Now and Forever 5, Love's Journey (40 page)

“Oh my darling…” she exclaimed, winding her
arms around his neck, closing her eyes, as he began to move inside
her.

Mac smiled at the endearment and moved
slowly, not wanting to rush their union. Callie moaned, her
excitement building.

“You are so beautiful when you’re
pregnant.”

She pulled him into a hard kiss. Callie
arched her hips up against him and tightened her arms around his
chest.

“Oh, God, Mac. Please, I need you,” she
breathed.

Mac thrust into her hard and fast, intensity
climbing, heat boiling up in her blood. As he hit a rhythm, she
climaxed with a loud moan, her body arching off the tiny dock, her
hips moving in sync with his, her insides burning and fluttering at
the same time. Then he shut his eyes, pulling her tightly to his
chest as he groaned loudly.

“Oh, baby,” he muttered afterward, taking
her into his arms.

A feeling of complete contentment washed
over Callie, being pregnant and well-loved agreed with her.

* * * *

They lay on the small dock for a while,
cooling off in the gentle night breeze. Mac combed his fingers
through Callie’s hair while she stroked his chest. Then he leaned
back on his elbow and looked at her in the moonlight. He envisioned
her belly large with their child, the way she looked shortly before
Kitty was born. He loved her pregnant.
What’s growing in there?
A boy or girl?
Either way, he’d be happy as long as no harm
came to Callie or the baby.

They lay silently on the dock for a while
longer.

“New baby in the works and no birth control
for…seven months?” Mac cocked a questioning eyebrow at Callie.

“Yup. Seven months…and increased libido for
me. Need to find the time and place.” Callie ran her tongue over
her lower lip and gazed up at the moon.

“I’ll find the time and place…”

“I bet you will.” Callie chuckled.

“I love you, baby,” Mac whispered.

* * * *

Peter and Lara landed in New York City from
South Africa on a Wednesday. They checked into the historic and
chic Plaza Hotel on Central Park South for a few days of rest and
fun.

Their room with huge windows on the
twentieth floor overlooked Central Park. There was a queen size
bed, an easy chair, a desk and a television. It was early June,
flowers and flowering shrubs burst into color all over the park,
from pink azaleas to yellow tulips, from lavender irises to hot red
geraniums.

They planned to visit some sights of the
city and reconnect with old friends. Madame Fouret invited Lara and
Peter to a ballet reunion dinner requiring formal attire and Juliet
Cates, an old friend of Peter’s, offered them a private tour of an
upcoming art exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum.

The lovers wound their way through Central
Park, sneaking a kiss behind a tree, toured the art at the Modern
Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum and The Guggenheim Museum. They
strolled down by the Hudson River holding hands. They had breakfast
in bed, kissed during a hansom cab ride at dusk and sampled high
tea at Lady Mendl’s tea shop in Greenwich Village.

Evenings were devoted to attending the
theater, ballet and concert performances. Lara had their schedule
packed to overflowing, day and night, trying to squeeze in all the
things she wanted to share with Peter as well as letting him roam
through the art museums soaking up the ancient and modern beauty on
the walls. Peter was dazzled by New York, the wealth of art to see,
the energy, culture and creativity driving the city.

The night before they were to return to
Willow Falls, they met three of Lara’s ballet buddies, Gisele,
Kerrie, and Shayna at Fantasy Land, a popular bar in the
meat-packing district on the west side of Manhattan. The bar was
fairly crowded but the women managed to lay claim to an empty
table.

It wasn’t long before several young men
approached Lara’s friends to dance. Before Peter could get Lara on
the dance floor, one blond young man pulled her out and started
dancing with her. Peter let it go and watched from the table, but
Gisele wasn’t going to let him sit it out. She led him onto the
floor, moving close to him.

The newlyweds got separated by the dense
crowd. When a slow song was played the blond took Lara in his arms.
Peter saw Lara looking for him on the dance floor. Finally his gaze
locked on hers. He saw a familiar expression on her face, one that
made him hungry for her. The fire from her stare seemed to burn the
shirt of his chest. He felt almost naked under her scrutiny.

Gotta get her outta here.

He was swept away in a sea of dancers
grinding away to the music. A few seconds later, the young man
pulled back from Lara as Peter was there, cutting in.

“Mind if I dance with my wife?” Peter asked,
in a slightly belligerent tone.

The young man backed away. Peter took Lara
in his arms. She ran her hands up his chest and around his neck,
pressing her body close to him. He rested his cheek on her hair.
When the music stopped, she whispered in his ear, “I want you.”

He took her hand and moved to the door. When
they got into a cab heading back to the hotel, he leaned over and
kissed her long and hard, pulling her close to him. She melted
against him; he was almost on top of her.

When they got onto the elevator at the
hotel, as soon as the doors closed, they were embracing. Peter
backed her up against the elevator wall as they ascended and
ravished her mouth, his hand massaging her breast. Lara pressed her
hips against him, happy when she heard him groan. Suddenly the
elevator bell sounded and Peter moved away from Lara just as the
doors opened.

“That’s going up, Gladys,” a man’s voice
said as the doors closed.

Peter moved against Lara again, kissing her
swollen lips until they reached their floor. They walked quickly to
their room. Inside, they couldn’t undress fast enough. Lara threw
his shirt studs on the dresser while he unzipped her dress. She
pushed his shirt off his shoulders as he unzipped his pants.
Wearing only black lace bikini panties, she stepped out of her
dress. Peter stepped out of his pants and pushed his boxers down to
the floor. Then he hooked his thumbs in the sides of her panties
and pulled them down and off.

In a frenzy, their mouths locked together.
Peter’s hands fastened around Lara’s waist, lifting her up
effortlessly and setting her on the desk, easing her back a little
until she was propped up with her arms extended back while he stood
facing her. He raised her legs up on either side of him and lowered
his lips to her breast, taking her peak in his mouth. His hands
cradled her breasts as his tongue licked and his mouth sucked until
she began to squirm. He raised his head to move his lips up her
neck then to taste her mouth while his hand massaged her breast. He
slipped his other hand down between her legs.

“Bear…bear…” Lara moaned, closing her
eyes.

“Do you want me?” Peter whispered, moving
his fingers gently, rhythmically.

“Yes…yes…” Lara moaned.

“Say it, honey,” he whispered, keeping his
hand in motion.

“I want you, bear…I want you inside me…I
want you now!” she exclaimed, reaching over to touch him.

Peter pulled her closer, she wound her legs
around him and he plunged into her. He closed his eyes. She put one
hand on his shoulder, then groaned loudly.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, God, yes. Don’t stop!” she breathed,
looking directly into his eyes.

They kept their eyes locked as he moved
inside her. Lara’s pulse raced as fire flew through her veins.
Peter kept control while a thin layer of sweat coated his back.
Intense heat filled her body as he thrust in and out of her again
and again.

As she neared her climax, Lara threw her
arms around his neck and pulled herself up against his chest,
closing her eyes to focus on the ecstasy she was feeling. His arm
closed tightly around her holding her there as she closed her lips
on his shoulder. Her breasts crushed against his chest. As he
picked up the pace, Lara cried out, her body shuddering and
trembling with pleasure. She buried her face in his shoulder as her
climax took him over the top too. He closed his eyes and exploded
with a force that almost pushed Lara off the desk. He held on to
her and moaned loudly.

Afterward they clung to each other, chests
heaving, eyes closed, lost in the nirvana of appetites satisfied.
Lara kissed his shoulder then put her cheek there. Peter stroked
her hair.

“I can make love to you every day for the
rest of my life…and it’ll never be enough,” Peter whispered to her
then he kissed her slowly, gently.

The lovers eased into bed, cuddled up
together looking out over the city that comes alive after midnight.
Tomorrow they’d return to Willow Falls but tonight they were
hypnotized by the pulse and excitement of New York City.

Sunday morning, Lara settled into her seat
on the train while Peter put the suitcases overhead. He joined her
as the train whistle blew. When he sat down, Peter recalled the
mournful sound of the train whistle that took Lara away from him to
her audition. Now the whistle was crisply, impatiently heralding
the beginning of their new life together in Willow Falls. He smiled
with anticipation thinking about their friends and family and
settling into their new home. Lara hugged his arm to her, snuggled
down, resting her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He
laced his fingers through hers.

Peter watched out the window as the tall
buildings in steel, glass and concrete faded and the familiar
sights of green countryside dotted with horses and Holstein cows
came into view. Contentment washed over him. Lara stretched and sat
up.

“One more hour until we’re in Willow Falls,
honey,” he told her.

“Home. One hour from our home,” she said,
turning sleepy eyes to look at him.

He smiled into her eyes and they kissed.
Next stop, happiness.

Epilogue

At six o’clock in the morning, Calllie
rolled. Mac was still asleep. She rested her hand on his bare
shoulder.

“What?” He cracked an eye open. “It’s not
time. What?” He placed his large hand on top of his wife’s tiny
one. “You wanna fool around?”

“Not exactly. I was thinking.”

“Uh oh.”

“Don’t get defensive. This isn’t about
you.”

“Then who?” He slid onto his back and raised
his wife’s hand to his lips.

“My sister.”

“Sarah?”

“Remember when I invited her to come
here?”

“I thought you were kidding.”

“She’s decided to do it. She’s coming here
with her kids. She asked me to find a place for her to live.”

“And that means?” He cocked an eyebrow at
her.

“Didn’t I tell you I had my eye on your
dad’s house?”

“You did. Right next to Jim?”

She nodded.

“Are you playing matchmaker?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She avoided his gaze.

“Callie Caldwell! Look me in the eye.” Mac
sat up.

“What were you saying about fooling
around?”

Jean Joachim is a best-selling romance
fiction author, with books hitting the Amazon Top 100 list since
2012. She writes mostly contemporary romance, which includes sports
romance and romantic suspense.

The Renovated Heart
won Best Novel of
the Year from Love Romances Café.
Lovers & Liars
was a
RomCon finalist in 2013. And
The Marriage List
tied for
third place as Best Contemporary Romance from the Gulf Coast RWA.
To Love or Not to Love tied for second place in the 2014 New
England Chapter of Romance Writers of America Reader’s Choice
contest. She was chosen Author of the Year in 2012 by the New York
City chapter of RWA.