Wild Fire (The Fairy Tale Match Series) (25 page)

*****

“She’s up to no good. I don’t like it
that she’s suddenly popped back into our lives out of nowhere!” Kerry paced
backwards and forwards in front of Dan, who was sitting on the sofa in the
lounge. They’d headed back to the house after seeing Victoria, Kerry being too
wound up to enjoy anything anymore. 

Dan didn’t know what to say, so he
kept quiet, following her tirade as she marched up and down in front of him.
Seeing Victoria again had shaken him up too. It was the last thing he’d
expected or needed at this time. He’d finally got things straight with Kerry,
both she and Laura had thought he was making progress with Jake and things were
finally starting to look rosy for his future. Suddenly the biggest mistake he’d
ever made had landed back on their doorstep and he had no idea where that left
them all.

“Did you feel anything for her?”
Kerry asked suddenly, stopping in front of him and pinning him down with her
eyes. “Did all the old feelings come suddenly flooding back when you saw her
again? I need to know!”

“No!” Dan denied vehemently. “The
only thing I felt was shock, dismay and worry. I have no idea why she is here
and that scares me. As for feeling anything for her romantically, that died a
long time ago. You know that. I have no interest in any other woman than you.”
He got to his feet and crossed to her, taking her in his arms. He kissed her
gently, rubbing her back soothingly. “You have nothing to worry about,” he
reassured her.

She dropped her forehead to his
chest. “I had to ask,” she mumbled.

Before he could say anything, the
kitchen door banged open. Laura pounded through into the lounge, her loud sobs
cutting through the air. Kerry pulled out of Dan’s arms, going to her friend in
alarm.

“Laura, what’s wrong?” she cried, grabbing
hold of Laura before she could bolt for the stairs.

“I don’t want to talk about it!”
Laura all but yelled, trying to yank her way out of Kerry’s grip.

“Calm down this minute!” Kerry
shouted, pulling Laura to the sofa and pushing her into it. “Sit there, don’t
move. You are not going anywhere this time until you tell me what’s happened.”

“Shall I leave you to it?” Dan asked,
but Kerry was too occupied with Laura to hear him. Quietly, he left the house
to give them privacy. Something told him Victoria had struck. He didn’t know
anyone else that could cause that much upset, that fast. He’d been wondering
around the grounds for a while before he spotted Jake frantically searching the
crowd. Indecision warred within him, but finally he walked over to Jake,
tapping him on the shoulder.

Jake spun round, surprised to see Dan
at his elbow. “She’s at the house with Kerry. I have no idea what’s happened,
but she is really upset.” Dan didn’t wait for Jake to reply, but wondered off.

Worried, Jake sped to the house,
dumping their drinks on the kitchen counter, he headed to the lounge where he
could hear loud sobs. Entering the room, he saw Laura slumped in Kerry’s arms,
as Kerry stroked her hair and urged her to tell her what was wrong.

Spying Jake in the doorway, she
glared at him. He shrugged, having no idea at all what had happened. Moving to
the side of the sofa, Jake sat on the table in front of Laura, taking her hand
in his. She jerked upright, saw him sitting in front of her and tried to get up
to leave. He grabbed hold of her by her waist, twisted round and sat in her
seat with her in his lap. With a nod to Kerry to leave, he held on tight as
Laura tried to fight her way out of his arms. Neither really noticed Kerry’s
departure.

“Stop it!” he ordered. “Calm down and
tell me what this is all about.”

She glared at him, her green eyes
spitting fire from their glistening depths. “I saw you!” she shouted, hitting
him in the chest. “You made an excuse to go and see her! How could you do that?
Right after you promised me that she means nothing to you!”

Jake grabbed her hands, pinning them
between their bodies. “I didn’t go and see her. She came over to me when I went
to get our drinks. I tried to walk away from her but she followed me. I knew
she wouldn’t leave me alone until she said what she wanted to say. So I stopped
and heard her out. That’s all you saw. If you think about it, you’ll see I’m
telling you the truth.”

Laura stopped fighting to get away
from him. She struggled to get her breath under control, thinking back to what
she’d seen. Was it possible he was telling the truth?

“She had her hands all over you,” she
accused with a half sob.

“But my hands were nowhere near her,”
he replied. “Nor will they ever be.”

Laura fell silent, trying to make
sense out of her muddled thoughts. It was possible that Victoria had sought
Jake out. She wanted that to be the case more than anything. Walter’s warnings
kept ringing in her head, confusing her. Did he see something or know something
she didn’t?

“What made you think I ran off to see
Victoria?” Jake asked, gently rubbing her back to calm her down.

“After you walked away, Walter came
over. He said some things about you still having feelings for Victoria. He said
you’d dumped me to go and see her….”

“Sweetheart, how can you believe a
word that man tells you?” Jake asked exasperated. He wanted to find Walter and
punch the man senseless for putting such ideas in Laura’s head. “He’s messing
with your thinking. He has been determined to step between us from day one. He
has every reason to make you doubt me and no reason to give you sound advice.
Despite what you think, Walter is not your friend.”

Laura rubbed her hands over her tear
stained face. “I don’t know what to think.” Her mind felt fuzzy and confused
with all that had happened. “I can’t help but think of all the times you’ve
pulled back from me because of her. Now that she’s here, how can I be sure that
I’m the one you want?”

Jake took her face between his hands,
pulling her gaze to his. “Do you remember in the stable when we almost made
love?” She blushed hotly, nodding her head. “I told you then that I wasn’t
ready to commit to you completely, that I had to be sure. Do you remember
that?” Again she nodded. “I wouldn’t have waited if I hadn’t known that I
wanted to be sure that when we made love, we would be forever. Do you believe
that?”

Laura took a deep breath. She did
believe him. He could have just slept with her and walked away if he’d only
wanted casual sex. But he hadn’t. He’d held back, even when his body had screamed
for release, he hadn’t gone further with her. He’d said he wanted to be sure
and she believed he meant it.

“I do believe you,” she said softly.

“Good,” he whispered leaning close to
her, so that their lips were almost touching. “Because, unless you have any
doubts, I want to make love to you. I want to commit to you; heart, body and
soul. Tonight, no more waiting. What do you say Laura? Do you want to commit to
me too? To us?”

Laura licked at her suddenly dry
lips, his eyes followed the movement, darkening with desire and igniting an
answering fire in her. Her mind felt slow, unable to think clearly. She only
knew she wanted to be with him, wanted to commit to him with everything she
had. She wanted to believe he wanted her as much as she wanted him. Throwing
caution to the wind, she nodded her head.

“Yes Jake,” she answered softly. “I
do want to commit to us. I do want to make love with you. Right now.”

Her gasp was swallowed up by his
mouth crashing down on hers. His tongue entered her mouth as he deepened the
kiss. Laura felt her blood heat as his hands loosened her hair from its pins,
scattering them to the floor as her thick strands floated down around them.
Swiftly, he got up from the sofa, sweeping her into his arms, never breaking
the kiss as he walked them to the stairs.

He pulled back, looking into her
desire filled eyes. “Are you sure?” he asked her gently. Laura looked at his
handsome face. He had come to mean so much to her. She didn’t want to live her
whole life not knowing what it was like to make love to the man she loved with
her whole being. Whatever else happened, she wanted this night with him.

“I am sure,” she replied. Smiling, he
mounted the stairs, taking her swiftly to his bedroom, kicking the door shut
behind him. Laura barely noticed the room before he set her down on her feet,
his lips back on her own. She felt his strong gentle hands as they undid the
buttons down the back of her dress. It parted easily, his hands pushing the
material down her arms, letting the dress fall to her feet. His hands ran back
up her sides to cup her breasts over the top of her corset, teasing her skin
into heightened sensitivity.

Laura gasped, her head falling back,
heat spiralling through her as his lips trailed down her throat, leaving a
trail of molten heat in their path. He slowly untied the strings of her corset,
throwing the contraption into the corner of the room. Gently, he pulled Laura
to him, dipping his head and drawing one nipple into his hot mouth through the
material of her chemise.

Laura thought she might faint as
sensations rippled through her body. She moaned deep in her throat, her body
igniting at his answering groan. Her fingers gripped his shirt, pulling it free
from his trousers. He grabbed her hands before she could rip the shirt from his
back, his deep laugh filling the room.

“I can see I am going to have to
switch to easy to pull off t-shirts from now on, if I want my clothes to
survive our intimacies.” Laura blushed hotly, laughing in embarrassment, as
Jake slowly unbuttoned his shirt. Her breath caught at his provocative
movements, her heart catching as he bared his bronzed chest to her gaze.
Stepping close to him, she ran her fingers over his hot skin, loving the way he
moved into her touch, his breath heavy with desire. She drew one of his nipples
into her mouth, the way he’d done with her, sucking gently, rolling her tongue
over him. His hands plunged into her hair, holding her close to him, the sounds
of his pleasure rippling through the room.

 Drawing back from her, he gazed at
her with eyes so dark with passion, they looked almost black. He slowly pulled
her undergarments from her body, feasting his eyes on her form as it was
revealed inch by tantalising inch. She blushed hotly, but made herself stand
before his inspection, cringing at what he may think of her. She’d never been
very confident where her body was concerned and she wanted Jake to find her
attractive more than anything.

She didn’t need to worry. Jake pulled
her into his arms, his hands running down her arms, caressing her skin gently.
“You are beautiful. Even more so than I dreamed of,” he told her sincerely. Her
heart skipped several beats at his impassioned declaration. Wrapping her arms
around his neck, she pressed her heated skin against his, kissing him with
abandonment.

They touched and explored each other
with slow deliberation, letting the fire of their desire build between them
into a wild blaze of passion. Every kiss, every touch filled with heated
promise. Laura felt her heart expand as love filled her whole being. The
feeling of his body pressed to hers was like being in heaven. She felt
overwhelmed by the sensations coursing through her.

Jake gently picked her up and placed
her on his king sized bed, his body covering hers, pressing her into the
mattress as he kissed her deeply. His hand drifted to her core, his fingers
caressing her gently, making her whimper in her desire. Slowly with tormenting
deliberation, he circled her nub, drawing her closer and closer to her
fulfilment. He moved his head to her breast, drawing her nipple into his mouth,
sucking her gently into the damp heat of his mouth.

She moaned long and deep, her hips
moving with the urgency of her body against his hand. She found herself panting
as the fire built inside her. She clung to his broad shoulders as she came
apart in his arms. Her cry rent the air with the force of her climax. She
sobbed his name into his neck.

Jake drew her to him as she slowly
came back to earth. He kissed her again deeply, feeling her hands moving over
his heated skin. Her fingers went to his trousers, unbuttoning the front and
slipping in to stroke his heated flesh. It was Jake’s turn to moan in helpless
pleasure, as her hands found his stiff erection and stroked him with gentle
firm movements.

Unable to wait any longer, he pulled
at the confining garments, rolling them down his legs and kicking them off his
body. Breathing deeply, he covered her soft body with his. Every curve, every
inch of her delicate form was perfect. She fit him like she’d been made just
for him. Taking his time, he gently built her body back up to heated arousal
before he carefully entered her.

He wanted this moment, the first time
they came together, to be perfect for both of them. Shuddering with desire and
deep emotions, he slowly filled her body, feeling her answering shudder of
pleasure around him. He felt his heart split open, the hurt and pain of the
past healing over like they’d never been. He’d found the woman that completed
him, the other half of his soul. He’d never felt this connection with any other
before. She was his heartbeat, his breath and his life. He wouldn’t let anyone
or anything stand between them. Not Victoria and not Walter.

Kissing her deeply, he told her of
his love as he drew back and thrust back into her, his hands tangling in her
silky hair. Slowly they built the rhythm, their movements in perfect harmony.
Laura wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him deeper into her body,
lifting her hips to meet his thrusts, the feel of his skin against hers like
the sweetest torture.