Do Not Forsake Me(8)

“Maybe it makes me stronger, like Samson.”

Randy smiled. “I think the only Bible passages you remember me reading to Lloyd and Evie are the ones that were about battles and wars.”

Jake grinned. “Those were the only exciting parts. Now, wiggle out of those slips and anything else that’s in the way, woman. Right now, you are Delilah.”

Randy gladly did as she was told, thinking how her husband was still a fetching man, his body hard, his dark hair showing no sign of thinning. He remained amazingly strong for his age, but she hated the scars that told of the rough life he’d led—especially the scars put on his back by his father. Those were the deepest scars of all.

She moved under the covers.

Jake frowned. “Why are you hiding under those blankets like a bashful young girl? You know I’ll rip them off of you.”

Randy sighed. “I do feel more bashful as I get older. I’m not the skinny young woman you married, Jake.”

He shook his head and grinned, moving under the covers with her. “Woman, I don’t believe you just said that. You’ve gained, what, maybe all of ten pounds in all these years? And that’s weight you needed to put on, because you’ve always been too thin.” He pulled her close. “You still feel damn good to me, and in all the right places.” He moved a leg between hers. “And you know damn well that there isn’t a more beautiful woman in all of Guthrie…in all of Oklahoma, for that matter.”

“And you have been away so long that anything would look good to you.”

He nuzzled her neck. “Well, maybe it’s the same for you. I’m not getting any younger.”

“There isn’t one thing old about you, Jake Harkner.”

He pushed up one breast, kissing at her cleavage.

“See?” Randy commented. “For some reason, my breasts get bigger every year.”

Jake broke into laughter, hugging her close. “Is that supposed to upset me?”

Randy couldn’t help her own laughter then. “I’m sure you got quite an eyeful at that brothel.”

“Yeah, but I own these breasts. They’re molded to my hands…and my mouth.” He relished each breast as though something delicious, then moved his lips to her neck. “You look damn good, and it’s not just because I’ve been gone, and you know it.”

“Just so long as you’re not tasting any other breasts,” she teased.

He met her mouth hungrily, his words spoken amid deep kisses. “If I wasn’t so needful of being inside you right now, I’d be tasting a lot more than your breasts.”

Randy’s smile faded to pleasure as his hands began searching all the places he knew awakened her womanly needs. She couldn’t help thinking how nice it was to be married to a man who knew every way there was to please a woman. He kissed and licked behind her ear, then spoke softly.

“Who do you belong to?” It was a ritualistic question he always asked before making love to her.

“Jake Harkner,” she answered, the words mumbled amid a searching kiss.

“And I’m just claiming what’s mine.”

Randy closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of him, leather and fresh air and…man. She couldn’t think of another word for it. Just man. They were so much in unison…mind, body, and spirit. Jake Harkner knew every inch of her body intimately, knew exactly what she did and didn’t like. She in turn took great satisfaction in giving this man who so sorely needed to be loved everything he wanted.

She drew in her breath as his fingers toyed with places that belonged only to him, and in moments she felt the erotic explosion from her deep need for him. She groaned with the sweet ecstasy of the orgasm. He pushed her arms over her head then and gently pinned her there, taking her under his command as he always did in bed, filling her with a love and passion that had not lessened over the years. They could never be sure how long this would last because of the dangers he faced, a worry that made them devour each other as much as possible when he was here with her.

He moved inside of her then with the need of a man long without his woman. Randy knew that though this man had once known many women, she was without question his only love, as he was hers. Over their many years together, their desire for each other had not changed. He always made her feel young and daring and beautiful, and she took him with a desperate need to make sure he was really here and alive and unhurt.

She felt the pain then…the odd pain that came and went lately. It hit deep in her belly, but she ignored it—it always went away after a moment, just as it left her now. Soon there was only pleasure again.