This Game Called Life (Kingdom Book 4) (3 page)

This baby is mine,
and I’ll make sure she is surrounded by love. If Carlos and I had stayed
together, in the end it would be detrimental to us all. So in answer to your
question, no we don’t love each other.”

What MacKenzie
didn’t see as she drifted off to sleep was the smile that played across Jake’s
face. Slowly but surely he was getting his answers.

Chapter 6

After leaving the
hospital; and against her better judgment, MacKenzie was persuaded to return to
the Kingdom’s home. That was five days ago, and it was now New Year’s Eve, and
she still hadn’t returned home.

That evening all the
Kingdoms were gathered together for the New Year’s celebration. Having spoken
to her family earlier in the day, MacKenzie was feeling a little down as she
stood to the side watching them interact.

Conscious that she
wasn’t joining in with the merriment, MacKenzie shook off her mood and placed a
smile on her face. It was nearly midnight and she didn’t want to give the
impression that she wasn’t a full participant in the New Year’s festivities.

Jake was standing
behind her; she could tell it was him even without turning. She had experienced
the same feeling countless times over the last couple of days. Whenever he was
near her, whenever he looked at her the tingling started.

She was used to
the feeling by now. It had started the first time she opened her door to find
him standing on her doorstep. Something inside her had clicked into place, and
it had frightened her. Her flight mode had surfaced with a vengeance, and she
had wanted to do nothing more than slam the door in his face. That same feeling
had never gone away; she was attracted to him, but MacKenzie knew he wasn’t for
her. They didn’t fit. They weren’t going to happen.

“You’re wrong you
know.”

Those four words
startled MacKenzie so much; she spun around to face him, a look of horror on
her face that she might have spoken her thoughts aloud.

“What do you
mean?”

“Whatever you were
thinking, I’m willing to bet that you’re wrong,” Jake clarified with good
humor.

Relief washed over
MacKenzie, and she smiled once she realized that he was only fishing for
insight. “I’m not telling you a damn thing, so unless you can read my mind, I’d
say you just lost your bet.”

“You’ve never done
that for me before,” Jake said, all traces of humor gone from his face.

“What are you
talking about? I didn’t do anything.”

“You smiled at me.
That’s the first time you ever did that.”

His intensity at
something so small caught MacKenzie off guard. Although she could have sworn he
hadn’t moved she somehow imagined that with each breath he was drawing closer,
surrounding her. MacKenzie felt transfixed, but her survival instincts kicked
in and she took a step away from him, then another and another.

Giving no thought
to where she was going, MacKenzie kept moving until she was hidden behind the
huge Christmas tree. She had no escape route, and they were blocked from everybody
else’s sight.

Realizing her
mistake, she attempted to correct her error with the first words that came into
her mind. “Well, this is embarrassing!”

“What’s
embarrassing?” Jake asked, staring at her with such intense concentration, it caused
MacKenzie to want to push him out of her path, and run.

“Being stuck behind
a Christmas tree. You need to move so that I can get by, Jake.” She was going
for authoritative but suspected she only ended up sounding breathy and more
than a little nervous.

“It’s almost a new
year, MacKenzie.”

Somewhere in the
back of her mind, MacKenzie became aware of the final countdown that signaled
it was nearly midnight, but her thoughts were fragmented. Unable or unwilling
to pull her gaze away from the dark orbs that held her spellbound, her bravado
of moments before became something almost impossible to retain. As she looked away
intent on finding an escape route, she felt the heat of his body passing
through her causing her to shiver with awareness.

Caught in a
trancelike state, MacKenzie began an internal dialogue. Just once, she thought,
just once she was going to experience what it was like to be held in the arms
of Jacob Kingdom. It was what they both wanted and at this confused point in
her life, in order to give into his silent demand, she honestly needed an
excuse.

The New Year
festivities were it. Everybody shared a kiss at midnight, so why shouldn’t she?
It was as though Jake’s mind was also finally made up. Moving with slow
deliberation he gradually lowered his head. MacKenzie knew he was giving her
time to pull away, to say no, but she didn’t want to. Tonight, this was what
she wanted, tomorrow, she knew what she would say and do.

The first thing
she noticed was the smell of his breath, mint with a hint of whisky. Then she
experienced the delicate wafting of his exhalation as his lips passed against
hers. His closeness alone was enough for MacKenzie’s pulse to leap in
anticipation of the full impact of his kiss. Startled by her reaction to his
closeness, she pulled back; her mind warning her that what she was about to do could
be the biggest mistake of her life.

“If you can’t
trust what you feel, all you need to do is tell me you don’t want my kiss.
That’s all it will take for me to walk away.”

MacKenzie was torn.
She was the mother of a beautiful baby girl, and she was also a woman who
wanted a man that was not the father of her new-born child. It was too soon for
her to have to deal with her feelings, and she didn’t know what to do. So she
chose honesty.

“I want you to
walk away. More importantly, I should walk away.”

“That tells me nothing,
MacKenzie.”

“Jake...” After
saying his name, MacKenzie had difficulty pulling her thoughts together. She
knew what she should say, what she wanted to say, she also knew if the words
left her mouth they would be a lie. She wanted to push him away, yet at the
same time she wanted nothing more than to experience his touch, his lips
pressed against hers, being held close and desired. It had been too long since
a man had touched her with desire. What she could see in Jake’s eyes was an
expression of what she so desperately needed, a validation that she was a
desirable woman. Somehow the words she knew he needed to hear wouldn’t leave
her mouth.

The shouts of
Happy New Year, reverberated around them as they stood secluded in their little
grotto. Unwilling to take the chance of exposing what she was thinking,
MacKenzie lowered her eyes and prepared herself to walk away.

**********

“That tells me
nothing, MacKenzie.”

“Jake...”

“Do you need me to
show you what you want, what we both want?” Although Jake posed a question, he
didn’t wait for a reply. He was a Kingdom, and while he would always respect
the wishes of a woman, he knew MacKenzie was torn between what she thought she
wanted, and what she was feeling.

Jake was sure she
was unaware that she was leaning closer and closer to him. He also saw the
indecision in her eyes. The color of her eyes had been one of the first things
he had noticed about her. Her eyes were beautiful, and he soon realized they
were also an infallible indicator of her true feelings.

Jake came to a
decision. If she wanted to continue her misplaced dislike of him, he would give
her a reason. It was only a kiss. Just one kiss. It was a New Year and as much
as he wanted to draw his next breath; he wanted to know how her lips would feel
moving against his.

Gone were the
thoughts that his family was standing only yards away, and the sounds of the
cheers that echoed around them. This moment was the only impetus Jake needed to
find her lips, the stroke of midnight heralding a moment neither of them would forget.
He would make it a moment she would never forget. He didn’t know where he stood
with her. All he knew was; he needed to feel her, to taste her, to be given a
chance to eradicate his past insults.

**********

With the first
touch of Jake’s lips against hers, MacKenzie sighed. The sudden sound shocked
her, she knew what it represented. She had been waiting for this moment since
the first moment they met.

Jake didn’t rush;
rather he stepped closer and took her face between his large hands and held her
steady. The warmth of his palms, the feel of his lips sent sensations of
pleasure through her. When he moved his lips from side-to-side against hers,
MacKenzie’s mind went blank. All she wanted to do was to savor each touch, to
give in to the very feel of him.

With his lips
barely touching hers, MacKenzie became aware that Jake had grown still.
Although her eyes were closed she knew he watched her, was waiting for her to
look at him. For a brief moment she hesitated, unsure of what she would encounter
once their gazes met.

Unwilling to
retreat, MacKenzie’s eyes slowly opened only to be snagged by orbs of the
darkest green. This close to him, she became aware for the first time that the
change in the color of his eyes was not complete. As the lights from the
Christmas tree twinkled around them, in their depth was their usual green.

Pulled into the
glow of his eyes, MacKenzie tried to gauge what she saw, what his expression
meant. To her, his look seemed to speak of possession. Even as the thought sprung
into her mind, she refused to allow it to gain purchase. As far as she was
concerned this kiss was a one-time, never to be repeated incident.

“Now that’s where
you’re wrong, MacKenzie.”

“Did I say that
out loud?”

“Yes, you did. Speaking
your thoughts out loud is something you really need to work on.”

“I don’t usually
do that.”

“Then it must be
me; do I affect you, MacKenzie?”

“Yes. No, no, you
do not.” In all honesty, at first MacKenzie had no idea what she had just been
asked. The sound of Jake’s laughter shifted her startled eyes back to his. At
some point in their brief exchange, her gaze had become captivated by his
mouth. Shaking her head, she attempted to clear her mind, unsure of what she
was getting herself into.

“Why don’t I help
you to make up your mind?”

Before a coherent
thought had time to run through her normally overactive brain, Jake bowed his
head and took possession of her lips.

The feel of his
powerful arms encircling her body caused MacKenzie to suck in her breath. His
arms felt wonderful. She could feel their strength, the ripple of his muscles
as they flexed then contracted when he pulled her ever closer towards him. Following
quickly behind her first thought was the recollection that she had given birth
just a few days ago, and her stomach was still huge.

Sucking in her
stomach, MacKenzie attempted to pull away. When her subtle bid to sever their
bodily contact failed to work, she stuck out her bottom in an effort to minimize
their contact.

“MacKenzie, stop
it.” Jake laughed. “I’m aware you’ve just had a baby. I’ve seen her; I’ve held
her, and I’ve even kissed her. Now I want to hold and kiss her mother, stomach pouch
and all. Is that okay with you?”

At her nod of
agreement, Jake again pulled her close and kissed her with an unexpected
rawness. Gone was the gentle exploration of their first touch. Now it seemed as
though he was determined to show her what he was feeling, and she didn’t know
if she was ready for so much male dominance.

Even as her hands
gripped his upper arms for support against his passionate onslaught, MacKenzie
knew she should stop him. Unable to help herself, her hands began an upward
journey, her palms finding and tracing each undulation of muscle that rippled
beneath her tingling palms. He, Jake felt wonderful.

The progression of
her hands continued upwards to his broad shoulders where they rested for only a
moment before moving on. Without conscious thought, MacKenzie pressed closer to
the warmth of Jake’s body. When her hands reached his throat, she ran the back
of her fingers against it. Every inch of warm skin she touched sent tingles
through her arms and into her body.

Moving from
smoothness, MacKenzie became aware of the rasp of stubble that felt rough
against her light touch. Her fingers continued across the nape of his neck and
buried themselves in his hair, pulling his head closer.

With lips sealed,
their tongues sparred, plunged and retreated. This was how Jake and MacKenzie
shared their first touch of intimacy, with total abandon and no consideration
of anything around them. It was only them.

**********

Jake was the first
to pull away. Somewhere in the fog of his mind, he became aware of a change in
the atmosphere around them. The sounds of merriment had stopped while they were
still ensconced behind the huge tree. How long everything had quieted down,
Jake couldn’t tell. What he knew, however, was that his family was still in the
room. He also knew his family, especially Josh, and there was no way in hell
they were going to escape being taunted.

Looking down at
MacKenzie, Jake saw she too was now aware of the too quiet room. The
mortification shining in her eyes had Jake dipping his head for one last swift
kiss. The brace of her palms against his chest was all it took for him to know
that their interlude was at an end.

“You go first. Then
I want you to clear the room. If you can’t do it. I’m gonna wait those suckers
out,” MacKenzie whispered through clenched teeth.