Whispering Rock (21 page)

In a breath it came. “Miguel.”

“Put your hand on me, Brie. Show me the way. You’re in control.”

She wrapped her small hand around him, and at the merest touch he was ready to lose it. He wasn’t sure he could last long enough to please her again, but he was hell-bent to try. Slowly, cautiously, she led him into her. “My love,” he said, “focus on my face, Brie. It’s you and me, and I love you. I’ll never give you anything but love.”

“Miguel,” she said softly.

“Brie,” he whispered. He slid into her slowly, filling her, and she tilted her head back, her pelvis up, and with her hands again on his hips, pulled him deeper. Being inside her like that, he thought he might die, it was so good. He pulled up her knees and balanced on them, moving within her, rocking, stroking, making sure to create the friction that he knew from experience worked, while pushing himself deeply inside, which also worked. It was so important that she reclaim the joy of this. It wasn’t just feeling again, but feeling to her very
core; feeling that was so shattering, it would leave her consumed. She was straining against him, bucking, losing herself in the moment, reaching for another orgasm, and this time from the feared penetration. This was what he wanted for her, that she could have success now, like this, with a man who wanted only to please her, with a man who adored and respected her and loved her more than life itself. He knew she would have to trust him completely for her release to come.

When her orgasm came, it closed around him with a powerful grip and he felt her fingernails dig into his butt. He moaned in deep appreciation while he pushed harder against her, deeper into her. She clung to him and cried out. He held her fast, held her close, still, his body her body, as one. “Brie,” he gasped.
“Dios.”
And when he sensed that she was almost complete, the storm nearly past for her, he moved inside her again, deep and strong and quick, and that was all it took to bring her up and over the top once more. She gasped and rose against him, pulsing around him all over again. When it stole her breath away and she was again at the peak, he let himself go. He went off like a rocket inside her. The strength of it overpowered him and caused him to tremble.

“My God,” she whispered, astonished by him. By herself. “Oh, God.”

He nearly collapsed, but held his weight off her. A fine mist of perspiration covered them. Recovery was a long time in coming for both of them; she lay weak and spent beneath him, her hair scattered across the bed in disarray, her eyes closed, a small smile curving her lips. “Brie,” he finally said in a breath. “You’re smiling.”

“Hmm,” she said, not opening her eyes, her lips curving a little more.

He chuckled. “I think we have it back, love.”

She shook her head slightly, eyes still closed. “No, we don’t,” she said, groggy.

“We don’t?”

She shook her head again. “I never had anything like that before….”

He laughed at her, smoothing the hair back from her brow. “You’re incredible. Like a shooting star.”

“Hmm.” Her arms lay spread wide, limp, on the bed above her head. “Thank you,” she muttered.

He kissed her tenderly, tugging at her lips with his. “Feel better?” He kissed her again, small, delicate kisses. “You seem pretty relaxed,” he teased.

“Hmm. I never give good sex enough credit,” she said. “You didn’t slip me a Valium, did you?”

“Not Valium, no.” He laughed. “I wanted you to feel good. I didn’t know you were going to give back so much.”

“Hmm. Neither did I.”

He sucked gently at the lobe of her ear. “I didn’t know it could be like this,” he whispered. “You didn’t turn into stone.”

“No kidding,” she said softly. “I was hoping to feel nice.” She opened her eyes, but only a little. “Warm and cuddly. Feminine. I didn’t know you were going to blow my brains out two or three times….”

He lifted a black brow. “Two
or
three?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure, but that’s okay—I’m fine now. Better than fine. Do you think you can remember how you did that?”

“I could go write it all down.”

“I just wanted to feel like a woman again….”

“Oh, baby. You did—trust me. Congratulations. They just don’t make any more woman than that. Now I’m doomed,” he said. “Now I can’t live without you.”

“All right, then,” she said with a weak little chuckle. “I’ll hang around awhile.” She ran her hand along his hair at his temple. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done that without you.”

He rolled onto his back. “Well, if you figure out how to do that without me, we’ll get a patent. Retire in the Swiss Alps. Eat caviar for breakfast.”

She giggled again. “Really, that was so good….”

“Really. I know.”

“I think you fixed everything. It seems to be working fine.”

“Hmm,” he answered. “That doesn’t touch it. There are no words…”

“You said you were in love with me,” she reminded him.

“I am over the moon, I’m so in love with you. But right now, after sex like that, it might sound insincere. Because I’ve never had sex like that in my life.”

She rolled to her side and propped herself up on an elbow. “Really? You haven’t? How is that possible?” she asked him.

“Can we worry about that tomorrow?” he asked her. “I’d hate to screw this up.”

“If you insist.”

“We’re going to try this again before tomorrow. See if we know what we’re doing…”

“If you insist,” she said again, laughing.

“I want you again,” he said. “Already. I think you have a magical effect on me.”

“Oh.” She laughed. “Poor you.”

“By morning, you might regret this.”

She sighed. “Betcha I don’t…”

And he began with soft kisses on her lips…

When Jack got home, the baby was asleep and Mel was sitting up, comfortable in one of his shirts, the laptop on her
knees in front of her, either researching something on the Internet or writing e-mails. It always made him smile to see her like that. She said she liked to wear his shirts right after her shower, smelling his musk on them. He liked to wear those same shirts the next day, a reminder of her body inside, the faint memory of her fresh scent apparent. “I have a surprise for you,” he said.

“What?”

“Brie is back in town. She’s with Mike.”

“Really?” Mel said, suddenly giving him her attention. She closed the laptop and put it aside.

“I haven’t seen her. When I was leaving the bar, her Jeep was parked next to Mike’s car. She came to Mike. Not to us—to Mike.”

She shrugged. “Well, that makes sense. He loves her.”

“How do you know that?” Jack asked.

“How could you
not?
” she asked.

Jack sat back on the couch. “I thought he was just trying to get laid.”

“That’s pretty irrelevant,” she said, laughing. “You’re all trying to get laid. Some of you actually love the women you’re trying to get close to.”

“You act like we’re all just a bunch of bulls being led around by our dicks.”

She laughed at him, gleefully for a woman who was annoyed to be pregnant, and moody to boot. “Do I? I wonder why?”

“So you think this makes sense?”

“Extraordinary sense. It even makes me nostalgic.”

That caused him to smile devilishly. “Nostalgic enough to take me to bed?”

“Tell me something—are you letting go of this weird control thing you have over Brie?”

“Yeah,” he said, almost tiredly. “It’s not like I haven’t wanted her to have a full life. I thought she was going to have that with Brad, the shit. It was Mike who worried me—he’s been such a frickin’ tomcat.” He glanced at his wife’s disapproving expression. “Yeah, yeah, let’s not go over that again. We all made our rounds.”

“I doubt he made any more rounds than you,” she said.

“It was just the marriages that got under my skin,” he said. “So help me God, if he marries her and walks away from her, I
am
going to kill him.”

“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.”

I
n 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?”

“I think he let it slip,” she said. “I guess she booted her husband on the excuse of their many little fights, but it was really because she was in love with Brad. And he knew it.”

“Oh, man…” Mike said in a breath.

“But he never stopped sleeping with me. I was clueless, trying to surprise him with a baby. Nothing happened, though. I didn’t get pregnant.”

“Aw, honey,” he said, stroking her arm. “Maybe it’s best that didn’t work for you, under the circumstances. But this could be different. Your eyes should be wide open. I’m told you shouldn’t trust the water around here. It might be wise to do some planning, for your sake. I live in a trailer in Virgin River.”

“Details.” She smiled. “I’ve never felt more at home.” She touched his handsome face. “If last night made a baby, it will be a beautiful baby. I don’t want Mel’s help to make sure it doesn’t stick. If it’s there, it’s yours—and I want it.”

“Then that’s how it will be,” he said. He kissed her deeply, passionately. “Whatever you want.”

“I don’t want this to end.”

“There’s no end in sight,
mi amor.
Trust me.”

Jack hadn’t been watching the RV during the morning, even though it had been on his mind. It was a pure accident that he happened to see the door open and Brie step out. He glanced at his watch—eleven. Almost lunch. Right behind her was Mike. Probably he should have turned away, but he didn’t. His sister looked so small and girlish in her jeans, moccasins, suede jacket with fringe and all that light brown hair cascading down her back almost to her waist.

She stood in front of Mike and he lifted her chin, pressing an intimate kiss to her lips. Even from this distance it was easy
to see they were not anxious to be parted. But in a moment Mike pulled himself away and went to his SUV to leave while Brie walked toward the back door of the bar.

Jack went behind the bar quickly so as not to get caught watching. He picked up a perfectly clean glass and began to wipe it with a towel. The door opened and Brie walked in, and he almost took a step back. He had never seen her look this way. She was radiant. There was an expression on her face, a glow in her eyes, a secret smile on her lips that said volumes. She didn’t hesitate—she walked behind the bar, right up to him, and put her arms around his waist. He got rid of that glass and towel and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close.

All Jack had wanted since June was to have his sister back, well and whole, restored. Happy and alive, without that fuzzy blotch of fear and uncertainty around the edges of her aura like a smudge. He wanted his Brie back, renewed and a force in the world once again. Jack hadn’t been able to give that to her—none of the family had been able to do it. And yet the young woman in his embrace nearly vibrated with joy. It wasn’t as though the old Brie was merely back, but this was a new Brie—a woman reborn. A woman experiencing love and life as if for the first time.

Sometimes it took him such a long time to accept the very things that he knew intimately for himself. The very things he had discovered in his wife’s arms. What Brie needed in her life, what everyone needed, was perfect love. He’d found that with Mel, Preacher had found it with Paige and now… He kissed the top of her head.

She lifted her head to look up at him. In a voice soft and sincere, she said, “You are never to doubt him again. Never.”