Do Not Forsake Me(68)

Her reaction surprised even him. She kissed him in an almost unfamiliar, wild way. She dug her nails into his back, and after several minutes they climaxed again, together. He kissed her eyes, tasted tears.

“God, Randy, don’t cry. It will be okay. I know it will.” He pulled her tight against him as he rolled to his side.

“You’ll come back, won’t you? The next time you go away, you’ll come back.”

“Of course I will. Why wouldn’t I come back? I always come back.”

“I just don’t want to be alone for this, Jake. I’d have Katie and Evie, but that’s not the same. I can’t do it without you. When you leave again, you can’t let this make you careless. If something happened to you now…”

He kissed her over and over. “Nothing will happen.”

“But this last thing…when I thought you were dying, I felt like I was dying. You think you can’t live without me, but I feel the same way, Jake. I feel so safe right here in your arms. Even if it’s the worst and I am dying, I want to die right here in your arms.”

“Don’t!” He crushed her against him. “Don’t talk that way. It’s not like you to give up so easily, Randy Harkner. Brian said to think positive about this, and if I don’t, I’ll go insane. You need to be positive too.” He pulled back. “Look at me, mi querida.”

She wiped at her tears with a shaking hand and looked at him.

“This is you and me, and we’ll fight this together. My God, we’ve been through so much, Randy. And the way you look, so beautiful and radiant and flawless…that just tells me this isn’t something ugly and life threatening. You wouldn’t look so healthy and perfect. You keep telling me I need to have more faith, so that’s what I’m going to do. If that God of yours brings you through this, I’ll even go to church with you. How’s that for a promise?”

She seemed to brighten. “You will?”

“I will.”

“Oh, Jake, won’t that make people turn and stare?”

He smiled for her. “I’m sure it will. The preacher will probably end up speechless and forget his sermon.”

That made her smile. “That really might happen.”

“This could be really interesting.”

She ran a finger over his lips. “I wonder what they would all think about disrespectful sex.”

“I’m sure most of them don’t even know what that is.”

“Well, before you and Lloyd leave again, I want to have disrespectful sex with you.”

“I told you I already did that to you last night when you were acting like a wanton drunk.”

“But you said you made that up.”

He kissed her again. “I guess you’ll never know, will you?”

“Well then, was it good?”

“It was the best I’ve ever had.”

“Now we’re back to the whores.”

“At least I’m a man who knows what the best should feel like.” God, how he ached for her. He’d keep her smiling. He had to keep her smiling. “And I have some news for you.”

“Oh?”

“You’re going to have a third grandchild.”

She beamed. “Who? Katie or Evie?”

“Evie. Brian told me last night.”

“Oh, I’m glad for them! They’ve been trying. Brian is so good to her, Jake.”

“Well, now we both have something to look forward to, and all the more reason to fight this thing. I’ll be right here. Let me be your strength.”

“You’ve always been my strength. You thought I was the strong one, but I am weak without you, Jake Harkner. No woman could love a man more than I love you.”

“Then you’re a crazy woman, because I have to be the least lovable man on the face of the earth.”

“Oh, no. You, Jake Harkner, are easy to love. You might not be easy to live with…but you’re so easy to love.”

“And I’d like to make love to you again, but if we don’t get up and wash and dress soon, we’ll never be ready when Jeff gets here.”

She gasped. “Oh my gosh! What time is it?”

“I’m not sure, but I have a feeling we’d better get out of this bed.”

“I could stay here all day.”

“Do you think I wouldn’t enjoy that? I don’t know how many years I have left before I’m too old for this.”

“You? I have trouble picturing you too old for this. That gives me all the more reason to live long enough to see if that’s possible.”

Their gazes held, each pulling strength from the other. “Thanks to your demanding sexual needs forcing me to ravish you half the night, I’m very hungry now,” Jake told her. “Let’s go have breakfast, Mrs. Harkner.”