“Looks to me like he’s totally sunk,” she said. “A complete goner.”

“Fine,” Jack said shortly. “I’m out of it now—she’s staked her claim.” Then he reached out a hand, threaded it under her hair and around the back of her neck, pulling her toward him. He kissed her deeply. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Pursued. How are you feeling?”

“Lucky.”

Eleven

In the cool light of morning Mike rose on an elbow to look down at the beautiful pale body of his love. Brie slept on her stomach, and the curve of her back and small, round bottom was exquisite. Irresistible. He hated to disturb her, her rest was so peaceful, but he couldn’t help himself—he touched her. He ran his hand tenderly from her neck, down her spine, over her bottom. She hummed in half sleep and he pressed a gentle kiss into the small of her back.

There was a soft knock at the door. She lifted her head; her hair cascaded over her face. “Shhh,” he told her. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

While he sat on the edge of the bed to retrieve his jeans from the floor, she saw the tattoo on his back for the first time—a large sunburst right between his shoulder blades. Very sexy on that broad, brown back. She’d seen the other one earlier, an armband in the shape of a chain. He shrugged into his pants, pulling them up over his hard, compact butt.

When Mike opened the door he saw that someone, Jack or Preacher, had left a breakfast tray on the ground just outside the door. He looked around; there was no one there. Mike brought the tray inside. There were two covered dishes and a thermal pitcher of coffee. He put it on the table. His kitchen was fully equipped with dishes, utensils, pots and pans—but he hardly ever used it. He took all his meals at the bar.

Then he realized something else was missing—there was no log splitting this morning despite the fact that the weather was perfect. Jack was giving them more than just privacy—he wasn’t even making his presence felt on the property.

Mike took off his jeans again, letting them drop. He got back into his bed and continued the pleasurable study of Brie’s smooth, silky back. He scrunched up her tangled hair and pulled it to his lips. She hummed contentedly.

“Who was at the door?”

“Room service,” he said with a chuckle. “Breakfast has been delivered.”

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

“Not for food,” he said. He stretched out over her back, careful not to put all his weight on her. He moved her hair away from her neck, kissing her there, and began to grow firm against her soft bottom.

“Breakfast can wait,” she said, breathless, tilting her hips upward, wriggling softly against him.

It occurred to Mike that he’d had a lot of sex in his life, but it had never been like this. There was an intimacy he shared with Brie that went beyond the coupling; they’d been through so much together, emotionally, before the loving. He felt as though there had never been a woman before her; no one had ever taken him into her body in the free, wild, trusting way she did. After that first tentative and hesitant touch, she’d held nothing back from him. She gave her body completely, insatiably. She welcomed his hands, his lips, every bit of him, relying on him to do right by her, showering him with her pleasure over and over.

He had nearly forgotten that for the better part of a year he hadn’t thought he would enjoy this aspect of life again. Pleasing her, re-creating the joy and safety of sex for her again had put his own burdens so far from his mind that he was completely removed from worry as to whether he could perform. It not only worked well, it worked again and again and again. She created a fire in him that he couldn’t put out. And from her reaction, her response, she had fire of her own. For him. She wasn’t the only one who needed blissful release from a troubled past; Mike needed to be brought back to life, as well. Until that moment he had been focused only on helping her heal, not realizing that she had done the same for him.

He slipped a hand beneath her, creeping down over her belly, lifting her pelvis slightly. He gently parted her legs with his knee. “Is this okay? Like this?” he whispered, pressing toward her again.

“God,” she said. “Oh, yes.”

He slipped in, moving inside her yet again, rocking her, pushing smoothly against a deep, erotic place inside. A slow, even pumping of his hips brought deep sighs from her; she moved against him, meeting him with each stroke. There was a special place inside a woman that was secret, sensitive, and he’d made a study of her body and knew exactly where to go. He thrust against that secret spot, rhythmically, gently but firmly, relentlessly. Finally she pushed back against him, eager for the pressure he applied, craving it with sighs and whimpers, and after a while a startled gasp escaped her and she lunged into him, hard. He held her against him as she was sent soaring into a pleasure so hot and bold it seemed she couldn’t breathe for a long moment. He enjoyed success; he felt the hot spasms surround him, a flood of liquid heat that poured from her and drenched him, and then he joined her in moment of fulfillment that left them both weak, content.

When she began to recover, he slipped out of her and gently rolled her over onto her back.

“Dear heaven,” she gasped. “I’ve never felt anything like that in my life….”

He rose on an elbow to look down at her beautiful face, her lips crimson from love, her cheeks in high color. “You like that?”

“Good lord!” she said, her voice still quivering. “What in the world did you do?”

“Magic,” he said. “A treat. For both of us. The G-spot.”

She stared at him in stunned wonder for a moment, then surprised him with a laugh. “I thought that was a myth! A legend!”

“Completely real,” he said. “Obviously.”

“How can you know more about my body after one night than I’ve known in my life?” she asked.

“It’s you,” he said, running a hand over her shoulder and down her arm, entwining his fingers in hers. “It’s the way you trust me. Let me in.”

“Can you do that again?”

He laughed at her. “Not for a while, I’m afraid.”

“You amaze me.” She ran a hand over his chest. “The things you know.”

“I’ve been with too many women, Brie. I apologize. I can’t undo that. But I have never felt as much a part of a woman as I do with you. It’s like I was never really intimate before now. I can’t explain it any better than that.”

“Hmm,” she said, letting her eyes drift closed.

“It blows my mind. Do you feel it?” he asked her.

She laughed. “I feel it, Miguel. What are we going to do about it?”

“Do you think it would be frowned on if we just stayed here, naked, and had a couple of meals a day delivered, for maybe a month or two?”

She giggled. “How long do you really think Jack will stay out of our business?”

He shrugged and smiled. “I guess we’ll have to get dressed eventually….”

“Do you remember when I came here after Davie was born? I would listen to you practice your guitar in the early mornings.”

“I didn’t know you were there.”

“I used to pretend you were playing for me. I was so moved by the music, I imagined you playing for me late into the night. You tempted me even then.”

He chuckled. “I never knew. At that time, you wouldn’t give an inch.”

“I was pretty sure all men were dogs.”

“We are. We deserve nothing. But we beg just the same.” He touched her face. “I’m not the same man since you came into my life.”

“I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to make love again,” she said softly. Then, smiling, she said, “Now I’m not sure I can stop.”

“Tell me,” he whispered. “Last night, the first time—you froze up, you tensed. You didn’t want the condom.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. Then she opened her eyes, met his and said, “I couldn’t. I couldn’t feel that latex inside me because he—”

“I know, my love,” Mike said sweetly. “It’s all right. A little flashback?”

“For a second, but you brought me into the present and it was all right then.” She smiled. “Way more than all right.”

“There’s something you should keep in mind,” he said softly, stroking her hair. “No matter how perfect things seem, you could find yourself—”

“I know. Back there, in that terrifying moment,” she finished for him. “I’ve had a lot of counseling. They try to prepare you for that. It happened to me once before, that first night at the cabin. It snuck right up on me.” She ran a finger along his ear, down his neck. “Talk about baggage…”

He smiled into her eyes. “Everyone has something, Brie. Everyone has a haunt, a relentless ghost. The best way to scare it off is to look it square in the face.”

“You’re so good,” she whispered.

“There’s no danger of disease,” he said. “I haven’t been with a woman since before the shooting, and in the hospital every cell in my body was screened. But there is another matter…. Are you taking pills?”

She shook her head, but her eyes were clear.

“Ah,” he said. “Mel can help with that. There’s something she can give you to prevent a baby.”

“What if I didn’t do that?” she asked. “What if I didn’t go to Mel?”

That caused him to straighten a bit. “I assume you passed biology 101,” he said.

“There’s no telling what would happen.” She shrugged. “Probably nothing.”

“If the amount of pleasure we have correlates to conception, there will be a hundred babies by the end of the week.”

“If you’d like me to see Mel, I will. This is probably just crazy. I wouldn’t push you, rush you.”

“Brie, you can’t rush me. I want to give you everything. If you wanted me to give you a baby, I would die trying, but only if it was our baby. Together. Maybe you should think about it a little longer, until you’re sure.”

She smiled at him. “Ah. I knew I forgot something. It’s the reason I came here, to you—it wasn’t just because I needed your touch to help make me stronger. It was so much more than that. I couldn’t be away from you a second longer. I think you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. In fact, we became so close in the last six months, I didn’t think we could get any closer.” She put her fingers on his lips. “The joke’s on me—this goes beyond my wildest expectations. If you’re only pretending, you’re a gifted actor.”

“No acting, Brie. I love you. Endlessly.”

“And I love you.”

Her admission fulfilled his deepest desires. “You mean this?”

“Sí, Miguel. I can’t imagine being without you. Not now. You’ve been everything to me for months. I love you so much.”

“Nunca soñe que yo pudiera tener esto en mi vida.” I never dreamed I could have this in my life.

“I didn’t even know it existed.”

“And this is what you want? To let nature take its course?”

“Betting on nature probably isn’t very risky. Before I knew…” She took a breath. “I stopped taking my pills while I was married to Brad. We’d been talking about a baby and I thought I’d surprise him. I didn’t know he was brewing a romance with my best friend…. A long time before… Well,” she said. “It wasn’t just a year before he left me. It was longer.”

“Is that what he told you yesterday?” Mike asked. “At the same time he was explaining Powell had been found?”