Page 127 of An Unexpected Love

“But I did want this marriage, very badly.”

“Did,” he repeated in a husky, regretful voice.

“Do,” she corrected firmly.

For several minutes, he said nothing. “Even now, knowing what it’ll mean?”

“Even now,” she said, holding out her hand to him.

Jason held it fast. “I love you, Charlotte Manning.”

“I know.” Her voice broke, and she struggled not to break down and weep. Someday she’d tell him how close she’d come to walking away from the brightest promise of her life. She’d tell him how she’d finally decided that loving Jason, being his wife, sharing his life wasn’t just something sheshoulddo, but something shewantedto do.Achedto do, with all her heart. Someday she’d tell him all of this.

“I don’t want to live without you.”

He reached for her, bringing her onto his lap, his mouth instinctively finding hers. Everything she’d planned to say was caught between two hungry mouths. Trapped between two pounding hearts.

Fourteen

Several months later a storm, a Seattle cloudburst, woke Charlotte. Dawn was on the horizon, but very little light filtered through the gray clouds. The wind beat hard against the windows, rattling them until Charlotte feared they might break.

Gently setting aside the covers, she climbed out of bed and crept into the living room. Higgins was sleeping there, looking worried. She patted his head and offered him reassurances.

She opened the living-room drapes just in time to watch a bolt of lightning rip apart the night. For an hour or so afterward, smiling contentedly, she watched morning creep across the sky. Her life, inside and out, was everything she wanted it to be. Jason had moved into her apartment; they planned to buy a house in the spring. She was taking a break from work, enrolled in an advanced accounting course. Eventually she’d handle all of his bookkeeping and maybe look for a few other clients, too. Yes, life was full of new possibilities.

“Charlotte?” Jason murmured when she returned tobed. He reached for her and without a second’s hesitation she slipped into his embrace.

“There’s a storm,” she whispered.

His smile was lazy, sleepy. “So I hear. Are you frightened?”

“Not anymore.” There’d been a time when she would’ve been terrified, but that time was long past. She felt intensely alive, completely calm. The dangerous storms were gone from her life. She’d survived the raging wind, the drenching rain, the booming thunder. That was all in the past. Her future was holding her in his arms.

She sighed, cuddling close to her husband, suffused with a feeling of profound joy.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I know,” he said without opening his eyes. “Believe me, I know.”

She slid her arms up his shoulders and brought her mouth to his. He welcomed her kiss, which was slow and deep. Hot excitement poured into her blood. Soon the kiss was no longer slow, but hungry, needy.

Charlotte felt Jason’s chest lift with a shuddering intake of breath.

“I want to make love,” she said against his lips.

Jason went still. His hand, which was sliding up her thigh, stopped at her hip.

“You’re sure?”

It was the first time she’d ever made the request, the first time she’d ever initiated their lovemaking.

“Yes.”

Lightning briefly brightened the room, shadows frolicked and danced against the walls, followed by the roar of thunder. The bedroom vibrated with sound.

Jason, ever-sensitive to her moods, paused, but she refused to allow any hesitation. She drew his mouth down to hers and they kissed, until Charlotte’s whole body seemed to throb with excitement.

Gently Jason removed her nightgown, pulling it over her head. He’d awakened her to an entire world of sensual pleasure in the months since their marriage, a world she wanted to explorenow.

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