Snow Angel (40 page)

The Mojave, mostly an underground river, only rarely flowed above ground, when heavy rains and high snow run-off from the mountains caused severe flooding.

When it raged, it became a dangerous, fast-moving river responsible for road closures, loss of property, and the tragic drownings of animals and humans alike if they ventured too near its banks.

They sat close together, their legs stretched over the sandy ground, leaning against each other as they stared across the dry riverbed toward downtown Pasodoro, the clock tower just visible about the trees.

“You okay?” Jacob finally asked, his fingers still woven through hers, their joined hands resting on his upper thigh.

Melinda nodded, rubbing her cheek against the shoulder of his black jacket. “Yeah. I’m good, actually. I think I needed to see him one more time to really believe it was ended, and like I knew the things I needed to know. If that makes sense.”

“That’s good,” he said.

“Yeah.”

Shifting, Jacob scooted around a bit until they faced each other, though he kept hold of her hand. His tawny eyes pierced hers, seeming to glow with the warmth of the sun beaming down as he studied her face.

“So do you?” he asked when she stayed silent. “Do you know the things you need to know?”

Not taking her eyes from his, Melinda said, “I do. I do know.”

Jacob’s hand tightened convulsively around hers. The expression on his face, so hopeful, so hesitant, so full of feelings for her, burned itself into her heart. She would never forget this moment as long as she lived.

The moment when everything changed.

Melinda placed both hands on his face, one on each cheek, gently, softly, and stared into his gorgeous eyes so he would see the truth in hers.

So he would know.

Leaning forward slightly, she took a deep breath and said the words that would launch a brand new life for them both.

“I’ve loved you my whole life. I’m so incredibly in love with you, and I’ll go wherever you go, because there’s nothing I want more than for us to be together.”

Nothing moved, no one breathed. Only the flaring of light in his eyes indicated he’d even heard her as she shifted closer still, as she wrapped her arms around him, as she pressed her lips to his in a kiss to seal the words, her lips moving over his in promise.

Then she kissed him again, once, twice, thrice, and whispered, “I love you, Jake.”

She opened her eyes, and his were so close, so beautiful.

Her Jacob.

He swallowed audibly.

“You do?” he finally said in a whisper as low as hers, his gaze searching, full of surprise and hopefulness. “You will?”

When she nodded, a smile blossoming across her lips, Jacob’s big body seemed to gather in, then explode all at once, a detonation of joy. He threw his head back, tossed his arms up in a victory V, and shouted, “YES!” at the top of his lungs, and all she could do was hang onto him for dear life while the storm of energy shot through his body.

She was still laughing when his mouth crushed down on hers in a kiss more passionate than anything they’d yet shared.

Caught up, suffused with a happiness so pure it seemed to pour from her in waves of shimmering gold, Melinda threw herself into the kiss. Every thought, every emotion, every need and desire twined together into one delicious flood of sensation, and all centered on Jacob, on his kiss, his touch.

He laid her back on the smooth bench, cradling her head in his hands for a soft spot to rest, and kissed her for a long time.

Kissed her thoroughly.

She no longer knew where her mouth ended and his began, or whose breath belonged to whom. He was hers, and she was his, and that was the only thing that mattered.

When they finally came up for air, both panting, Jacob helped her sit upright, and they leaned against each other again. A bit drunkenly now, Melinda thought, with so much passion swirling like the headiest of intoxicants through her body, and his, too, if his breathing was any indication.

“So,” she said, when she could finally speak.

“So,” he echoed. “I guess we need to make this official, huh?”

“I guess we do.” She smiled at him, letting him see the love pouring from her, all for him, and he smiled back and squeezed her hand.

“All right, then,” he said, and clearing his throat, Jacob straightened up and put on a very serious face. “Melinda Anne Honeywell, will you be my girlfriend for real? And will you love me, and let me love you, and will you be with me? Will you be mine?”

As serious now as he, she answered, “I will. And you, Jacob Robert Tanner. Will you love me, and let me love you, and will you be mine?”

“I will,” he said, and sealed it with another kiss. “I love you, Melinda.”

“I love you, Jacob. Forever.”

“I have something for you,” he said, a little awkwardly now. “It’s not—I don’t want to—oh, hell. Here.”

Digging in his pocket, he thrust a small box at her and had her heart pounding suddenly in the back of her throat.

Raising her eyes to his, she asked, “What is it?”

“Open it, you goof.”

Nerves danced again in his eyes, setting hers flying, too. What had he done?

Opening the box carefully, a little fearfully, Melinda stared at the delicate amethyst and diamond ring nestled in black velvet.

“Oh, Jacob,” she said, “it’s so beautiful. But I—what…”

“It’s a promise ring,” he said. He took her hand again. “I love you, Mel. More than I realized before, actually. This, what we have, it’s the real thing. I know it. And I want to marry you someday.”

“Jake,” she said, and it came out as a gasp and a laugh, love and nerves and joy all tangling inside and stealing her breath.

“I need you to know that, right at the beginning. I want to marry you. I want us to be together, really together, forever. A house, kids, the whole thing. If that’s what you want, too.”

He broke off, his expression questioning and nervous again, until he registered her teary smile and breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Okay. Good. That’s good.” He laughed a bit, and she laughed, too.

“Yes,” she said, “yes, yes, yes, Jacob, to all of it. Always.”

“I really hoped you’d say that.”

He kissed her, and this time was again different, more sure, more steady, and still more joyful, so much so, she thought she might burst from the power of their combined emotions.

When he broke the kiss, he pulled her into his chest and held her head against his heart.

“How—” she started, “I mean when? When did you do this?”

“This morning,” he said. “I was getting ready to call you when you called me.”

“It’s so beautiful,” she said again, staring at the sparkling ring in her hand.

“Will you wear it?” he asked. “Until we’re ready for the real thing? I know we still have things to talk about, but I want to make this commitment to you now. I want to make this promise between us.”

In answer, she asked, “Will you put it on?” and tugging off her glove, she held out her hand as Jacob slid the ring into place.

It fit perfectly.

“Okay,” he said.

“Okay.”

They grinned then, big, dopey, foolish grins, and hugged, holding on tightly to each other, as tightly as possible.

Boyfriend and girlfriend
.
Amazing
.

Yet there was one more question to ask and answer, one more hurdle for them to overcome before their relationship would truly cross the bridge from friendship-land into the land of lovers.

It would be a huge step. And a little scary. But they’d come this far…

“Jake?” she said, keeping her voice small and a bit hesitant.

“Hmm?” he murmured into her hair.

“The lovemaking thing,” she said, and felt him go still as marble in her arms.

“Yeah?”

Oh, there was so much caution in that single syllable! She had to stifle a nervous giggle. He pulled back so he could see her face.

“I asked you to wait…” She trailed off, watching him closely.

Jacob dropped his forehead to hers, blowing out a breath that was half strangled laugh, half groan. He grabbed both of her hands and clutched them between their bodies while he seemed to struggle with what to say.

Finally, he lifted his head again, met her eyes.

“Then we wait,” he said, making it as simple as that. “I love you. Not for your body, though I love that, too, and I want you more than I want to keep breathing. I can’t pretend it’ll be easy, but I promise not to push. I love you, Mel, and I want it to be right for both of us. Okay?”

Jacob.

Her man.

Such a good, good man.

She’d known that was exactly what he would say. It was exactly the right thing, the best thing he could have said, and he meant it, she had no doubt. It was all there in his eyes, in the way he looked at her, even in the way he kissed her. In the way he devoured her whole, yet never took her past the line he thought she wasn’t ready to cross.

And it was all she needed to hear to set her last fear free, to know that now was the time to cross that line, tear down that final barrier, and show him the true depth of her emotions—not only her love, but the trust, the certainty, the boundless desire.

The need.

It was time.

“Take me home,” she said.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Jacob struggled to control his breathing and the rampant needs rioting through his body.

God, he wanted her.

It would be torture to wait, knowing Melinda was his, knowing she loved him, knowing she wore his promise ring. Knowing someday she would be his bride.

She brought out passions in him he’d barely scratched the surface on before, things he’d not even known he was capable of, needful of, and he wanted every one of them—and more—with her.

Now.

But if she needed time, he’d find a block of wood to chew down on and wait.

Somehow.

In the meantime, at least he could kiss her and drive himself stark raving mad that way.

He leaned forward, intending to do exactly that, but she evaded his mouth and hugged him instead. Then she rose, brushed herself off, and held out her hand.

“Come home with me, Jake,” she said, and he realized it was the second time she’d said it. And there was a look in her eyes…

What did she mean? Did she… No, she’d said to wait. Hadn’t she?

Rising, confused, he took her hand and followed her out of the park, back up the sandy trail toward home.

The wind whipped tendrils of her dark hair from beneath the cap and scarf she had on, and her cheeks were rosy with cold. Melinda looked sideways at him and smiled, and he smiled back, but didn’t know what to say. She had a new look in her eyes, one he couldn’t decipher.

“What do you think our parents will say?” she asked after a while.

“Oh, um,” he said, sidetracked for a moment from his lustful musings. “Well, mine are pretty happy about it.”

“They are?” A happy glow filled her eyes, wide and deeply blue as she stared up at him.

“They guessed during the New Year’s Day party, or maybe even before, I don’t know. And then… Well, I think they’ve sort of wanted this, but didn’t want to push.”

She nodded slowly, seeming to ponder the ground beneath their feet as they moved along at an easy pace.

“I think my parents may sort of know, too, or have been wanting it. At least, my mom said a few things recently that make me think they might.”

“Well, then,” he said. “Everyone’s happy.”

Because he could, he leaned over and kissed her, just quickly, as they walked.

“Everyone’s happy,” she said, and her smile lit him up more than the sun.

When they got back to the house, she pulled him with her up the stairs and down the hallway to her room. She closed the door behind them and leaned against it, staring at him.

“Kiss me, Jacob,” she whispered.

Eager to obey, Jacob moved in to her, grasped her hands and held them in one of his up above her head. The other he wrapped around her waist, holding her trapped there for a long beat.

Their eyes stared deeply into each other’s, as though they could see each other’s souls. He watched as her breasts rose and fell with each rapid breath, watched the way her eyes went limpid and dark, the way her lips parted, waiting for his mouth.

When he couldn’t stand it another second, he released her hands, ran both of his down her sides, and hauled her up against him, picked her right up off the floor. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her boots digging into his glutes, and he pressed her back into the door and fused his mouth to hers in a searing kiss.

It burned every thought out of his head, every human need out of his body, save her. Air, light, food, drink, he needed none of them, only Melinda, only her mouth attacking his like a fever, nip for nip, bite for bite, tongues dueling for supremacy as they invaded each other’s mouths.

It came on so fast, he could hardly keep up. It was all flash and fire and driving need powering through him, slashing his control to ribbons.

Dizzy, desperate, Jacob tore his mouth from hers and melded it to the pounding pulse in the base of her throat, nibbling, licking, sucking the spot while she writhed in his arms and moaned his name, her breaths panting in his ear.

Her taste flooded him, hot, spicy, intoxicating. His sanity hung by a thread.

“Take me, Jake,” she gasped. “Be with me now. Please.”

Her words barely penetrated the sexual buzz filling his brain, but he shook his head, sure he’d misheard her. Misunderstood.

“What?” he asked. “But—”

“Jacob,” she groaned when he let her slide down his body, but he needed space, he needed to think, to focus, and he couldn’t do that with her slithering over him, frying all his nerve-endings to ash.

“Wait,” he said, gulping air, “just wait. What?”

“Please be with me, Jacob,” she said, her words coming between breaths every bit as short as his, her blue eyes trained on his face like high-powered beams, seeming to glow from within.

“But you said—”

“I said to take me home. Please be with me, Jake, here in my room. I can’t wait any more.”

His head still reeling, trying to wrap some sense around her words, he shook his head again, but it wouldn’t clear.

“What about your parents? If they come home—”

“They’re at the Inn for the night,” she said, already pushing his jacket back from his shoulders.

Something was trying to leap inside him, leap right out of him, but he had to make certain…

“You’re sure?” he asked, holding her face, holding her gaze, seeing only love and desire shining in her eyes. “You’re sure, Mel?”

“I love you,” she said simply.

The leash snapped. They leaped at each other again, and now it was frantic, hands and mouths battling, no finesse, only greed as they snatched at each other’s clothes and shoes and stumbled across the room.

He tore the cap from her head, yanked off the scarf. They fell where he tossed them, but he didn’t look or care. She finally pulled off his jacket, and it hit the floor a second before hers landed on top of it.

Jacob said, “Wait, here—”

And she said, “No, let me—”

They tore at each other.

Hopping in place, he dragged off his boots, then hers as she shifted foot to foot, one hand on his back to hold herself steady. Gloves and socks and jeans disappeared, his sweater and hers, and he barely remembered to grab the condom in time before his jeans vanished in the maelstrom of fabric flying around her room.

Then suddenly they were standing in front of each other in nothing but their underwear, his boxers and her matching purple bra and panties, their chests heaving with their exertions.

The ring he’d placed on her finger shimmered with fire in the light.

For the first time, he noticed she wore the little earrings he’d given her last Christmas, the Goofy watch on her wrist.

His eyes skimmed over her as she scanned him, head to toe and back again. When their eyes met now, a little shyness had crept back into her gaze, and she giggled in a very un-Melinda-like way.

He said, “My God, you’re beautiful,” and watched the red seep from the tops of her breasts up into her cheeks and the tops of her ears.

“So are you,” she whispered.

Melinda stood before him, a vision in lacy purple, all slender lines, pearly skin, high, firm breasts, and smooth, narrow belly. She wasn’t tall, at least compared to him, yet her legs seemed to go on forever, and all he wanted was to touch and taste every inch of her, starting at her delicate feet and working his way up.

Slowly.

Over decades.

Until he knew every precious centimeter of her better than she did. Until she became part of him, and he of her.

He reached, she jumped, and they fell across her bed in a tangle of limbs. They cracked skulls and laughed, but they didn’t stop.

“Move this way,” she said, trying to nudge him to the left, but he said, “No, here,” and rolled with her until she lay trapped beneath him, her hair tangled around them both and her fingernails scoring his back.

Ferocious need driving him like a whip, Jacob sank against her, sank his teeth along the pounding cord in her neck, and scraped. She arched against him, his name falling from her lips in a chant, her hands shoving at his boxers.

Mindless, he didn’t even bother trying to figure out her bra clasp, simply dragged the cups down and swallowed her whole as she cried out and dug her fingers into his hair, pressing him closer, and closer yet, urging him on. Her rigid nipples tasted like honeysuckle, and he feasted like a starving man, first one, then the other, while she cried
yes-yes-yes
in his ear.

Jacob had a moment to think he’d try for that finesse next time before the storm unleashed completely.

He ripped her panties off.

Desperate, he dragged his mouth down her writhing belly, buried his tongue inside her and rode out her wild bucking, his hands clamped to her buttocks, her strong, satin legs vised around his shoulders.

She screamed, “Jacob!” as she came, the waves of her orgasm crashing over them both. She tasted like heaven, and he wanted more.

Melinda thrashed against him as he drove her up again, the breath sobbing from her lips when she shattered a second time, her body dewed with sweat, both of them drenched in passion.

“Take me,” she said, begging the words. “Jacob, take me now, please.”

He could hardly wait.

With a final kiss for her pulsing center, he reared up, smoothing his hands from the outside of her calves to her thighs, a firm, possessive caress. He dealt with his boxers, the condom. Then he stroked his hands along the insides of her legs, where her skin went unimaginably soft, and pressed her thighs wide, brushing the damp curls he’d wetted with his tongue and her pleasure.

He held there a moment, drinking in the sight of her beauty spread before him in the golden afternoon light while she vibrated beneath his hands, and her thighs gripped his urgently, driving him forward.

“Hurry-hurry-hurry,” she gasped, but still he stared.

Melinda Anne Honeywell,
you are unbelievably beautiful. And you’re mine.

Her body was a gift, one he’d never tire of unwrapping. One he would cherish all the days of his life. All silken limbs and strong, sleek muscles, velvety, sensitive skin quivering for his touch, his mouth. The scent and taste of her intoxicated him.

The sight of her breasts, rosy-tipped with succulent nipples, the scorching heat of her sex drove him wild.

And her mouth.

Oh, God, her mouth.

He promised himself years of exploration, decades to discover all the hidden mysteries, the nuances of her lips.

His best friend. His woman. His love. Forever.

“Jacob,” she pleaded.

“Melinda,” he answered. “I love you.”

Slowly, slowly, he slid his length inside her. She rose to meet him, closed around him like the tightest of fists, and what little restraint he had left disintegrated.

It was wild, chaotic, magnificent, and when she came again, he followed her instantly. His shout tangled with hers, and they collapsed together, a sweaty, sticky, helpless jumble of shaking limbs and racing hearts.

When they could breathe again, when they could peel their eyes open, they stared at each other in awed shock.

Slowly their smiles spread, and the smiles became laughs, and their laughter shook the bed.

Then they wrapped their arms around each other tightly and loved each other all over again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Much later, Jacob reached up and brushed back the wisps of hair their lovemaking had teased into her face, then wrapped her back in his arms, their naked bodies pressed intimately together, and Melinda’s heart swelled at the look in his eyes.

God, she loved him.

“What made you change your mind?” he asked.

“Oh,” she said, her eyes on the beautiful ring on her finger, on the promise of it. Her heart sang, overfull with love and joy. “A couple things, I guess.”

She told him about Eddie’s visit and his cryptic message. Jacob watched her carefully, his gaze intent.

“After he left,” she went on, “I realized that no matter how bad I want to stay in Paso, I won’t be happy anywhere without you. Not even here. I had it switched around in my head before. That the perfect life was here, and if you’d only cooperate, everything would be great.” She smiled a bit ruefully. “But it’s like you said. It’s not the place, it’s the people in it. You’re the most important one.”

“Mel,” he said, pressing his forehead to hers. “You stagger me.”

“He made me see something else, too. That most of what I was clinging to so hard had to do with Seth.”

“Seth.”

Nodding, Melinda linked her fingers with Jacob’s and laid her head on his shoulder, thinking about their spot looking out over the river and imagining Seth there with them, as he had been so many times over the years.

The hurt would never really go away, the missing of him, but she could let this one thing go now. She believed Seth would approve.