Midnight Kiss (Virgin River #12)(48)

“Oh, dear mercy…” Was that her voice so high and thin as his tongue swirled around her nipple?

She felt his chuckle against her more than heard it. “Will…”

“Shh, sweetheart. Relax.”

Relax? Then Jordan realized that he’d stripped away his own clothes. She watched that big, hard, warm body cover hers.

Oh, how good he felt. How much she relished the sensation of him—she, who was nearly always on top. Who preferred it that way. In control.

But Will was teaching her how little she knew as he continued his assault on her senses, devastating her every defense, dismantling them as though they were a child’s building blocks. “Will, let me—” She was rising again as his fingers, his tongue, his heated breath… “Don’t—”

“Again, darlin’ Jordan.” His voice was warm honey. Darkest velvet.

“Will, I want you in—” Then all thought fled again as her body came apart, as she flew higher still.

But for once, she wasn’t alone. Will kept her safe as she flew. She rode on thermals like a hawk, an eagle soaring into the crisp blue air, the beautiful and welcoming sky.

In the piercingly sweet aftermath, she floated back to earth. “Jordan,” he said, voice strained and taut now. “Look at me. Darlin’, look at me.”

Jordan opened heavy eyes to see his blue ones wide open, hot and beautiful and fierce. “I love you, Jordan Parrish,” he said, and before she could voice the caution she knew she should—

With a bold thrust, he made them one.

Jordan’s back bowed. Every cell of her body screamed with a freedom, a bliss she’d never before experienced. She was safe and she was flying and Will was with her and he loved her and—

Will found his release as she went sailing. Together they rode the night sky. Jordan clasped him tightly, pressing every inch of herself against him in fear, in ecstasy, in demand…longing…yearning…

I love you, he’d said.

Oh, I love you, too, Will.

But her heart wept, knowing she couldn’t say it.

Because she could never love him as he deserved.

WILL AWOKE WITH Jordan’s head pillowed on his shoulder. A slow, satisfied smile emerged as she whimpered at his movement, then curled more tightly against him.

God, she was sweet. Would anyone who knew her recognize the woman who’d given herself up to him again and again throughout the night?

I have you now, my Jordan. I know you as no one else does. Something very primal prowled inside him. And they never will. You’re done with playing around, sweetheart, whether or not you realize it.

He’d been voracious—they both had, their love play at turns tender and bawdy, each one surrendering, each one conquering. Greedy and gentle, fierce and flirty, Jordan Parrish was what he’d been waiting for all his life.

He would, by God, have her. Though, he told himself with a wry smile, she wouldn’t make it easy on him, of that he was certain.

She was his miracle, but that was not to say he expected prickly Jordan Parrish to magically turn soft overnight.

He chuckled quietly. Or ever, he hoped. Her spirit was half the appeal of her. She only needed showing that love was real. That he could be trusted with that frightened heart of hers.

Full of cheer and optimism, Will rose from Jordan’s bed, energy coursing through him. He looked around him for clothing, then realized all he had was a Santa suit. Ah, well, and didn’t you plan this out poorly, my boy? He shrugged on the red pants, cinching them up in gathers where the padding no longer took up space, then walked into her kitchen area. He was starving. Nothing like a good full night of loving to stimulate the appetite, now, was there?

A glance in her refrigerator had him sighing in dismay.

Right. This was Jordan, after all. Well, surely she’d be hungry, too. He began a pot of coffee, then strode toward her bedroom while it was brewing. For a moment, he simply stood beside the bed, enjoying the sight of her, all the hard edges smoothed off.

Prickly, yes. Quite likely always would be.

But enough gentling, and his cactus would bloom with the force of his loving.

For now, he was famished, and if he yielded to the temptation she presented, they’d be in that bed for hours yet, only to be found sometime later, victims of starvation.

A shower, then. Keep your hands off her, boy. Let the woman sleep a bit.

Will sighed and headed for the bathroom.

SUNLIGHT FILTERED INTO the loft, a soft whistling barely audible over the sound of the shower. Jordan frowned, then smiled and burrowed deeper under the covers as she remembered the night before. She missed the warmth of him, even as she groaned. Yes, Will was a morning person, apparently cheerful from the moment he awoke. She always had been, and always would be, a creature of the night.

Night. Oh, such a night. Jordan stretched in delight, recalling the hours just passed, the wonder of making love with Will.

I love you, he’d said. And not just once.

She sat up straight. No, it was too soon. Too… Oh, Will. You think you love me, but…

In the mirror across from her bed, the ruby at her throat winked in the sunlight. For a second, Jordan let herself feel how much she wanted all of this to be real.

Even though she knew her limitations in a way she wished Will would never have to.

Oh, give it a rest. It’s Christmas. The day she normally barely endured suddenly glowed with fresh promise. They could take one day and indulge in the fantasy, couldn’t they? After all, wasn’t everyone else living in a dream world today?