. Sleeping with Mel would almost be as good as a long, slow lovemaking, and certainly more intimate because of its ultimate vulnerability.
As he drifted off to sleep, he realized from now on nothing would be the same between them again.
* * * *
Jake’s features were grimly set. “I suggest Professor Plum, in the conservatory, with a knife,” he said and glanced around Vanessa’s dining room table at those playing the board game.
Mel checked her detective’s notebook, discovered she had Professor Plum, and lifted the Clue card so only Jake could see it. The provocative look he thanked her with sent shivers sliding through her body. The card shook in her hand as she returned it to her pile of suspects, rooms and weapons.
“Thank you.” Jake checked off the suspect. “Your turn.”
Mel took the die from him and tossed it. She moved her Miss Scarlet playing piece two spaces toward the lounge.
It was Pop’s turn. Mel absently watched as he picked up the die with his gnarled fingers. She was very much aware of Jake sitting beside her. The renewed sense of intimacy she felt whenever she was around him was disconcerting. Unsettled, she tried to keep her gaze from his, but it was difficult. Every time she looked his way, he would glance back, giving her that “we’ve got a secret” look.
“I suggest Mrs. White, in the ball room, with a revolver,” Pop said and turned to Cory.
The little girl shook her blond braid, and everyone looked expectantly at Vanessa.
“Here’s one.” Vanessa slid the card across the table. Pop made a big show out of picking it up and concealing it as he looked. Then he passed it back to Vanessa.
Spending last night with Jake was not the only secret she kept from everyone, Mel thought with a guilty gaze around the table. Cory, the love child she’d given up so long ago. Vanessa, her friend, who didn’t know the truth about the baby her mother and father had adopted. Pop, who would never really know his only grandchild. And Jake. What can I say to Jake?
She’d better find a way to tell him soon if she didn’t want her vengeful ex-husband to do it for her.
Yet her agonizing secret wasn’t the only misgiving Mel pondered as she watched Cory make her move. What about last night? What had it meant? Had it been a simple matter of easing their sexual tensions? Or did it signify more?
Mel glanced again at Jake. His light brown hair was slightly ruffled as if the wind had caught it. His blue eyes held a devil-may-care look. Was he pleased with himself? When he grinned at Cory, his dimples enhanced the boyish quality of his features. She looked away, suppressing the urge to reach out and touch the misplaced dimple high under his left eye.
Whatever might become of their relationship, Jake had wanted her last night. He’d made her feel womanly and desirable. But more than that, he’d protected her, as he had not protected her ten years earlier. Sure, times had changed, but Jake had changed too. He was more mature, more caring. Mel smiled to herself, remembering how Jake had kept her warm and secure on that hard and awkward cot all night long. She’d awakened with a stiff neck and a foot that had fallen asleep.
Jake might be more mature, Mel reflected, but he still possessed that odd sense of humor. He still loved to tease her and hear her fuss. Funny, it didn’t bother her liked it once had. They’d fallen into a comfortable habit that was becoming part of their relationship. Nevertheless, he could still be annoying. Holding her this morning, his breath in her ear, Jake had not been a bit concerned that Dave would arrive to find them naked in each others arms. She’d fumed, and Jake had made fun of her. Of course, Dave hadn’t shown up until they were dressed and at work.
Cory scooped up Mel’s playing piece, drawing her attention back to the game. “I suggest Miss Scarlet.” She thought for a moment toying with the piece. “In the hall with a candlestick.”
Cory put Miss Scarlet and the candlestick in the hall, and turned to Vanessa. Her sister shook her head.
“Jake, got a clue?” Cory asked since he was the next player.
“Not me, kiddo.”
After both Mel and Pop also failed to show a Clue card, Cory burst into an impertinent grin. “Well, let me see,” she said, drawing out her words dramatically. “I suppose I’m just going to have to accuse Miss Scarlet in the hall with a candlestick.”
“No, not a candlestick!” Jake exclaimed in mock shock. “Mel, how could you?”
“You don’t know I did it,” she retorted. “Cory hasn’t proven a thing.”
Cory snatched up the envelope marked “Confidential” and stole a furtive look inside. Thrilled with herself, she plopped all three winning cards on the table.
“You did it,” Jake accused Mel.
“With a candlestick.” Nodding her head, Mel cast him a knowing glance, and tried to ignore the flutter of sensation filtering down toward her toes.
“You’re a very dangerous woman.” Jake raised his brows in a meaningful look.
“Well, damn me, not as dangerous as Miss Noble here,” Pop said to Cory. “You won again, darlin’.”
“Maybe she has a career as a detective,” Jake suggested.
“Not me. I’m gonna be a horse trainer.” Cory was animated by the amount of attention she received. “Let’s play again.”
“No, it’s my bedtime,” Pop grumbled and climbed to his feet. “Being shut out twice by a little tike like you just doesn’t sit right with me.”
Cory pulled a face. “You’re just jealous, isn’t he, Mel?”
“Pop is very competitive,” Mel agreed with a smile.
Vanessa had been picking up the playing pieces and turned a motherly look at Cory. “Bedtime. Sounds as if Pop has just the idea for you.”
“Ah, sis,” Cory complained. “It’s not dark yet.”
“No whining, child,” Pop said. “Get on up to bed with you.”
Cory grimaced, but said, “Okay, Pop. Will you take Major home with you?”
“Sure, I’ll take the mutt. C’mon Major.” Pop motioned to the white setter.
“Mel and Jake, will you stay for coffee?” Vanessa asked as she put the top on the Clue game. “I have a new espresso machine I want to try out.”
Mel glanced at Jake who nodded in agreement.
“Want any help?” Mel asked Vanessa.
“No. Let’s take it in the library, though.”
“That’s fine. I’ll be along in a while, Pop,” Mel told her father who ambled to the door with Cory and Major in tow.
“Take your time.” His gaze drifted between the two of them. “Take all the time you want.”
“I wonder what that look was supposed to mean,” Mel muttered as she and Jake walked into the library.
“Probably that Pop would like to see us get together.” Jake rested his hand on the back of her neck.
Mel controlled her breathing and faced him. “My father always liked you better than the man I married.”
His left hand had moved to her shoulder, tying them together with an assured intimacy. He lifted his right forefinger and touched the tip of her nose. “I’m better looking, I’m sure.”
“You were always an arrogant S.O.B.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, the truth hurts.”
Truth. Yes, the truth would hurt. A fierce guilt stabbed at her heart. With her eyes turned up at his, she measured Jake’s droll expression. His gaze roved across her face, as if he were trying to read her. Jake moved his hand to cup her cheek in his palm. She leaned into it, drawing comfort from its rough warmth.
“Do you get the distinct impression this whole thing was a set up?”
Mel straightened, fighting down an unexpected fear. “What do you mean?”
“You and me showing up at Royalty Farm.” Jake’s eyes lightened. “I have a feeling Pop planned it all along.”
T
he feathery touch of Jake’s fingertips tied Mel to him. She searched his eyes. “What are you saying?”
“Pop O’Shea, matchmaker,” Jake said with a laugh. “Did he tell you he hired me as a trainer?”
“No.”
“And he failed to tell me you were divorced and coming home.” He nodded his head. “I rest my case.”
Mortified that Pop might have manipulated them like that, Mel turned from him as Vanessa came in the room with a tray. Jake rushed forward and lifted the tray from her hands.
“Here, let me help you,” he said and set the tray on the coffee table.
“I tried out some new Irish cream flavored beans for this cappuccino,” Vanessa explained, and sat down on the sofa. “There’s no alcohol in it, but I can get some Bailey’s if you want.”
“No, this is fine.” Mel took up a cup and sipped the frothy coffee as she settled beside Vanessa.
Jake joined them. “This is good.”
“Umm,” Vanessa acknowledged while she cradled her cup close to her lips.
For a few minutes, they savored their drinks. The hot liquid was soothing. A slow, rosy warmth settled over Mel causing her to feel drowsy. She watched Jake from over the rim of her cup.
“Cory is the funniest child,” Jake remarked after a bit. He sat down his cup. “She’s such an expert at Clue.”
“I wish she could solve our mystery,” Vanessa said with sudden bitterness.
“Yeah, the sheriff and the state police could use some help,” Jake scoffed. “They’re as slow as Christmas.”
Vanessa placed her cup on the coffee table. “The sheriff did tell me the results of the state fire marshal’s arson report.”
Mel watched her employer’s tense features. How did she remain calm under the circumstances?
“I’m afraid the arsonist may be in my employ,” Vanessa reported.
Jake sat forward. “How’s that?”
“They believe the fire was started in the bedding straw of that empty stall. Liniment was used as an accelerant. All it took was a match.”
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