of her legs until she hissed in a breath and whispered brokenly, “Jesse, now.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, pushing his body into hers in one long, heated slide, “now.”
She groaned as he filled her and her body stretched to accommodate him. He held perfectly still inside her for one long moment. Until she moved beneath him, showing him that she was ready for him. For all he could give her.
Jesse watched her eyes glaze and felt the thrumming of her heartbeat as he lowered his head to kiss her breasts, each in turn. His own heartbeat was galloping in his chest. He couldn’t seem to catch his breath and he didn’t care. This was what he’d been searching for these last three years. This woman. This moment. This link.
But as she sinuously moved beneath him, his mind blanked and his body took over. There would be time for thinking later. Much later. For now, he had everything he could want, right here in his arms.
He moved within her—sure, long strokes designed to draw the pleasure out, to stoke it so high they might both burn in the aftermath. Again and again, he laid claim to her and with every stroke. She met him, lifting her hips into him, sliding into a smooth rhythm he’d found with no one else. It was as if their bodies recognized what their minds had been fighting. That they belonged together. They fit.
He braced his hands on either side of her head, looked down into chocolate-brown eyes that sparkled and shone in the moonlight and gave himself up to what was happening. He felt her body stiffen, knew the moment when her climax claimed her and watched the magic in her eyes. Only then did he allow himself to follow after, his body shattering.
When the last of the tremors finally ceased, he collapsed atop her and felt her arms come around him, cradling him to her chest.
The night passed too quickly and Jesse couldn’t seem to get enough of her. Again and again, they made love and each time was better than the one before. They came together, dozed briefly, then made love again. Finally, around 2:00 a.m., they threw on robes and raided the kitchen, at last getting around to eating the meal his housekeeper had left for them. It was cold, but they didn’t care. They drank wine, ate their meal and then he had her as dessert on the kitchen table.
He couldn’t keep his hands off her and even as he experienced it, Jesse knew how different this was for him. He’d never wanted a woman to stay the night with him before. And with Bella, he didn’t want her to leave. As long as he kept her there, at his house, nothing would change.
Once the world intruded, everything would be different.
But he couldn’t ignore the dawn. Jesse was used to waking up early. The habit came from all those years of pulling on a wet suit and heading to the beach to sit on a board and watch the rising sun blaze across the surface of the water. As far as he was concerned, the dawn was still the best part of the day.
Bella was sleeping when he slipped out of bed to start a pot of coffee. His housekeeper wouldn’t arrive until noon, so breakfast would be up to him. He smiled as he thought about taking Bella some coffee and then convincing her to take a nice, hot shower with him.
Still smiling, he hit the button on the coffeepot, then walked through the quiet house to the front door. He stepped outside, picked up the paper off the porch, then went back into the house, unfolding the paper as he strolled at a leisurely pace back to the kitchen.
While he waited for the pot to brew, he leaned back against the counter and flipped through the thin, local paper, checking out the news and admiring the ad King Beach was running. He finally hit the editorial page and paused to pour his first cup of the day. Taking a sip, he skimmed the letters to the editor and smiled as he read the complaints on everything from skateboarding kids to dogs being unwelcome on the beach.
“Gotta love a small town,” he murmured, “there’s always someone with something to say—”
Then he spotted one specific letter and scowled. He shot a glance at the floor above him, then deliberately took a breath, poured two more cups of coffee and tucking the paper under his arm, headed for the master bedroom. Bella was still snuggled under the quilt when he walked in and just for a second, he thought about ignoring the stupid newspaper in favor of joining her on the big bed.
Then he shook his head, and crossed the room. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he set the coffee on the side table and reached down to smooth her hair back from her face. She was beautiful. And terribly sneaky.
“Bella,” he said, “wake up.”
“What? Why?” She pulled the pillow over her head and slipped deeper beneath the quilt.
Jesse plucked the pillow free, tossed it aside and said again, “Come on, wake up.”
One brown eye opened and glared at him. “Jesse, it’s still dark.”
“It’s dawn and the paper’s here. The Morgan Beach weekly.” He was watching her, waiting for her to respond.
“That’s nice.” She sniffed and blinked blearily at him. “I smell coffee.”
“Have some,” he said, offering her the cup as she scooted around and pushed a pillow behind her back. The sheet was drawn up, covering her breasts, and her hair was tousled. She looked beautiful. And so damn innocent.
Funny, in all his plans for her, he’d never once considered that she might still be working against him. Plotting. Planning. Turns out, he should have.
She took a sip, sighed, then blinked again, trying to focus on him. “Why are we awake?”
“I always wake up early.”
“That’s a hideous habit,” she said sleepily, giving him a soft smile, “made slightly less hideous by the fact that you at least provide coffee.”
“Uh-huh,” he said, holding the newspaper up. “And reading material.”
“What?” She stared at the paper he’d folded to a specific section. A second or two ticked past before her eyes went wide and she whispered, “Oh, no.”
“Oh, yes,” he said, both eyebrows rising high on his forehead. “Your letter to the editor was printed this morning.”
“Jesse…”
“Wait, I want to read you my favorite part,” he said, fixing his gaze on the short, to-the-point letter she’d written.
“Morgan Beach is selling its soul to a corporate raider who doesn’t care what happens to us and our homes as long as his company makes a profit. We should all band together and let Jesse King know that we won’t be bought. We won’t surrender who we are. Morgan Beach was here before Jesse King and it will be here long after he tires of playing at being a member of this community.”
Bella’s eyes closed and a groan slipped from her throat. She covered her eyes with one hand as if she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Her expression was one of pure misery and Jesse didn’t mind admitting to himself that he was glad about that, at least.
“Very nice,” he said, sarcasm icing his tone. “I especially like the ‘corporate raider’ part. Seems to be a theme with you. And the rest of it’s pretty good, too. You should be a writer.”
“I was angry.”
“Was?”
