Gone (18 page)

He’d broken out of a military bunker in a country where they would have happily slit his throat if he’d been caught, not to mention been on countless other rescue missions. So the silk ribbons with the little bows she’d tied did not make him helpless, but if she wanted to think so he’d let her if she just touched him again.

The ruse was worth it because it happened. In fact, she took the entire tip of his cock into her mouth and started to give him the blowjob of his life.

Drowning in sensation, Jack wasn’t sure if the warm feel of her mouth was more erotic or the sight of her with her blond hair spilled over his thighs. Either way, he was sure he couldn’t last long and wondered if he should warn her…

Then she stopped.

A chest-deep groan erupted from his throat. “God, Nikki.”

“If I were a vindictive woman,” she informed him as she wiggled forward, her breasts moving enticingly with the motion. “I’d just leave the room right now. I’m all sticky. I need a shower.”

“But?” He could barely speak.

“But I love you.” She took his rigid length in her hand and started to lower her body, sheathing him in her wet heat. “So I’ve decided to be generous.”

Jack thrust up, he couldn’t help it, and then he was out of control, which he expected would give her the satisfaction she wanted as he ejaculated with a force that might just have made his heart stop beating, pumping his release into her receptive body. He didn’t even realize he’d torn free of the bonds until his arms came around her. “I love you,” he whispered. “You can’t imagine how much I love you.”

Sprawled on his chest, she whispered back, “Yes, I
can
imagine it.”

Eric’s voice was quiet. “I think all three of us can imagine it.”

Epilogue

The house was quiet when he walked through the door, and Peter froze for one telling second until he heard a familiar gurgle and the sound of his wife’s voice coming from the baby’s room.

Relief washed over him, and he wondered how long it would be before he took for granted Kathy and his son would be there, waiting for him.

Never, he decided, setting down his bag. He would
never
take them for granted.

She would have heard him disarm the alarm, so he wasn’t worried he’d startle her as he strolled into the room a few seconds later, smiling at the sight of her sitting in the antique rocker that had been his special gift. Her blouse was undone and a look of exasperation on her face, the baby in her arms. She said, “He fell asleep right in the middle of nursing. As a man you are not going to quite understand this, but there is some measure of discomfort in having one still very full breast.”

He laughed. “Hello to you too, darling. Sorry I’m late but my flight from Washington was delayed by storms all along the East Coast. Here, let me take him and you can go express the milk so I can help with the night feedings.”

She was beyond beautiful with her new voluptuousness brought on by motherhood. She’d been built like a runway model when he’d met her, tall and slinky, but he liked her this way, generously rounded still from the pregnancy, her breasts lush and full, though currently his son seemed to be monopolizing them.

That was fine with him since she’d had a relatively easy delivery and they shared a healthy child. That was all that mattered in the world.

“Be careful of your uniform,” she warned as she handed him the baby. “Keep in mind he just ate.”

Peter kissed the top of his head. Little Ryan James Hanes had Kathy’s dark hair and quite a lot of it. He smelled like milk and baby lotion. “My uniform can be cleaned. I like to live dangerously.”

“I happen to know that about you, Colonel.” His wife stood, her blouse still enticingly open and he couldn’t help but look, giving her a wink.

“I like the view.”

“Glad you approve.” Her voice altered significantly. “How long?” She asked it quietly.

He knew what she meant.
How long before you leave us alone again maybe for weeks, like this time, maybe for months…do you even know?

The picture he had in head of this moment was something akin to a candlelit dinner and roses and champagne, but the poignant look on her face made him wanted him to tell her right this second…

“I retired.”

“What?” She stood there, staring at him incredulously. “You can’t mean it. You love your job…you
didn’t
.”

His son made a small sound, a baby sigh, and his eyelids fluttered a fraction. Peter said quietly, “I’ve put in my twenty years of service to my country. I have a family now and I’ve been offered a job working for a private company that handles military contracts that is based right here in Indianapolis. So the paperwork is already being processed. I hope you don’t mind, but you’re stuck with me on a permanent basis.”

“Are you serious?”

“Are you happy?”

His entire world hung on her answer.

Her eyes filled with tears but she seemed to cry so easily right now…

“Oh, Peter.” She came and slid her arms around his waist, resting her head against his free shoulder. “I wouldn’t have asked it of you. Not ever.”

“I know. I wanted to do it. Like with any meaningful strategy I weighed the potential losses and gains and it really was a simple decision.”

Her laugh was a tearful hiccup against his lapel. “Your home is not a war zone, Colonel.”

“No,” he answered with a quiet inner joy. “It is
our
home.”

The elopement was actually a brilliant idea.

Jack was enthusiastic the moment she suggested it, of course, for he liked everything done with expedience but was also pragmatic enough to point out if he was the best man in a traditional wedding, he might be the recipent of a lot of sympathetic looks, and it wasn’t his idea of a good time.

Nicole’s idea wasn’t entirely selfless either. Being the blushing bride was a dream in some ways, but if they did it like this, she’d be more able to freely share one of the most important days of her life with the two people she loved the most. It was doubtful her mother would be happy about it, but it just could be easier for all three of them.

And, of course, when the judge said “you may kiss the bride”, in his usual audacious fashion, Jack stepped past Eric, hauled her into his arms and kissed her quite thoroughly, which amused everyone, including her new husband.

Lifting his head, Jack said with mock apology, “Oh yeah, you probably meant him, but given permission by an authority figure… I’m too used to taking orders, I guess.”

The judge chuckled. “May the best man win takes on a whole new slant.”

Eric shouldered him aside with a grin. “May I?”

Nicole lifted her face to his kiss also, his mouth warm and gentle but somehow just as insistent.

And it was done.

They were married. And she didn’t just mean her and Eric.

The moment when Jack handed the ring to Eric might have been the most moving in her life.

As they walked out of the courthouse, Jack squinted down the street. “There’s that little bar down there that has great hot wings. Remember it? I’m dying for a beer.”

“My dress,” she pointed out with admirable control, “is white.”

Eric laughed. “I think he’s joking. I made reservations already at a very nice restaurant and he knows it.”

“I joke now and then. It is part of my charm.” Jack put his arm around her waist and kissed her temple, but his eyes were serious.

“You have charm? Since when?” She was laughing when she said it though as they walked down the steps.

“Hey,” he replied in feigned affront.

“Shouldn’t
I
carry you to the car or something?” Eric picked her up once they gained the sidewalk. “Jack always gets to be the dramatic one. Where the hell are we parked?”

Several people passing the courthouse exploded into applause.

Nicole just smiled and looped her arm around his neck. “You needn’t be too conventional, just for me.”

The two men in her life exchanged a glance.

“Yes, I know,” she said, laughing again. “No worries there, right?”

About the Author

Whether it is historical, futuristic, or contemporary, Annabel Wolfe loves to write about independent heroes and heroines and their often unconventional love stories. She also is national bestselling historical author Emma Wildes and suspense author Kate Watterson. Visit her at
www.annabelwolfe.com
and feel free to contact her as she loves to hear from readers! She lives by a lovely lake in the Midwest with her husband and a very handsome but opinionated cat named Poot.

Look for these titles by Annabel Wolfe

Now Available:

Riding West (as Emma Wildes)

Lawless (as Emma Wildes)

Face of the Maiden (as Emma Wildes)

Reckless Territory (as Kate Watterson)

Coming Soon:

Seek Roses in December (as Emma Wildes)

When desire collides with danger, rope up and hang on for the ride.

Reckless Territory

© 2011 Kate Watterson

Lady Victoria Mead cannot believe fate has been so cruel to her yet again. First, her father squandered the family fortune and died in the process. Now, her quest to secure a future in America has been foiled by an attack on her wagon train, leaving her alone and half-naked in the wilderness.

Her only hope lies in three outlaws who seem to have absolutely no idea what to do with the proper daughter of an English earl.

Ranching partners Cole, Jace and Robert can handle any threat with cool, swift precision. But when it comes to the gloriously lovely Lady Victoria, who seems to have no discernible survival skills, they’re in the dark.

Underneath Victoria’s fragile exterior lies an inner resilience they all come to admire—and a deep well of sensuality that tempts them to offer her a permanent place in their home, their beds…and their hearts.

Warning: Strong sexual content, multiple partners, Western bad boys, Western bad language and some mild violence

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Reckless Territory:

A thick haze of smoke lay over everything when she slowly opened her stinging eyes. Cole still held her, his clasp reassuring. “Easy,” he murmured, but there was soot on his face, she saw through the watery tears from the acrid aftermath of the raging fire. “We’re fine now. The worst is past.”

It was true. She could vaguely see Robert and Jace struggling to hold their panicked horses, their wet kerchiefs draped over the animals’ eyes. Bits of burning debris floated everywhere, and the pall of smoke was like a thick, choking mist, but that horrible roar was gone.

“She all right?” Robert called out, his voice ending in a cough.

“She’s fine.” Cole still held her close against him, and Victoria realized to her mortification he had one hand cupped around her bottom and her breasts were flattened against his hard chest. He lowered his head so his mouth brushed her ear. “I’ll be damned if you don’t even look beautiful covered in ash and soaking wet. No wonder we’re all going a little bit crazy.”

He looked beautiful too, his sleek dark hair clinging in silky wet strands to his strong neck, those high cheekbones and midnight eyes evidence of his heritage, and pressed up against him as she was, she could feel the honed strength of his very male body.

Then he kissed her.

The sensual journey of his mouth was slow and beguiling. It trailed from where his lips had been pressed against her ear across her cheek, following the line of her jaw until his mouth covered hers. His lips were warm and firm, and the probe of his tongue shocking but not unpleasant. Clinging to him, Victoria closed her eyes again, but for an entirely different reason, and gave a small gasp he swallowed as he teased and stroked. Their lips clung, and somehow the near-catastrophic primal force of the fire seemed to fuel the heat between them. She parted more. He accepted and slanted his mouth over hers more fiercely…

“Hey, damn you Cole, I can see you’re kind of enjoying yourself over there, but mind giving us a hand here?”

Her savior lifted his head, grinned in a flash of white teeth and obligingly waded to a shallower spot and set her down, letting her slowly slide down his body. Victoria felt a flush in her cheeks that wasn’t just the residual heat from the fire as he went to help Jace and Robert with the spooked horses.

We’re all going a little bit crazy…

For that matter, her own body tingled at the moment in some interesting places.

She’d noticed them watching her, of course. She was used to male attention; it was part of why she’d left England. Once the scandal of her father’s financial disaster broke, men who might have offered for her hand offered something else entirely. The idea of being mistress to some haughty aristocrat who no longer thought she was good enough to marry but certainly desirable enough to bed held no appeal whatsoever. What was more, she had come to despise the falseness of a society that held wealth and social status in such high regard that her friends had turned their backs on her simply because she was suddenly poor.