Secret Love - Brenda Jackson [39]
Diamond opened her eyes and blinked several times upon realizing that it was morning. A ray of sunshine streaked across the room and hit her dead center in the eyes, almost blinding her. To escape the bothersome beam of light, she rolled over and fitted her face into the V of Jake’s neck. She felt his arm around her tighten and forced herself to raise her head. “Good morning, Jacob.”
Instead of responding, he leaned down and kissed her. His kiss brought back memories of the night before when he had made love to her with such an intensity, she’d been sure she would die from it. But she had lived. She had somehow survived every thrilling and fulfilling moment. The heat of Jacob’s passion had seared through her, sending her over the edge more than once, more than twice and driving her crazy with a need only he could satisfy.
And satisfy her he did.
Even kissing her the way he was doing now was making her body ache. His tongue was stroking hers, intimately, greedily and possessively. This was definitely one form of nonverbal communication she enjoyed sharing with him. She kissed him back hungrily, fervently.
Jake finally broke the kiss to draw in a deep, ragged breath. He held her tight, enjoying the way she felt in his arms.
“Jacob?” she whispered finally, with barely enough breath to get his name out.
“Hmm?” he responded, nuzzling her neck.
“What about the ranch?”
Lifting his head, he looked down at her, his gaze holding hers in place. Lines of confusion shadowed his forehead. “What about the ranch?”
“Don’t you have chores to do? It’s morning time.” Blaylock had told her this past week how Jacob got up each morning around four to began his full day of work on the ranch. “Blaylock said you get up before dawn every day to take care of the ranch.”
He nodded, understanding. “Normally I do, but after a cattle drive I give both my men and myself a few days off to relax.” He smiled. “You’re not trying to get rid of me, are you?”
“No, I just didn’t want to keep you from taking care of the ranch.”
She went silent on him after saying that. Her eyes were cast down so he couldn’t read her thoughts. But he definitely knew what his own were. For whatever reason, she was letting him know that she would not try to compete with his duties at the ranch, which was something his ex-wife had done constantly. Somehow Diamond knew, understood and accepted that his ranch was important to him. He drew her to him and put his index finger beneath her chin.
“At the risk of sounding slightly arrogant, and maybe a little cocky, I think I can do a pretty decent job of taking care of both you and the ranch. Besides, when it comes to taking care of you, you make the job easy. You’re in a class by yourself. A very beautiful and desirable class.”
Diamond smiled. “You’re quite a charmer, Jacob Madaris.”
He grinned. “I’m also pretty good at making breakfast. Hungry?”
She nodded her head and laughed. “Very.”
“So,” Jake said as he poured more coffee into Diamond’s mug. “What do you think of my cooking abilities?” He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his own coffee.
Diamond set her elbows on the kitchen table, cupped her face in her hands and smiled at him. “I think your cooking skills rank right up there with your lovemaking skills. Both are superb.”
The images of her words elicited sensuous memories in Jake’s mind. Before he had left the bed to fix breakfast, they had made love again. Afterward, it had been a determined effort to get out of bed and not make love to her yet again. He could feel his blood pressure rising from just thinking about it.
“I do have a few things to take care of at the ranch, but then afterward I’ll be free for the rest of the day. How would you like to spend the day with me?”
Diamond arched an eyebrow. “Is that a sneaky way of getting me to help you with your chores, Jacob?”
Jake chuckled as he pushed his chair out from the table. “You’re too smart. I didn’t think you’d figure that part out until much later.”
“Oh, Jacob, he’s such a beauty,” Diamond said as she gently stroked the four-day-old