Jane's Long March Home (12 page)

A large, bare foot slowly slid up her leg. Her eyes flew open. She fell straight into a smoldering look that spoke directly to the heart of the ravenous hunger growing inside her belly.

“Nice skivvies.”

Tilting her head, she grinned. So, she liked sexy, silky underwear when she wasn’t on duty. “Great hideaway you’ve got here.”  

“I’ve always earned high marks for finding creative solutions to problems.”

Jane believed him. “Is there a girlfriend somewhere out there we should talk about?” She waved a distracted hand in the general direction of
out there
. Since she was about to do her best to ravish him, it would be a shame if she couldn’t.

 “Not anymore.”

“What happened?”

“She broke it off after Nate’s attempted suicide.”

“I’m sorry.” What woman in love would kick her man when he was down?

The narrowing of his eyes signaled he wanted to be done with talking, which was okay with her, except it was his turn. “Any chance of a reconciliation?”

“No. It was my fault. I wasn’t so easy to get along with right after.”

Taking hold of her ankles, he gave a tug that had Jane gliding through the water and settling provocatively on his lap. In the name of that living she’d decided earlier was top priority, she caught his shoulders for balance, anticipation digging her nails into hard muscles.

Strong hands skimmed her face, then advanced to the pulse point at the sensitive place where her jaw met her neck. She stretched to give him better access, which he took full advantage of with plundering lips.

Craving the feel of him, she was glad of the quick movements that had her bra and panties gone, tossed haphazardly beyond the edge of the steaming water. He cupped her bottom, bringing her closer to his unmistakable erection. Her breath caught as her most intimate place slid along the hard length of him.

 “Chase?”

He settled her snugly on his lap, his grin reaching out to her from those sinfully sexy, cinnamon eyes. “Jane?”

When he flattened a hand between her breasts, testing the swell on each side, coherent conversation became nearly impossible. She gave it a shot anyway. “I should warn you. I take prisoners.”

“So do I. Now, shush.”

“Yes, Sir.” When his lips took hers, she was ready.

Rational thought was long gone by the time he broke the kiss off to reach for the pants he’d discarded. “I have protection.”

“Let me.” She took the packet from him. Despite the heat of the water, a shiver worked its way over her skin. “I want you. Now.”

“Not yet.” With both hands around her waist, Chase lifted her until he could leisurely love each breast in turn, his tongue making magic, taking her close to the edge, but not quite setting off the fireworks she was craving.

Denying her what she wanted - him buried deeply as possible inside her - skillful fingers dove into her center. Jane gasped at the pleasure ricocheting to short circuit what was left of any intelligent thinking.

“My. Turn,” she rasped, initiating her own plundering. She wanted to make him groan, pay him back for making her lose her mind.

Reaching between them, she found the length of him and applied her own brand of magic until his eyes blazed and his breath came in quick puffs. When they were both close to the flash point, she sheathed him, then tantalizingly slow at first, slid him into her warmth until he was buried as deep as she could take him.

He groaned.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she began a slow pump that escalated with need and purpose, until delicious, mind-blowing spasms stole her breath and shot them both out into the cosmos.

Oh. My. God!
It was the last sane thought she had.

As she  floated the last mile to earth, Chase rested his forehead against hers. His voice rasped, his breath not quite even, “Okay. Now that you’ve taken me prisoner, what are you planning to do with me?”

Her muscles robbed of all strength, she leaned against his chest, until his thick words penetrated the fog of scattered reality enveloping her. For the first time since she’d let him drive her to this place, she began to wonder what in the Sam Hill she was doing?

They were supposed to be passing ships in the night. Anything more lasting couldn’t...wouldn’t work. She took a deep breath, then forced herself to leave the comfort of his lap.

“What’s wrong?”

She hadn’t meant for tonight to feel like something that could last longer than the rest of the leave she had left. “I-”

“Jane?“ Her name came out in an understandably confused growl. She was just as completely thrown by the feelings rolling roughshod through her.

Like an unlucky lightening strike, it hit her. Instead of taking a prisoner, the Marine had been captured. Wasn’t that a hilarious joke.

Chase reached out to her.

She pushed away. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. I thought I could do this-” She waved a hand that included them and the indulging hot springs, hiding her ballooning fear behind a shallow chuckle. “But, I gave up one night stands a long time ago. What the hell do you say after?”

“I want more than one night from you.”

The words shocked Jane. She couldn’t lie to him, so she opted for a cold splash of truth. “Don’t make this into something it’s not. In less than two weeks I’m heading back to my unit.”

“They’re your family.”

She swallowed, then nodded.

A muscle jerked in his jaw. He stared at her with those flashing eyes that said more than she wanted to hear. Then, his expression cleared, which was scarier still.

He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I get it.”

Did he really? She’d just had the most incredible, wild sex with the guy, but becoming attached was something she couldn’t risk.

“What are your plans for Zach and Abby?”

 He climbed out of the hot springs. Moonlight glinted off his wet, naked body, quickly stirring her up again. When he straightened, he cast her a look that no longer invited her into his world. “Get legal custodial guardianship. See if I can adopt them. That hasn’t changed.”

Her heart hurt as she slowly followed him out of the pool. “That won’t be easy.”

He pulled on his jeans. His eyes flashed. “That's not your problem.”

Jane grabbed her clothes. He knew where to stab to do the most damage, but he was right. It was no concern of hers. Hadn’t she told herself that all along?

She dressed quickly, keeping her eyes averted from the ripple of hard muscles as he dragged on his shirt. Sucking in a painful breath, she did her best to ignore how incredible being with him had been.

Refusing to let him see, she crossed swiftly to his truck, climbed stiffly inside and waited until he joined her. In reality, the drive back to the ranch took a mere fifteen minutes. In the charged silence, it felt like forever.

CHAPTER

XIII

C
hase didn’t shout or swear. He didn’t kick anything. He wanted to, but he didn’t.

Instead, he wiped the sweat from his face with his shirt sleeve, staring at the neatly stacked wood he’d just chopped for the fireplace. It wasn’t enough to keep his mind off the woman who was turning his world upside down. And, not in a good way, if you asked him.

He headed for the barn and the bales of hay that needed to be re-stacked.

Sleep was non-existent, since all he could think about was the satiny feel of Jane’s skin, the vanilla scent that was all hers, and the way she tasted like cotton candy and an out-of-control roller coaster ride, all mixed together.

He climbed the ladder into the hay loft to begin moving the haphazardly piled bales closer to the trap door in the floor that was just big enough to allow one to be dropped through to the main floor.

Getting Jane out of his system, if that had been the idea behind their
encounter
last night, wasn't going to be possible. A brief, casual affair was no longer the answer. The discovery had kept him rooted to the spot when she’d gone into full retreat.

He heaved the bale he was carrying. It was his own fault, the predicament he was in. She’d always been totally up front about her intention to get well enough so she could return to her real life.

He was the one who’d let things get out of hand. But, when she’d slipped off her shirt, his good sense had taken a hike and his brain had, literally, quit working.

Narrowing his eyes, he suddenly stopped, the next bale he’d grabbed straining his muscles. Could he talk her into staying? Not for the kids, but for him? Did he want to?

He snorted. It was a long shot. And, since he’d never considered himself stupid enough to buck the odds, why was he trying to work out how to convince the woman, she should change her whole life for him?

She wasn’t a brand new, shiny Mustang he could take home from the showroom. She was a living, breathing, sexy...Marine. And, therein lay his problem. She had a right to the life she loved so much.

He put the bale on the stack he was building. With an uncomfortable sense that some things were just inevitable, he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

For the first time in his life, he wanted to fight for someone. And that someone was a brooding, controlled, edgy Marine.

He needed to have his head examined. Still, there was no denying it. He was taken with the lady. It’d ambushed him. The staggering feelings not what he was searching for.

She was dangerously appealing in every way possible. Too intelligent for her own good. A fighter for what she believed to be the right thing. And, she had a heart so gentle and loving.

He’d probably been lost from the first moment out by the punching bag, temper running hot, chin jutted out, eyes fired up with determination. He should be ecstatic he’d found a woman who could complete the rest of his life. He wasn’t. His lady love was planning to get on the fastest train out of Dodge.

“Mr. Gus says the mommy cat and her babies are in the hay loft and I’m not to go up there by myself.” Abby’s announcement broke into Chase’s disconcerting revelation. “Will you go up there with me?”

“Sure thing.”
Jane.
 

The barn was the size of a small house, the hay loft spanning the whole length. The sound of kittens mewing came from the farthest corner.

Anticipation tugging sharply at his gut, Chase reached down to pull the little girl the rest of the way up the ladder into the loft, pointing her in the right direction. “Over there in the corner.”

At the sound of Chase’s spine-tingling baritone telling Abby where to look for the barn cat's babies, Jane nearly missed the next rung on the ladder. Blindly, she grabbed the male hand offering assistance. It wasn’t until his fingers closed around hers, and a fiery reminder of the night before raced up her arm, that she asked herself what she thought she was doing.

With the hope she could escape the shocking way her body lobbied for a repeat of their sexy interlude at the hot springs, she'd come out to the barn looking to work on the motorcycle. On the way, she’d gotten waylaid by Abby.

And here she was breasts to manly chest with the very man she was trying desperately to get out of her system. Unfortunate for her, the look in his heated eyes made no secret of his desire for a repeat performance. God help her, she wanted it too.

Fighting for breath, and the space to get her mind working again, she pushed him away.

“Miss Jane. Look!”

Jane forced her wobbly legs to take her to Abby, where she squatted next to the child. Hypersensitive to Chase’s movements, she knew the minute he made himself comfortable on the far side of the little girl.

She frowned. Didn’t he have anything better to do than to keep her senses misfiring in random abandonment?

“Aren’t they beautiful?” Abby breathed reverently. “Can I touch one?”

“Sure.” Chase gently placed a marmalade kitten in Abby’s outstretched hands.

“Oh.” The word was drawn out in breathless delight.

He passed one over, before picking up the remaining furry ball, cuddling it close to his chest. Before he could see how moved she was by the picture they made, man, woman and child mooning over the little animals, Jane buried her face in the dark gray tabby fur.

Don’t be stupid! The Corps needs you.
 

This is not your home. Not your man, either. And, this sweet little girl isn’t your daughter. Don't pretend otherwise.
 

“Can they come live with us in the house?”

“They have to stay with their mommy for a while longer.”

“What if their mommy goes off and leaves them?”

Jane sucked in a breath. Innocent children shouldn’t have to worry about their mothers leaving them.

Chase brought his kitten up to his face until he was nose to nose with the little fella. Her heart lurched. Suddenly, she was as eager for his answer as Abby.

“Well, the mommy is a barn cat, so she won’t leave them until she teaches them how to hunt and take care of themselves.”

“But, if she did, could we bring them in the house and adopt them?”

He put his kitten next to the anxious mother cat, took Abby’s and lined it up with its sibling. His gaze met Jane’s over the child’s head. “Yes, I guess we could.”

Her fragile control splintered. How in the hell was she ever going to leave if every time she turned around she was tempted to join this pseudo-family he was making?

She handed over her kitten, taking care not to brush her fingertips along Chase’s hands, opting for another distraction instead. “Who wants to go to town and get an ice cream cone?”

“Me. I do.” Abby jumped up, her cast conking Jane on the knee. The sharp rap wasn’t near as painful as knowing soon she’d be leaving this astonishingly irresistible man behind.

A grin spread across his handsome face. “And, I know just the place.”

Argh! Not again!

*

At Sam’s Scoops, an old fashioned ice cream parlor on the main drag running through Lone Pine, Jane and Abby sat on one side of the booth, and Chase and Zach on the other, licking away at the tallest vanilla cones she’d ever seen.

The quaint shop smelled of homemade waffle cones, root beer and sugary sweet ice cream. The black and white checkerboard floor was pleasantly offset by a brightly colored mural on one wall - families enjoying ice cream treats, the men in top hats, the women in long, spring dresses, sitting around ornate tables in a bustling courtyard filled with blooming flowers.

In deference to the hot day, on the way into town, Chase had stopped at the local department store to buy flip flops for the kids.

When was the last time she’d worn flip flops? Jane couldn’t remember, and so when she’d come across a pair with bright red sequins, she couldn’t resist. Even the man now running a bare foot over her ankle, sending enticing shivers up her leg, had picked out a pair to replace the worn boots he’d been wearing that morning.

She rolled her eyes, scooted her foot under her seat where she hoped he couldn’t reach. Slowly, she licked her ice cream, ignoring the flicker in Chase's eyes.

She wasn’t falling for the guy. There was no question in her mind. No matter how tempted she was to stay, when it came time for her to go, she was headed back to Parris Island.

It could be the man was doing her a favor, showing her that life didn’t have to be all spit and polished. Maybe it was time to do some things she hadn’t done in a long time, or even ever.

Just because she had her duty, didn’t mean she couldn’t occasionally take off her uniform and have a bit of fun. Not that being a Marine wasn’t fun.

She looked up from her cone just as his clever foot found her pant leg. His gaze fixed on her mouth, arousal simmered in clear brown eyes.

Jane blushed, her imagination taking off more than her uniform for him. To break free of the breathless tension simmering in the air-conditioned air between them, she glanced out the window. Across the street was a bookstore. The Book Nook. It gave her an idea.

Finishing her cone in a hurry, she scooted out of the booth. “I’ll be right back.”

Chase raised an inquiring dark brow. She gave him a cocky grin for an answer. 

Later that night, when dinner was finished and she was done with the dishes, Jane settled on the couch with her purchase. A small fire flickered in the fireplace.

Gus had gone out on a mysterious date for the evening. Chase and Zach and Abby were playing Monopoly. The mouth-watering smell of freshly popped buttered, popcorn filled the room.

“Miss Jane. Look. I’m the dog.”

Jane couldn’t help it. She’d never been this close to feeling like she was part of a real family. “Lucky you.”

“Do you want to play?” Chase’s deep voice was inviting.

She held up her book. “No thanks, I think I’ll read.”

Abby came to stand by the couch, leaning against Jane’s legs. “What are you reading?”

The wistfulness in the little girl’s eyes pulled her heartstrings. “
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
”

She’d heard of the Harry Potter books of course, but never made time to read any of them, or even to see the movies. When she saw the first book in the bookstore, she decided it was about time she got on board the Hogwarts Train.

“It’s your turn.” Zach grouched at his sister.

Abby ignored him, looking up at Jane with bright, expectant eyes. “Will you read to me?”

“Sure, but don’t you want to finish your game first?”

“No.” She handed the playing piece over to Chase, then crawled up beside Jane on the couch. “I want you to read to me.”

“Okay.” Surprisingly, she was a little nervous about reading out loud into the suddenly quiet room with only the crackling fire for backup.

Glancing first at Chase who raised both brows, then rolled the dice, with a little flutter of excitement in her belly, she opened the book. “Chapter One.
The Boy Who Lived.
”

Chase could see Zach would much rather be listening to the story about a boy wizard than playing a game with him, so he stretched his arms over his head and yawned. “If you don’t mind, I’m too tired to finish playing. You guys wore me out today.”

Zach’s chin jerked up. “Are you sure?”

Chuckling he began gathering up game pieces. “Yes. Go listen to the story. I’ll put all this away.”

Glancing over at him, Jane's smile took Chase on a roller coaster ride. Despite all that had happened he was still glad she’d fired him.

He put the game away, then divided popcorn into smaller bowls, one for each of the kids, one for Jane and what was left for himself. He stoked the fire, then stretched out on the floor near her feet. Propping his head on one hand, he let himself be drawn into a story about a boy who’d lost his parents and never fit into the inflexible family in whose custody he’d been left.

Jane gave each character a different voice, drawing him in further. Her British accent had him drooling.

Abby crawled into her lap. Zach leaned against her shoulder. There she was, his warrior woman, telling a tale of survival to two kids trying to get along in a ruthlessly unpredictable world.

That was the moment Chase truly realized this was his family - Jane, and two kids totally engrossed in a story that mirrored their own lives. Except for the magic, of course, but maybe they could find some of that, too. They were going to need it to make it so they remained together.

So taken by the sound of her voice, she was in the middle of the second chapter before he realized Abby had fallen asleep, and Zach was valiantly losing his own fight to stay awake.

Wrapping his hand around her slim ankle to snagged her attention, he tilted his head toward her two dozing listeners. Reluctantly, he stood, lifting Abby into his arms. “I’ll put them to bed.”

He nudged Zach’s foot. “Come on, buddy. Time for bed.”