AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But she knew the truth and that knowledge had kept the armrest firmly in place and her head on the back of the leather first-class seat.
He lifted the armrest and tugged her against his side. Leaning close to her, he whispered, "'The woods are lovely, dark and deep."
She glanced up at him. God, this felt too right. Too good. But for this moment, while the plane was landing, she wasn't going to pull away. She was going to stay close to the only man she'd ever trusted and repeated the words of their poem to.
Together they recited the rest of Frost's poem. The last line echoed in her head … miles to go before I sleep. She'd felt alone on her journey for so long. But as she glanced up at Jake and saw him watching her with those brown eyes of his, she didn't feel alone anymore.
And in her heart she knew she'd never be the same. Because Jake wasn't just the right man to fix the mess Jasmine Carmody's report would create, he was the right man to fill the emptiness in her soul.
* * *
Every time he thought he had Larissa figured out, she did something that made him realize he didn't. He'd meant to keep his distance from her, but he'd been unable to. In all the years he'd known Larissa, he'd never realized how much of herself she kept from the world, and especially from him.
The one thing she'd never tried to hide was how much their son meant to her, and he had a few doubts about the wisdom of continuing with his plan to sue for full custody of Peter.
Larissa started to pull out of his arms when the plane pulled up to the gate. He stopped her with a quick kiss. She smiled up at him and he felt it in his groin. He didn't know if he could keep up the dual life that they'd decided on. Public touching and kissing, private hands-off.
Yet, she'd said again today she wasn't ready to make love with him. And he wasn't going to push her. He was going to sit back and let fate direct him. Hell, no, he wasn't. He was going to do his damnedest to make sure she came to the same conclusion he already had.
"Nicola has arranged for a reporter to meet us here."
"Jasmine Carmody?"
"No. Another one who will write up a piece about how in love we are and how circumstances kept us apart."
"What circumstances?" she asked.
"My traveling, your job. We'll be vague. The important thing is to appear totally in love."
"Totally?"
"Yes," he said. Nicola had said nothing about appearing to be in love, but Jake wanted to know what it would be like to have Larissa look at him with complete devotion.
"I'm not sure I can do this."
"Too late to back out," he said.
"I won't leave you hanging, Jake. That was just nerves."
"Would it be so hard to love me?" he asked.
She bit her lower lip and closed her eyes. They were so close she was still in his arms, but he felt a gulf open between them. He felt the space that Larissa used to protect herself from relationships open up. He felt her backing away and did the only thing he could think of to pull her back to him.
Storm her barricades. Lay siege to the fortress that was her body and win the battle. He brushed his lips back and forth over hers. "Don't fight it," he whispered.
"Fight what?" she asked, against his mouth.
"This," he said, angling his head and taking her mouth the way he wanted to take her body. With long thrusts of his tongue. Claiming every inch of her mouth with his own.
She opened for him and he felt her capitulation. This was the one place where they communicated with total honesty. Seducing her with tender pulls of her lips, he pushed his own hammering desires to the back burner and strove for patience.
He smoothed his hands down her back, bringing their chests together. Her heart hammered against his. She felt small and fragile in his arms.
Lord, she tasted better than he remembered. It felt like it had been years since he'd last held her like this. Then the dynamic of the kiss changed. Larissa lifted her hands to frame his face and tasted him with long, slow kisses.
Dammit, he was the one in control, he thought. But as she scraped the edges of her fingernails down the side of his neck, he gave up all pretense. He was putty in her hands.
Sliding his hands to her waist, he started to pull her onto his lap. He needed her over him now. He was hard and straining and he honestly didn't think he could wait another second to bury himself in her body.
"The captain has turned off the fasten-seat-belt sign, you are now free to gather your things and disembark."
Larissa jerked away from him. He cursed under his breath, dropping his head to his hands and breathing deeply to try to regain some control. He'd been ready to take her here in the damn airplane.
The other passengers began gathering their luggage and filling the aisle. There was no way he was going to be able to walk off the plane until he'd had a few minutes to forget about the incredible woman he'd just had in his lap.
