Never Too Late

by Alyssia Leon

  His hands moved to his belt buckle and her entranced gaze locked there as he slowly unbuckled the brown leather belt and unbuttoned his jeans before pulling them down and kicking free from them.

  His big erection pushed against his boxers, tenting the material, and heat flooded to her cheeks. She glanced up at him. He was watching her intently, his amber eyes narrowed. Hooking his thumbs in the waistband of his boxers, he pulled the material down and his rigid shaft sprang free. The size of him made her gulp.

  He ran a big hand slowly up and down his length as he approached her, and then placing a knee on the edge of the bed, bent over her and captured her mouth in a hungry kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and still kissing her, he half carried her further up the bed with him until she was lying back in the centre with his big body covering her. His erection pressed against her and she squirmed with need beneath him.

  Sliding a hand up behind her, he unclasped her bra and peeled it off, revealing her full pert breasts. He broke their kiss and cupped one mound, softly stroking its firm roundness before wrapping his lips around the hard tip and laving it with his tongue.

  Gasping, she dug her fingers into his hair and clasped his head. He flicked the sensitized nipple with his tongue and kneaded her other breast rhythmically before moving to anoint it too with his lips and tongue. And on a ragged groan, she arched against him.

  He released her breast and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I have to taste more of you.” And he moved down her body, kissing a soft trail over her stomach all the way to the waistband of her panties. Sudden shyness grabbed her. Was he going to… Oh god, she’d never.

  She levered up and placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “Jake…”

  But he shot her a crooked smile and ran his fingers down the dampness of her panties before pulling the material aside to find the wetness within. He slipped one finger inside her, then another, coating them with her juices.

  She dropped back on a moan, opening her legs for him as the rhythmic thrust of his thick fingers sent hot sparks racing through her.

  He took the opening and shouldering in between her legs, pressed his nose against her sodden underwear and inhaled. “Beautiful,” he growled. He pulled his fingers out of her and brought them to his mouth. “Sweet. I definitely need more.”

  Kneeling up, he pulled off her panties and threw them to the side, but when she tried to press her legs together, he stopped her, a hand on each thigh holding them apart. “Let me see you, Molly.”

  She held her breath, burning with embarrassment.

  “You’re damn perfect, you know that?” And laying down between her legs again, he placed them over his shoulders and ran his tongue over the length of her sex.

  She gasped, but then her gasp turned into moans of pleasure when he ran his tongue in circles around her clit before wrapping his lips around the sensitive bud and sucking.

  Sensation built in her, the dull throb of her climax begging for release. “Jake… Please…”

  He kept up the pressure on her clit, licking and sucking, his hands on her thighs holding her steady as she thrashed against him, until with a juddering cry she came undone and shattered into a million pieces against his mouth.

  He gently lapped her juices as she slowly re-pieced herself. “Once more, Molly. That was delicious.”

  “I–I can’t.” No way could she survive another fall like that so soon.

  But he didn’t stop, his tongue increasing its pressure against her sex, licking her inner folds before thrusting into her tight channel. She moaned as he thrust in and out of her, bringing her to an impossible peak once again. Slowly the wave of pleasure built and clamoured for release, and then he shifted and circled her clit with his tongue before nipping it lightly, she cried out and tumbled off the edge of another climax so powerful it left her shaking.

  As she lay there like boneless mush, he quickly moved up over her and covered her mouth with his, letting her taste herself on him. It was the most sensual thing she’d ever experienced and she buried her hands in his hair, pulling him closer.

  He shifted slightly, and without warning thrust deep into her wet channel, swallowing her moan with his mouth. He filled her completely, stretching her as he pulled out and plunged back in, going so deep, she ached. Grasping her hips, he angled her so that his thrusts hit her clit just right and she wrenched her mouth from his on a gasp. He built up speed, pounding into her in a merciless rhythm that sent electric sensation shooting through her as another climax unfurled.

  “Come for me, sweetheart. Give it to me,” he gritted, stroking deep into her, and with a cry, she shuddered and stiffened and exploded beneath him, her channel milking his erection. One more thrust and he threw his head back on a guttural growl, shooting his warm seed deep into her from his pulsing shaft before collapsing against her, his breathing ragged.

  He lay panting, careful to keep most of his weight off her, and even as her limbs quivered with the aftermath of her orgasm, she rubbed his sweat-slicked back as he came down from his peak and his breathing steadied.

  Eventually, he pulled away and she bit back the cry of loss that came to her lips, but he raised his head and took her mouth in a deep kiss before rolling on to his back and pulling her on top of him. Wrapping an arm around her, he kissed her hair and held her close, resting her cheek against his chest.

  She closed her eyes and snuggled into his warmth. If this was heaven, she never wanted to leave. Here in the safe circle of his arms, it was even easy to pretend this was what love felt like.

  13

  Much later, they were huddled up in Jake’s bed finishing the sandwiches Nan had made. He wore nothing but a pair of grey jogging bottoms he’d pulled on before going to fetch the sandwiches from the other room, and she nestled deeper into the soft folds of the dark blue robe he’d wrapped around her, studiously avoiding staring at the naked expanse of his sculpted chest for fear of unconsciously reaching out to touch. They’d made love again and again, yet in many ways, she still couldn’t make that first move.

  “Cold?” He placed their empty plate on the bedside table and reaching out, wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her to him. A quick shift and she found herself between his legs, backed up against his solid body, both his arms around her. “Better?” he murmured in her ear.

  “Mmm.” She relaxed back into him, savouring the solid protection of his hold.

  He buried his face in her hair. “Why do you hide away in this little village, Molly? You should be out in the world, turning heads.”

  “Really?” She glanced back at him with a chuckle. “I’m here because Nan is. But seriously, you don’t have to flatter me, Jake.”

  Grinning, he pressed a kiss to her upturned lips. “I’ll flatter you as much as I want.” He settled her against him again. “But I want to know more about you. What happened to your parents, Molly?”

  She let out a breath. Her parents had died young, when she was a baby. That was as far as anyone in Appleby knew. Nan didn’t talk beyond that, saying her son Ricky wasn’t gossip fodder. But Jake didn’t feel like just anyone. “They died in a house fire in France.” His arms tightened around her and she tried to shrug off the familiar sense of loss. “It’s strange. I’ve only ever seen photos of them, but It’s like a piece of me was lost. Nan says they loved each other very much, so in some ways, I’m glad they were together in the end.”

  “It was a terrible accident.” He kissed her hair again.

  She hesitated, but she wanted him to know the truth. “It wasn’t an accident.”

  If he was shocked, he gave nothing away, merely continuing to hold her tight. “What happened?”

  “My mother’s mother, she wasn’t well… mentally. She never liked my father. Said an Englishman wasn’t good enough for her only daughter. After I was born, she tried to kill herself, but it was just a trick to bring my mother back to France. My father went to bring my mother back, and my grandmother set fire to the house the first night he
was there. All three of them died. The police later told Nan and Grandad it had been deliberate. She’d planned it down to the last detail.”

  He whistled. “Hell. And I thought I’d drawn the short straw in the family stakes.” He moved her so she was cradled in his lap, her cheek resting against his shoulder.

  “Is your story happier than mine?” she asked, running gentle fingers over the short golden hairs on his chest.

  “Happier?” A soft laugh rumbled through him. “Rather more ordinary, definitely.”

  “Then cheer me up. Tell me.”

  “There’s little to say.” He leaned back against the headboard, one arm behind his head, the other holding her. “I’m your typical rich kid who rebelled against god knows what and then had to have a healthy respect for life kicked back into him.”

  She stared up at him. “I can’t imagine you as a rebel.”

  “That I was, from the age of eleven to sixteen. It started with smuggled booze and plenty of fights, then parties and drugs. No one could have told me to stop.” He laughed. “No, that’s not entirely true. Lilayni did. She’s four years younger, but ever since I’ve known her, she’s trotted after me, lecturing me about everything.”

  “But your parents…?”

  “Divorced. I think that’s what started it all. They split up when I was ten and I went to live with my mother in France. We were rich, and she only had time for the parade of new men in her life. My father stayed back in England. He’d always been busy even when I was young, and after the divorce I barely heard from him. I guess in many ways the acting out was just a scream for him to notice me.”

  “What happened when you were sixteen?”

  “My father noticed me. He gave me an ultimatum. Get my hide back to England and start working for him, or he’d cut me off from the cushy lifestyle I’d become accustomed to.”

  She laughed. “I’m guessing you didn’t go back happily.”

  “That’s putting it mildly. He ran one of the biggest construction companies in Europe, and I had no desire to be hauling bricks. And I knew I’d be getting my hands dirty, because he’d start me right at the bottom. That’s the sort of man he was. But…” He shrugged. “I didn’t have much choice.”

  “But it made you who you are now. I’m sure your father is proud.”

  “Yeah, the old man was proud, but it wasn’t entirely down to him that I got my act straight. That distinction goes to Damon,” he said with a smirk. “He was the only one at the time who had the guts to beat the crap out of the boss’s obnoxious son. My father had rescued him from going to prison on a wrong charge and he put Damon to work on one of the crews. Then when I came along, Damon got saddled with the dubious pleasure of babysitting me because we were the same age.”

  She chuckled and shook her head. “You make yourself sound like a right handful.”

  “Believe me, I was no picnic. But Damon had grown up rough. He’d seen the antics of druggies before, and he wasn’t taking any of that bullshit from me. We lived together, ate together, worked together, and the first few months were hell on earth as he forced me to clean up. Then over the two years we worked manual labour on the crew, we fell into a friendly competition, trying to better the other.”

  “And then?”

  “We did pretty well together. My father decided we were ready to get serious about the business and sent us both to university and then business school. After that, we started our own company and when the old man died a couple of years ago, we incorporated his construction wing into our business and expanded it.”

  “What about your mother? Do you still see her?”

  He shook his head. “Not since I left at sixteen. She’s happy in the French Riviera with her toy boys and her parties, and as long as I keep her bank account fed, she doesn’t bother me. I guess Damon and Lilayni are the only real family I have now, but I haven’t needed more.”

  But he had reached out for a different kind of love before. He’d been about to marry Sienna D’Alessio. She longed to ask, but the name stuck on her tongue and refused to be spoken. She stared at her fingers as she curled them against his chest. “But one day you’ll be looking to start a little family of your own, I’m sure.”

  “I doubt it.”

  His answer was swift and she glanced up, a silent question in her eyes.

  His jaw firmed and leaning forward, he cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes. “I told you I wouldn’t lie to you, Molly. I’ll take care of you. Nothing will hurt you while I’m here, but what I can’t promise you is forever. I don’t have that ability in me anymore.”

  Because he’d given that promise to Sienna once, and she’d taken that love to the grave with her. Heart bleeding, Molly stared back at him, confusion no longer giving her a barrier to hide behind as her feelings blazed before her as bright as the summer sun. She loved him.

  Somehow, somewhere along the line, she’d given her heart to him when she hadn’t meant to. She’d thought she’d known love before, but that had been a mere shadow. Brian had never owned the power to destroy her so absolutely the way Jake wielded it now. He was right that nothing would hurt her. Nothing could. Not like he eventually would when he left.

  But that wasn’t his fault. She loved the honesty with which he met life, and when the time came for him to leave, she’d face it without flinching. Until then she would cherish every precious moment she had with him.

  With a smile to hide her pain, she raised her face to his, offering her lips for his kiss. The action standing for the agreement she couldn’t put into words.

  But he feathered his thumb over her lips, frowning down at her with troubled eyes. “Don’t fall in love with me, Molly. Save your heart for someone worthy of you.”

  But you’re the only one. The words sobbed in her head, but she smiled and pressed a kiss against his thumb. “Don’t worry. I promise you’ll never hear those words from me.”

  * * *

  The bedroom window glowed with the ethereal purple of deep night when she woke in an unfamiliar bed.

  Awareness slowly flowed. The large bed. The warm male body spooned against her naked back. The heavy arm resting on her waist, holding her secure. Jake.

  He was still asleep, his breathing deep and even. She looked to the clock on the wall, but couldn’t make out the hands in the barely-there light. Was it before midnight? Past? Heat scorched her cheeks. She’d have to face Nan eventually, and in the harsh light of morning what would her decision to stay with Jake look like?

  Her promise to him had been all he needed to hear, and his gentle lovemaking after that had moved her to tears, and she’d drifted off to sleep cradled in his arms.

  She glanced at the window and the night outside. She should leave. The longer she stayed with him, the deeper she fell. How would she keep her heart out of her eyes when she looked at him in the morning? She needed to gather her scattered clothes and emotions and go now before he woke.

  With a gentle wriggle, she tested the solid weight of his arm.

  “Lie still,” he murmured into her hair. “Or I’ll take it you want something.” He slid a hand up her waist, cupped her breast, and moved in closer behind her.

  His hard erection pressed against her bottom and she gasped. “Jake, I should go. It’s late and Nan will be worried.”

  “She didn’t come looking for you, so I think she knows where you are.”

  The thought was hardly comforting. “Even then…”

  In one quick move, he flipped her on her back and covered her. “Stay.” And pressing a knee between her thighs so that she parted her legs for him, he eased himself into the space made. His mouth captured hers, and with a tiny moan she gave herself to him, letting all doubt and questions dissolve away in the heat of his beloved body against hers.

  * * *

  Molly paused at the top of the stairs in Rose Cottage, where the busy clank of pots and the warm yeasty smell of bread rising in the oven wafted up the stairs to greet her. Nan was making breakfast.r />
  It had been five in the morning when she’d snuck back into the cottage, and Nan had been asleep. But now, at just past eight, she was dressed and ready for work, and she still had to face Nan.

  How her body and soul yearned to be back in Jake’s arms right now, but there was no putting this off any longer. She started down the stairs, wincing a little and hiding a smile as the slight jolt of the steps awakened the sweet aching aftermath of last night.

  The kitchen looked brighter than ever as the morning sunshine bounced off the yellow walls and puddled on the wood floor. Nan was washing up at the sink, humming to herself, and she looked up when Molly walked in. “Morning, sleepy head. I was worried you’d be late for work today.”

  Molly’s smile was fleeting, her confession waiting to be blurted out. “Nan, about last night…”

  Nan held up a hand. “I don’t need to know. I told you before I’ll not interfere. Now sit down and I’ll get you some coffee.” And picking up a mug, she went to the kettle.

  Molly pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down, barely keeping herself from wincing again. She wasn’t bruised, but her body had been like clay in Jake’s hands, being moulded in ways it had never before experienced. Heat rose to her cheeks. It was just as well Nan didn’t need an explanation.

  “It’s going to get busy around here,” Nan placed a mug of steaming coffee in front of her. “What with those builders arriving this afternoon.” She turned back to the dishes in the sink, then paused, looking thoughtful. “I don’t know how I’ll take it. The house has been empty so long, and suddenly it’ll be a real circus for the next few weeks.”

  Molly sipped her coffee, happy to just listen and nod.

  “I’m glad you’re part of this though, Molly,” Nan said. “I know how much you love Barrowdene, and I’m sure between you and Jake, you’ll both do the house proud.” She glanced back from the sink. “In fact, Jake was telling me yesterday how having you with him was a great help.”