Jake mumbled something in his sleep, and shifted. He nuzzled her neck, while at the same time the part of him that was still buried inside of her quickened.
Amanda tensed at the hot spark of pleasure that shot through her. Her instinctive reaction caressed him, causing him to harden still more.
She knew the exact second Jake woke up, was aware of the instant his eyes flickered open. She felt the bat of his dark lashes against her earlobe. His tongue and teeth played on the sensitive underside of her jaw. The fingers caressing her breasts flexed, then curled possessively inward. His thumbnail flicked her nipple, and she marveled at how, with just one pass, the rosy bead pearled. For him. Only for him did her body react this way. Only for him did her senses spin out of control with one glance, one touch.
She fisted his long, silky hair and guided his head down to where she wanted—needed—to feel the heat of his mouth. Her body was hungry for the feel of him. Like the last time, her need was building, quick and urgent. She wanted to feel his hands on her. His mouth. She wanted him to fill her, wanted him to make her soar again. Now. Before it was too late.
They would reach Pony soon. He hadn't said it, but she knew. In a few days they would find Roger. In a few days Jake would be out of her life. He'd said he wanted to be rid of her, and that time was coming quickly. Soon, the only time she would see his face, feel his body, would be in dreams and in her preciously preserved memories.
It was those memories Amanda intended to carve for herself tonight. With Jake. She wanted something wild, something delicious. She needed for him to give her a memory that would burn inside her heart, something that would help ease her through the lifetime of cold, lonely nights ahead.
Arching her back, she invited him to taste her. She groaned when he suckled her nipple into the warm, moist heat of his mouth. His teeth nipped, his tongue teased and tormented. She shivered and cried out. She wasn't sure, but she thought she felt a reciprocal tremor shudder through him.
Again and again...
"I have to," he murmured against her. His hot breath blasted over her even hotter flesh, making her tingle and tremble in turn. "I have to have you again, princess. Now. I... ah, God, just one more time."
Jake buried his face in her neck, inhaling deeply of her sweet, sweet scent as his body moved inside her.
She wrapped her legs around his hips, and he matched his beat to the rhythm her body set. Home, Jake thought. The way her body gloved his, warm and moist and welcoming, felt like home.
With the first taking, desperation had ridden him hard. It had been so long since he'd had her that he couldn't have gone slow if he'd wanted to. This time, he promised himself... this time will be different. They had all night. This time he would take her slow and easy. He'd set the spark inside of her, then make it burn until she was begging him to douse the flames. He would...
It took less than five minutes for all of Jake's promises and good intentions to go straight out the window. He was wrong. Nothing was different this time. She felt just as good. No, she felt better.
It shouldn't be like this. He shouldn't want her again; not so quickly, not so badly. But he did. The hard edge of desire may have been smoothed over with one taking, but in seconds the ache inside of him began building anew. The warm, tight heat of her milked his need, honed his desperation to a sharp edge. With every thrust, every acceptance, his hunger for her intensified, until his need for Amanda—and only Amanda—felt like it was slicing right into the very core of his soul and cutting him to pieces.
Their lovemaking was fast and hard and urgent. Ragged breath mingled. Racing hearts clattered in time to each other. Tongues mated and warred. Hands roved, the strokes quick and hot and demanding.
Their loving was bittersweet, edged with desperation. With hands and mouths each strove to commit the other's body to memory, desperate to touch and be touched—everywhere, quickly—while there was still time.
In minutes they drove each other over the brink. When the climax came, it was welcomed, celebrated. Fulfillment crashed over them like a tidal wave, dragging them under as one, deeper and deeper into the violent, shuddering undertow.
Their mouths fused together, even as their bodies strained in the last tremors of release. The kiss was long and desperate and deep, their lips sealing the words a dizzying sea of passion would have wrung from their hearts.
"My woman," Jake murmured. Though his passion was momentarily spent, he felt no urge to ease the intimacy of their embrace. It felt comfortable to be a part of her like this. It felt good and right and perfect. For the first time in his life, Jacob Blackhawk Chandler felt contented and complete.
"My woman," he whispered into her soft, flowery-smelling hair, His eyes flickered shut, and he unconsciously timed his breathing to match Amanda's.
Chapter 19
A floorboard creaked as Jake moved from one side of the hotel room to the other. The noise was unaccountably loud and grating. He froze, his attention snapping to the woman huddled beneath the faded blankets. Had he woken her? Jesus, he hoped not.
Amanda was lying on her side, facing away from him. Her shoulders gently rose and fell, her shallow breaths whispered in his ears. At this angle he could see her profile. The whiteness of her skin was enhanced by the early morning light filtering in through the window. Her hair was unbound, scattering over the pillow and sheet. Each thick gold curl glistened like shimmering silk in the muted sunlight. She sighed. Her honey-tipped lashes fluttered a split second before she turned onto her back.
Jake stiffened, his gaze narrowed. A long, tense minute ticked past. Another. A third.
Amanda's eyes remained closed, her face slee
p-softened and relaxed, her breathing light and even. As he watched, a smile tugged at her lips. He felt his gut twist, his curiosity perk. Was she dreaming about him? And... dammit, did he really want to know if she wasn't? God, no!
She was still asleep, and right now that was all Jake wanted to know. All he needed to know. There'd be hell to pay if she woke up now and caught him sneaking out like a thief in the night. To say she would be angry would be an understatement.
If she caught him leaving, Amanda would undoubtedly be furious. She would demand an explanation and, not that Jake wouldn't have given her one—he would have—but he didn't have time to waste pacifying her. Not now. Not until after he'd found Roger Thornton Bannister III.
It was time the kid was found and returned to his father. No, it was past time.
The vow Jake had made upon awakening held firm. From here on out, he was following those tracks alone. Whether Amanda liked it or not, he was leaving her behind. For her own good. There was the extra set of prints now, along with the direction they were heading. No, as far as he was concerned, the situation was getting too damn dangerous, and he simply wasn't willing to risk her life anymore. Common sense said that anyone desperate enough to kidnap a kid was capable of anything. Survival instinct made a cornered rat bite... and a cornered man shoot.