Love Beyond Reason(32)
When her nipple was a peak of desire begging for assuagement, she pleaded, "Jace—"
He groaned against her, "Oh, God, sweetheart." Then his mouth captured the aching nipple and surrounded it with a sweet, wet warmth.
The raven black hair tickled her skin as his head pressed against her chest. Katherine caught his head with impatient hands and held it fast, lest his mouth cease the delicious, gentle pull. His hand slid lower on her hip, pressing her nearer and demanding her to realize the strength of his desire. Without even being aware of her motion, Katherine rotated her hips against that thrilling force in a rhythmic massage.
His breath was ragged as he pushed her away from him with a swift shove. He hung his head for a moment, gulping in long breaths while he maintained a strong grip on her upper arms.
Katherine trembled in anxiety. Once when she had allowed a date to indulge in what she considered to be harmless necking, he had become aroused to the point of no return. He was furious when she denied him appeasement and had slapped her, calling her ugly names and accusing her of deliberately leading him on. Though he had crudely satisfied himself with his hand and disgusted her with apologies and excuses afterward, she knew his aspersions had been largely the truth. She liked the kissing and stroking but had never cared enough for anyone to complete the act. In sexual games she hadn't played fair, and she knew it. For some reason she didn't want Jace to think she was tormenting him with some diabolical trick in mind.
"Jace?" she asked tremulously. "Are you all right?"
His face was flushed and his shoulders still heaved while he inhaled harshly.
He laughed ruefully. "Hardly," he said. "But if you keep on doing things like that, I'll never leave today, and I really need to go to work."
She had returned his passion. She confessed to that. If he had wanted to consummate their marriage, she would have been eager to participate.
"I'm sorry," she said and meant it. She felt the loss, the dissatisfaction, as surely as he did.
"Sorry?" His blue eyes sparkled. "I'm not one bit sorry that my wife has the body of a goddess." He planted a smacking kiss between her breasts before he closed her robe and tied the sash with regretful finality. "You've probably made it damned hard for me to keep my mind on my business today, but I'll make such a sacrifice any day." He sighed theatrically and chucked her under the chin before he left.
* * *
Chapter 8
?^?
The following Saturday morning Jace asked Katherine if she wanted to drive out to the drilling site with him.
"I've put the crew on overtime. I'd like to run out there and check on things. It shouldn't take long. Would you like to go?"
The past week had been a welcomed relief from Katherine's normal early morning routine. Getting Allison bathed, fed, dressed, and carried to Happy's house before leaving for work was a dreaded task. Katherine had enjoyed these unexpected mornings off.
She managed to keep busy, rearranging closets and drawers, making room for the new resident in her house.
Toward the end of the week she ran out of projects and was growing restless. Having worked most of her life, idleness was far more tiring to her than labor.
"Yes, I'd like that," she said in response to Jace's invitation. "I've never been near an oil derrick before." Listening to him talk about his work had broadened her vocabulary.
"Well, I've been getting a lot of flack from the crew," he complained. "They think you're a figment of my imagination. They're not going to believe that I do indeed have a wife and baby daughter until I present you to them. Of course, Jim Cooper has been singing your praises to the sky, but no one puts much stock in that besotted kid."
She glanced at him in irritation, but it pleased her to know that he had mentioned her to the men he worked with. Why it pleased her, she didn't stop to examine. A warm sensation surrounded her heart as she looked at him across the breakfast table – a breakfast he had insisted on cooking.
She asked with feigned nonchalance, "What did you tell them about me?"
"Let's see. If I recall," – he drawled and squinted his eyes in deep concentration – "I told them that you had hair the color of honey with sunlight shining through it. Your eyes, I described as deep forest pools with overhead trees reflected in them. I told them that your body was beyond description, except to say that your bosom was of unbelievable proportions. Of course, you never wear any underwear even under the tight T-shirts and supertight jeans you prefer."
"Jace! You could- n't—" she cried before she caught the mischievous glint in his eyes. When he burst out laughing at her chagrin, she couldn't help but join in. Allison gazed at them both in bored condescension.
"I'm afraid if that's how you described me, they'll be sorely disap- pointed."
His black brows hooded his eyes as he said softly, "No. They won't be disappointed."
Her heart did a somersault. Not since the morning when he had kissed her in the bathroom had he made any overt advances. She knew by now that aggression wasn't his style. He conquered with subtlety. All week his kisses had amounted to no more than affectionate pecks on the cheek or forehead. She found it disconcerting that somehow his restraint made her long for his touch.
One evening he had asked her to join him on the sofa to watch the late news on television. She settled herself at the opposite end of the sofa, but he said, "Un-uh," and drew her closer to him. He was leaning back comfortably in the other corner, propped up on cushions.