Mission Made For Two (28 page)

She smiled
, feeling the first stirrings of hope that this wasn’t one sided
.
 
“Maybe.”

“What is it?” he asked and ran his fingers down her cheek.

“If you kiss me, I’ll tell you.”

Jake didn’t need any more encouragement.
He wrapped a han
d around her neck and tugged her
against his chest. Then his lips connected with
hers,
firm and demanding.  She realized she was starved for him.  Her fingers latched into his shoulders a
nd she pressed against him
.

Jake lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist, never br
eaking the
kiss
.  She was on fire.  Jake backed against the front door, reache
d behind him and opened it, then
stepped inside
the cabin
.

He maneuvered them to the sofa and plopped onto it.
  The jarring motion separated their lips. 
Sierra giggled
.

The sound died in her throat when she felt his hardness beneath her.
Pushed against sensitive flesh.

Their clothes seemed to disappear without help.  She was on top
, but Jake was in control. By the time he entered her, she was frantic. 
Being with Jake filled her with a sense of home
for the first time in her thirty-three years
. 

As her release wrung a cry from her throat, she whispered the words she’d never said before.  “I love you
, Jake
Harding.” 

Jake stilled beneath her,
and
then stiffened, finding his release so deep inside her she felt they were truly one.

He clasped her head and brought her lips to his, kissing her tenderly.  When he pulled back, his gaze searched her face.  “Say the words again, Sierra.”

She swallowed. 
Forgotten nervousness slammed into her.

“Say it,” he whispered again.

She wasn’t
a chi
cken.  “I love you, Jake Harding
.
  You’re infuriating and stubborn.  You also make me feel alive.  I trust you with my weaknesses. And I love you.
”

He kissed her again and looked into her eyes.  “You are pretty stubborn and infuriating yourself.  Head strong, smart-mouthed and sexy as all get out.” 
A grin spread across his face.  “
And
I love you too, Sierra
Thayer
.
”

Eight
months later

“You want to tell me what you’re up to?” Jake asked as he walked up behind his wife. 
Wife.
That was hard to believe.
First that he was married and second that he was married to Sierra. 

She may have retired from the field, but he swore her butt never stayed planted in one location for long.  She was behind the cabin, a hoe in hand, beating the tar out of the rocky dirt.

She looked at him, wiping her forehead with a dusty hand and leaving a streak at her hairline.  “I want a garden.”

“For God’s sake, why didn’t you just tell me?”  And as soon as the question was out, he knew it
was a stupid one.  Sierra
Thayer
Harding was an independent spirit.  But damn it, she was in no condition to be working so hard.

He took the hoe from her and shook his head.  “Whether you like it or not, sweetheart, you’re going to have to accept some limitations.  If you want a garden, I’ll make you one.  You’ve got to learn to start asking for help.”

Straightening and stretching her back, she gave him a cunning look. “Oh, don’t worry, sweet cheeks,” she purred as she rubbed her hand
lovingly
over the small bump i
n her stomach that had just begu
n to
become noticeable
. “When this little darling gets here, I’ll be asking for help.”  She looked down at her new roundness. “I hope you have a clue what to do with this little bugger.”

Jake chuckled, still amazed that he and Sierra were going to be parents.
  He’d already gotten the plans in place to enlarge the cabin.

“Don’t they come with instruction manuals?”

She smiled.
“Ha,
ha.
  I still can’t believe I let you knock me up
for your fortieth birthday
.”

Jake dropped the hoe and pulled her into his arms. 
“
You were the one who forgot to get your birth control shot
.  Besides, you love an adventure.”

Her brown eyes glowed as she looked into his eyes.
“That I do,
almost as much as I love you.”

“I love you too, Sierra.
  Trent said I’d get bored
w
hen I left the agency, but so far this has been the best adventure of my life.
”  He leaned down and kissed her, knowing that
things would only get better.

The End