“We had two children already,” Jack scoffed, brushing aside the implications. “We already knew we could produce. Were you taking the pill on the side and didn’t tell me about it?”
“Don’t you even trust me?” Kimberly asked sadly, shocked that he’d even think she’d do something so underhanded. “I never took the pill. I still don’t.”
“All I know is I wanted another child. You were reluctant about it in the beginning because you didn’t want another child to interfere with your job, the way it interfered with school.”
“Even with two children, I still got my degree.”
“But a job is different. Perhaps you didn’t want another child to cut in on your work time.”
“Why do you think I earned a college degree, if not to work?”
“Every woman with a degree doesn’t necessarily work for a paying job. Many do volunteer work.”
“I do volunteer work. And I didn’t lie to you about trying to have a baby,” Kimberly said emphatically. “I can’t believe you’re bringing this up. If we’d had another child, I’d have raised it alone, just like the other two.”
“You weren’t alone.”
“You weren’t in the delivery room with April. No doubt you would have been working through the third one, too.”
“You know how badly I felt about that.”
“Humph. Why should I? I wasn’t the underhanded one. I’m not the secretive one. I had tests done. And nothing was wrong with me.”
“So you’re saying it was me.”
“I don’t know. My gynecologist says it just happens that way sometimes.”
The color drained from Jack’s face. “You talked our personal business over with her?”
“Of course. She’s my doctor.”
“She’s also your sorority sister.”
“First and foremost, she’s a doctor,” Kimberly snapped. “She wouldn’t discuss patients’ personal lives with anyone. Do your frat brothers discuss patients’ personal information with you? Besides, if you remember, Vicky wasn’t my gynecologist at the time. She was still in medical school when we decided to have another child. So your secret is safe.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me.”
“I didn’t say there was,” Kimberly said. “Why are we having this argument now? Do you really want another baby now? You’re thirty-eight. I’m thirty-five. We aren’t in our twenties anymore. And, Jack, I sat up late at night when the kids were teething or colicky. You never lost a night’s sleep. Why wouldn’t it be that way if we had another child? It’s all good when you don’t have to bother with all the problems and details.”
There was a pause, then, “If I didn’t participate, it’s because you were always there to do it. And besides, I was working sixteen-to twenty-hour days then.”
Kimberly turned away from Jack again and pulled the covers tight against her neck.
“Damn it! Woman, I’m talking to you.”
“I’m not listening anymore. Now suddenly, I’m not trustworthy. We’re discussing an issue that has no meaning any longer.”
Jack stomped to the bathroom. Kimberly heard the toilet flush. When he came back, he dressed and left the room.
Slowly, Kimberly turned on her back. The moonlight filtered in and she stared at the ceiling, studying the shadows. She wondered if Jack was sitting outside stewing.
Even now, she could hear the wind increasing in intensity. If it kept going like this, the plane wouldn’t be allowed to take off tomorrow and Jack would be stuck here with her, which was the last place he wanted to be right now. And truthfully, she wanted some distance from him, too.
Kimberly sighed. She wasn’t quitting her job.
Although Jack was very generous, she didn’t like the idea of every little trinket she purchased having to come from him.
If she were honest, her mother wasn’t the only reason she worked. She enjoyed her job. And she didn’t understand why Jack felt it was so important for her to quit. In addition to money, she needed to be emotionally satisfied, too.
But once Jack started with a situation, he’d gnaw on it the way a dog gnawed on a bone. There was absolutely no reasoning with him.
His wife was the most unreasonable woman he’d ever met, Jack thought several hours later, as he came back to his room with a cup of coffee. He’d finally fallen asleep in the lounger outside. When the sun rose he came inside and took a shower. Kimberly was sleeping without a care in the world. He went in search of another cup of coffee. The wind had already increased, and most of the hotel guests were leaving before the storm came in. People with sense, that is. A few diehards stuck it out, getting every last penny out of their resort package.
When he returned after breakfast, Kimberly had left.
Sitting in Devin’s office, Kimberly sipped her coffee during a conference call with other weather forecasters at various stations on the East Coast. This was their usual MO when a hurricane hit. They consulted with each other, predicting the patterns according to data readouts.
Jack should be on the boat, navigating the choppy water to the main island to catch his flight. She tried to focus on the positive. They’d spent some time together, and when they were together—and not fighting—they enjoyed each other’s company.
“Kim, how is the weather on Canter Island?” a coworker asked her.
“The wind’s been increasing throughout the night. I expect the storm to hit in about three hours.”
They talked for another fifteen minutes before everyone disconnected and rushed to write up their findings for their next news bite. Kimberly returned to the cabana.
“I thought you were going to catch the early flight out,” she said, surprised Jack was still there. She didn’t know how she felt about his presence. In the heat of anger, he’d said he was going to stay, but she hadn’t expected him to. Not with his all-important meeting looming.
“Do you really think I’d leave you here, with a hurricane on the way?”
Her brows shadowed her eyes. “Jack, I wanted you to go back to be with the children.”
“My mother’s with them. They’re fine. I talked to her earlier.”
“Well, the crew should be here soon.”
He nodded. They both fell silent, as if they were strangers who’d lost their ability to communicate. She wore a rain slicker. Light rain had begun that morning, and now it was pouring heavily. Kimberly held her face up, gazing around.
“I’m going inside to get a couple of things before I leave. What are you going to do?”
“I’m going with you.”
“I’m going to be filming.”
As if she needed to remind him. “I know. You’re not going out of my sight.”
She tightened her lips. “I can do my job.”
“We both know I can’t stop you,” he snapped.
“Don’t start it now.” She disappeared inside. By the time she returned, a ragged-looking Jeep pulled to a stop in front of their cabin.
Jack approached and spoke to the men. He got into, then started his brother’s SUV. When Kimberly came out he called to her, “We’re following them.”
She nodded and climbed inside, then they drove to the opposite edge of the island.
“Did this thing shift again?” Jack asked.
“Feels like it. It’s increasing in intensity, too. It was always windier on this side of the island.”
The Jeep in front of them rocked when a huge gust of wind whipped by. “I’m grateful for this truck,” Kimberly said. Although their SUV was heavier, it still had the potential of tipping over in the storm.
Jack grunted as he drove ahead, wondering how crazy his wife really was.
The water was churning as the crew alighted and took out their cameras. The palm trees were bending in the wind.
“If the storm gets too bad we’re going for cover,” Jack said.
“Fine by me,” she said, then checked her makeup before she left the car. As she stepped out, the storm seemed to take on
a life of its own. It swept the hood off her head. She grabbed it and closed the snap beneath her neck.
They quickly got the satellite connection to the feeder station. The rain began to pour again, just as the commentator from the D.C. station introduced her. Kimberly was drenched when the viewers got their first glimpse of her.
“Thanks, Joe. The wind and rain have increased significantly from yesterday. Hurricane Brighton is now three hours offshore. We’re standing on the south shore of the island. The hotel and cabanas are on higher ground, and we’re hoping the buildings won’t be flooded.”
“This is a popular tourist area, isn’t it, Kimberly? How are they preparing for the storm?” the announcer asked.
“Yes, Joe. Most of the hotel guests left early, but a few hardy ones have decided to stay. The restaurant has plenty of food stocked. And all of the trash cans, chairs and umbrellas have been cleared from the beach,” Kimberly said. After answering a few more questions, she prepared for the closing.
“Live at Canter Island, I’m Kimberly Canter. Now, Joe, back to you.”
They had already filmed many of the islanders evacuating earlier that morning. The limbs from trees were already touching the ground.
“Another readout from the weather station, Kim,” Jonas, her producer, said. “It looks like the hurricane season is off to an extra-early start, and this hurricane is coming closer to the island than first predicted. You may get a direct hit.”
“I was afraid of that.” A direct hit was the last thing Kimberly wanted to hear. She wished Jack had gotten on that plane.
Chapter 5
As the storm raged outside, Kimberly’s emotions raged as strongly within.
She interviewed Devin and several guests who’d opted to stay, and gave a couple more news bites on the beach, with the wind rocking her, before she and Jack dashed into the hotel.
Since the hotel was designed to withstand hurricane-force winds, they felt safe holing up there. The porter had already transferred their luggage from the cabin to the hotel, and by the time they made it to their room, they were both dripping wet and cold. The maid had already filled the tub with water for when the electricity went out.
They quickly discarded their clothing, toweled off and dressed in warm, dry clothes, before sliding under the covers to warm up.
Jack’s gaze lingered on his wife.
Kimberly loved her job—and she was dedicated to it, as dedicated as he was to his brewpubs.
That was front and center in Jack’s mind as they regarded each other with no more than a foot of space separating them. Still breathing raggedly, they fought to bring their breath under control.
Jack’s emotions were raw and sharp. Kimberly’s eyes were bright—and drawing closer to each other seemed as natural as breathing.
He wanted—needed—to imprint himself on her. It was a battle of wills of who would make the first move. Jack knew it would be him, but right now he wanted to luxuriate in watching her chest rise and fall with each quick breath.
Kimberly inched closer, took Jack’s face between her hands and kissed him hard on the mouth. Immediately opening his lips, he thrust his tongue inside her mouth, deepening the kiss to breathtaking intensity. Capturing her hips, he brought her body flush with his. Her heartbeat hammered against his chest, blending with the staccato beat of his own.
He tore his mouth from hers. “You loved being out there in the raw elements, didn’t you? Woman against nature.”
Jack shifted on top of her, blending his strength with her softness. She was wild and unrestrained beneath him, as if heated from within. As raw as the raging storm outside, her fingers dug into his back, dragged lower until she clamped his butt cheeks with both hands, moving her hips, grinding against him through the impediment of their clothes.
“Got to slow down, baby, or I won’t last,” Jack whispered, his voice strained with need.
“I don’t care. I need you—now, Jack.”
Damn, she was hot and wild beneath him. But he wanted, needed, her hotter.
Kimberly ran her hands along his corded back, up to his chest.
Jack nuzzled her neck. From their long history, he knew she was extremely sensitive there, and he took his time giving her attention. Kimberly moaned with pleasure, spurred him to give her other delights.
He raked the blouse off her shoulders and tossed it aside, but paused when he discovered the bra hook was in back. He saw that as an opportunity, not an impediment.
Moving aside, he flipped Kimberly over, unhooked the bra, sliding it apart and down her arms, taking the time to layer a carpet of kisses along her back and arms, following every sensuous curve and line.
“Hmm…” A long, guttural moan ripped from Kimberly’s throat, and she arched her spine when he dipped his tongue into the small of her back.
“Do you like that?”
“Sooo, so good,” she whimpered, clenching the sheet in her fingers.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Jack said, as with long, loving strokes, he reached beneath her, unsnapped her pants. She lifted her hips to ease the way. He unzipped them and the erotic scrape of the zipper sang a song of its own. He slid her pants, with her thong, down her hips and thighs, until she was completely naked.
For several sensual heartbeats he gazed upon the beautiful lines of her body. Then he stroked her buttocks and squeezed the tight muscles.
Jack spread her thighs apart, squeezing the muscles there, too, before he stroked the inside of her thigh. She moved to his loving beat as he pleasured her with kisses and sweet licks of his tongue, working from the outside to the inner thigh.
“God, yes…Jack, you’re driving me insane,” she moaned as his hand stroked her intimately, but only for a second. When he started to withdraw, she closed her legs around him. “No…No, don’t go…” But he brushed her thighs apart once again, noticing a slight tremble.
“I’m just getting started, baby.”
“Jack…”
He alternated nibbling kisses and licks all the way down her thighs, knees, calves, luxuriating in her sweet cries of pleasure before he flipped her over again.
Kimberly was so hot and so erotically alive, desire spread through every limb, every fiber, every cell, so intensely she thought she’d burst into searing flames. She reached for Jack, but he pulled back.
“Not yet, darling,” he said, his voice rough with his own need and the need to take Kimberly higher. The look of intense desire on her face was a portrait worth painting, worth saving.
“Do you trust me, baby?” he asked, his expression so serious, Kimberly wondered at it.
“Of…of course,” she said on a shaky breath.
Kimberly rose up to kiss him, but he used his lips to tease her around the edge of her mouth, over her lips, never lingering in one place long enough for her to capture him. Her tongue came out to touch his, but he would not insert his tongue into her mouth or capture hers in his. It was a duel of tongues mating—dancing, playful—before he drew a line on her cheeks, her chin, her neck and collarbone, until he finally shifted, then kissed her deeply, his tongue sucking gently, exploring the texture of her mouth. Kimberly slipped her hand beneath his shirt, desperate to feel the corded muscles and sprinkling of hair on his chest. She followed the line down to his pants, unbuttoned, unzipped. He was rock hard, and when she wrapped her hand around his considerable length she elicited a deep moan that caused the fire already burning in her stomach to flare in delight.
He pressed against her stomach, slid his hand lower before slipping a finger inside her. She moaned, moving her hips to press closer to his touch.
Their lovemaking bordered on desperation. An attempt to hold on to a relationship that was quickly disintegrating. Jack wanted the experience stamped in their memories for a lifetime.
If they could communicate in no other way, they spoke the same language in bed. Unresolved issues dissolved with a touch.
Kimberly ran her hands up his arms and around his neck, pressi
ng his mouth tighter against her own. Jack moaned deep in his throat, eliciting a deep-seated desire that spiraled out of control.
Kissing his neck as she slid her hands over his collarbone and down to his chest, she gathered his shirt in her hands and slid it up his chest. But he stopped her from removing it.
In the waning light, Jack leaned back to study her. Her breasts had swelled, her areolae darkened, her nipples were erect. He trailed his tongue around one areola, slowly working his way to the peak.
Kimberly held her breath, eagerly anticipating, as his lips began to move closer to the tip of her nipple. When he suckled gently on her tight bud it sent waves of pleasure to the center of her body.
“You are so beautiful,” he said.
“Oh, Jack…Jack…” she moaned, his name a song on her lips, as he went from one breast to the other. Then he began a heated trail down to her abdomen, dipping a tongue in her navel before he worked his way farther down. The muscles in her thighs clenched with anticipation, and by the time he kissed her intimately, Kimberly was trembling with need. He licked and suckled her there, her desire building to mind-exploding proportions before he turned his head to layer nibbling kisses on her inner thigh, kissing her intimately once again, back and forth, until Kimberly screamed.
“You’re driving me crazy,” she cried.
He covered her completely with his mouth, seducing her with the warmth of his lips.
He stroked her with the moist softness of his tongue while his hands caressed her tenderly. The pleasure built until she exploded with an orgasm that rivaled the storm outside.
Kimberly dragged in a ragged breath. Jack hovered beside her, stroking her tenderly, but as soon as her strength returned, she pressed him flat on the bed. “It’s my turn,” she said, as she slowly undressed him the rest of the way, springing teasing kisses on him.
She paid homage to every part of his body, giving him the pleasure he had so lovingly sprinkled on her. His guttural moans rippling in the air were heady and almost unreal. It wasn’t until she was assured he was hot almost beyond endurance that she took mercy on him. But by that time, Jack snatched control back and tumbled her flat on her back, then slowly, slowly filled her with himself. Her body curled around him, accepting, urging him to make magic.
Loving Spoonful Page 8
