Our New Love (2 page)

IT HAD TAKEN Jack and Savannah almost an hour to say goodbye to everyone at the wedding and then another two hours to gather their things and get to the airport where Jack kept his bush plane. Jack had had his mechanic check out the plane the day before to ensure they wouldn’t run into any issues, and as he helped Savannah with her seat belt, he ran his hands over her belly, then lowered his lips and pressed a kiss to it.

She brushed his hair off his forehead, and he stayed right there for a moment, reveling in her touch as he always did. He’d met Savannah at a time when he was as low as low could get, and her touch, her smile, her positive energy and deep understanding of all he’d been through had helped him heal. She’d shown him how to love again, and in doing so, had brought him back into the arms of his family and back into the world of the living. She’d truly been his angel.

“You are even more beautiful now than you were an hour ago.”

“
Pfft
. You’re such a flirt.”

“Are you certain you want to do this? I know the doctor isn’t worried, but are you? You’re sure you don’t want to be pampered at the spa instead?”

She shook her head and met him halfway for a kiss. “There’s no place on earth I’d rather be than in our love nest in the woods. Besides, we first met on the mountain, so it’s only fitting to spend a week up there before the baby comes. We’ll have plenty of time for everything else when we return to New York and after the baby’s born.”

Twenty minutes later they were on their way.

“It’s a little later than I would have liked to leave, but we should make it to the cabin before dark.” Jack noted the grayish clouds moving in from the west as the sun began to dip from the sky. Savannah gazed out the window, and his chest swelled with love for her. He reached for her hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

“I remember when you flew the group up here the first time we met. I was so scared to fly in this little plane, and now I never think twice about it.” She flashed a trusting smile. “Can you believe in a few weeks we’ll meet our baby? We really should decide on names.”

They’d been going around and around with names for months but had yet to settle on any.

“Well, we didn’t want to know if we were having a boy or a girl, so would it be so bad not to decide on a name until he or she is born?” he suggested with a tease in his voice, because they’d been over this too many times to count. Savannah
liked
talking about names, even if they didn’t know the sex of the baby. “I told you my take on names. If it’s a boy, we should name him after your dad, to honor him, and if it’s a girl, we can name her Haley or Halison or Hallelujah.”

Savannah rolled her eyes. “Why are you so hung up on using my dad’s name? Why not your father’s name?”

“Because, Savannah, your father raised the woman I love, and although I love my folks, without Hal, there’d be no you. No us.” He glanced at his beautiful wife. “I hope our baby feels as loved as you always have. I hope I can do our baby justice, and I hope he or she has your auburn hair and green eyes.”

She rested her head back and closed her eyes as the plane bounced with turbulence.

“It’s okay. I’ve got this,” Jack assured her, bringing his attention back to the controls.

She rested her hands on her belly. “I know you do. To be honest, I hope our baby looks like you, and you’re going to be an incredible father. You’re the most loving man I know.” Before he could say anything, she added, “I know my dad is a great father. He’s gone through a lot, and he always put his family first, but so did yours. And, Jack, so do you. There’s not a man on earth who could make me feel safer or more loved than you.”

Jack soaked up her words as he kept them on a steady course and the ridge of their land came into view. He worried about being a good husband and a good father, but he knew that worry stemmed mostly from the loss of his first wife. When the tragic car accident had claimed his wife during a raging storm, just feet from their driveway, it had made Jack acutely aware of how powerless he was in the grand scheme of things. He rubbed the scar on his arm, where a thick piece of metal had cut him nearly to the bone as he’d dragged his wife’s limp body from the burning car.

He had finally learned how to put the devastating images and emotions into a safer place, and now he forced them from his mind so he could focus on getting Savannah safely up the mountain. He’d feel better when she was in the cabin, toasty warm. He maneuvered the plane toward the landing strip as snow began to fall.

“It wasn’t supposed to snow tonight, was it?” Savannah didn’t sound worried, but Jack’s gut was tightening.

“No, but that’s Colorado for you. You sure you don’t want to turn back? Just in case?”

“No. The baby’s not due for two weeks, and I intend to chill out with my hubby for a week
here
. Then we can go home for the final countdown. Even if it snows, it won’t be much. We would have heard about a storm front coming in.” She pointed out the window. “Look, it’s stopping. I think the weather fairies just got confused.”

Jack lined the plane up with the landing strip, just over the hill from their cabin, feeling a little more at ease. She was right. They would have heard about a storm moving in. “Hang on, baby. We’re going in.”

Savannah closed her eyes and leaned back, her hands splayed protectively over her stomach. She’d never let on that landings still scared her. It was just one of the many things he adored about her. Savannah was the strongest woman he knew, and he’d known that from the moment he’d opened up to her about his wife’s accident. Most women would want to bury a tragic past, feeling threatened or second best, but Savannah encouraged Jack to remember. She’d told him that he was the man he was because of what he’d gone through and that his life with Linda had helped turn him into the man he was. She wasn’t threatened by his love for Linda, which would probably always be with him. She accepted his past as if she had loved Linda, too. Savannah was confident in their relationship, and had been since the beginning. She hadn’t let Jack back off when he was being eaten alive by fear and self-loathing. Thank fucking God.

As the plane touched down, Savannah exhaled a loud breath, and her lips curved up in a smile. He settled the plane to a stop, and after cutting the engine and checking all his gear, he stepped from the plane and touched his fingers to the earth. He’d spent two years hiding from the world after the accident, and it was here he’d found his footing. He considered the mountain theirs, even though they owned only two hundred acres. It was their private oasis, their slice of heaven.

He came around to help Savannah from the plane just as flurries began to fall.

“We’d better get a move on up the mountain.” He grabbed their luggage from the back, then reached for Savannah’s hand. She opened her mouth and closed her eyes, tipping her face up toward the sky. He watched her cheeks pink up from the cold as she caught snowflakes on her tongue. He could just imagine her teaching their child to do the same.

“You’re going to be the perfect mom.” He laughed as she turned a wide grin his way.

“Why? Because I’m such a child myself?”

He slung their bags over his shoulder and gathered her in close. “No. Because you never miss out on the little things.”

“Put the bags down,” she urged, tugging at them as they dropped to the ground. Then she held his hands and said, “Come on, Jack. Do it with me.” She closed her eyes and tipped her head back again while he watched.

He had no idea how she knew he wasn’t following suit, but without opening her eyes, she said, “Come on! Please?”

He opened his mouth and tipped his head back, letting the icy flakes melt against his tongue.

“Doesn’t it feel good? I spend so much time in my law office that it’s easy to forget what snowflakes taste like, or how it feels to dip our toes in a creek. That’s why I do these things.”

He opened his eyes and drank her in. She laughed as the flurries came faster, flaking on her eyelashes and wetting her cheeks. Jack took in the ground around them, now covered with a sparkling sheen of white, grass and dirt poking through here and there.

He kissed her chin, which was icy cold. “We should get up to the cabin and bring in firewood.”

She sighed like a kid who wanted to stay outside and play. “Okay.” She reached for a bag.

“Oh, no.” He tossed the bags over his shoulders. “You’ve got more precious cargo to carry.”

They made their way over the hill, and when the cabin came into view, Savannah stopped on the trail and leaned her hand on a tree.

“Savannah? What’s wrong?” He was by her side, searching her eyes for signs of distress as she gazed out at the cabin with a smile on her face.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry, Jack. You’ll know if something’s wrong. Look how beautiful it is up here tonight.” She was breathing harder than normal, and Jack could tell she was trying to distract him from noticing it.

“It’s gorgeous, but we need to get you inside.” He reached for her hand and she clung to the tree, immovable.

“Just a sec. I’m really tired from the wedding.” She was still smiling, but it didn’t reach her eyes, making him worry. “Stop looking at me like that, Jack. I’m fine. It was a long day, and I’m allowed to be tired.” She reached up and touched his cheek again. “Honey, I promise, I’m fine. Just tired.” She pressed her lips to his and it took the edge off his worries.
Sort of
.

They headed inside the rustic cabin. The door opened to the center of the living room–kitchen combination. A stone fireplace took up the wall to their right, and just beyond was a bedroom. They’d already planned to add another bedroom after the baby was born, but they had a while before they needed to expand their cozy hideaway, and they didn’t want to worry about renovations while Savannah was pregnant. Besides, Jack and Savannah both wanted the baby to sleep in a bassinet in their room for the first few weeks, at least, so they could hear every sound he or she made. Jack dropped the bags by the front door and helped Savannah off with her coat and boots.

“Rest a bit.” He helped her settle onto the couch. “I’ll unpack.”

He took the groceries they’d brought into the kitchen and put them away, then unpacked their bags in the bedroom. They kept clothing and essentials stocked for spur-of-the-moment weekends away, but he’d brought Savannah’s favorite maternity sleeping shirt, her slippers, and other things he knew she’d want. Jack put fresh linens on the bed and tucked their empty bags in the back of the bedroom closet. When he closed the closet doors, he found Savannah standing in the doorway watching him. Her long auburn hair had grown thicker with the pregnancy and was draped over one shoulder. She looked sexy as hell fiddling with a lock of her hair, her big belly protruding under her maternity jeans and long-sleeved top.

“You’re supposed to be resting,” he said as he gathered her in his arms. “I was going to chop some firewood.”

Savannah’s eyes darkened and she licked her lips, sending heat to Jack’s groin. She hooked her finger into the waist of his jeans and said, “I don’t want to rest.”

He tugged her in as close as her burgeoning belly would allow. “What did you have in mind?”

She worked the button free on his jeans and unzipped them. “Maybe we could play with
your
firewood.”

He laughed under his breath. “You’re so damn sexy.” He wanted to seal his lips over hers and kiss her with all the passion burning inside him. He wanted to strip her bare, ease her sweet heat onto his rigid cock, and love her until she fell asleep in his arms, but he held back, worried about what he’d seen in her eyes a little while earlier on the trail. “I thought you were tired.”

She slipped her hand inside his briefs and cupped his balls. “Never too tired for love.” She palmed his eager length and stroked, slow and tight, driving him out of his fucking mind and stealing his last shred of control.

Their mouths came together fast and hungry. He rocked his hips against her hand to the rhythm of each stroke of their tongues. Her hand slid along his rigid length with practiced precision. She knew just how to take him apart. He drew her top over her head and rid her of her bra, setting her full, heavy breasts free. He filled his palms, brushing his thumbs over her taut nipples and earning a greedy moan from his voluptuous wife.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said as he lowered his head to take one breast into his mouth. He licked and teased the way he knew she loved and was rewarded with another pleasure-filled moan as she tugged at his jeans.

Jack quickly undressed and carefully stripped Savannah bare. He kissed her intensely, cupping her face and angling her mouth so she opened further for him. They kissed the way night fell, slowly at first, then fast and all-consuming. He ran his hands along her ample hips, wider now than when they’d met. He loved the way her body accommodated the life they’d created. Savannah hadn’t complained once about her pregnancy. She’d welcomed it, and they’d experienced all of it together, sharing in the joy of every pound gained, every kick of their baby. He kissed the swell of her full breasts and down the center of her belly as his hands slid along her thighs to the heat between her legs. He knew just how to take her up to the edge, and he took her in another deep kiss as he teased over her wetness.

“Jack,” she whispered breathily. Her head tipped back and her nails dug into his biceps.

He nipped and sucked along her neck and felt her breathing grow shallow.

“Baby, you sure this is okay so close to the end?” He couldn’t help it; he was nervous about anything that might set off early labor or cause her trouble.

“Jack!” She glared at him. “If you leave me hanging, I swear to God…”

He laughed.

She grabbed his wrist and held it exactly where it was. “The doctor said it’s fine.”

That was all the reassurance he needed to give her what she wanted. He stroked her sensitive nerves with his thumb as his fingers dipped inside, and seconds later she cried out his name, her inner muscles tightening around his fingers. She was so hot, so sexy when she came for him. He nearly lost it just watching her.