Lovers and Strangers (25 page)

Jack cupped her face in his palms and turned it up to his so that he could look down into her eyes. "God, I love you, Angel," he said fervently. It felt so damned good to say it out loud like that, so right, that he said it again. "I love you."

Faith smiled up into his eyes, her own brimming over with love and joy. "I love you, too, Jack," she said simply.

"No one else will ever love you the way I do," he promised. "Age doesn't matter. Experience doesn't matter. Nothing matters. You were meant for me and nobody else. You're mine. Nobody else's. Mine."

"I'm yours," she agreed. "And you're mine. Nobody else's. Mine."

They broke apart then, and stood up beside the bed, never taking their eyes from each other while they undressed. When they were completely naked, they straightened and faced each other, like two people standing in front of an altar.

"I promise to love you forever," Jack vowed, his hands light and still on her bare shoulders. "I promise to cherish and comfort and protect you for as long as I live."

"I promise to love you forever," Faith echoed, her hands soft and cool against the bare skin at his waist. "I promise to cherish and comfort and protect you for as long as I live."

They smiled at each other, then, tenderly, moving together like two people who'd just exchanged their wedding vows in front of all their friends and family. Their lips met first, warm and seeking. And then her breasts touched his chest, soft against his hardness. Her stomach touched his. And then their loins met, heat against raging heat, male against female.

They sank to the bed together, clasped in each other's arms, their mouths eager and open, tasting, searching, seeking new angles and new pressures, new ways to get closer. And then Jack rolled over on top of her, stopping their search for the perfect kiss. He spread his fingers in her hair on either side her head, cupping his fingers around her skull, tilting her head back. He stared down at her for a moment, as if judging the angle, and then brought his mouth firmly down on hers.

There was no hesitation in his kiss, no teasing nibble, no tentative thrust of his tongue into her mouth. It was sheer, raw, unadulterated possession. A man claiming his woman.

Faith moaned and arched under him, her fingers digging into the small of his back, her slender legs lifting to wrap around his waist. She was shameless and eager and avid. A woman claiming her man.

He slipped into her then, sinking into her body, filling her with his heat and hardness. She took him gladly, accepting him, accepting herself, surrounding him with her woman's softness.

It was a meeting of true equals, a mating of partners. For a moment, just for a moment, it was enough in itself. And then they started to move—together. Climbing higher—together. Growing hotter and harder and softer—together. Until, together, they exploded into a whirling kaleidoscope of time and space.

* * *

Hours later, when the sun was full and bright in the morning sky, Jack slipped out of bed to make coffee. As he passed through the living room, his gaze was caught by a sudden movement in the mirror. He halted in midmotion and stared at it.

Instead of his own reflection, naked and sated with love, he saw a beautiful woman in a long pale dress. And somehow, Jack wasn't at all surprised to see her. She stared at him for a moment, as if she could see into his very soul, and then smiled, seeming to give a satisfied little nod before she disappeared. And Jack knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he'd just been granted both his greatest desire
and
his greatest fear.

He was loved.

And he loved.

It was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to him.

And the scariest.

But he was happy. For the first time in twenty-five long, lonely years, he was truly happy and at peace with himself. And he owed it all to the angel lying asleep in his bed.
His
angel.

The End

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SEDUCED & BETRAYED

The Hollywood Nights Series

Book Two

Excerpt from

Seduced & Betrayed

The Hollywood Nights Series

Book Two

by

Candace Schuler

Bestselling, award-winning Author

SEDUCED & BETRAYED

Reviews & Accolades

"A poignant tale of tempestuous love that even time cannot defuse."

~Romantic Times

"...true-to-life characters who forge a bond strong enough to carry them into the future."

~A Little Romance

"A terrific love story..."

~Rendezvous

"I want you out of here, Zeke," she said with quiet desperation. "Now."

Zeke shook his head. "We need to talk."

"You and I have nothing to say to each other."

"We have a daughter," he said calmly, "who's planning a wedding. I'd say that gives us plenty to talk about." He reached out as if to touch her.

She stepped back, out of reach. "You're right. It's time we declared a truce," she said. "For Cameron's sake."

"You might start by looking at me," Zeke suggested, "instead of staring off over my left shoulder somewhere."

"I look at you."

"No. You don't," Zeke said. "He reached out again and grasped her chin, turning her face up to his. "
Now
you're looking at me," he said as she stood there, glaring up at him, wide blue eyes meeting smoldering brown for the first time in years.

They both felt the pull.

It was primal.

Visceral.

Frighteningly real.

She's still got the deepest, bluest, most fathomless eyes in the world,
he thought
.
And the sweetest, most kissable mouth known to man. And the softest skin imaginable.
He'd always loved the way her skin felt under his fingertips, like warm living silk that responded to his slightest touch, as if she was fashioned to respond to him, and only him.

He hasn't changed
, Ariel thought.
He still has a gaze that would melt the polar ice cap. And a mouth made to drive a woman crazy. And hard, gentle hands.
She'd always loved the way his hands felt on her skin, his touch as knowing as if he'd programmed her every erotic response. Which in a way, he had.

She swayed toward him, slightly. And he bent his head, slightly. And then they both gasped and jerked away as if they'd gotten too close to a flame.