“The Long Gray Line is everywhere.” She stared at him. “What?” “The Long Gray Line,” he repeated. “The U.S. Military Academy grads are called that because of the uniforms we wore as cadets. Graduates of West Point have networking contacts all over the world. A retired soldier who works for PSI graduated a few years ahead of me. One of Walker’s buddies talked to a friend of mine who knew I might be job hunting and word got back to them.”
“That’s amazing. You didn’t even go looking for this job, did you?”
“Not exactly. But I had already decided to take medical retirement so it might work out well. And I think I’d enjoy the challenge.” He made a wry face. “I’d be bored to death doing the same old thing over and over every day.”
“That’s one reason I enjoy teaching,” she said. “There’s always something to challenge me. A child with a special need, a new approach to try, even parent meetings are rarely boring.”
“I bet you’re a good teacher,” he said.
“I try to be. Teaching the next generation is one of the most important jobs there is, I believe.” Then she gestured at the piles of paperwork in front of her. “And speaking of jobs, I’d better get back to work on these spelling tests.”
“Ahh. Teacher talk.” His smile flashed. “It turns me on.”
Phoebe’s hand paused, as she lifted her gaze to his. “Teacher talk turns you on?”
He rose from the easy chair and began to walk toward her. “Yeah. Wanna see?”
“Wade!” She made a token effort to scoot away as he grabbed her and pulled her against his body. “I’ve got to finish grading these papers. It won’t take me long.”
He paused. “How long?”
“Not long!” She twisted her arm so that she could see the face of her watch. “Ten minutes or so.”
“Ten minutes? Sorry, can’t wait that long.”
“You’re impossible,” she said as he lowered his head and set his mouth on hers, then pulled her up against his body.
“Impossible to deter,” he muttered against her skin, kissing his way along her jaw and sucking her earlobe into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it.
She felt her knees buckle beneath the sheer delight that being in his arms always brought. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she let her head fall back as her muscles went lax. Wade took immediate advantage of the exposed slender length of her neck, sliding his mouth down the warm, silken column, nuzzling aside the scooped top of the knit shirt to nip at her collarbone. Phoebe murmured with pleasure, her body humming, response blooming inside her.
He bent and slid his arms beneath her knees, sweeping her into his arms and carrying her up the stairs. She clutched at his neck as he took the steps two at a time. “I’m too heavy for this. You’ll hurt yourself. Put me down.”
He laughed aloud. “Do you know how many pounds I used to carry up the side of a mountain? Trust me, honey, you’re not too heavy.” He paused at the top for a deep kiss, sweeping his tongue into her mouth and enticing her into exploring him as well. “Besides,” he said when he lifted his head, “when I was packing a load up a mountain, I didn’t have this kind of incentive waiting for me at the top.”
It took him only a moment to cover the steps to her bedroom, only a moment more to cross the room and set her beside the bed. Although she had steadfastly refused to allow herself to think of him during waking hours, she had dreamed of Wade over and over, even after she’d believed he was dead. But none of the dreams had ever come close to the heady reality of being in his arms. Even now, she wasn’t sure it was real sometimes.
He pulled her shirt over her head as she set her small hands to work unbuttoning his, then unhooked her bra. She paused so that he could slide it off her shoulder and toss it aside, and then, as he cupped her breasts and began to lightly rub his thumbs across the rosy nipples, her hands slowed and fell away.
He tore his gaze from the sight of the plump, beautiful mounds in his hands to look into her eyes. Heat and passion filled his gaze, and to her delight, she felt his body shudder in anticipation against her. Reluctantly, he took his hands from her and stripped off his jeans and briefs, then tugged her slacks and panties down and off in one smooth, efficient motion. He reached around her and peeled the bedcovers back before urging her down onto the cool cotton sheets.
Taking her hand, he guided it down between them to his aching length. “Help me.”
He jumped when her small hand closed around him. Savoring the silken feeling of his body, so taut and hard, she tightened her grip the way she knew he liked and stroked him once, twice and yet again. His hips lifted and thrust against her and he growled. “Tease.”
She lightly bit his shoulder. “Tell me you don’t like it and I’ll stop.”
He sounded as if he were having trouble dragging air into his lungs. “Like that’s ever going to—oh, baby, yeah.”
As she positioned him at the throbbing entrance to her body, she lifted her hips. He was hot and solid and she cried out as he surged forward, embedding himself deeply within her. Her hands clenched on his buttocks, urging him to move, and within moments they established a fast, frantic rhythm that built a blazing fire within her. His body hammered against her, creating an ever-rising tension that stretched tighter and tighter until finally it snapped. As her body bucked and writhed in his arms, and then he was hoarsely calling her name as his body stiffened and froze in a shattering climax that left him shaking and gasping for breath.
When she could breathe again, think again, she stretched up and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “Wow.”
He snorted and chuckled. “Yeah. Wow.” He rolled to one side and pulled her into his arms and she relaxed against him, enjoying the cuddling. “I think we’ve mastered that.”
“You do? As an educator, I can tell you that research shows that even when a skill has been mastered, a certain amount of practice is necessary to reinforce the concept.”
“Is that so?” He stroked a hand gently down over her hip and lightly squeezed her bottom. “In that case, I suppose we’ll just have to keep practicing until we’re sure we’ve got it right.”
Now it was her turn to laugh. “Could take a while.”
“It could,” he agreed.
Nine
Wade had a job interview on Friday with the company out of Virginia, the specialized security firm that was setting up a new branch. He’d met the personnel director already, and today’s interview, he told Phoebe, was with the owner of the company.
“He’s going to love you.” She picked up her coffee cup as he rose to put his dishes in the dishwasher. They’d gotten into a pleasant weekday routine in which they had breakfast together before she left. He usually had some kind of start on dinner before she arrived home, which meant she got her work done faster if she’d brought any home to grade, which meant that right after Bridget went to bed, she and Wade could go to bed, also.
Or at least go to the bedroom, she amended.
Every night he
