Her finger on his lips shut him up. “What I was trying to say earlier, Jakub. I love you. I did it because I love you.”
His breath caught. Quickly he sucked in enough air to say what he’d been waiting for so many long weeks to tell her. “I love you too, Harper Peters.”
She kissed him. One feathery brush of lips. When she pulled back, liquid in her eyes caught the light of the floor lamp.
The threat of tears choked his own throat closed.
Then her palms were on his chest, urging him gently backward. Laughing, he obliged. He lay down on the carpet and surrendered beneath her.
She hooked a leg across him to straddle his crotch. “You don’t need to exert any effort. I promise I’ll be very gentle.” Her hand slid down over the bulge in his jeans.
“Please. Don’t be too gentle or I’ll fucking die.”
A finger pressed to his lips again. “Language,” she whispered.
“I thought you loved me just the way I am.”
“I do.” Her face fell, and concern eclipsed the desire in her eyes. “It was a joke.”
He reached to cup her breasts over her blouse. “I knew that Harper. I was joking with you.” He pressed a thumb down over an already pebbled nipple. “We need to work on your sense of humor.”
She rocked her seam along the length of his erection. “We need to work on getting you better. I have an idea of what will help.”
“Do you?” He gripped her hips. “Well, by all means, doctor. Do with me what you will.”
“First, you must lie very, very still. And let me take care of everything.” Bossing Jakub like this was so much fun. Why hadn’t she done this before?
Fistfuls of his t-shirt in her grasp, she guided the fabric upward over his abs. Jakub reached for the t-shirt and yanked in an attempt to help.
“Nah uh.” She clamped a hand over his and pinned it palm up on the rug next to his face. “You be still. I’m in charge of this procedure.”
An interested eyebrow arched up over stormy blue eyes. That wasn’t the only thing that arched. His hard manhood let her know how interested he truly was in this game.
“I hope this procedure isn’t too sterile.”
Her fingers worked to pop open button after button of his fly. “I promise it will be deliciously messy.” At the thought of the slick mess their bodies could make together, her folds grew wet.
He moved his hand to cup her sex and let out a gravely “Mmmm.” She wanted him there. She wanted him within her, surrounding her, but first she wanted to pleasure him. She moved lower. Pulled his jeans down over that delectable V where his abs and obliques dipped into his pelvis.
Carefully, she helped him out of his jeans then returned to his erection—so engorged it appeared painful. She smiled at the knowledge she was the relief he needed.
The soft bulb of his tip she flicked with her tongue. He rolled his eyes back, dropping his head to the floor.
She took him full in her mouth, and grew drunk with the power of the control over his most tender part, the power over his pleasure, and the sounds he was making—at times soft and vulnerable, at times husky with need.
She paused to meet his gaze. “Feeling better yet?”
His hands reached to grasp her hair at her nape. The blue of his eyes were nearly swallowed by black. “Almost cured.”
“How can I—?” Suddenly his hands were rough on her hips, moving her off of him, then removing her pants and panties faster than she thought possible.
He rolled so he was atop her. She luxuriated in the weight of him. Then his fingers grazed her sex. He made a primal sound of appreciation. His cheek against hers, he whispered in her ear, “I’ll be completely cured after I make love to you properly.”
She liked the sound of that. Her head dropped to the carpet as he took her nipple into his mouth, and began to massage her clit with a nimble finger. He brought her to a place she’d never quite reached before. A place where being without him was unthinkable.
“Jakub, I need you.” This moment. Forever.
He paused then met her lips with his for a tender kiss. “I’m yours. Everything I have is—”
She sucked in a breath.
He hovered above her, lake blue eyes drilling into her. “You don’t have to say anything yet. Let me love you for a while.”
“Jakub—”
“Shhh.” He pressed his lips to hers, sealing her mouth closed.
She pushed at his chest to create enough distance to speak. She needed him to know one thing very urgently. “I have condoms in my purse.” With her eyes, she pointed to where her purse sat on the floor behind him.
A wicked smile leapt to his face. He found her purse and removed the jumbo box of condoms. “You expected us to be busy tonight, I see.” He tore at the corner of a plastic square and sheathed himself quickly.
“I wasn’t sure how well the house was stocked.”
“So thoughtful.” He parted her thighs with his knees then sank lower. “Best housewarming gift ever.” His tip nudged against her sex, igniting a fire inside her.
She grabbed his ass possessively and guided his cock to where she needed it. The thick exclamation of his arousal within her body felt like coming home. Every scent of him, every brush of his skin against hers, every tickle of his breath… They all said this is right. This is exactly where she needed to be, exactly how she needed to be loved, he was precisely the man she’d always longed for.
Then things changed. Gone were his careful caresses. He slid a hand beneath her ass and grabbed at her flesh, squeezing her closer to his body, grinding himself deeper, thrusting harder so that she nearly worried for his health. But his face was flushed with a healthy glow, his eyes lit like a torch in the darkness that would always keep them safe.
He slammed into her, the length of him stretching to her limit and she let out a cry, more of pleasant surprise than pain but the headiness of it all strangled her voice.
He slowed and caught her gaze. “You okay?”
“Yes. There’s just so much of you.”
He smiled. “I’ll be more gentle.”
“No, I liked it. I want every inch of me to be yours.”
He dropped his head to nuzzle his mouth behind her ear and continued thrusting. His hot breath tickled the shell of her ear when he said, “Every inch of me, everything I have is yours.”
Oh, God. Forget the sex games, this was the most erotic thing she’d ever heard in her life. “I want you. I want us. So much.”
He sucked her nipple and rubbed her clit with his thumb while he moved his cock within her but only enough so as not to disturb the work of his hands. Pleasure and hope and desperate need crashed together as she neared her peak. Her body shattered, abandoning a tension in its wake she no longer needed now that she had Jakub. Now that he was one hundred percent hers and she was entirely his.
He stilled above her, while she came apart, watching. Once the spasms of ecstasy abated, leaving her with a charged tingling in every cell of her body, Jakub began to thrust again. He lifted her thighs beneath her knees to give himself deeper purchase.
He made love to her and fucked her like she didn’t even know was possible.
“I can’t imagine how good making love will be when you’re completely well.”
“It only gets better from here.” He slowed his thrusts, his head dipping back, little jerks rippling through his body as his pleasure peaked then crashed over them both. “Fuck, Harper,” he cried out as he came.
She smiled, triumphant that he’d branded her name on his undoing.
Deliciously musky with the sweat of his labor, he collapsed beside her. She wrapped an arm around his back and pressed her body close to his. For a while, he lay still and she thought he might be falling asleep.
“I meant it, Harper.” He lifted his head to meet her eyes.
“Meant what?” She knew what he meant. She just wanted to hear him say it.
He curled his fingers between hers and clamped the
ir hands together. She felt so safe and protected. A luxurious feeling she could get very used to.
“This,” he brought their hands to his chest and pointed a finger at his heart. “And this house,” his eyes roved over the recessed ceiling crowned with molding before returning to hers, “…is yours.”
Her chest threatened to burst. This man, so generous and kind. And he loved her. “Jakub, all I want—all I need—is you.”
The gutted look in his eyes. Why had she not told him this sooner?
Slowly his expression changed from touched to concerned. “You don’t want the house?”
“Oh, no, I do want the house.” She ran a finger along the sandy blond stubble at the bottom edge of his jaw. “I just want you in it.”
He nipped at the tip of her finger. “Barefoot in the kitchen?”
“Maybe,” she laughed. “I think I’m going to be too busy to cook much.”
“Good thing I quit then.”
She sat up. “You quit?”
He sat too and gathered her against his chest, surrounded her hips with his strong thighs. “Retired. I’ve seen enough fires. I’d rather spend my time working on the house.” He brushed a length of her hair behind her shoulder. “And making dinner for you.”
She tilted her head back to catch his blue eyes bearing down on her before he kissed her. It was then she allowed the dream to bubble up, unrestrained, from that dark recess of her being where she’d kept it locked away. The dream of a family with a deserving man, of a grand home filled with the laughter of children.
“You have an amazing vision, Harper. I want to help you achieve your goals. Even if that’s only by supporting you from home.”
Was she dreaming now? Jakub knew how much her work meant to her. He knew how important the contribution of her work was going to be someday. His support was no small thing. “Only? Jakub, that is everything. You are everything. But I wouldn’t ask you to give up work you love for me.”
“That’s where I’m being a little selfish. I want this for me too.” He tightened his arms around her. “But if I ever feel like volunteering for wildfires—”
“No!” She whirled around and looked him square in the face.
“Look who’s telling who what to do now.”
She tucked her head, averting his eyes, her face hot with shame that she’d make demands of him that she would resent herself. Bossing him around in bed was one thing, but a partnership where each person’s needs were equal was what she wanted for their relationship. That didn’t change the fact she couldn’t bear the idea of him fighting wildfires again. “I’m sorry, Jakub. I just…”
A finger lifted her chin until she met his gaze. “Harper. I was going to say, if I ever feel like volunteering, remind me I’m out of my mind.”
Tension uncoiled from all of her muscles at once. With an exhale, she buried her head in the nook below his shoulder and breathed in the scent of him. “I doubt that conversation would go over well.”
“Just sic Ritchie on me then.”
She laughed, one loud unrestrained guffaw. The release of it, the joy of it reminded her—yes. Simply being in Jakub’s presence helped her let go and enjoy the moment. No matter what challenges the future brought, they would weather them together.
Yes.
This was how she wanted to live, how she wanted to love.
Epilogue
Home from her first day of work after maternity leave, Harper stood on the smooth, freshly paved sidewalk in the chill March air. She watched the scene unfold before her beyond the leaded glass windows of her living room. Jakub balanced their bundled baby on his shoulder as he twirled and bobbed around the Christmas tree, singing and dancing to soothe the child. Harper had refused to let Jakub take down the tree so she could brand images such as this into her memory forever.
She’d done well. Chosen right. Sometimes one had to burn to the ground everything one once believed in order to find what one needed. Despite all her accomplishments with the phage center, it was the hard-earned creation of this scene before her of which she was most proud.
Finally, she climbed the porch stairs and turned the knob gently to join her family inside.
Jakub whirled to plant a kiss on her lips, a protective hand palming the baby’s head against his body. Away from her. “Did you scrub up well? We don’t want to give Petey any infections now.”
“Of course I did.” She gave him a playful smack on the arm and held her palms out for the baby.
The only thing that made leaving the two of them every day easier was knowing Jakub was home caring for their child—even if he was overprotective. He’d already mounted foam corners on the coffee table and erected a baby gate at the foot of the stairs, no matter it would be months before those were truly necessary. But to have a partner who went to such lengths, who invested such care into the thriving of their little family was so precious, she didn’t dare say a word about any of his preparations.
She put the baby to bed and joined him on the couch. He stood quickly, reached for an empty beer can from the coffee table and tucked it out of sight as he turned toward the kitchen.
“Jakub, I don’t mind if you have a beer sometimes. I do trust you, you know.”
He stopped. With a smile and a sigh, he sank onto the couch next to her, setting the partly crumpled can on the table. “It’s just there was a lot of crying today.”
He took her hand in his, and she let her head fall on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head. “Tired?”
She nodded. “But happy.”
For a long moment, they only sat there, looking at the Christmas tree. She loved the scent of her man mingling with the scent of pine needles.
“I’m thinking of taking the tree down tomorrow,” Jakub said in a tentative tone.
She gasped.
“Harper. It’s March. I promise you there will be more Christmases.”
“You do, do you?” She kissed him lazily.
He gazed longingly into her eyes. “I do. Actually, I seem to remember saying those two little words to you, which in fact, ensures many, many more Christmases.”
Warmth bloomed in her chest as if she’d taken a long drag on a steaming mug of hot cocoa.
They’d done something wild. While she was nearly eight weeks pregnant, they’d eloped in St. Thomas. Jakub hadn’t wanted another big wedding with half of Polish Chicago in attendance, he’d wanted something different, something unique to them, and she hadn’t the time or energy to plan a wedding. They’d both wanted to make their family official as soon as possible. It wasn’t eloping exactly. Harper’s mom and Bev attended and Jakub’s parents and Marianna and her new boyfriend she’d met in her med tech program at the community college, came too.
“I know, but there’ll never be another like this first one. Can’t we leave up the tree just one more week?”
“The tree is becoming a fire hazard, you know.” Jakub’s hand slipped over her chest and under her blouse.
Her head fell back on the couch as she surrendered to his explorations. “Are you back to assessing fire hazards now?”
“You know what they say…once a firefighter, always a firefighter.”
“Oh, then I should let you know, it’s getting very, very hot under my skirt. I think you’d better have a look.”
“Hmmm. Yes, I think I’d better.”
Also by Colette Dixon
If you enjoyed this story, please try the other books in this series. Each can be read as a stand alone novel. Read them all in any order.
Love at Lincolnfield Series
A Beautiful Risk, Book 1
A Beautiful Touch, Book 2
A Beautiful Match, Book 3
A Beautiful Fire, Book 4
Want more?
Turn the page for an excerpt of A Beautiful Risk, Book 1 in the Love at Lincolnfield series.
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Excerpt of A Beautiful Risk
Chapter one
A case of her favorite wine. That’s what Avery deserved for giving Passi this gift certificate to the Ancient Baths. Her body floated in the warm, dense salt water of the Flotarium pool. Through the underwater speakers, a woman’s voice chanted a dampened, timeless melody. Tea lights flickered around the perimeter of the exposed brick walls of the old Chicago warehouse that had been transformed into the baths by some brilliant and enterprising Spaniard.
What was the name of Avery’s favorite wine? Passi could see the label—a silver tree of some sort. A Napa Cab. They’d gone there a few years ago, the beginning of Avery’s annual distractions from the milestone of Passi’s loss. Passi could still remember the thin glass between her lips, the luscious body and intense flavors of the wine coating her tongue.
She breathed deeply as her muscles melted in the water. Floating obliterated the tension of holding herself up in space that she hadn’t been aware of until it was gone. One with the pool that supported her and moved her in a gentle drift, her arms spread out from her body through no effort of her own.
Her right arm bumped up against the edge of the pool. A rather warm edge. The edge began to move.
Passi’s eyelids flung open.
The edge was not an edge, but an arm that belonged to a rather large man.
She snatched her arm away. “Sorry,” she said as she crouched out of the back float and pushed her hair away from her face.
Still floating, he raised his head out of his private bliss to give her a smile. “No worries.”
When had he arrived? There had been one couple in the corner of the pool when she’d entered, assumed her back float, and then closed out the rest of reality.
A Beautiful Fire (Love at Lincolnfield Book 4) Page 22
