Chapter 9 #2
Jack grinned. “Thank you for your business. Anyway, after I told him I was forgoing business school at Yale—his alma mater—to go to architecture school at Berkeley, he flipped his lid and didn’t speak to me for years.
” He’d carried the pain of his father’s unreasonable anger with him for years.
“I’ve never regretted my choice, but I always wished that I could’ve had the career I wanted and made him proud of me, too.
” Shrugging it off, he added, “But that’s neither here nor there now. ”
“It must still hurt a little.”
“I never think about it anymore.”
“He has to be proud of you, Jack. How could he not be? Look at all you’ve accomplished.”
“I hope he is, but I really don’t know. It stopped mattering to me years ago.
For a long time, I wondered if anything could ever bridge the awful gap between us.
Then I brought Clare home to Greenwich to meet them.
Since he can be a world-class snob, I figured he’d disapprove of me marrying a schoolteacher from working-class Hartford, but he loved her from the minute he met her.
She helped to smooth out a lot of the rough edges.
After Jill was born, we let go of the anger and got over it. ”
“Kids have a way of putting things into perspective.”
“True, but we’ve never talked about what happened.”
“At least you talk. That’s something.”
He smiled at her, marveling at how easy it was to tell her things he never spoke of to anyone else. “Also true.”
Once they’d anchored in the quiet cove, he opened a bottle of wine and turned on the CD player. Sinatra roared to life on the boat’s sound system. Jack turned it down and went up on deck to join her. They sat together on the wide bench seat as the sunset over Jamestown faded into darkness.
He drew her closer so her head rested on his chest.
She wrapped her arm around him.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, rubbing his cheek against her soft curls.
“Not really.”
He tipped her chin and studied her face for a long, intense moment, as if there was still a decision to be made. Who was he kidding? Taking her wineglass, he put it on the table next to his.
“Every time I kiss you,” he said, gliding his lips over hers, “all I can think is how long I have to wait until I can do it again.”
“I seem to have the same problem.” She sighed. Her arms tightened around him as she met the ardent thrusts of his tongue with her own.
He slipped his hand under her T-shirt and pushed up her bra to free her breasts.
Groaning against her lips, he teased her with his fingers until her nipples were hard and tight.
Suddenly in a rush, he tore his lips free, pulled the T-shirt over her head, and kissed his way to her breasts.
He reached behind her to unhook her bra.
Tugging on one nipple with his lips, he gave the other the same treatment with his fingers.
Andi took a deep breath of the salty sea air as the water lapped against the hull and his hot, hungry mouth fed on her breasts.
She opened her eyes to a sky sprinkled with stars and a moon that might’ve been hung just for them.
Arching her hips, she found him hard and ready for her.
She reached for his shirt and tugged it off to discover his chest was muscular but not bulky.
The light dusting of dark hair was soft under her hands, his nipples firm against her palms.
He unbuttoned her shorts and skimmed them down her legs until only a thin strip of lace covered her. Taking a long, leisurely look at what he’d uncovered, he got rid of his own shorts and lay on his side next to her on the narrow bench seat.
Breast to chest, hip to hip, hard pressed to soft, he kissed her gently, patiently, with easy thrusts of his tongue. He slid a hand into her panties and groaned when he found her damp with desire.
She gasped as his fingers parted her and delved deeper.
“Andi, honey, I want you so much,” he whispered against her lips.
She replied with the lift of her hips against his fingers and cried out when he eased them into her, reducing her world to the throbbing need between her legs.
Suddenly impatient, he got rid of the panties and hooked her leg over his hips. Kissing her with deep thrusts of his tongue, he moved his fingers over her and into her, in a steady, relentless rhythm that quickly sent her flying.
“Jack! Oh!”
He kept it up until she came a second time, trembling and gasping. Nothing had ever been quite like this.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, shifting so he was between her legs. “I love you, Andi. I can’t offer you anything else, but I do love you—”
She stopped him with a finger to his lips. “That’s all I need.”
Resting on top of her, he leaned down to kiss her. “Do we need protection?”
She shook her head. “I’m on the pill.”
He made her crazy with hot kisses to her neck and breasts, but he surprised her when he suddenly stopped and rested his forehead on her chest.
“Jack? What is it?”
Breathing heavily, he said, “I just…I need a minute, honey.”
Putting her arms around him, she brought him up with her.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She caressed his back with gentle strokes.
“I was so sure I could do this.”
The pain she heard in his voice made her ache for him. “You’re just not ready. I understand.”
“Maybe I could’ve figured that out before we were naked and desperate.”
She smiled and brushed her lips over his hair. “It’s all right.”
He brought her closer to him, and they were quiet for a long time. “Do you think maybe we could try again?”
“We don’t have to. I’m happy just to be here with you.”
“I know we don’t have to, but I really, really want to make love with you. Give me another chance?”
She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him, a gentle undemanding kiss. Finally, she sat up, took his hand, and led him inside. “Which one’s yours?” she asked of the two closed doors.
He pointed to the one on the left.
In the small cabin, they lay down together on the bed. Their lips met in another soft kiss.
Without breaking the kiss, Andi stretched out on top of him.
His hands coasted over her back, making her tremble with desire.
She slid down, dragging her lips along his chest and belly.
He sighed and tangled his fingers in her hair.
When she took him into her mouth, he gasped. “Andi…”
With her hand, lips, and tongue, she loved him until he was panting and sweating.
Then she moved over him, and without giving him time to think or prepare, she sank down onto his hard length.
With her hands resting on his chest, she let her head fall back in surrender.
The feeling of completion overwhelmed her.
Here was what she’d always wanted—right here, right now, this man, this love.
For a long moment, she didn’t move, she just held still and reveled in the intense pleasure of having him deep inside her.
He laced his fingers through hers.
She raised their joined hands and brought them down on either side of his head as she lifted and lowered her hips in small, delicate movements. Sliding her lips over his, she gazed down at him. His eyes were closed, and she watched the tension drain from his face.
“It’s okay, Jack,” she whispered. “I love you.”
His eyes flew open to meet her gaze. He squeezed her hands and let himself go.