The Way Back (13 page)

When I bring him in. I have to bring him in.

Jamie didn’t issue another order. He waded into the rocky shore line, inhaling as the frigid water flowed around his ankles and calves and the broken shells and rocks dug into the bottom of his feet. He thought of breaking into a swim, but he knew he could make up more ground up with his legs than by pulling himself through the water with his arms.

The weightlessness combined with the heaviness of the water instantly brought him back to his training days, submerged in a pool for hours a day as his body learned to move and function in the different gravity environment.

He didn’t remember freezing his balls off back then though.

The dock was now completely broken down in the water. Nothing more than large floating pieces of driftwood. He could see Bobby’s head pop up amongst the flotsam with a panicked jerkiness of movement, seeming to search for help.

“Bobby hold on to something!”

Jamie wasn’t sure if the words penetrated but he needed the kid not to go below the surface where it would be harder to find him or to get stuck under the floating wood planks. Too deep now to walk, he pushed himself off the bottom and began to swim as fast as he could, heading into the debris.

As soon as his hand came down on a piece of dock, he knew he’d reached the destruction area. He picked up his head in search of his target, but didn’t immediately see him. Breathless from the cold rather than the exertion, it took him a half a second before he shouted his name.

“Bobby!” It sounded harsh and raw to his ears and he could only hope the sound carried.

“There!”
Glancing at the shoreline he could see Gabby at the edge of the water bouncing up and down pointing at something as she shouted. Pointing at something more to his left. He looked that way and saw a particularly large bit of the dock bobbing in the water.

Two small hands, bone white, clung on top, but it was all he could see.

He put his head in the water and pushed with his arms and legs forcing himself to make up the distance.

How long had Bobby been in the water? How long had Jamie himself? Not three minutes. Not yet. He was a fast swimmer.

Reaching the small life raft Bobby had found for himself, he saw the kid’s body was completely submerged. Only his hands held on to the wood while his head barely cleared the surface. His lips were blue as he struggled to keep his chin out of the water.

Getting behind the kid in the water he lifted him, so his body flopped onto the piece of dock that was just big enough for him to get his chest out of the water if not his legs.

Jamie didn’t issue instructions. There would be no point as the kid was half in shock. He simply started to push against the planks, kicking with all the energy left in his body. As soon as he knew he was close enough to set his feet on the ocean floor, he stood. Leaning over the kid he pulled him up and then lifted him over his shoulder.

He wasn’t sure what Molly Claymore was feeding this kid, but he might recommend a little less butter with any lobsters the boy had been catching. Making his way to the shore he stopped, momentarily rattled by the fact that Gabby was wearing nothing but a pink bra and some hip hugging panties.

“You said he would need to get warm. You do, too. Put him down.” It seemed she was now the one issuing the orders. That was okay with him. He was sapped.

“Lad-d-dy…I can s-see…your…b-bra.” Bobby’s teeth were chattering as the two of them used Jamie’s shirt and Gabby’s running jacket to rub him down. They removed the long sleeve shirt he wore and Jamie managed to pull off his jeans, but Bobby balked at having his underwear stripped.

“S-s-he’s a g-girl,” he stuttered through blue lips.

Gabby pulled the spandex over the boy’s legs and Jamie concentrated on not thinking about how close to naked she was in the mid afternoon light. Their combined focus was on the boy.

Once he was fairly dry and his lips were a little less blue, they wrapped him in Jamie’s long sleeved T-shirt and started their hike up the hill.

Choruses of
I’m sorry, Mr. Hunter
was the prevailing theme as they climbed to the top of the hill with Jamie and Gabby still clad only in their briefs as neither wanted to put on their wet clothing.

As soon as they reached the house Jamie put Bobby in his truck and turned the heat on high. Running inside he grabbed a couple of athletic pants and thick sweatshirts. Stripping himself of his wet briefs he dressed and shuddered as he let himself register how cold he’d been.

Outside, he got in the truck where Gabby was still talking to Bobby to keep him alert. She took the offered clothes and both males watched intently as she covered up her bra.

Crisis averted, Jamie allowed himself to lock down the visual memory of a mighty fine rack. It helped to warm him up.

“Is there a hospital on the island?” Gabby asked as she shimmied the pants up her legs.

Nothing wrong with those either, he thought.

“No, but I think we’re better off taking him home. His mom is a nurse and she can make the call if he needs to go to the mainland. She working today, Bobby?”

“Not today, sir. Boy, is she going to be mad, too. Her one day off and I had to go and do this. I didn’t think the dock would ever fall.”

“I told you it was unsafe,” Jamie said sternly.

Once more the
I’m-sorry
chorus began and continued for the rest of the ride. Bobby’s mom was both grateful and furious just as Bobby had predicted.

After waiting to get her professional opinion on Bobby’s physical well-being, Jamie and Gabby got in the truck as Jamie gave a wave to Molly who was still simultaneously berating and hugging her son.

Jamie looked over and saw Gabby still and silent in the seat next to him.

“He’s going to be fine,” Jamie assured her. “Molly said all he needs is a warm bath and some hot chocolate. He’ll be back fishing tomorrow on some other dock. I’m going to have to let Ted know his dock is now driftwood. Damn it, I don’t know how many times I told him he needed to shore it up—”

“Take me to bed.”

His mouth snapped shut in a hurry. And he had to swallow before he said, “What?”

“Take me back to your place. And make love to me. Please. I don’t want to wait anymore. I don’t want to wait for anything.”

Please.
Well, hell. What was a man supposed to do when a woman said please?

CHAPTER TWELVE

J
AMIE
PULLED
INTO
his driveway and turned the engine off. A storm had rolled over the island and the first heavy pelts of rain were starting to fall on the windshield. It was the only sound to be heard in the truck. That and maybe their breathing.

Between the warm clothes and the cranked temperature in the cab, he actually felt himself getting overheated. Or maybe it had something to do with the certainty he was about to make love to Gabby Haines.

She hadn’t said a word on the ride home. Had simply folded her hands in her lap and stared straight ahead. Hell, he might have thought he only imagined what she said by the way she was acting. No sly looks, no furtive touches. No foreplay.

Only a request. No, more like a plea.

They didn’t move and the rain picked up in intensity. He thought back to the night where he came to get her while she slept in her car. He asked her then if she wanted to have sex with him. She’d never really given him an answer.

“Are you sure about this?”

“I’m not sure about anything. Except that I need you. I’m sure about that.”

Need.
Yes, it was a better word than
want
. It was more desperate, more urgent, and that’s how he felt, too. When was the last time he’d ever taken a woman to bed with this much urgency riding inside of him? As though if he didn’t lay himself on top of her and come inside her, he would shatter and fall apart into little pieces.

He opened the door and got out. The heavy drops hit him, soaking him as quickly as the Atlantic had. Only it felt good. The water washed over his face which felt hot and tight. He needed to cool down. He needed something to pull him back from this edge he was on or things would get out of control pretty quickly.

He came around the truck and opened her door. He had thoughts of lifting her out and carrying her inside—it seemed like a silly romantic thing any time he saw it in the movies or television, but now felt right. Like he needed to hold her. Needed to own her in a fundamental way.

She’s mine.
It needed to be declared.

But as he moved to pull her out of the truck she was already jumping out. Her bare feet covered his as he realized they had left their sneakers on the beach. The sight of their toes, his long and bare, hers tipped in pink polish, mingling together moved him in some elemental way.

She’s mine.

Only then she was moving and taking control. Her hand came up and wrapped around his neck urging him down. He needed little prodding and pressed his lips against her warm swollen ones. Her mouth was hot and luscious and the contrast of it against the rain falling around them and on them was erotic as hell to him.

He pulled her close, his hand cupping her ass and hauling her against his body, his erection not bound by any briefs pressed against her belly. He turned them then and pressed her against the front of the truck needing to cover her, needing to surround her.

Her hands clutched his back, her fingers grasping through the fabric of his sweatshirt and he instantly wanted it off so he could feel her touch him. Her skin on his skin. He pushed the material away and then flung the shirt over his head, letting the rain cover him the way he was covering her.

So good the way her hands stroked up and down his back. So good the feel of her tongue pushing inside his mouth as he pushed his tongue against hers. So good the way they breathed together.

“Damn,” he said as he backed off, bracing his arms against the hood, trapping her so she couldn’t escape. “I’m losing it. And if I don’t stop, I’m going take you right here.”

“Yes,” she said. Her eyes were glassy and her lips were puffy and red. He watched her run her hand along his chest now she had access to it, now it wasn’t plastered against her body.

Her thumbs brushed over his hard nipples. He groaned and dropped his head so he could feel her touch him and watch her touch him at the same time.

“Lower,” he whispered.

She obeyed and dropped her hands down so her fingers teased the elastic edge of the sweats slowly dipping inside, but not yet taking him where he wanted to go.

“Lower.” The word came out on a growl. He wasn’t in control anymore. He was going to take her hand and make her stroke him, make her feel what she was doing to him, make her make him come.

But he didn’t have to because she was right there, her hand circling him and then tightening in a way that made him want to tilt his head back and shout to the world.

“Yes, damn yes.”

But then her touch was gone and he was about to shout again, until he felt her drop to her knees. Before he could blink she pulled the elastic down over his hips and his erection sprang free. Her hand was replaced by the heat of her mouth swallowing the head and he saw stars and wondered if it was possible to faint from pleasure.

It was too much. This was too crazy. They were outside in the middle of the storm in his driveway and he was about to explode. This wasn’t how he wanted it. In a bed. Covering her body. That’s what he wanted.

With a force of will he didn’t know existed within him he pulled himself away from her. Tugging the sweats up, he bent and lifted her to her feet, then in a single motion slung her over his shoulder.

She squeaked and then let out a whoosh of air as her midsection hit his shoulder, but he was beyond caring at this point. He cupped her bottom to hold her steady and made his way into the house. He thought about taking her on his couch because it was closer, but he didn’t want anything restricting his movements. And he wanted her on his bed. On his bed sandwiched between it and him. He’d imagined it for long enough. Time to see the real deal.

He started up the stairs and thought she was saying something as she was bent over his back but he didn’t want to listen and he certainly wasn’t going to stop.

He reached his bedroom and dropped her on her back on the bed so she was sprawled across it. Her wet dark hair streaming against the white duvet nearly crippled him. That hair, he was going to do things with that hair. But not now. Later. Now, it was too late. She had pushed him too far.

Quickly he stripped her of the pants then took a little more time to pull off those hip-hugging panties. He knew she was sensitive about her weight but he had no time for it. All he saw were lush hips and a slightly rounded belly that would make his ride more enjoyable.

“Take off the top,” he ordered as he was once again pushing down his sweatpants and kicking them out of the way. He walked over to his nightstand and opened a drawer extracting a condom he was in the habit of keeping there even though he hadn’t needed them in a very long time.

On board with the plan apparently, Gabby had already taken off the sweatshirt and undid her bra clasp. As she wiggled out of the garment he started counting the seconds until he could see her breasts.

One, two, three… Ah. There they were. Round and white with hard little pink nipples he was going to suck on at some point. At this moment, however, he could only think of one thing. He climbed on the bed and pushed his hips between her legs.

“Ready?” he asked as he moved himself so his erection was starting to press inside her. He could see her eyes widen, he heard her breath catch but it was too late to give her more time. She needed to be ready.

She nodded her head and held on to him, but he waited another beat. He could see she was nervous, not practiced or smooth like a woman who did this on a frequent basis. So he took another breath and slowly pushed himself inside instead of thrusting hard and taking himself deep the way he wanted to.

Her body fought him, but only for a fraction of second and then he was inside and on top of her and his world was suddenly right in a way it hadn’t been since he’d been flying.

She wrapped her legs around his hips and he bent his head so it rested on her forehead. He had this crazy urge to thank her for letting him inside, but his body taken over and it had its own plan. Slow and easy he started to ride her, listening for the catch of her breath and for the tightening in her body letting him know this felt good to her. Once she was there with him, he moved faster letting his body dictate the rhythm.

“Jamie, oh, please. Yes…yes.”

There it was. That special sound a woman made when she was close. He thought about tricks he might do to prolong the pleasure. Pull out and turn her on her stomach so he could take her from behind. Make her climb on top of him and ride him until she reached her peak.

But this wasn’t the game of sex. This wasn’t teasing and pleasure and fun. This was serious. What he was doing now felt serious. Like a mission or a quest to transport them to some other place. Besides, his body wouldn’t let him leave her. So he plunged forward harder and with more urgency, and he felt her fingernails dig into his shoulders, and he felt her mouth on his neck. And then he felt her whole body tense and she let out the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

He’d done it. He’d succeeded in his mission and now it was time for his reward. In seconds he was plunging inside her so hard and deep he was sure he would be lost forever. When the pleasure hit, she held him. When he collapsed against her body, she held him. And when he finally separated their bodies and turned on his side, she followed along and held him.

She held him as though she would never let go.

Despite the lethargy, the lingering pleasure and his giddy happiness, he knew eventually, when she came back to herself, she would.

Whether he could handle it or not.

* * *

S
HE
’
D
JUST
HAD
SEX
with Jamison Hunter. Jamison Hunter had had sex with her. She and Jamison Hunter had made love. Gabby wasn’t sure how to process that.

Her body had no problem with it. Her body was fluid and relaxed and…
right
in a way it hadn’t been right in a very long time. But her brain kept circling what she’d done. What she’d asked him to do.

She rolled over on her side. Half his face was pressed into the pillow but the one eye she could see opened. She knew as a general fact about him that his eyes were brown but had never really considered the color in any detail. With the afternoon light filtering through the windows she could see hits of bronze and gold in the chocolate depths.

He was so beautiful to her. She should tell him.

“You’re going to leave now, aren’t you?”

Leave?
No, that was not what she’d been thinking. But the vulnerability in his question startled her and made her feel self-conscious.

“Do you want me to go?”

“No.” He sat up and she felt a thrill go through her body as she admired the smattering of salt and pepper hair on his chest. “I want to go downstairs and make us some food then I want to spend the rest of the day and night making love.”

That sounded like a plan to her.

“But you’re going to start thinking any minute and remembering who I am and what I did. Then you’ll be upset with yourself for allowing yourself to do it. You’ll leave.”

“Sounds like you have experience in this sort of thing.”

“I do. But it’s been a while. A long while since I let myself be with anyone who didn’t know the score.”

“Ah, I see. Jaded women only for you.”

“It’s worked out pretty well. Then you had to show up.”

This was fascinating. This was definitely not what she expected. Smiling, Gabby turned even more on her stomach and rested her weight on her elbows for some reason completely unashamed he was getting a full view of her ass. “Wow, you really like me.”

“Of course I like you. What the hell do you just think happened?”

“Well, I knew you wanted me. And I knew you respected me enough to want to seduce me, but I didn’t think you liked me, liked me.”

“Look, Sally Field, for the record, up until the scandal I only ever slept with women I liked. After, it became too much of an ordeal.”

“Because the women didn’t trust you.”

“Why would they? In order to trust me, they would have to think I had changed. Most people don’t think others are capable of change.”

“Yet you made an exception for me. So either you do think I can believe you’ve changed or—”

“Or I wanted you that badly. Let’s keep it simple for now, okay?”

Gabby shrugged. “Okay. But here is the thing I think makes me very different from the women in your past. I don’t need to believe you’ve changed. I’ll take the man who is in this bed right now.”

His eyebrows lifted and she could see the skepticism. Her Jamie, her hero, was a wounded man. Go figure.

“Yes, I’m quite happy with the man you are. The person I’ve seen you be. The man who helped Susan when she needed it or saved an abused housewife or rescued a boy in freezing water—”

“Jeez, will you stop? Those are things any decent human being should do. There is nothing heroic in any of it. Don’t turn me into something I’m not.”

Gabby disagreed but she wasn’t going to argue the point. Jamie was something special. His actions since the time he’d been a kid shouted it to the world. Which is why she knew she didn’t need to forgive him, or believe he was different than he was.

Everything had become crystal clear. “Tell me what happened that day at the motel.”

As if she’d poked him with a cattle prod his whole body reacted. He spun out of bed and she was graced with a beautiful back-end view before he reached for the sweats he’d kicked off earlier.

“What the hell are you getting at, Gabby?”

“I want to know what really happened. I remember the story. I saw the pictures, but now I want the truth.”

“You think it’s not the truth because you want to believe I’m someone I’m not.”

“I know it’s not the truth, because I know you.”

Gabby also stood and for a moment she didn’t reach for the sweats or try to cover herself with a blanket. She stood in front of him naked, with all her insecurities and all her faults. He looked at her then, and even though she could tell he was annoyed, his eyes still took in all of her. If the tent forming in his sweatpants was any indication, he liked what he saw.