Open Skies (21 page)

“Jake… oh, God.”

He moved his hands to her jeans, undid the button, slid the zipper down. He shoved his hand down the front of her, cupping her sex in his hand, rubbing her nub with his thumb, making circles around it, feeling how wet she was getting, loving how hot she was. She gave a low cry and pushed hard against his fingers. He stared in to her eyes, watching her respond to him, knowing that she wanted more.

“I’m going to take off your jeans and panties now,” he said. “And I’m going to go down on you until you come against my mouth.”

She sobbed. “Yes. Please, Jake, yes.”

He pushed her backwards on to the bed, knelt down on the floor in front of her, yanked the jeans off, reached for her panties. He rolled them down, saw the glorious triangle between her legs. Her curls were already damp, her pussy glistening with her juices. God, she was so turned on, she was going to come at the first touch.

Jake opened her legs, placed them on his broad shoulders, held her eyes. He moved in, making her wait, and put his mouth on her. He spread her lips with both hands, exposing her clit, holding her wide open to his mouth. He ate her like a starving man, watching her watch him eat her pussy, and he thought he’d come right there and then.

The wave was building inside Julie now, and she fought to keep watching him. His head moved back and forth as he plunged his tongue inside her, simulating what his cock did to her so perfectly, and that was the thought that made her lose all control. She let her head fall back and her back arch as she clutched at the sheets around her.

He moved his hands under her ass, raised her hips right off the bed. Her legs slid off his shoulders and rested on his strong forearms as her thighs fell open even wider. She was hanging suspended in the air now, and the only thing holding her up was being fused to his mouth. She ground herself against him, shameless and wild in her wanting and needing, her whole world reduced to that tiny knot between her legs.

And here it came – the wave crashed over her, again and again, and Julie rode it, stayed with it even as it grew stronger and more intense. Then she was gasping for air, being washed away by the sensations and she knew nothing more.

When she opened her eyes, she was in Jake’s arms. He was looking down at her, his eyes worried, his work-roughened hands cradling her head.

“Julie? Are you there?”

She smiled. “I’m here. I’m back.”

He sighed in relief. “You scared me.”

“I passed out?”

“Yeah.”

“You should take that as a compliment, I think.”

“Well, I will. Now that I know you’re OK.”

“I’m OK.”

“And I’m complimented.”

He held her closer as she stretched out next to him, her whole body loose and relaxed. He loved seeing her like this – when she set all her tension and worry aside, when she just let herself be in the moment with him. It was his favorite time with her.

“Jake?”

“Hmmm?””

“I didn’t tell you something.”

“Uh-oh.”

“It’s nothing bad, I think. But when I first went to Colorado, my plan was to sell the place after six months. Come back here to New York.”

“What? Why?”

“According to my father’s will, I had to hang on to the ranch for six months – non-negotiable. After that, I was free to do as I pleased.”

Jake propped himself up on one strong arm. “But you love it there. I know you do.”

“I do.”

“So when did you change your mind?”

“I started to think about it seriously in October, right around the time that Twinkle was born, and I went back and forth for a few weeks. Then I called Mr. Hawkins here in New York and told him my decision the week before Thanksgiving, asked him to draw up the paperwork.”

“Just before you and me got together.”

“Yes. In fact, part of the reason that I started things up with you then was
because
I had decided to stay.”

Jake touched her face. “It must have hurt you terribly when you found out that I was still leaving…”

“It did. But what I did – just leaving that morning without a word. I’m sorry that I left without telling you what was happening with Tammy. I can’t imagine how that must have looked from your side.”

“No, I get it. We’d just finished telling each other that we were nothing much to each other, and that I was leaving in two weeks. You don’t take someone who means not much in to a situation that means everything.”

She shook her head. “You are amazing.”

“You think?”

“Yeah. I do.” She kissed him, her lips lingering on his. “So, come on cowboy. Help me finish packing all this stuff and then make love to me all night long. Tammy will be here tomorrow, and we’ll have to be on our best behavior. At least until we get home.”

“Home?”

“Yeah. Home.”

I am home
.

Chapter Nine

It was past midnight, and Julie and Jake were lying in her bed, bathed in sweat and breathing hard.

She propped herself up on his chest, running her fingers over his collarbone. “Jake, what you said earlier… about just being who you are, and only being able to give me what you can.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t you see – that’s what I want. I
want
what you have to give me, and I don’t just mean what you give me in bed. I mean, when you show me that I’m important to you, and that you like having me around.”

“I
do
like having you around – and not just in bed.”

“You want to know what I really need?”

“Yes.” Jake’s fingertips grazed her cheek.

“I just need for you to want me in your life. That’s it. Just – just be glad when I show up. Be happy that I’m there. Want me around.”

The simplicity of her words touched something deep inside him. He looked down at her, tears in his eyes. “Wanting you is no problem, baby. No problem at all.”

“OK then,” she said. “Then we’ll be just fine.”

“Sleep, Julie. Close your eyes. I’ll be here when you wake up in the morning.”

“I’ll be here too.”

He kissed her, ran his fingers through her hair. “I’ll be very glad that you are.”

And he was.

Excerpt from 'Open Arms'
(Open Skies #2)

Julie Everett stared out the window of her bedroom. It was a glorious morning: the sun was shining and the mountains looked gorgeous. An overnight snowfall had left the whole ranch covered in a pure white blanket. But Julie had eyes for none of it.

She was staring down at the cabin closest to her home, looking for any sign of movement inside. Her normally bright eyes were clouded and her lovely face was lined with worry. She was starting to think that maybe she had made a big mistake.

Large, strong arms wrapped around her from behind and she leaned back in to Jake. He held her against him; his body was hard and powerful, roughened and toughened by more than twenty years of working outdoors and with horses, but he was always gentle with Julie.

He kissed her neck. “Hey, baby.”

“Hi,” she said, her eyes still trained on the cabin.

“Any sign of her?”

“No.”

“It’s going to take some time, you know that.”

“But it’s been almost two weeks, Jake… maybe I should have stayed in New York with her. Got her some therapy or something to help her deal with it all. She says that she still can’t remember what happened – what do I do when she
does
start to remember? I’m not qualified to help her face any of that. God, what was I thinking, bringing her here at all?”

Jake Weston took her by the shoulders, turned her around to face him. “Don’t do that, Julie. Don’t do that to yourself.”

She looked up at him, her face gray and pinched, dark circles under her eyes. It was her mint-green eyes that worried him the most: they were dull and flat. Almost defeated.

“I just wish that she was still up here with us. Why the hell did I let her move in to that cabin? At least when she was here for that three days, I knew for sure what she was doing. I could get up with her during the night and try to get her to rest…”

“Because you had no choice in the matter, and you know it.”

“Yeah.” Julie remembered Tammy’s insistence to leave the Big House and move to a cabin on her own. When Julie and Jake protested that she should stay with them, she told them that if they pushed the matter any farther, she’d be on the first plane back to New York. Julie had backed down immediately and Tammy was now holed up in a cabin, alone. She had moved in a week ago even though Julie dropped by every day to check on her, Tammy’s cheer was brittle and forced. Worse, she wouldn’t open the blinds, and she refused to so much as set one foot out the front door

Jake touched Julie’s cheek. “Did you eat any breakfast?”

She shifted her gaze away from his gray eyes, a sure sign that she was about to be evasive with him. “Yeah. I had some fruit.”

By which she probably means one frozen blueberry
, Jake thought. Aloud, he said, “OK, well. I’ll make you something more. How about an omelet?”

“Oh, no. It’s OK. I’m not very hungry.”

“I know you’re not, but you need to eat. You’ve barely touched food since we got home. Now, this is not up for debate. I’m making you something.”

Julie looked up at him again. His handsome face was uncompromising and she suddenly found herself smiling at him. It still surprised her that someone cared about her as much as Jake did, and the solidity and sweetness of it struck her at odd moments.

He saw her radiant smile and some of the tension went out of his face and body.
That
was the Julie he’d come to adore.

He leaned down and kissed her gently. She responded, opened her mouth, inviting his tongue. He ran his fingers through her fiery red-gold hair, held her face in his work-roughened hands. When she shuddered, he grinned and pulled back to look at her.

Her stunning face was flushed and her eyes were warm with desire. As always when he saw that look in her eyes, he hardened. Instantly, immediately, he was ready to open her thighs and nudge the thick, hot heat of himself inside of her, to plunge and push until she cried out and came in his arms. There was nothing better.

Julie felt him swell against her and her pussy started to moisten; she was helpless to stop it. God, she just couldn’t get enough of Jake. Her worry about Tammy was being driven out of her mind – it would be back soon enough, she knew – as her body softened, became flexible and pliable and open. It wanted Jake; it always did.

“You sure, baby?” he asked in that rough-soft voice that she loved. “You want this?”

She nodded, her breath starting to come faster.

All Jake wanted was to make her feel something other than worry and guilt and fear. He pulled her over to the unmade bed, laid her down and covered her body with his. He kissed her again and she moaned in to his mouth as he untied the sash on her silk bathrobe, slipped it open. She was naked underneath, he felt now, still a bit damp from her shower, and he lifted his head to look at her curves.

Gently, he raised both of her arms above her head and held her wrists in one large hand. Julie arched her back, loving how it felt for him to take control of her body so completely. Jake ran his eyes down her breasts, down her stomach, stopped at her sex. He didn’t touch her yet, but his eyes were like fingertips and fire on Julie’s skin and she writhed under his gaze.

“Jake, please. Please.”

“Please what?” he asked.

“Please touch me.”

He stroked her inner thigh. “Here?”

She shook her head. “No…”

He moved up a few inches, grazed the lips of her pussy. “Here?”

She gasped. “No...”

His thumb pressed on her clit, making small circles, feeling how wet she was getting. “Maybe here?”

Julie couldn’t answer this time. Her head was pressed back in to the bed sheets, and she was gasping.

He slid his finger inside of her. He felt her body throb around it, pull it in deeper. He withdrew his finger, plunged in, pulled out, again and again. She gyrated against his hand, lifting her hips to meet his strokes. He groaned, his cock pulsing in time with his movements.

He pulled his finger out, slick and wet with her juices, and reached for the condoms in the bedside table. She saw what he was doing and held her breath. No matter how many times Jake was inside of her, it was just never, ever enough. He was like a fever that just wouldn’t break.

He rolled the condom down over his throbbing cock and touched the tip to her sex. She lay beneath him, trembling, clutching his muscled back and waiting for that moment when he filled her.

Jake cradled her head, his other hand between their bodies. “I want you, baby. I want all of you.”

She smiled, her beautiful eyes alive again. “So take me.”

Jake entered her in one thick movement and she arched up to meet him. He fought himself to go slow but Julie didn’t want that – she wanted him to thrust and thrust until they both dissolved in the heat and the wet and the passion of it all.

He sensed what she needed and it sent his own desire in to overdrive. Jake abandoned Champagne and roses and went straight to feral, shameless fucking. He slammed in to her again and again, holding her arms over her head now, the bed rattling. She panted his name, her eyes glazed and hot, writhing beneath him, loving every impact against her open, exposed center.

Julie felt Jake reach that place inside her, that deep and exquisite and sweet place that made her stiffen and shake. She felt the pleasure build and build, higher and higher, no stopping it now. She gave herself over to it, let the sensations sweep her away. She cried out, feeling nothing now except blazing release as she burst in to flame.

He felt her pussy clench and loosen around him, as strong as hands. He groaned and let himself let go – he drove in to her with no restraint, not holding back at all. He felt his orgasm start and he gave one final lunge and stayed buried in her body, gripping her hips in place and shuddering as he exploded.

They lay together, a tangle of limbs and sheets, breathing hard. Jake recovered first and raised his head off her breasts. “I think you need another shower.”

She smiled again, her face erased of all tension and strain. “I do. And guess what?”

“What?”

“I’m starving now.” She gave him a kiss that almost unmanned him with its sweetness. “I think I’ll have that omelet after all.”

The sun was too bright.

Tamara Jenkins lay on the sofa in the warm and welcoming living room, her face turned away from the arched windows, ignoring the breath taking view beyond the tightly-drawn blinds. She didn’t give a good goddamn that she was nestled at the foot of the Rocky Mountains on a gorgeous mid-January morning. All she wanted to do was pretend that she wasn’t where she was. She didn’t want to be
anywhere
that she was.

She buried her head under the blanket and closed her eyes as tight as she could. And now here they came again – all those thoughts and images that she didn’t want to think or see. She saw herself in a short skirt and low-cut top, sitting in Grayson’s Bar, at the office Christmas party. She was drinking and laughing and talking. Attracting attention, and enjoying it. She smiled, she teased, she crossed her long legs. And then she left the bar, alone. She stupidly took that short-cut through the alley… and that was it. That was all she remembered until she woke up in the hospital and saw Julie gazing down at her, her eyes full of exhaustion and fear.

Was he there, that night, the man who beat her and tried to rape her? Was he in the bar with her? Did they speak? Did she flutter her eyelashes at him, offer up a coy smile of encouragement? Did she bring all this on herself, with her clothes and drinking and flirting?

She was sure that she had, somehow. How could she not have?

She heard footsteps crunching in the snow and she shot to a sitting position. Launching herself off the sofa, she worked quickly, the routine well-practiced now: she shoved the blanket and pillow in to the closest cabinet, ran her fingers through her matted hair, and put the sandwich that she had made earlier on to the coffee table. She had taken a few bites and spit the bread and meat in to the garbage, to make it look like she was eating. She looked around, and decided that it looked like she had just been interrupted in the middle of breakfast.
Perfect
.

The footsteps stopped and she heard a knock at the door. Her panic was now mixed with affection and love: she and Julie had been best friends for more than twenty years, and as close as sisters for almost as long. Julie had moved in with Tammy and her parents when the girls were fourteen, and Julie had never really left. Even when Julie had become a well-paid interior designer in New York and moved in to her own apartment, and Tammy had scraped through community college and embarked on a series of disastrous jobs and relationships, they had stayed close. But what was going on now was different.

Tammy gave the room one final glance and walked slowly to the door. It was just over four weeks earlier that she had been attacked in an alley in New York and beaten badly, but her back and neck still hurt sometimes. She caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror by the cabin door: the bruises around her eyes were a mottled green, the ones on her cheeks and chin a sullen purple. She sighed again.

God, you’re fucking disgusting.

She opened the door. “Hi, Jules.”

Julie stood there, glowing and lovely in the morning sun. She looked cherished and fulfilled and loved and Tammy knew that she was, indeed, all of those things. Open Skies Ranch and Jake Weston were hands-down the best things to happen to her friend in her entire life, and no matter how bad things were for her personally, Tammy had the generosity of spirit to be genuinely happy for her.

“Hi,” Julie said, her eyes anxious. “How are you doing?”

Tammy made her mouth curve up in to a smile and stepped aside to let Julie in. “Fine. You?”

“I’m good, thanks.” Julie took in the room: the drawn blinds, the half-eaten sandwich in front of the sofa. She turned to Tammy. “Did you get any sleep last night?”

Tammy sat down on the sofa again. “I did, yeah.”

“That’s good. How much?”

“I don’t know. Maybe six hours.”
More like two. At most.

Julie wasn’t fooled in the slightest, of course. “Tammy, why don’t you come back to the Big House and stay with me? I have two guestrooms, lots of space… maybe you’d sleep better if you knew I was right down the hall?”

Tammy shook her head, stubborn on this point. “No.”

“If you feel weird about Jake being there, he can stay at his place, down behind the stables. He really wouldn’t mind, I promise you. It’s not like we’re living together.”

“Still no.”

“But –”

“
No
, Jules. We’ve been through this. I really need time on my own. I’m fine here. I know where you are if I need you.”

Julie put her hands up in defeat. “OK.” She sat down next to her on the sofa. “So – how about you get dressed and we go out for a while? It’s gorgeous out there…and maybe we could go to the restaurant for a real breakfast?” She nodded at the sandwich. “You can get something hot and a bit more substantial than that.”

“No. Thanks. Maybe later.”