Solid Foundation (8 page)

Michelle
handed Jameson her mother’s ring and kissed Jameson on the cheek. “I’m glad she
found you, J.D.”

Jameson
smiled. She was startled to see that Michelle was crying. Pearl was crying. Why
was everyone crying? She looked at Candace and Candace chuckled. Jameson was
deliriously happy. She had thought she would choke up. She and Candace had both
cried the night before. They had been talking about the next day. Their
conversation wound its way around Rick and Marianne’s request. It had taken
them both back several paces. It was all the proof either needed that they were
creating a family. It might have been different from what many people would
envision, but it was their family. In many ways, Jameson felt she had spoken
these vows to Candace a million times. She slipped the ring on Candace’s finger
with a smile.

Candace
accepted Jameson’s ring from Pearl and slipped it onto Jameson’s finger. She
held it in place for a moment and looked into Jameson’s eyes. “I love you,
Jameson.”

Jameson
brushed her lips against Candace’s forehead. “I love you too.”

“It
seems the senator and her wife are determined to lead this ceremony,” Justice
Bevins joked.

“Is
she?” Jameson asked.

“What?”
Justice Bevins responded
with
a chuckle.

“My
wife? Is she my wife now?” Jameson asked to the sound of laughter.

“Yes,
Jameson. She most certainly is, so I suggest you kiss her and make it
official.”

Jameson
ignored the laughter surrounding them. She took Candace’s face in her hands.
“Thank you for marrying me,” she said before kissing Candace tenderly. Jameson
pulled back and Candace wiped some lipstick off of Jameson’s lip.

“You’re
welcome,
” Candace said. She leaned into
Jameson’s ear. “I will thank you later.”

Jameson
beamed. She hugged her parents and Pearl, then each of Candace’s kids. “What do
you all say we go enjoy a glass of champagne?” she suggested. “Except you,
Marianne. You and Spencer get apple juice.” She took Candace’s hand and walked
off with her mother and Pearl beside them.

“Jonah?”
Michelle asked her brother.

“Yeah?”

“Is
your tent still in the barn?” she asked.

“I
think so. Why?” he responded.

“I
think we might want to camp outside tonight,” she suggested.

“You
can camp outside. It’s hot and besides, Mom has people coming to set up at six
in the morning. I need my sleep,” he replied.

“Oh?
You think getting up at six will be more traumatic than sleeping in your old
room?” she asked him.

“Yeah.”

“Well,
then I hope you have earphones. Because, Jonah – some things you just can’t
‘un’ hear,” she said with a smirk and scurried off to catch up with Marianne
and Rick.

Jonah
stood still for a moment until his sister’s meaning took root. “Wait!” he
yelled after her. “Shell! Wait up! You are helping set it up!” Michelle turned
and stuck out her tongue at her brother. “And, you better find Mom’s bug
spray!” he called.

“What
on earth are those kids yelling about out there?” Pearl asked.

Jameson
peeked out the back door and motioned for Candace to join her. Jonah was racing
Michelle toward the barn and Spencer was trying with all his might to toddle
behind them. “Tent,” Jameson said.

“What?”
Candace asked.

“Bet
you a back rub they are getting Jonah’s tent.”

“Why
would they do that?” Candace asked.

“Oh,
Candace,” Maureen Reid said a bit dramatically.

“Oh
God,” Candace groaned.

“I
think I might recall hearing that too? Was he visiting last July?” Maureen
joked. “Duncan?” she turned to her husband.

“I
think I’ll go help the kids,” he said.

“Chicken,”
Maureen called.

“Mom!”
Jameson swatted her mother. “Watch it or you’ll be out there with them,” she
warned.

Candace
laughed. “How exactly do they think they got into this world?”

“It
wasn’t me.” Jameson held up her hands.

Candace
rolled her eyes. “Lunatics. All of you.”

“Yeah,
well…get out the strait jackets, Mrs. L. You are the head of this asylum,”
Jameson said.

“Can’t
be worse than Washington,” Candace laughed. She kissed Jameson and let her lips
linger. “Don’t look now but your ward is on its way in.”

“Mm.
Can we put them to bed without dinner?” Jameson whispered.

“No,
but we can send them outside to play afterward,” Candace promised with a
playful kiss. She walked away and joined Pearl at the kitchen table.

Jameson
waited a moment and followed. “I don’t care if Shell goes on CNN,” she laughed.
“Hope that tent is sound proof.”

***

Jameson moved behind
Candace,
who was looking out the window and
caressed her shoulders. “Watching the kids?”

“Mm,”
Candace answered. She leaned back into Jameson and closed her eyes.

“Did
you have a good day?” Jameson asked as she nipped lightly at Candace’s neck.
Candace reached for Jameson’s hands and held them around her. “Candace?”

“I
had a dream like this once, a long time ago.”

“A
dream like what? That we got married?” Jameson asked. She moved Candace’s hair
aside and kissed her neck gently.

Candace
sighed. “No, a dream that you came up behind me, wrapped your arms around me,
and told me that you loved me. I realized when I felt you there, in that
dream, that
I was in love with you.”

Jameson
pulled Candace closer. “I do love you.”

“I
know,” Candace said. She brushed her fingers lightly up and down Jameson’s arms
as Jameson’s hands drifted upward and cupped Candace’s breasts. “I think you
might have done that too.”

“Oh?”
Jameson asked. She nibbled softly on Candace’s earlobe and grazed over
Candace’s nipples with her thumbs.

“You
definitely did that,” Candace moaned.

“Tell
me more,” Jameson said.

“Mm.
I wish I could. Something woke me up right after I said that I loved you.”

Jameson
turned Candace in her arms. “When did you have this dream?”

“The
day you first kissed me,” Candace confessed.

Jameson
stroked Candace’s cheek. “You were so beautiful that night. I remember walking
in and thinking I would pass out. I wanted to tell you the moment you walked up
to me that I was in love with you.”

“I
knew,” Candace said. “And, I knew that I loved you…so much, Jameson. So much,
it hurt. Like right now.”
 

Jameson
kissed Candace softly. She felt Candace melt into her. There was no urgency in
their kiss. It was longing, a desperate, penetrating need that went far beyond
physical attraction. Jameson could feel the light trembling in Candace’s body
and she held her close. “Shh,” Jameson whispered. “Why are you crying?”

“I
don’t know,” Candace admitted. “It just hit me, just feeling you behind me.”

“What?
That we’re married?”

“No.
The truth is, I’ve felt more married to you since the first night you slept
beside me than I ever did to Jonathan,” Candace said. She reached up and kissed
Jameson tenderly. “Maybe it’s just that I know where I will be for the rest of
my life; where I was always supposed to be.”

Jameson
kissed Candace and led her to their bed. She began unbuttoning the ivory blouse
that Candace was wearing, taking the time to trace along the sides of Candace’s
breasts. Her kiss moved gently over Candace’s throat as her hands pushed the
soft material off of Candace’s shoulders. Candace held on to Jameson’s head,
her fingers combing through Jameson’s hair as Jameson lowered her to the bed.
Jameson hovered above Candace, looking down
at
her in admiration. “You have no idea how beautiful you are,” Jameson said.

Candace
smiled up at Jameson and touched her cheek. “That is just how you see me,” she
said.

“No,”
Jameson replied. Her fingers skimmed the softness of Candace’s cleavage and she
bent down to capture Candace’s lips in an ardent kiss.

Candace
moved her hands over Jameson’s back tenderly. She was overcome by the intensity
and honesty of both Jameson’s words and her touch. There was a unique exhilaration
in feeling completely safe even as every hidden vulnerability they each
possessed surfaced against their will. Candace felt Jameson remove her bra and
the softness of Jameson’s lips fall over her breast. She struggled to inhale a
full breath against the familiar ripples that traveled over and through her. She
closed her eyes and allowed herself to float on the wave of desire that she
knew would continue to surge until it finally crested and pulled her under.

Jameson
was lost in her exploration of Candace. She never tired of the woman beneath
her. Making love to Candace was intoxicating. Jameson felt transported into a
foreign world that existed only for them.
The
sound of Candace’s sensual sighs, the feel of Candace’s fingers as they tugged
gently at Jameson’s curls, the warmth that emanated from the body beneath her; it
encompassed Jameson’s senses, banishing everything that surrounded them.
She closed her lips around Candace’s nipple and circled it slowly. Candace moaned.
Jameson continued teasing Candace. The way Candace was moving in time with her
stoked the embers of a simmering fire in Jameson. Jameson had been intent on
letting the warmth between them smolder. Now, she felt familiar sparks
igniting. She raised a hand to brush over Candace’s throat just as Candace
threw her head back in submission.

Candace
could feel her entire body tingling
with
anticipation
when Jameson began raining faint kisses across her abdomen. Amid the fire
burning between them, it felt a great deal like cold raindrops. She shivered
slightly. Jameson pulled her closer, her kisses continuing their path lower. Jameson
pulled off Candace’s pants swiftly and moved still lower. Her fingertips grazed
the tips of Candace’s nipples. Candace trembled. Jameson’s lips reached Candace’s
center. The
cool
caress of Jameson’s
kisses was swiftly replaced with the blazing heat of her tongue and Candace
cried out.

Jameson
was instantly on fire. She had lost an inclination to maintain a slow burn. She
tasted every inch of Candace. Candace began to writhe beneath her. Jameson
tugged gently at one of Candace nipples while her tongue danced over Candace
and dipped inside of her. She was startled when Candace pushed away and then
pulled Jameson up to her. Jameson looked at Candace in concern. She was met
with a hungry gaze. “I need to feel you,” Candace told her. Jameson was still
puzzled. She searched Candace for her meaning. Candace grabbed the bottom of
Jameson’s blouse and pulled it over Jameson’s head. It was the only explanation
Jameson required. She closed her eyes as the rest of her clothing was stripped
away and Candace’s mouth enclosed over a straining nipple.

“Jesus,”
Jameson cried out. Candace could feel the warmth of Jameson’s arousal on her stomach.
It stirred her passion further and she arched her back in response. She was
reeling from the steady pulse that throbbed in her core. She needed Jameson. She
needed
to feel her, to taste her, to lose
herself in Jameson. Jameson sensed the urgency in Candace and pulled back slightly
from her touch. She kissed Candace deeply, a searing kiss that swallowed both
their cries. She deliberately shifted their positions, placing Candace above
her.

Candace
smiled and arched a fair brow at her wife. Jameson’s eyes
had
glazed over and darkened into a lustful
haze. “What do you want?” Candace asked seductively. “Tell me, Jameson.”

Jameson
was often quiet when they made love. She sensed that Candace needed to hear her
voice her need. “I want you while you take me,” she confessed.

Candace
leaned in and kissed Jameson urgently. She licked along Jameson’s neck and
stopped at her ear to whisper. “Do you have any idea how much I want you?” she
breathed. Jameson moaned throatily. “I’m going to take you someplace you’ve never
been
until you beg me to stop,” she
promised.

Candace’s
declaration fanned the flames of Jameson’s need higher. Jameson slid down
on
the bed and gripped Candace’s hips, guiding her
to where she wanted her. Candace followed the unspoken direction. She turned
and slowly lowered herself closer to Jameson’s mouth. Without warning, Jameson’s
tongue had begun lavishing its attention over the length of Candace’s center.
Candace lifted in response, but Jameson grabbed her hips and pulled her still
lower. Candace could feel the reverberations of Jameson’s quiet moaning against
her and it set off a series of small tremors in her core. She took a deep
breath and bent over Jameson, gripping Jameson’s thighs and flicking her tongue
faintly over Jameson’s need. Jameson lost her breath for a moment. “So
good
,” Candace sighed.