This Game Called Life (Kingdom Book 4) (22 page)

“Yeah,” Jake
blushed. “When I came back home from my stay with Diana, I needed something to
distract me. I worked on the design on and off for a couple of years. I was
only a kid, but when I suggested this project to my dad, he gave me full rein.
The pool came first, then this outcrop.

“Did it help,
Jake?”

“Yes.” Jake
nodded.

“I’m glad you had
something to help you heal.”

Jake acknowledged
her words with a smile, but that wasn’t why he had brought her here. “It’s my
place of renewal. I brought you here because I hope it will do the same for
you; mark a new beginning.” Pulling her close, he wrapped her in his arms and
closed his eyes as he allowed the moment to wash over him.

Chapter 30

The feel of her
body pressed against his reminded Jake that although she frustrated and angered
him in equal measure, his feelings for her were undeniable. He loved her, and
he probably had for a while. He was now ready to be completely honest with
himself. Jake knew the reason he had chased after her was because he had hoped
that one day they would be together.

Pulling away,
MacKenzie took two steps backwards. When her hand went to the buttons that held
her dress together, Jake’s breath hitched in his throat. Looking at him from
under her lashes, she pulled the first button through its eyelet. Then she
moved on to the next, and the next until her sundress parted to reveal fawn colored
underwear outlined with tantalizing brown lace. Jake remained perfectly still,
his heart racing at all the skin she was revealing.

When she shrugged
out of the dress, his eyes leapt to hers and held fast. She had been his
fantasy for such a long time, and God knows he wanted to make love to her. He
wanted it so much his body pulsed with need, but he had to be sure. He had to
know that what she was offering him wasn’t a reaction to Carlos’ revelation.

“Are you sure,
MacKenzie? Be very sure of what you’re offering me, because I have every
intention of accepting your invitation. You need to know that if we do this,
there will be no going back. Do you
understand
what I’m saying?”

MacKenzie
hesitated. Jake knew he was being intense, and he didn’t care. He wanted her,
and she needed to understand that if they took this step, he wasn’t going to
let her go.

“I understand.”

Jake wasn’t sure
that she did, but he was done waiting. She was his, and he wanted to make love
to her. “Take off the rest,” he demanded. His words were more abrupt than he
had intended, but he wanted to see all of her.

She complied in a
way that made his mouth water, her actions a sensual revealing. MacKenzie
removed first one strap and then the next of her lace bra. When she unhooked
the front opening and allowed it to fall to the grass, Jake’s eyes zeroed in on
his first sight of her breasts. They weren’t large, but for him, they were
perfect. He also saw that she had another freckle, larger and darker than the
rest in the valley between her breasts. Its position fascinated him and he
fancifully mused that it had been placed there just for him.

When her hands
hovered at her sides, ready to remove the last piece of clothing that covered
her from his view, Jake stopped her. He would remove her panties when he was
ready. What he wanted to see was her hair. He had never seen her hair unbound.
It was always confined in a tight rope that hung down her back. “Let your hair
down!”

MacKenzie
faltered. “Umm, that’s not such a good idea, Jake.” She shook her head in the
negative.

“Do it,
MacKenzie,” he repeated, unsure of why she hesitated.

Taking a deep
breath, she complied. Reaching behind her back, MacKenzie pulled off the band
that held her hair in place. Then she began to unravel the braid. When she was
done, she lowered her head and shook it, then flipped it backwards.

Jake’s eyes nearly
fell out of their sockets. “Where the hell did all that come from?” Her actions
had produced a halo of curls that framed her face as the sun picked out every
shade of red known to man, and some that weren’t on the color spectrum.

“Hell,” Jake
muttered as he tore off his Jacket and discarded it. Next came his shirt and
tie. They too landed on the grass, forgotten. “Come here,” Jake demanded, his
words a command.

Seemingly unable
to deny him, MacKenzie, did his bidding. When she was standing before him, Jake
ran a hand through her voluminous mane of red hair. At the same time, he
wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her unresisting body flush against
his. His other hand didn’t remain idle as he gathered a fistful of her curls,
and wrapped them around his hand. The curls were soft and springy, and Jake
loved the feel of them. He took her lips in a searing kiss needing to recall
the taste of her. Her response was immediate. Their mouths fused, their tongues
parried and swirled. Sensations assailed him, and he reveled in the feeling of
them being in each other’s arms.

Jake pulled her so
close he could feel the impressions of her hardened nipples against his chest.
Ripping his lips away, he held her at arm’s length. “Finish undressing me.” He
demanded. “I want you to see what you do to me.”

MacKenzie gasped
at his passion filled demand, but she didn’t hesitate to carry out his bidding.
Her hands sure, she made light work of removing his clothing. When she was
finished, Jake stepped back. He wanted her to see him, all of him. He wanted
her to know that nothing would ever stand between them.

Even as the
cooling breeze blew against his skin, Jake felt as though he were being
consumed by liquid fire. Blood rushed through his body and pooled in his
engorged cock that stretched toward his rock hard abdomen. “This is for you, do
you see what you do to me?” He asked, fisting his shaft to pull her eyes
towards him.

MacKenzie’s gaze
was riveted to his jutting cock and she ran her tongue over her lips. Jake knew
he had waited long enough. He needed to make love to her. “Lay down.” He wanted
to change his tone, make it less of a command and more the words of a lover,
but he couldn’t seem to help himself.

Without
hesitation, MacKenzie folded herself down onto the soft grass, Jake followed.
In a heartbeat, he covered her, blocking out the sun. He was greedy, he wanted
all of her attention. He wanted to be the one whose heat she experienced
against her skin.

“You will forget
your ex-lovers. From this point forward, they mean nothing. I will provide
everything you need... everything you want. Tell me what you want, MacKenzie.
Tell me, and it’s yours,” Jake whispered, his tongue in constant motion as it
twirled around the shell of her ear.

MacKenzie didn’t
respond as her body arched up, her hands clutching at him, her nails a biting
pleasure-pain against his shoulder.

It wasn’t enough
for Jake. He wanted the words. He wanted her to tell him what she wanted from
him.

“I want you inside
me,” she gasped.

Jake wanted that
too, but he wanted her to relinquish all thoughts of every other man that had
gone before. He wanted her to know that he was her present and her future, and
them being together was all that mattered.

“Are you ready for
me, MacKenzie?” Jake probed as he pulled away to look at her.

“Yes,” she gasped,
her eyes a flood of want.

“I don’t think you
are, but you will be. I want you to be left in no doubt that you belong to me
and that I belong to you.”

Adjusting his
body, he fixed his eyes on the last scrap of material that covered what was
his. He had deliberately stopped her from removing her panties because he
wanted to do it himself.

Hooking his hands
on either side of her hips, it was his intention to reveal her slowly, baring
her by increments, feasting on the place he had waited so long to see and
experience. At the last moment, he changed his mind and ripped her underwear
apart. In perpetual motion, he lifted her hips and removed his handy work.
Keeping eye contact, he brought the material to his face and inhaled her scent
that was embedded in the material.

“I’m going to keep
this as a reminder of the first time we made love,” Jake purred.

Dropping the
panties, he looked down at her body, his eyes running over her, missing
nothing. Not the strip of auburn hair that covered her, or the moisture that
glistened against it.

“Where should I
begin? Jake asked rhetorically, already moving up her body. With each brush
against her, he reveled in their differences; his hardness, her softness.
“Touch me. I need you to touch me,” Jake groaned, his mouth hovering over her
parted lips.

MacKenzie grasped
his hair and pulled his mouth to hers, eliminating their separation. Her free
hand gripped his backside as she pulled him close and rubbed against the
hardness of his body.

He wanted nothing
more than to bury himself deep within her. She was wet for him, he had seen the
evidence of that, and now he could feel it as she gyrated against his naked
body.

Removing her hand
from his hair, he drew in a breath and did his best to refocus. Gathering both
her hands into one of his, Jake placed them above her head. Recalling the freckle
nestled between her breasts he found it and kissed it. Then he moved on.

Taking a distended
nipple between his lips, he passed his tongue across the tip and bathed it with
his tongue. Then he opened his mouth wide and sucked, hard. She drew in a sharp
intake of breath; her body arching towards him spurring him on, demanding his
touch. Jake lavished her breasts with attention, his tongue never still,
pulling, kissing, sucking, savoring her every reaction.

Easing a hand
between their bodies, he further parted her legs. Moving with care, his hand
continued until he made contact with the soft hair that concealed her. Parting
her, Jake rubbed the sensitive nub of nerve endings that slid and moved against
his fingers like silk.

MacKenzie hissed,
and the sound spurred him on, his fingers on an unceasing quest to give her
pleasure. She opened even more for him, and he gave her what she silently
demanded.

Easing a finger
inside her, Jake felt a rush of wetness cover his hand. His gaze rose as he
watched her through half-lidded eyes. Inserting another finger, he moved them
in and out of her body as she gyrated against his touch.

“So lovely... so
passionate. Touch me, MacKenzie.”

Her hand circled
him. This was it; this was what he had been longing for. He needed her to feel
how much he wanted her, only her. Her touch was like a brand of fire as she ran
her hand along his shaft in slow sensual sweeps. Jake hardened even more and
his cock throbbed from the sensation of her touch. He gritted his teeth, as he
fought for control. Taking her hand, he uncurled her fingers from around him.

With his back
facing the water, Jake sat up and lifted her as though her weight were
inconsequential. His throbbing erection needed to be inside her. Arranging her
legs, he folded them behind his back, leaving her completely open to him. He in
turn locked his legs around her and pulled her close.

When she was
settled to his satisfaction, Jake ran his fingers over her body in feather
light touches. He could hear the increase of her breathing. He could see the
throb of her pulse as her heartbeat picked up a pace that matched his own. Each
time he touched her it was as though an electric current passed from him and
caused her to shudder and shake in reaction.

In the past,
MacKenzie had done herself too many injustices where men were concerned. Her
first betrayal had happened when she was so young, and it had buried itself
deeply into her psyche.

Before they went
any further, Jake needed to address her past, and eradicate it. “This isn’t
about penetration, MacKenzie. This is about you feeling
me
and only me.
This is about eliminating all of those poor choices you spoke of. This is about
us, and our new beginning. Do you understand what I’m saying, MacKenzie?”

After a moment’s
hesitation, MacKenzie replied. “I’m not sure that I do.”

“You once told me
that you weren’t cut out for long relationships. I’m telling you, here and now
that you are. I’m telling you that we belong together. It may take a while, but
in time you will believe it.”

Leaning forward,
Jake placed his forehead against hers, their noses touching and inhaled. When
he exhaled, he blew from his mouth, so she felt his breath’s fragrant warmth.
Repeating the action, Jake was pleased when each time he exhaled, she inhaled.
Soon they were in perfect harmony.

Only then did he
begin to touch her again, his fingertips brushing lightly up and down her back,
running over her skin in sensual patterns.

Easing her gently
backwards, Jake reached for the protection he had deposited beside them. Before
he could sheath himself, MacKenzie withdrew it from his hand and covered him.
Positioned at her opening, if it were possible his feeling of intensity grew as
he pushed forward with deliberate slowness. At his first feel of what it was
like to be inside his woman, Jake shuddered. The feeling was almost as though
he were making love for the very first time. All other experiences faded away,
this was love, and it was perfect.

“Jake...”

“Shh, this is all
we need right now,” Jake said with a brush of his lips against hers.

He repeated the soft
touch of his kiss again and again until their mouths were devouring each
other’s. At the same time, he stroked into her body with slow, steady deep
thrusts. The lower half of their bodies in direct contrast to the way their
mouths touched.

Jake pulled back
and looked down at their joined bodies as he slid in an out of her, her wetness
easing his way. When he looked up, he saw that she too watched the way they fit
together. When she looked at him, Jake pushed all of his feelings for her into
his eyes and bared his soul.