by Sally Falcon
“I suppose so. There’s the old line about the time, the place, and the loved one, which probably has something to do with it,” he said, still preoccupied with his driving as he turned the car into her driveway. When he shifted into park, Jessie reached over and turned off the ignition. For good measure she took possession of the keys, dropping them on the floor behind her.
Trevor seemed dumbfounded by her actions, staring at the empty ignition as if it might explode any minute. Slowly he cocked his head to the side and sat very still as he regarded her. His face was in shadows, so she couldn’t see his expression. Why was he so still?
“Sweet heaven, Jessie, I hope you know what you’re doing,” he finally gritted out through clenched teeth. She could feel the tension in his cheek as she traced the line of his jaw with the back of her hand.
“I think so. I was awfully lonely after you left last night,” she murmured, taking the opportunity to move closer until her shoulder brushed against his. If she moved another inch she would be in his lap. “I think I had a deprived adolescence. Do you know that I’ve never necked in a parked car?”
“Oh, Jessie,” he groaned.
She never saw him move, but a moment later she was draped across his lap with the steering wheel pressing against her back. A giggle bubbled up in her throat when she looked up into his scowling face.
“By rights I should turn you over my knee for spoiling all my good intentions,” he grumbled, but she could see that he was having trouble maintaining his glower.
“Couldn’t we try it straight first before you get kinky?” she asked sweetly, running her hands up the front of his shirt. Without waiting for an answer she began working on the knot of his tie.
“Jessie…” His voice was a cross between a command and a plea this time.
“You keep saying that,” she murmured, noting that his hand was moving in a slow circle on her thigh. His show of resistance was beginning to crumble, bit by bit. The pressure of his arousal was noticeably increasing against her hip. “Aren’t you going to do anything else?”
“I want you to be sure that you know what you’re doing,” he said earnestly, still not making an overt move to either help or reject her. “There’s no turning back after this, sweetheart.”
She didn’t answer with words. Instead, she languidly unbuttoned his shirt. In a very deliberate movement, she leaned forward, running her palms over taut, hair-roughened skin until she linked her hands behind his head. Brazenly she rubbed her breasts against him, and when her lips were a mere millimeter from his, she whispered, “Oh, Trevor.”
That was all it took to snap his control. His arms closed roughly around her as he groaned her name once more. For a moment, Jessie wondered what she had unleashed, but when his mouth claimed hers she didn’t care.
It wasn’t a tentative, gentle first embrace. Trevor had been tormented beyond his limit, and was intent on slaking the hunger she had aroused in him. His hands moved over her awkwardly, seemingly unable to find a resting place, but Jessie was in the throes of the same spell. She couldn’t get close enough, twisting and turning in his arms as she battled his tongue for possession of the dark, mysterious depths of their fervent kisses.
“Sweet heaven, Jessie, what are we doing?” Trevor finally gasped, the sound of ripping material bringing him back to his senses. He dropped his head back against the seat, staring at the ceiling of the car while he tried to control his labored breathing.
Jessie sagged against him, laying her head against his shoulder. She was dazed and extremely happy about what had just taken place. Trevor’s hand stroked her damp hair soothingly. “I think we were ravaging each other,” she said. “Is that what you were talking about last night?”
“Jessie, what has gotten into you?” he asked in wonder, not bothering to move.
“Nothing yet. I think that’s the problem,” she answered wickedly, biting her lower lip in anticipation of his response.
“Dammit, Jessie, warn me when you’re going to say something like that,” he almost growled, swooping down to press a hard kiss on her bare shoulder. For a moment, she wondered how her dress had come partially off before Trevor said, “I think my heart stopped for a minute.”
“It feels like it’s going strong to me.” She placed her hand over the organ in question, moving her palm against his damp skin in a widening circle. Almost immediately Trevor’s hand clamped around her wrist, holding her in place. With his other hand he pulled her dress back up over her shoulder.
“We’re going to have to get dressed just to get out of the car,” he announced, sounding almost as dazed as she felt a few moments before. “Jessie, I don’t think I’ve ever lost control like that in my entire life. We’ve even managed to steam up the windows.”
“Isn’t it Wonderful?” She reached up to kiss him again, but he forestalled her with a firm grip on her shoulders.
“No more of this until we get into the house,” he said firmly.
“Promise?” Jessie looked directly into his eyes, trying to read his expression in the dim light.
“I promise. Now, what the hell did you do with my keys?”
Jessie kept giggling and Trevor swore, which made her laugh even harder, as they worked at untangling themselves to search for the keys. Fifteen minutes later, as they walked to the front door, Jessie slipped her arm around Trevor’s waist. With gratifying promptness, he curved an arm around her shoulder. Once inside, however, he seemed to hesitate again.
“Trevor?” She wasn’t sure she liked the almost haunted look on his face. Dropping her shoes on the carpet, she took his hand to lead him toward the bedroom. He stayed firmly in place. “What is it?”
“I have something to tell you.”
The bubble inside her seemed to fizzle and die under his hooded gaze. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Was he having second thoughts about what happened in the car? “Is it important?”
“I think it’s damned important,” he shot back, his frown deepening as he studied her face. “You’ve got me so confused that I don’t know what’s happening anymore.”
“Are you going to renege on your promise?” she asked, trying to put off what he was going to say. She was sure she wasn’t going to like it.
“Dammit, Jessie, I’m trying to tell you that I love you, and all you can think about is sex,” he snapped, then realized what he had just said.
Jessie knew her mouth was hanging open, but she couldn’t help it. The man continually surprised her. She said the first thing that came to her mind. “Well, how was I supposed to know? I only figured out I loved you this afternoon.”
The silence in the entryway was deafening. Neither one of them seemed to know what to do or say next. Trevor managed to recover first, stepping forward and swinging Jessie up into his arms. He didn’t speak but strode purposely toward the back of the house.
“I guess this means you’re going to keep your promise after all,” she said impishly, raining butterfly kisses on his face.
“Damn straight.”
“You’re such a romantic, Trevor Planchet,” she murmured, nipping at his ear. “The bedroom’s the second door on the left.”
“I thought we’d get comfortable before we continued the discussion,” he returned with a wry twist to his mouth as he set her on her feet next to the bed. “I’m kind of curious about how my princess turned into a sex kitten all of a sudden.”
Jessie grinned, pleased by his description that undoubtedly would have horrified her weeks ago. Sliding his suit jacket off his shoulders, she explained, “I think Abby was right and you’ve corrupted me. A few days ago I realized I needed a flesh-and-blood man, not some two-dimensional shadow to be the father of my child. Then it took a little while to admit it was you.”
“This baby thing is something else we need to discuss.”
“Later, much later. Right now I want to talk about us,” she said gently, beginning to unbutton his shirt again.
“You decided that I wasn’t anythi
ng like your father,” he guessed accurately while his hand worked on the zipper of her dress. “A lot of things began to fall into place after you told me about your family. I probably came across as an idiot when I first met you.”
“A little, but a very sexy idiot. I’ve always thought of myself as very staid and serious, so I couldn’t imagine any reason for someone like you to be interested in me. You just kept showing up.” She dropped his shirt on the floor and gave a satisfied sigh as she ran her hand over his chest. “You scared me to death, but I kept remembering how delicious you looked in your rabbit outfit.”
“‘Delicious’?” Trevor looked a little embarrassed by the word, although it didn’t stop his clever fingers from unhooking the clasp of Jessie’s lace bra. “I think that applies to you in that little red number you had on at the Bushes’ party. Want to wear it for me again sometime?”
“Are we getting kinky again?”
“I think you mentioned we should do it straight first,” he murmured, his hands slipping beneath the layers of her satin panties and pantyhose to pull her close into the heat of his desire.
Together they finished undressing and slipped onto the bed in a tender embrace. Jessie was amazed at his gentleness as he set out to explore her body slowly. They had the confidence of new lovers, secure in their feelings. They knew they had all the time in the world, stroking and caressing each other as if neither of them had experienced lovemaking before. She sighed as his fingers teased the slope of her breast before his lips softly sipped at the hardened peak. He murmured his approval as she alternately kneaded and caressed his chest and hips.
Time seemed to stand still, transporting them to a place all their own. This time Jessie felt the heat begin to kindle within her ever so slowly, almost like her dream while they were camping. She knew it was more than a dream now as Trevor captured her lips in a leisurely, soulful kiss that seemed to pledge his devotion. Pulling him close into the cradle of her hips, she returned his pledge with a promise of her own.
Suddenly the lassitude seemed to leave them both, and the storm of passion that had taken them earlier quickly returned. Trevor groaned as she wrapped her legs around him, urging him on. After running from him for so long, she wanted to show him how much she truly cared. Arching up to meet his driving thrusts, she fleetingly wondered what kind of child they would make. Then as completion claimed them both, she knew that she would be content with only Trevor in her life.
Chapter Eleven
“Trevor, wake up. It’s time for me to go to work.” Jessie looked down fondly at his sleeping face where he lay using her breast as a pillow. Even after twenty-four hours, she wasn’t sure that she wasn’t in a dream. They had barely moved from her bedroom yesterday, only foraging in the kitchen to satisfy their more mundane appetites. For hours they talked about the chaotic weeks behind them and their plans for the future. They made slow, leisurely love, reveling in the freedom to express themselves physically and emotionally.
Now reality was disrupting their paradise in the form of her alarm clock. She had to get to work, and Trevor was a dead weight that kept her from moving. “Trevor, get up.”
“Justhitthesnooze,” he grumbled as his hand came up to fondle her breast. A silly smile curved his lips.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” She pinched his shoulder before he could undermine her resolve. After all, most of her busy schedule this week was working on his house.
“Hey, that hurt. This doesn’t bode well for our future together,” he muttered, but only moved over to clutch the pillow next to her.
“I’ve got to get to the office to check on your deliveries, buster,” she explained and bent to placate him with a kiss. She made sure she kept a close eye on his hands, however. It wasn’t necessary, since he was already asleep. With a philosophical shrug, she headed for the shower.
A half hour later she returned to the bedroom, fully dressed and with a cup of hot tea in her hand. Trevor hadn’t moved. Was she going to be able to have a coherent conversation with him before she left?
Just then his arm reached out, and when he found only empty space, he opened his eyes. He looked at her upright figure balefully. Then he pushed himself up on his elbows and shook his entire body like a wet dog.
Jessie watched in rapt fascination. “Do you do that every morning?”
“Only when I find gorgeous women in my room.” Flipping over, he punched up the pillows behind him and leaned back.
“It better be only one woman from now on, especially in my house.” She softened her words by sitting down on the edge of the bed to kiss him.
“Mmmm, maybe I could get up at this unholy hour if that’s my reward,” he murmured a few minutes later. “Sure you don’t want to stay home and try to make babies?”
“I knew I never should have told you why I was looking for a husband. I’m never going to live it down.”
“Are you always this alert as soon as you get up?” he asked suspiciously, scrubbing the palms of his hands over his face. “We’re going to have some serious trouble ahead, since I’m barely coherent before noon.”
“Just something else we can work out together.” She started to get up, but his hand at her wrist kept her in place.
“I have a feeling we’re going to have a very educational period of adjustment.”
“Jessie, how serious are you about having a baby?” he asked earnestly, apparently making an effort to be awake.
She considered the question as she sipped her tea, not coming up with an easy answer. “I don’t know. I thought a baby was what I wanted, but I’m not sure I wasn’t simply looking for someone like you. Someone to share my life with.”
“That’s what you’ve got, but I don’t want you to give up on something you really want,” he stated firmly. He became engrossed in watching the movement of his thumb moving over the back of her hand. “My house is definitely big enough for kids, so there isn’t any reason to put off getting married. I remember reading about women having babies later in life, and it gets more difficult after forty.”
“Married?” Jessie almost spilled her tea on his bare chest.
“You were planning on marrying me, weren’t you?” Trevor looked provoked by her surprise.
“I hadn’t gotten that far. I’m still trying to adjust to waking up in your arms,” she answered honestly. “Do you want to get married?”
“Damn straight. I didn’t go to all the trouble of chasing you for a silly affair.”
“Okay, don’t get angry. Saturday night was the first time I’ve ever seduced someone, and now we’re talking marriage. I’m just not used to any of this.” She smiled at him to ask his forgiveness, trying to ignore the rapid beating of her heart. Trevor wanted to many her.
“Get used to this.” He snaked his hand around her neck and pulled down her head, claiming her mouth with his. For a moment he teased her by nibbling on her lower lip, then suddenly deepened the kiss, plundering and taking a heated response.
“Oh, boy. I’m not going to get anything done for the rest of the day,” she managed to gasp a few minutes later. Getting unsteadily to her feet, she belatedly remembered her cup on the nightstand. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“I’ll be doing the late show, so just wait for me in bed,” he told her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Jessie hurried out of the room before she changed her mind and climbed back into bed. She’d known all along that Trevor Planchet was going to be a bad influence in her life, only she hadn’t realized how much she was going to enjoy it.
“The turret room would be a great room for a little girl, wouldn’t it?”
Jessie murmured sleepily in response, not really registering the words that rumbled in her ear. She was too comfortable snuggled against Trevor’s warm body. The past three days had been absolute heaven, she decided in drowsy satisfaction, idly stroking the hair-roughened plane of her lover’s chest.
“Stop that. I’m trying to have a serious discussion,” he ordered, but sof
tened the reprimand by capturing her hand and raising it to his lips.
“What did you want to discuss?” She tilted her head back to look up into his solemn face. The sight of him in the moonlight was still too new for her not to marvel at her luck. Her fantasies about Trevor’s brass bed had exceeded her expectations. “I thought you’d be tired after working late tonight.”
“Do you want a boy or a girl?”
“You’re becoming obsessed with this.” With a sigh, she placed her palms on his chest, resting her chin on them as she met his gaze. Children seemed to be a subject he returned to again and again.
“We haven’t even discussed the wedding yet, and you want to talk about children.”
“Well, the Planchets seem to run to boys, but I think a little girl with black hair and blue eyes would be perfect.” His fingers tangling in her hair made her want to purr, but she was beginning to know his moods. He wanted to be serious, at least for the next few minutes. “Men have biological time clocks, too.”
“I just focused on finding a husband, then having a healthy baby, and never really thought about whether it would be a boy or a girl,” she admitted. “I have an equal number of nieces and nephews, though only six of my brothers and sisters are married. Mother and Aunt Lena are working hard to get Phillip and Cassie down the aisle, though.”
“I’m not sure I’ll ever remember all of them. It will take a score card to keep them straight,” he murmured, his gaze thoughtful. “Maybe I wasn’t kidding about the Ringling Brothers at my wedding. Your family will be quite a crowd. Tell me the roster again.”
“My family is not a football team,” she protested good-naturedly. She’d had twenty-six years to get used to the number, but having that many prospective in-laws probably was a little daunting. “Okay, here we go. You talked to my mother, Aunt Lena, and Betsy two days ago when we officially announced our engagement.”
“Right. Your mother lives in Florida with your Aunt Lena. Betsy is the next oldest and runs a souvenir shop with her husband in Branson, Missouri.” He smiled in triumph at his recitation, then frowned as he tried to remember the rest. “You and Betsy went to college together, because you all took turns going to school and working part-time to help each other with tuition. She has four kids, and two of them are twins?”
