The Hijacked Wife

by Winn, Bonnie K.

  Far away from the big city, where a multitude of lights didn’t compete with the stars, each constellation seemed nearer and brighter. Summer remembered a favorite childhood tale about capturing stars just within her reach. Somehow that seemed probable on this night ripe with possibility.

  Reaching the cottage, Summer saw that the door was ajar and she hesitated. Jack had still been finishing his work on the boiler when she saw him last. With danger dogging their every move, she was wary. He could have finished early or—

  “Summer?” Jack’s voice carried through the open door.

  Relief made her sag for a moment, before she braced her voice to hide it. “It’s me.”

  “Good.”

  The solitary word warmed something deep inside. Summer’s pace quickened and she stepped into the cottage, closing the door behind her. Dimness and the glow of candlelight struck her first. The lamps had been turned off, and only the flicker of the candles illuminated the room. Somehow it seemed smaller than it did in the daylight...more intimate.

  “Where’s Danny?” Jack questioned.

  “Staying with Mary and Don.”

  “For the night?”

  She swallowed. “Yes.” As she uttered the word, Summer knew that when she’d told the Steigers they could keep Danny overnight, she had made a conscious decision. One she now faced.

  Jack took a few steps forward, then planted his feet apart. At once she was reminded of the first time she had seen him on the deck of his boat. Again he resembled a pirate from bygone days, his presence filling the entire space of the shrinking room. He seemed at once overpowering, overwhelmingly male and unmistakably virile.

  Suddenly all the tension and desire that had thrummed between them leaped to the surface, demanding to be heard. No more interruptions, no more artificial barriers—the reckoning was now.

  “You bought my box lunch,” Summer blurted out, forgetting to be coy, disregarding pretense.

  “I didn’t want to share you with anyone else,” Jack returned, taking another step closer.

  “You didn’t?” she whispered, feeling her heart crumble, remembering every fantasy she had entertained about them. Fantasies in which he wanted her as much as she longed for him, fantasies that culminated in them being together forever. Perhaps they wouldn’t have forever, but they could have the night.

  Jack’s eyes blazed, the blue deepening beyond black. “No. I don’t ever want to share you.”

  Hope, ridiculous or not, pierced her.

  His eyes simmered with a promise she dared not try to discern. “If you want me to stop, tell me now, Summer.”

  Yearning at once both sweet and sharp swamped her. The sweetness filled her heart. The sharpness propelled her across the room, each step taking her closer to a destination of promise. “I’m telling you....”

  His face began to close.

  She reached out tentatively to trace the strong, implacable lines of his jaw. “Don’t ever stop.”

  Jack felt his paralyzed pulse race again as he reached for her. Awash in emotions he didn’t dare analyze, he pulled her close, fitting her body next to his. Her breasts crushed against his chest, hip bones abraded hip bones. Their bodies aligned, sighed together, soared together.

  Mouths fused, and their tongues danced in anticipation.

  Gentleness battled with impatience for prominence. Jack forced gentleness to win for the moment. He smoothed back her wheat-colored hair, a sweep of silk against his arms, then reached for the buttons that ran down the front of her dress.

  As he freed each one, he saw the telltale flutter of her pulse, the betraying beat that signaled her desire. Then he met the unguarded emotion in her eyes, the trust that brought the green and gold of her unusual eyes to one glorious burst of color.

  Savoring each anticipated moment, he pushed the dress from her shoulders, letting it pool at her feet. The dress, though simple, was conservative, almost prudish—which made the lacy bra and silky panties she wore beneath that much more exciting.

  Sucking in his breath, Jack allowed his gaze to take in each curve and inch of flesh he had imagined. His hands rested on her shoulders, straying near the slender straps that represented one of the last barriers.

  But impatience was testing them both.

  Tentatively Summer reached toward the buttons of his shirt, tugging them loose. He pulled the shirt free and shrugged it away. Her fingers explored his chest, then drew a line down his abdomen. He inhaled sharply as pleasure struck so intensely it resembled pain.

  Impatience raced toward abandon.

  Lifting Summer in his arms, Jack carried her to the narrow bed. The mattress seemed to rise to meet them as they pressed eagerly against it, all hands, mouths and feeling.

  He couldn’t seem to touch her enough, to journey across her supple body. The skin beneath his fingers was as soft as the dew-kissed rose petals crushed beneath them, her response even more exquisite.

  Summer arched toward his seeking touch, shamelessly wanting and needing each nuance he created. His mouth traveled a path from her throat downward. His lips fastened over one nipple, deliciously abrading her sensitized skin through the delicate fabric. The sparse barrier was somehow more exciting than nudity since it intensified the anticipation, heightened the awareness.

  He nibbled a trail that dipped and swerved, somehow concentrating on each tender, highly charged spot as though guided by an internal map. She couldn’t still a moan when his lips pressed against her inner thighs, then nipped the crease behind her knees.

  She reached for his belt buckle, but he restrained her hands, lifting and putting them behind her head as he captured her lips again.

  Anticipation and satisfaction warred, but Jack favored the fire of anticipation. Releasing Summer’s hands, he slipped the straps of her bra over her shoulders with aching slowness, taking what seemed infinite time with each.

  Hearing her withdrawn breath, he drew a slow, slender line between her breasts before unfastening the bra hook centered between them.

  Staring at the spill of her breasts, Jack drew a ragged breath of his own. Reverently his gaze lingered before he reached to fill his hands with their lush weight.

  Suddenly he wanted to feel skin to skin, all restraints removed. As though reading his mind, Summer slid her hands over his hips to his belt buckle. This time, he helped her rip it free. His jeans followed quickly.

  When he reached for the last remaining wisp of fabric that separated them, Summer sucked in a deep breath. Then the satin, too, was gone and nothing stood between them except the hunger that had been growing for far too long. No longer could it go unappeased. No longer did either of them offer any resistance.

  Jack buried his face in the sweet flesh of her throat. Wrapping himself in the sound of her whispered sighs and throaty groans of pleasure, he lingered over each bit of skin, each new discovery.

  His hands traveled over the valley of her waist, the slope of her hips, the incredible length of her legs. She opened up to him without hesitation, trembling beneath his touch. And those quivers heightened his anticipation, fueled his already runaway desire.

  Summer clenched his shoulders, her fingers biting into the muscled flesh. Beyond imagination, beyond experience, beyond intensity, each touch signaled a promise to reach destinations never before imagined.

  Feeling his initial entry, she hesitated for only a moment. Then trust took over.

  Her body rose to meet each thrust, then coiled in a whipcord of release as she cried against his lips... sighed against his heart.

  He brought her again and again to that edge. Jack treasured each trembling response, each shudder that gripped her body. Taking exquisite care to ensure her pleasure fueled his own. His thrusts deepened as he sought to seal his brand. Magic erupted.

  In the explosion that followed, he carried them both to places previously unknown ... and took his heart along for the ride.

  Chapter 15

  Jack worked silently as he ripped the rotted boards from th
e overhang. Part of him wanted to whistle in satisfaction. The other part of him was eaten up with guilt.

  Having told himself his exchange with Summer would only be physical, that his emotions weren’t involved, he had tangled those precious lines beyond recognition.

  Wearily he laid the hammer down, then wiped his brow. He had vowed to remain faithful to Linda. And that vow had been shattered.

  Along with every preconception he’d had about Summer.

  For a moment, Jack leaned against the weathered brick wall. He needed every bit of concentration to focus on outwitting Fisher and Wilcox. And he hadn’t given the pair a thought since Summer had consumed his heart.

  “Jack?” Don Steiger’s quiet voice broke into his thoughts.

  “Pastor?” Jack abandoned his relaxed pose. “Just thinking about what needs to be done next.”

  “I suspect you don’t mean the overhang.”

  “I’ll get it done—”

  The pastor waved his hands in dismissal. “No one’s checking up on you. I think this is one of the few breaks you’ve ever taken while working here. You’ve gotten more done since you’ve been here than the last two handymen have in months.” His kindly gaze was deceptively benign. “Something worrying you?”

  Jack longed to spill his mixed feelings, the confusion, the guilt...but knew he couldn’t. “Nothing worth bothering you about.”

  “That’s my job, son. You don’t want to put me on unemployment, do you?”

  Jack managed a smile. “Pastor, I suspect you have a long line of people just waiting for your help.”

  “But none of them are wallowing in guilt because they love their wives.”

  Jack’s head snapped up. “What?”

  Don Steiger smiled gently. “You might as well be wearing a hair shirt.”

  “It shows that much?”

  “Sackcloth and ashes would be more subtle,” the pastor replied. “From the pain you were in when we met you the first time, I’m guessing you loved your late wife a great deal.”

  Jack swallowed, remembering. “Yes.”

  “And you think you’re dishonoring her memory by caring for Summer?”

  Jack nodded his head slowly.

  “Don’t you think your late wife would have wanted you to be happy?” He paused. “Do you think she would have wanted you to be alone the rest of your life? To spend an empty existence—no children, no life’s partner? I suspect she would have wanted you to create a new family. I don’t think you’d hold her memory so dear if she had been selfish or uncaring.”

  “Of course she wasn’t like that!” Jack denied hotly.

  Pastor Steiger smiled. “I never thought she was, son. That’s why I’m sure she would have wanted you to be happy. Now, you have to allow yourself to be happy.... You have to let go.”

  Jack clenched his hands. “And forget her just like that?”

  “Of course not. You’ll always remember and love her. And that’s good, too. You’re richer for all that you shared. But now it’s time to share with someone else... and not to feel guilty when that person makes you happy.”

  Troubled, Jack stared at the older man. He’d always known Pastor Steiger to give wise counsel, but this was a true leap of trust. And Jack wasn’t sure he possessed that much trust.

  Summer couldn’t quite define Jack’s mood. Quiet through dinner, he then played with Danny, bathed him and put him to bed. She wondered if Jack was regretting the previous evening—or, worse, trying to decide how to tell her it had been a mistake.

  Danny had kept her busy all day. Cutting a new tooth, he was cranky and out of sorts. But seeing how swollen his gums had been, she couldn’t get annoyed with him. And as soon as Jack had finished work, he had taken Danny off her hands.

  But now with the baby nodding off to sleep, they were virtually alone.

  Jack dimmed the lamplight, then stepped into the tiny kitchen. Summer fidgeted nervously on the settee.

  “Wine?” Jack asked, returning with a bottle of merlot and two glasses.

  “Sure.” She smiled uncertainly.

  He poured the wine, left his glass on the side table, then flicked on the radio, tuning in Kenny G. If she didn’t suspect that his mind was on something else, she would have considered this the perfect setup for seduction.

  Jack parted the curtains, opening a vista to the full moon that danced across the dark horizon. Nervously Summer sipped her wine, raising her eyes above the rim of the glass to search Jack’s face. But his expression didn’t reveal any more than the casting moon.

  He moved to stand in front of her, and Summer held her breath. Would he tell her now? Admit that he’d made a huge mistake? Perhaps suggest they remain friends?

  Jack held out his hand. “Can I have this dance?”

  Summer felt the wide, silly grin overtaking her face before she could prevent it. “Dance?” she echoed.

  He lifted the wine stem from her hand and placed it next to his. “You aren’t going to let me stand here with egg on my face, are you?”

  She shook her head as she rose. Lifting her hand, Summer traced the lines of his jaw. “That wouldn’t do at all.”

  The evocative music swirled around them as they matched their steps to its sensual rhythm...and to each other.

  Circling the room, they tested the fit of their bodies, the response of each movement. And each turn seemed better than the last.

  Warm, strong, powerful—Jack’s embrace was all that. Sinking in his arms, Summer luxuriated in the safety she found there...and more.

  His mouth slanted over hers, and she tasted the tenderness, the restraint. Both whetted her hunger, stirred her yearning.

  The reckless abandon of the previous evening gave way to the luxury of prolonged anticipation. And each slow moment was one to savor.

  Jack’s hand rested just below her waist, guiding their movements to the music ... and a beat uniquely their own. His knees nudged hers. Their hips met, teasing...then undulating in unison. Each movement was an unplanned duet of perfectly matched steps.

  Although the music continued playing, they finally drew to a standstill near the bed. But tonight there was no frantic tumble to its surface, no frenzied race to disrobe. Instead each moment stretched out with aching intensity.

  Lips sent a promise of their own as they discovered, tantalized, teased. But Summer knew the fulfillment that awaited her. Quivering at the remembered responses and the new ones he was creating, she wondered that the room didn’t quake, mirroring her anticipation.

  Summer remembered her anxiety, knew they’d only postponed the inevitable. As Jack’s gentle but sure touch started that journey, she knew she would travel to that destination despite the future they would never share. She knew they stood on the edge of goodbye ... but what made the blood slow? Or stilled the yearning?

  Because for now, she would pretend there were no tomorrows, no danger ... no goodbyes. Because she was learning that there was no greater power than that of goodbye.

  The weatherman had promised rain, but not a cloud scuttled in the pure blue sky. The onlookers burst into applause as the last strains of the song faded. The members of the Cherry Avenue choir tried to look humble in light of the praise, but they weren’t succeeding too well.

  Jack stood on the sidelines, watching Summer bask in the glow. The all-city concert brought together the churches in the community. Jack suspected the spirit of cooperation was one of the reasons Caleb Corners remained a kindly place.

  He and Summer had needed the breather—a place to lie low and regroup for a few days. Caleb Corners and the Steigers had provided that. It was going to be difficult to leave. Under the protective umbrella, he had almost been able to forget the danger they were running from. He hadn’t dared to call Tom Matthews since they had arrived, not wanting to take the chance that the call would be immediately traced.

  He saw Don Steiger edging through the crowd toward him.

  Jack leaned against the bowed trunk of a live oak tree. “You’re looki
ng pleased with yourself, Pastor.”

  The older man grinned. “I didn’t have one thing to do with that performance, yet everyone’s crediting me with the choir’s success. It’s a nice change. I have to take the flak when things go wrong—whether I’m involved or not. Can’t help enjoying it when it works the other way.”

  Jack nodded, his eyes straying to rest on Summer. Sunshine danced over her tumble of wheat-colored hair, and as he watched she tipped her head back in laughter. For the moment, he could almost forget that their days were numbered.

  “You staying for lunch?” Don asked. “Burgers and hot dogs on the north side of the park.”

  “I probably couldn’t pry Summer away with—” Jack glanced up, the words forgotten. A cold pit formed in his stomach.

  Across the square, he spotted Fisher and Wilcox heading into the hardware store. Mind racing, he tried to formulate the best way to round up Summer and Danny. His son was home with Mary Steiger. She had insisted on keeping the teething toddler with her so that Summer could enjoy being part of the concert. And now those he cared about were split in two directions.

  “Jack?”

  Forcing himself not to bolt across the park and grab Summer, Jack managed to sound fairly normal. “No, Pastor, I don’t believe we will.”

  Don Steiger searched his face, then clasped one hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Whatever it is, son, you have friends here.”

  Startled, Jack ripped his gaze away from Summer. “You don’t—”

  “I don’t need details, Jack. But if you need help, I want to know about it.”

  Jack gambled, then decided he had to take the first step toward trust. “We’ll be leaving Caleb Corners.”

  The pastor didn’t look surprised, but he did show his concern. “Is that the only solution?”

  “I can’t say any more, Pastor. It’s better... for all of us. Right now, I have to get Summer and—”

  “Meet me by the car, Jack.”

  “But—”

  “It’ll be faster. From the look on your face, I suspect that’s important right now.”