Jake moved on top of her. “The only woman I want is right where she belongs—underneath me.” He grinned as he ran a hand over her bare bottom. “And you’re naked.”
“Well, I was lying here thinking what a quiet morning it is and how nice it would be to have morning sex under these quilts with the man I have loved for going on thirty years, and knowing that no one and nothing can take him away from me ever again.” She kissed the hairs of his chest where they peeked out from his partially buttoned long johns. “Where is the peppermint we always share in the morning?”
Jake reached past her to a nightstand and picked up a stick of red-and-white peppermint, always part of their ritual when they had morning sex. He put one end in his mouth, and she took the other end. They sucked and licked at the candy until their lips met, ending in a deep kiss. Jake ran his hands into her golden hair. “I love the way this hair is all messy in the morning,” he whispered near her ear, “love how warm you are.”
He kissed her again, running his tongue suggestively deep and tasting more peppermint as he grasped her wrists and moved her arms over her head, pinning her there as he left her mouth and trailed to her neck, down to taste her breasts, moaning as though tasting something sweet and delicious. Every move he made was done gently, carefully, always with the realization that he could easily hurt her because of his big frame and how she sometimes seemed lost under him.
He moved his hands down her arms as he traced his kisses down her belly and to the inside of her thigh. He knew exactly how to bring out the woman in her, exactly how she liked to be touched…and tasted. He worked his magic in gentle circular motions until he felt her totally relax, then continued the magic touches that helped her bend to his will before they would become one. He kissed the scars that reminded him she’d nearly died from childbirth and the newer scars from four years ago when he thought he was losing her to cancer.
Not his Randy! He couldn’t live without her. He couldn’t take one more breath without this woman who’d saved his life, both physically and emotionally. She deserved his love and attention, deserved to be made love to in all the ways that pleased her.
He moved fingers inside her, feeling the moistness that meant she wanted more. He kept touching and tasting her, deliberately drawing her to him until he felt the pulsations of her climax. He quickly unbuttoned the front of his long johns to satisfy his own needs, moving inside of her while grasping her bottom and pleasuring her with every touch and every thrust of the mating ritual.
He groaned in his own aching need, still enjoying this woman who had given him so much and still wanting to give back. He always felt he couldn’t get quite enough of her.
“Who do you belong to?” he whispered near her ear.
She arched upward rhythmically as she whimpered her reply. “Jake Harkner.”
He gently pinned her to him. “Every inch of your beautiful body, mi querida.”
For several minutes he pushed deep in sweet rhythm, needing this, aching with love and with feelings he’d never quite gotten used to after all these years. He still couldn’t get over how good it felt to love and be loved. No longer cold, he perspired from their lovemaking. He felt her pull him in with another climax while calling out his name in sweet satisfaction. Finally, Jake could no longer hold back his own relief, glad he could still please her this way. Making love never got old for them, both of them eternally grateful to still be alive and together.
They lay there quietly, Jake moving to her side and letting her snuggle against him under the quilts. He’d once said he wanted the peace of being allowed to lie in bed with his wife until noon if he wanted. He’d found that peace. He could only pray that this time it would last.
“Let’s not get up for a while,” Randy told him. “Take today off. We have enough supplies to stay here for a day or two.”
“Whatever my woman wants.”
“How long before we get home once we do leave?”
“We are actually only about a day’s ride away.”
“I feel guilty staying longer. I miss the grandchildren, even though I know they’re surely fine.”
“Then quit worrying like a mother hen. It’s your turn to enjoy the moment, so don’t feel guilty. We’re staying at least one more night.”
“Katie and Evie can certainly handle things.”
At the remark, Jake rolled onto his back, sighing deeply. “Do you think Evie is really okay now? I still worry about her.”
“Jake, no woman who went through what she did could have a better husband than Brian to help her get over it. You’ve seen how happy they are now. Brian is a good and patient man. He could have a lucrative doctor’s practice in a city somewhere, but he came here because he knew it would be good for Evie to be close to her family. And you don’t know it, but Evie is carrying again. I think that’s a pretty good sign they are doing all right.”