Call It Destiny (20 page)

His hands were on the fastening of his jeans when Heather’s shaking fingers finally started in on her own buttons.

„What’s the matter, honey? My God. You’re so cold. Come closer to the fire. I’ll take care of you. Here, let me undo those buttons.“
 

The warm concern was an invitation she couldn’t resist. With a small moan of relief, Heather moved into his arms and turned her face into the bare skin of his chest.

„Oh, Jake, I was so scared,“ she confided huskily. „I’ve never been as frightened in my whole life as I was this afternoon.“

„You think I wasn’t?“ he retorted hoarsely. „In between worrying about what kind of trouble you might be in, I worried about whether or not you’d told me the truth, whether or not you were really trying to get rid of me.“

„You actually thought I might have wanted to spend a few days with Rick Monroe after spending a night with you? Never, Jake.
Never!“
Convulsively she wrapped her arms around his waist, holding herself close to his comforting strength. „All the while I was telling you to get lost I kept praying you could read my mind.“
 

„And I kept praying you were trying to give me some other message than the verbal one. Not that it would have made a heck of a lot of difference. One way or another I had no intention of letting you spend the night
with Monroe. I told you last night that you belong to me.“
 

„Yes, Jake.“ She nestled against him trustingly as he pushed the damp shirt off her shoulders and then unfastened her jeans.

„I also had a hunch you knew it and that you wouldn’t have the courage to throw another man in my face.“

„Never.“

„Stop shaking, honey,“ he begged as he slid his palms inside her jeans and peeled them down over her hips. The wet underpanties went with the denim. „You’re so cold.“ His hands moved chafingly on her back.

„Reaction.“ The single word of explanation came out on a slight stutter.

Jake released her to pick up the blanket and wrap it around her. Then he hurriedly stripped off the remainder of his own clothing. The flickering firelight on his body captivated her. It danced along the solid male flanks and sent primitive golden shadows over his chest. She loved him and he was beautiful to her eyes.

„I’ll get these cushions over there by the fire. We can use them for a bed,“ Jake said as he pulled the dusty sofa cushions free and tossed them down in front of the fire.

„A rather narrow bed,“ Heather observed dubiously.

He looked at her as the last cushion went down in front of the flames. „We’ll make do, won’t we?“

She nodded wordlessly, unable to meet the searching challenge in his eyes.

„Heather, honey,“ he muttered, catching her by the shoulders and pulling her close. „You’re not still frightened are you? Of me this time?“

„No.“ But she couldn’t find the words to explain exactly what she was feeling, so she tried to make light of it all. „You saved my life. How could I be frightened of you? I told you, I’m shaking a little from the cold and the wet and the reaction.“

He dropped to his knees on the sofa cushions and gently tugged her down beside him. When she was kneeling in front of him he tenderly stroked her back beneath the blanket.

„Come and lie down with me,“ he commanded softly. „And I’ll keep you warm and safe tonight.“

9

Heather didn’t hesitate
any longer. Relaxing completely into his warmth, she let Jake push her down onto the cushions and fold the blankets over both of them. The heat of his body as he sprawled heavily along her slenderness was more satisfying than any fire, and the strength of his grasp as he cradled her chased away the last of the night’s terrors.
 

„All afternoon and evening I’ve been torn between the temptation to beat you for getting yourself into such a stupid mess and the equally strong temptation to do this.“ Jake’s mouth found hers in a deep caress that brought a moan to the back of Heather’s throat.

His hand moved along her side, down to her hip and back up to her breasts. The reviving touch was more sensual than therapeutic, although it certainly served to dispel the chills.

„I’d much rather you gave in to this temptation than have you beat me,“ Heather murmured gently, spearing her fingers through his damp hair.

„Since it was my fault you got into the mess with Monroe, I suppose it really wouldn’t be fair to take out my frustrations on your sweet backside.“
 

„Your fault?“

„Sure. I should have known better than to let you head for that cabin this morning. I told myself you needed a little time to adjust to matters after what happened yesterday, but by the time I got back to the Hacienda I realized I’d been a fool. Never let a headstrong female go chasing off on her own to think things over. That’s my new motto.“
 

„Why did you change your mind and come after me?“

„I figured that if you really needed to do any adjusting it might as well be where I could keep an eye on you.“

„If you want to know the truth, I was rather expecting you to arrive. It didn’t surprise me at all when you drove up to the cabin. I was terrified about what Rick might do, but I wasn’t surprised to see you.“
 

„Good. I do believe we’re making progress.“ Jake sounded complacent and satisfied. „Hold me, honey. Wrap yourself around me and let me know you’re here safe in my arms.“
 

„I think I need the same reassurance. I was so afraid I would lose you in that water, Jake. So scared….“

„It’s all right, honey,“ he soothed huskily as he crowded closer. He began to string tense, barely restrained kisses down her shoulder while slowly moving his thighs against hers.

Heather’s love for him washed through her, leaving her swamped with breathless excitement. The feel of his rapidly hardening body made her senses sing. She clung to him as tightly as she had clung to him during the trek across the surging canyon waters, and Jake responded.
 

„You’re not cold anymore,“ he grated as his teeth closed tantalizingly around one nipple. „I can feel you starting to melt, in fact.“
 

„How could I ever be cold around you?“

She felt so good lying beneath him, Jake thought with savage wonder. It was taking all his will to be tender and slow tonight. After the strain he had been through today his every instinct was to crush her to him and imprint his body on hers.

What a fool he’d been to let her go off on her own. He’d realized his mistake relatively quickly, he supposed, but by then it was too late. She had already landed herself in enough trouble to last a lifetime. When he’d walked into that cabin and seen her with another man he’d nearly lost his head.
 

„I could have killed him,“ he ground out against her skin.

„It’s over, Jake. It’s al! over,“ she crooned, understanding instantly.
 

„Don’t ever do that to me again.“

„Leave you? Or get into trouble?“ she teased gently, her nails making searing little paths over his back.

„Either.“

„I’ll try to behave more sedately in the future,“ she promised demurely.
 

Her deliberate though light mockery was more than he could take at the moment. Forcefully Jake pushed his knee between hers, making her fully aware of his own state of readiness. She responded satisfactorily, catching her breath and making that soft feminine animal sound that he had learned last night fascinated him.
 

„In the morning you’re going to come home with me,“ he told her between kisses. The soft satin skin of her stomach awed him.

„Yes, Jake.“

„No more running off to think things over,“ he continued. He trailed his palm down to the curve of her hip, delighting in the shape of it.

„No, Jake.“

„You and I belong together.“

„Yes, Jake.“

„I like the way you say that,“ he growled. „Heather, you make me go crazy, do you know that? Out of my head. I’ve never met a woman who affects me the way you do. God, you’re soft. So soft. Put your legs around me. I love the way you cling to me when you’re on fire. As if you’ll never let go.“

„I won’t let go,“ he heard her murmur into his chest. „Ever.“

This time he wouldn’t make the mistake of letting her think things over in the morning, he vowed silently. She was his and there was no point giving her any more
rope. It was time to draw in the slack and let her feel the strength of the cord with which he held her.
 

Perhaps it was the aftereffects of the traumatic evening events or perhaps he was always going to feel like this when he made love to Heather. Whatever the reason, Jake knew a throbbing excitement in every region of his body. Never had he been so captivated by a woman. After making her his last night he had known he would never be able to let her go. Memories of Rick Monroe in that cabin with her stormed through his head.

„There won’t ever be any other men, Heather.“

„No. Oh, Jake, I could never want any other man the way I want you.“

He heard the promise on her lips and reacted to it with a surge of satisfaction that sent him driving into her soft welcoming body. She opened for him willingly, letting him know just how much he was wanted and needed. He reveled in the way she drew him even closer, her nails biting deeply into his back as her legs clung to his hips.

If there was glory in the taking, there was undiluted pleasure in the giving, Jake discovered. He was enthralled with the way Heather trembled with passion in his arms. Every nuance of her response fed his own desire. When she tightened beneath him, arching her head back over his arm, he thought he would never know such satisfaction as he did in that moment. And then he reminded himself that he would have unlimited moments such as this in the future. She was his now.

His own cry of release was muffled in her hair. Jake lost himself in the woman he was holding and it was a moment or two before he realized exactly what she was saying over and over again as they came down together from the heights.

„I love you, Jake. I love you, I love you, I love you.“

The litany caught at him. „Oh, Heather, Heather go on saying it. Just go on saying it forever.“

But the exhaustion and the strain had crept up on her. The relaxation of the aftermath of their lovemaking claimed her completely. Smoothing the damp tangled hair back from her forehead, Jake gazed down at Heather as she drifted peacefully into sleep.
 

She looked soft and trusting, the vivid awareness of the hazel gaze shielded behind bronzed lashes. In this moment she appeared as gentle as a kitten and about as physically strong. Yet she’d held on to that leather belt coming out of the stream as though she were some kind of superwoman.

Jake watched her quiet features and decided that he was not very familiar with that kind of feminine power and uncompromising determination. Oh, he’d read the odd news account of a mother who had gone back into a flaming house to rescue a child, or the tales of women who, during wartime, fought alongside their men.
 

It wasn’t that he’d ever doubted that the female of the species could be every bit as fiercely determined as the male. It was just that in his whole life Jake had never met a woman who would have exerted herself that much on his behalf.
 

Usually women were rather anxious to be rid of him. Everyone from his mother through that string of foster mothers had made it clear he was not a particularly lovable person. The women he had known as lovers, including his ex-wife, had found him interesting for a while, at least in bed, but somehow the relationships had progressed little beyond that point.
 

The complaints from ex-lovers often centered around the fact that he worked too hard and that his conversation tended to be limited to the subject of hotels and the hotel business. The few short-term relationships in which he’d become involved tended to disintegrate rapidly when sex and the subject of hotel finances were no longer enough to hold them together. Jake was rarely able to tell whether it was the women who began to
withdraw first or he. He’d decided he was fated to go through life with only fleeting contacts and no sense of permanency.
 

Then he had accepted the position of financial consultant to Paul Strand and his life had undergone a major change. Paul, unlike other people he had assisted, was genuinely grateful for his expertise, rather than resentful of it. Neither Paul nor Ruth ever grew tired of conversation that centered on the hotel-resort industry, and his own growing interest in the future of the Hacienda Strand had endeared him to the Strands.

When the discussion had turned to the long-term future of the Hacienda, Heather’s name had come up with increasing frequency. Paul’s decision to retire had also been made known. Jake had been aware he was being gently manipulated but it was in a direction he realized he wanted to go. When Heather had proven amenable everything seemed to be falling neatly into place.
 

He and Heather really were going
to be
partners. Jake reluctantly eased himself away from her deliciously limp body, adjusted the dusty blankets around her and got to his feet.
 

Naked, he spent a few minutes arranging the wet clothing in front of the fire and then he stepped out into the night to try to gauge the flow of the pounding stream. It seemed to him that the rain was lessening and the canyon waters didn’t appear to be climbing. He’d set his mental clock to check it again in an hour or so.
 

Then he walked back into the cabin and slid gratefully down onto the cushions. With deep satisfaction he pulled his partner into his arms and allowed himself to doze.

Heather woke the next morning
with the sense of something having changed in her environment. It took her a moment before she realized the rain was still coming down, although not in such heavy quantities. It wasn’t the weather that had changed, then. She opened her eyes and noted that the fire had died out during the night. But that wasn’t what seemed different, either.