pleasure like none she had ever experienced with a man before. Her response dragged Galen to his own rough climax.
Pulling him toward her, she nibbled her way up his jaw to the shell of his ear.
“I love you, Galen. Nothing can ever change that.”
He stilled, buried deep inside her, and groaned like a man in pain. “I wish things could be different. I really do.”
She cradled his face in her hands and met his troubled gaze. “Love will find a way, Galen. Believe that.”
He wanted to believe. So much. But he had always been a practical man and with what he had seen of life as a cop, maybe he understood more than most that some things weren’t meant to be.
All desire and hope shriveled up inside of him. As he slipped out of her loving depths, he gently urged her to her feet. In strained silence, they dried off, and he snagged his T-shirt and sweats from the floor and dragged them on. They returned to his bedroom, and he grabbed her clothes, holding them up as he said, “I’ll dry these , and then I’ve got some work to do. You can grab my robe or any of the clothes in my closet.”
He didn’t wait for her to finish dressing before almost running from the room. He needed to be away from her in the hopes that he could make sense of all that had happened with them in the past two days.
Jamie watched him run, thinking that at that moment he looked a lot like that pack of wild dogs, scared and defeated.
In some ways, he was like the Galen she had first met a year ago, hiding up here in his lodge and behind the pages of his books to get over the loss of his partner and his own near-death.
Now he was hiding in his work again and his words came back at her then. Did you read the book?
She recalled the look in his eyes, full of both hope and apology, as he’d said it.
She tossed aside the towel and snatched up his robe. The soft terry cloth smelled of him and as it rubbed against the sensitive tips of her breasts, they puckered. She wondered if maybe she was the animal, what with her seemingly being in heat when she was around him.
Shoving back that awakening need, she went to the living room and her knapsack. She pulled out her copy of Galen’s book and contemplated hunkering down on the couch before the fire, but wanted to be somewhere more private. Someplace where she could feel closer to Galen.
Returning to his bedroom, she ignored the leather ties and straps around each of the four posts and climbed into his bed. The gas fireplace had heated the room to toastiness, but she still pulled up the comforter for added warmth. Fluffing the pillows behind her head, she turned up the light on the nightstand beside the bed and started reading.
Chapter Nine
He had been down in his office on the lower level for hours, but had gotten little writing done. Instead, he had spent the better part of the afternoon staring out the window at the snow accumulating outside, which was showing no signs of letting up.
There was no way Jamie would be able to leave tomorrow or even the next day, if the storm kept up.
Switching on the large-screen television on one wall of his office, he flipped to a local cable weather and traffic station. The angry red crawler along the bottom of the screen warned of blizzard conditions in the area. The reporter’s comments and animated weather predictions weren’t comforting.
Heavy snow throughout today and tomorrow. Accumulations of as much as three feet with four possible at the higher elevations, like Cat’s Claw Mountain.
Four feet.
She wouldn’t be able to leave for days, he thought.
Inside of him came a lightening of his soul, and the pressure and pain around his heart eased at the thought of being with her for several more days.
He was a damn fool, he knew. Once the snow let up she had to go, he told himself. But for now she was his.
A deep rumble of pleasure erupted within him and this time he didn’t fight it.
Facing his keyboard once again, he finally got to work.
*
Jack
Pulling him toward her, she nibbled her way up his jaw to the shell of his ear.
“I love you, Galen. Nothing can ever change that.”
He stilled, buried deep inside her, and groaned like a man in pain. “I wish things could be different. I really do.”
She cradled his face in her hands and met his troubled gaze. “Love will find a way, Galen. Believe that.”
He wanted to believe. So much. But he had always been a practical man and with what he had seen of life as a cop, maybe he understood more than most that some things weren’t meant to be.
All desire and hope shriveled up inside of him. As he slipped out of her loving depths, he gently urged her to her feet. In strained silence, they dried off, and he snagged his T-shirt and sweats from the floor and dragged them on. They returned to his bedroom, and he grabbed her clothes, holding them up as he said, “I’ll dry these , and then I’ve got some work to do. You can grab my robe or any of the clothes in my closet.”
He didn’t wait for her to finish dressing before almost running from the room. He needed to be away from her in the hopes that he could make sense of all that had happened with them in the past two days.
Jamie watched him run, thinking that at that moment he looked a lot like that pack of wild dogs, scared and defeated.
In some ways, he was like the Galen she had first met a year ago, hiding up here in his lodge and behind the pages of his books to get over the loss of his partner and his own near-death.
Now he was hiding in his work again and his words came back at her then. Did you read the book?
She recalled the look in his eyes, full of both hope and apology, as he’d said it.
She tossed aside the towel and snatched up his robe. The soft terry cloth smelled of him and as it rubbed against the sensitive tips of her breasts, they puckered. She wondered if maybe she was the animal, what with her seemingly being in heat when she was around him.
Shoving back that awakening need, she went to the living room and her knapsack. She pulled out her copy of Galen’s book and contemplated hunkering down on the couch before the fire, but wanted to be somewhere more private. Someplace where she could feel closer to Galen.
Returning to his bedroom, she ignored the leather ties and straps around each of the four posts and climbed into his bed. The gas fireplace had heated the room to toastiness, but she still pulled up the comforter for added warmth. Fluffing the pillows behind her head, she turned up the light on the nightstand beside the bed and started reading.
Chapter Nine
He had been down in his office on the lower level for hours, but had gotten little writing done. Instead, he had spent the better part of the afternoon staring out the window at the snow accumulating outside, which was showing no signs of letting up.
There was no way Jamie would be able to leave tomorrow or even the next day, if the storm kept up.
Switching on the large-screen television on one wall of his office, he flipped to a local cable weather and traffic station. The angry red crawler along the bottom of the screen warned of blizzard conditions in the area. The reporter’s comments and animated weather predictions weren’t comforting.
Heavy snow throughout today and tomorrow. Accumulations of as much as three feet with four possible at the higher elevations, like Cat’s Claw Mountain.
Four feet.
She wouldn’t be able to leave for days, he thought.
Inside of him came a lightening of his soul, and the pressure and pain around his heart eased at the thought of being with her for several more days.
He was a damn fool, he knew. Once the snow let up she had to go, he told himself. But for now she was his.
A deep rumble of pleasure erupted within him and this time he didn’t fight it.
Facing his keyboard once again, he finally got to work.
*
Jack
Similar Books
