Tori leaned forward and bit his neck again. The delicious feel of her mouth on him pushed him into a frenzy. He lifted her slightly and then pushed into her. His need blinded him to everything, but the desire to take her. He had to claim her again, to make her his. He felt her body clench around him, heard her cry out as she shuddered against him. He growled out her name as his orgasm shot down his spine and pushed up through him. Over and over he pulsed in waves inside her, the length of his climax a painful bliss in itself. Breathless and with weak trembling legs he walked to the bed and carefully lowered them both onto the mattress.
Tori opened her eyes when he laid her down. “Are you real?” The question was the first thing she had ever asked him and it had never seemed more appropriate.
“Yeah, honey I’m real. It would seem this time you were my guardian angel.” Tori laughed although it sounded like a sob. She pushed into him seemingly unable to get close enough to him.
“I wasn’t too rough, was I?” His hand traveled down her spine and back up and she shivered in response. “I had to be inside you.”
Her arms tightened around him and she shook her head. “No. God, no. I love you so much, Jacob. I missed you.” He felt the wetness as her tears hit his shoulder.
“Ah, hey now! What are you crying for? You know tears aren’t in my contract. Please don’t, honey. I’m home. I love you. I missed you, baby.” He pushed her away enough to kiss her wet cheeks. “I caused your tears and the anguish behind them.” God, it tore him up. He would make it up to her, cherish her and never give her reason to cry again. He hated tears, but her tears? They shredded him. “Baby, you’re everything to me.”
Rolling her onto her back, he wiped her cheeks with his fingertips and pressed his lips to hers absorbing the miracle of the kiss. Cradling her possessively in one arm, his lips lost in the soft, sensuous kiss, his hand traveled from her cheek over her throat and onto her breasts. He lightly caressed each running his thumb over her nipples loving how they hardened into tight buds at his touch. Perfect.
He had missed the heat of her soft body, the feel of her lips, and the sweet taste of her. He knew each part of her, dreamt of her in the cold of the cave. He was damn well going to spend some quality time reacquainting himself with every inch of her luscious body.
Jacob’s hand splayed across her ribcage and then traveled down her tight, flat… He lifted his mouth from hers and looked at where his hand lay on her lower stomach. The swell under his palm almost stopped his heart from beating.
Swallowing several times, he finally gathered enough composure to speak. “You’re pregnant?”
“No, we’re pregnant. Almost four months.”
Jacob’s gaze snapped back towards her. “Four months?”
Her eyes glistened. “Yes. You’re a virile man, Mr. King. Even on birth control, you knocked me up.”
A ridiculous smile grew across his face. “Damn. I’m impressive, aren’t I?” His eyes suddenly widened. “Do you know what we are having?”
“Ah, well, yeah…a baby.” The ridiculousness of the smart ass comment hit him. They could laugh again. They could play. Because he was home. Safe. With her.
“Oh, so you want to be that way, do you?” Jacob grabbed her and started tickling. Her shrieks of laughter turned into pleas for him to stop. Wrapping her up in his arms, he lifted her onto his chest as her mass of blond hair formed a curtain around them, shrouding them from the outside world.
Her eyes sparkled. She was happy and he would do anything to keep her that way. “What sex is our baby?” He pulled her head down tenderly and pressed a reverent kiss on her lips.
“Your son will be born in July.”
He framed her face with his hands. “Thank you, Victoria. For coming back a year later to meet me for our date. Thank you for taking me to your home and making me feel like family and caring for my guys. Thank you for letting me go, for supporting me in our efforts to find Jason and his team. Thank you for not giving up on me, for seeing that signal. Thank you for loving me enough to give me a family.” He closed his eyes and whispered, “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to say it better.”
Tori leaned down and kissed him tenderly. “You said it perfectly. I love you, Jacob. When you rescued me from that hell-hole, I was a shell. I was prepared to die. You were the only thing that kept me from going insane, not only on the plane, but afterwards during the aftermath with the agency and my recovery. You knew I was damaged and you still wanted to be with me, to come home with me and to marry me. You have given me my life, our love and now our son.” She pushed his hair off his forehead and smiled radiantly at him.
“My beautiful guardian angel. I’m done tempting fate. From now on I’ll lead our family into the wild underbelly of soccer, T-ball and lacrosse.” Her exquisite and melodic laughter insulated his heart in joy. Jacob lay staring at her, drinking in her soft smile, the light in her eyes. He rolled them to their sides and nuzzled kisses along her collar bone. “What are we going to name him?”
Her laughter vibrated against his lips. “How about we use T’s? Names like Taylor, Tyrell, Travis, and Talon. When we have girls, there are so many names, Terrie, Trisha, Tamara, Tia.”
Jacob straddled her in one move. He braced himself over her on hands and knees. “I like them all. Talon is a kick-ass name. Talon King.” He lowered himself over her baby bump. Dropping his lips to her skin, he kissed her and spoke to his son. “Talon this is your daddy. You be nice to your momma and don’t worry about anything. Daddy’s home. For good. Now you just go to sleep. Daddy is going to spend some quality time with your momma.”
Jacob lifted off her. He took the time to see her, to absorb her beauty and grace. The fierce raging need to possess her had passed. Now his desire to give to her overrode anything else. His lips, fingers, and tongue rediscovered her body. Her delighted sighs, gasps, moans, and the feel of her seeking hands on him fueled his sensual assault.
Molten lava flowed through his veins. Jacob touched and kissed her slowly, tenderly. He intended to build a raging fire centered between her legs. He wanted her heat and urgency stoked beyond what she thought she could endure. “Jacob…please I need…Ah, Jacob!”
He peered at her from the nipple he’d been teasing with his teeth and tongue. “Not yet baby, I want to touch you more. To kiss you. To taste you.” The words were punctuated by kisses, his tongue swirling and sweet little nips with his teeth. A devilish chuckle floated in the air as he lowered himself between her legs. Spreading her thighs to accommodate his shoulders he kissed the inside soft skin as he inched closer to her core. Her muscles jumped at his feather soft kisses and her fingers twirled through his hair. His fingers spread her slightly before he ran his tongue just on the edge of her heated center. Her hips jerked forward, but he moved away keeping the touch light, relentless, and evasive. He knew her lower body flooded with hot desire.
Her sex wept for him yet he didn’t touch her more than a soft kiss, a light flick of his tongue, or a teasingly blown breath of air on her hot sex. Her desperate pleas were mewling music to his ears. Reaching up a hand, he placed his palm gently over their son as he finally took her hard pearl in his mouth and sucked lightly. The tender pull pushed her over the edge of his expertly crafted orgasm.
He heard her cry and felt her body shuddering and clenching under him. The flood from her core drew his lips and tongue down as he tasted her sweet essence. Lifting his head, he saw the woman he loved, flushed, hot and panting. Nothing in the world could be sexier. He lifted over her and centered—waiting. She opened her eyes and he possessed her lips at the same time as his shaft took possession of her sex. His strokes were long, slow and controlled. There would be no rushing. Their gaze remained locked on each other as he worked his body through her tight sheath, changing angles and depth, finding just the right pressure and position to drive her higher. Her body responded to his touch, to his penetration. Her reaction and the heat inside her pushed him closer and closer to the edge. He gritted his teeth a
nd pushed away the need to climax as he waited for her body to rise to the peak with his. Beads of sweat dripped off his chin. The muscles of his neck and shoulders bulged straining as he battled the urge to let go. Finally, he dropped a gentle finger to the top of her hooded clit and massaged her hardened pearl. She spasmed and clenched around his cock as her legs tightened against his hips in climax. Her choking cry rent the air. With an unintelligible growled, he erupted within her, pumping ferociously until she milked him dry. He lowered his forehead to her shoulder. Completely devastated by the thought of what he might have lost, he whispered, “I love you Victoria. You saved me.”
*
As he whispered the words into her shoulder, he choked and Tori felt his body jerk. “Jacob?” She lifted his head from her shoulder with both of her hands. Tears. His gaze lifted to hers as wet tracks formed on his face. Her massive, strong, mountain of a man, for probably the first time in his adult life, made himself vulnerable. Words became insignificant. Tori pulled him to her and they simply held each other, melding two broken pieces into a whole. Jacob tugged the duvet over them as he moved his leg over the top of hers. He raised her head onto his shoulder, cradling her, and placed his large palm protectively over their son. With a soft sigh he murmured, “I’m home.”
Epilogue
Joseph’s amused grin slid across his face as he entered the kitchen and took in the frazzled man bouncing in front of the microwave in the ranch’s kitchen. His little brother controlled massive paramilitary operations and oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in resources. His decisions resulted in life or death for the nation’s enemies and yet a ten-pound bundle of noise, puke, and piss completely kicked his ass. Perfect.
Expertly rocking the baby while warming the milk, Jacob evidently failed to hear Joseph come into the kitchen behind him otherwise a smart-assed comment would no doubt have been flung over his shoulder. Joseph watched his baby brother balance a bottle and nipple in one hand while holding his son in the other. Jacob turned carefully to put his son’s warmed bottle on the table.
Seeing Joseph not three feet from him, Jacob started. The jolt woke Talon. The resulting wail was ear-shattering. “Damn it Joseph! Let someone know you’re around, would you?” Jacob put the nipple on the bottle and upended it for his son. The cries stopped immediately, replaced by contented sounds of nursing.
“Yeah…not my MO, actually. I work better in silence. Tends to keep me alive.” Jacob cradled his son and glared at him but didn’t comment before he made his way into the living room. He took a seat in an oversized recliner while Joseph stood by the hearth with his arm resting on the mantle. The little blanketed bundle showed only a peek of black hair, a bottle and two tiny hands when Jacob tucked the baby protectively against his body. “Being a dad looks good on you.”
Jacob smiled as he looked down at Talon. “Yeah, I bet.” Raking his hand through his hair, he shook his head. Leaning back into the recliner, he sighed, “God, I’ve no idea how Mom and Dad did this eight times. He’s killing me and he is only six weeks old.”
“Oh, I think you’ll survive, old man.” Joseph made no attempt to hide the amusement in his voice.
“Yeah, when you have kids remind me to be so supportive, okay?”
“Never going to happen. The women I meet are either pure poison or just looking to scratch an itch. Besides, who in their right mind would marry an assassin? ”
“Who would want to marry any of us? We’re all fucked up. Jacob just got lucky.” Both Jacob and Joseph turned as Jason walked into the living room and flopped onto the couch stretching the entire length of the huge leather sofa. His massive body bulked with deeply corded muscle that only hours of dedicated weight lifting could produce. It was obvious what he had been doing during his enforced hiatus and recovery. Jason pointed towards his nephew, and his arm bulged with muscle. “That boy has a set of lungs.”
*
Jacob chuckled and wiggled the bottle in Talon’s mouth. The tiny cheeks repeatedly bunched as he drew the last of the milk. “Yeah, I honestly have no idea why Tori lowered her standards for me.”
“She didn’t.” Jared walked in and flopped into a recliner.
Juggling the bottle and burp cloth Jacob lifted the sleeping baby to his shoulder and started to pat him on the back. “Oh, believe me, she did. The woman is a saint. She definitely lowered her standards.”
He glanced over at Jason then at Jared. “You two still online to work people through the training facility here?”
“Yeah. We’ll push all the personal security officers through at least annually. Those classes on the latest in concealed weaponry and defensive driving techniques are an excellent idea. The schedule should be on Jason’s desk by the time we get back to D.C.”
“I’m not going back.” Jason’s muted response snapped all heads towards the couch.
“I talked to Gabriel after Talon’s christening today…or yesterday, whatever. Anyway, I’m going to continue to work as his personal attorney, but I can’t stay in D.C. If I stay, I won’t… no, that’s not right…I can’t guarantee I’ll stay straight. I don’t need the stress of the job added to trying to stay clean. I’m building a house on the coast, in Ocean Ridge. I have a better shot at living a healthy life there. Guardian is in good hands with you three and if you need anything from me, you’ve got it. It’s not like I’m moving to Outer Mongolia.”
Joseph rubbed the stubble on his face thoughtfully. “Actually Mongolia isn’t that bad. But I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the most I’ve heard you say in three years.”
The middle finger salute Jason flipped his oldest brother caused a rumble of laughter. “That’s because you’re never in the States. When are you going to stop?” Jason’s question had three sets of eyes trained on Joseph.
“When I die.” His cryptic comment sent a chill through the room. Several minutes passed in reflective silence before a disturbingly loud and resoundingly deep burp erupted from Talon.
Jared recovered from the shock first. “Whoa, dude, when he figures out he can burp the alphabet I want to be there.”
“No doubt, it’ll be epic. I can’t wait.” Jacob stood holding his son against his shoulder as his brothers laughed.
“Hitting the hay. Chief will be back from visiting Doc tomorrow afternoon. Gabriel wants the four of us and Chief to run through the operations of the facilities with him again. He wants fresh eyes on it. Good idea, too. I see those damn ops plans in my dreams. See you in the morning.”
Jacob left the great room and walked up the stairs. He quietly opened the door to their bedroom. Putting Talon down, he patted the little bundle until the baby settled and then quietly slid into bed. Tori turned towards his heat and snuggled against him. Her voice was low, sexy as hell, and almost a purr. “Thank you.”
Jacob kissed her forehead and pulled her tightly against him. “You were supposed to be sleeping.”
“Hmmm…did you have a good visit with your brothers?” She felt his chest vibrate when he laughed quietly.
“Yes, and how did you know they were up?”
“Gee, let’s think about this. A screaming baby and four men who have been trained to wake up when a feather falls, all in the same house? How many did Talon wake?”
Jacob’s fingers traveled up and down her spine. His touch caused little tremors through her body. “Everyone except Justin.” His fingers swept over her shoulder down her collarbone and over her breast. Her nipple hardened immediately.
“I’m surprised Dixon and Drake didn’t come over from the bunk house. Did he wake any of your sisters?” Jacob heard her voice catch when his hand cupped her breast while his finger lightly swept over the tight tip.
“No.” Jacob brought his lips to her breast and sweetly kissed first one then the other.
“Good. Mmmm…Jacob that is so…ah…good.” She sifted his hair through her fingers and pulled him closer. “Harder.” Jacob pushed his erection into her. “Tori, I’m such a bastard. I know you’re exhausted, b
ut I want you. God, I need to be in you. I love you so much.”
Tori pushed him away and sat up on her knees in the bed. He lifted the nightgown over her head and tensed at the beauty he witnessed. Her body, lush and full, glowed in the moonlight that spilled through the window. He pulled her down. Her lips brushed his, their breath mingling as the corners of her lips curved. “Shut up Jacob and make love to me.”
*
“That is quite the sight.” Frank Marshall walked up behind Amanda King, who stood leaning against a porch column in the morning sunshine.
Amanda glanced at him and smiled happily. “This is the first time in over eleven years all of them have been together at one time in one place.” Her eyes drifted back to the huge, white-topped, open-walled tent. All eight of her children, her grandson, and her daughter-in-law sat at a long table. Laughter could be heard swelling as another story no doubt humiliated one of her children.
“You have a beautiful family Amanda.” Frank’s hand settled on the small of her back.
She leaned into his touch. “We both have incredible families. But they’re a handful aren’t they?”
Gabriel walked out of the house and joined them on the porch, leaning against the railing. “Frank, you allowing us to have this training facility on your property is a good thing. Thank you again.”
Frank shrugged. “Our boys needed it and I have the land. No big deal. Makes me feel like I’m contributing something.”
Amanda put her arm around Frank’s waist and smiled at Gabriel. “The plans for the hospital are incredible. I’m in awe that the contractor has already finished the rehab gym. State of the art equipment, and I know Jason has deemed the weight room acceptable. Chief and Adam will have a first-rate facility to run.”
“If Adam takes the job. He still hasn’t agreed to it. He’s concerned about the loss of memory from the head injury. His speech is better. The docs are hopeful, but he has a long road ahead of him. Brain injuries are difficult even with the best medical care money can provide.”
Jacob Page 22
