Aimee leaned against the bathroom sink and looked at her reflection staring back like an apparition. Her dark eyes looked haunted, her lips tight and colorless. Her hair corkscrewed around her face like something living. Now longer than it had ever been, it fell wildly past her shoulders and came to an unwilling rest at her lower back.
Reaching up, she began running her fingers through it, trying to straighten it as best she could. Trying to transform herself into someone Jake Blackstock would want to be with. Not just to have sex with. But to be with. Tomorrow. And the next day, and the day after that.
Sighing, she put her hands down again and studied her eyes. Glassy, and black as coal. Not the eyes of a normal human woman. Yet, if he thought she was fundamentally different, he hid it well. How many times had he stared right into them, almost certainly seeing his own reflection, instead of deeper inside the woman he tried his hardest to get to know?
When he took her into his arms today on the trail, he had to have felt her muscular contours through her jacket, had to notice the heat burning right through. But he’d bent to kiss her, just the same, like he was as comfortable with her as he’d be with anyone else.
She stared at herself now, trying hard to see what he did when he looked at her. Did he have an idea that she wasn’t entirely what she seemed to be? Or was it more of a subconscious feeling he had? As much as she wanted to pretend that things between them could be normal, that they could go on like this indefinitely, she had to believe that he knew something.
Raising her chin, she held her own gaze in the mirror. This afternoon had been close. Too close. If whatever had been stalking them up by Pike’s Peak had decided to attack, she would have had to make a decision. Remain human to keep her secret, or change in order to protect Jake.
Only now, standing there on the chilly tile floor, she realized something that broke her heart. Either way, she probably would have lost him.
There was a soft knock at the door. “You okay in there?”
She looked away from her reflection, relieved to be free of it. “I am. Be right out.”
He stood there for a second longer, then stepped away. The old floor creaked under his weight. She could hear the fire crackling in the fireplace and the wind moaning past the cabin outside. The storm that had been promised had come. And now they were at its mercy. Something about that, about the whole evening in general, made her feel small.
She looked down at her naked body. A normal woman would have chosen a sexy nightie for an occasion like this. Might have gone shopping with one of her girlfriends to pick it out. But she wasn’t a normal woman. And her only girlfriend was busy getting ready for motherhood. The late night visits filled with pizza and laughter would probably be few and far between now. And that’s how it should be. She’s got a family now.
She put her hand on the cold, antique doorknob and squeezed. Tonight, she didn’t want to think about all those things. She didn’t want to think about the fact that she was far from human and had a shitload of things to lose because of it. Jake included. She didn’t want to think about her loneliness, or how even though she had fallen in love these past few weeks, she felt more alone than ever. And she sure as hell didn’t want to think about her responsibility to tell Jake the truth.
She took a deep, even breath. Tonight, she just wanted to be a regular girl. To be with him and relish in the fact that he wanted to be with her too. She’d just have to worry about the rest later.
Opening the door, she felt a rush of warm air against her skin. She looked up to see Jake watching her. The room was dim, with only the firelight illuminating it. His eyes were hooded and dark. Shadows danced around him like ghosts bidding for attention.
He stepped forward, and she waited, forcing herself to stand completely still. To look him in the eyes. She couldn’t be ashamed of herself, of what she’d become. This was the real thing, without clothes or witty banter hiding anything. This was her, for better or worse.
“My God,” he said, touching her face.
She closed her eyes as he rubbed his thumb along her cheekbone. His skin was rough against hers. Electric.
“You’re so beautiful.”
He bent to kiss her, and she met him halfway. His lips were warm and pliant, his tongue sending hot bolts of desire through her like arrows, one after another.
Pressing her body against his, she moaned. How long she’d wanted this. To be naked with him, to feel him hard and ready against her lower belly. And she was halfway there…
Without breaking the kiss, she reached for his belt buckle. He sucked in a breath as she ran her knuckles along his abdomen before pulling the belt from the loops in a soft whoosh.
Reaching for his t-shirt, she pushed it up over his chest. She’d known he was in great shape, lean and muscular. She’d felt him underneath his clothes. But feeling him and seeing him were two different things.
He peeled his shirt off the rest of the way, and she found herself looking directly at his pecs. Oh my God. Gorgeous.
Smiling, she ran her fingertips along the six distinct ridges of his abdomen and moved closer so that her hardened nipples brushed the light sprinkling of hair on his chest.
“Jesus,” he breathed.
She looked up, seeing the desire etched across his face. He wanted her. The real her. It was such a turn-on she had a hard time not ripping off the rest of his clothes.
Instead, she turned slowly, pushing her butt into his groin. The cold, hard buttons on his jeans dug into her flesh, and she put her hands on the couch to steady herself.
He reached around and cupped her breasts, putting his mouth on her neck. She arched back as he ground into her, and she felt him between her legs. She almost cried out with the need to have him moving inside her.
She whimpered and felt him unbutton his jeans, heard him step out of them and put a condom on. He dropped the foil wrapper on the floor and pressed into her again. And this time, there wasn’t anything between them.
She gasped and opened her legs wider, gripping the back of the couch until her knuckles were white.
He slid along her slick, wet opening. Back and forth, back and forth, rubbing her until she felt beads of sweat break out over her skin. Her knees shook with the effort of holding her up, and she had to lock them in place to keep from falling forward.
Jake breathed against her neck, cupped a breast with one hand, and with the other teased the swollen, sensitive bud between her legs.
She turned her head just enough to find his mouth. He claimed it like he’d claimed everything else—her body, her soul—and she gave it up without hesitation.
When he slid inside her, it was with obvious control. She knew he wanted this time to be special for her, slow, but she already felt an orgasm building in her lower belly.
Pitching her head forward, she gasped. Jake’s arms tightened around her, his skin hot and damp against hers. She breathed in his scent, so perfectly sexy that she found herself wanting to cry because of it.
“Jake.”
There was so much more to say.
He bent his head and breathed into her ear. Chills rose along her arms as he took her lobe gently between his teeth. And still he moved slowly, in and out. She rocked with him, wanting him closer, deeper.
“Jake,” she whimpered again.
“I know,” he said, holding her tighter. “I know.”
What did he know? How she felt at that very moment, like some kind of firecracker getting ready to light up the midnight sky? Or what she’d been hiding? Because it was beginning to tear at her heart so badly that she worried there would only be shreds left. What exactly do you know, Jake?
She closed her eyes and felt herself give in to all the things she’d been trying so hard to keep at a distance: pleasure, desire, love, fear. They all mounted like a summer storm, warm and turbulent, rocking her where she stood. She was powerless against it.
Behind her, he tensed. He said her name, once, softly, before she felt him shudder. And then, the storm that had threatened so completely a moment ago, unleashed with such force that her knees gave out.
His arms tightened, holding her steady against his chest. She could feel his heart thumping against her shoulder blades. And when she cried out, he buried his face in her neck, saying something in her hair. She couldn’t understand it, but found she didn’t have to.
She knew exactly what he meant.