Page 112 of The Other Lady Vanishes

They made it to one of the two narrow beds, leaving a trail of discarded clothing behind. Jake yanked the quilt aside and stretched out on his back. He pulled her down so that she sprawled on top of him. They were still very new at the business of making love together, Adelaide thought. There was so much to learn about each other.

She could have sworn his hand shook a little when he touched her breasts, as if he could not quite believe that she was real.

She trailed her fingertips down the length of him, from his sleek,strong shoulders to his thighs. She explored his lean, muscled body with a sense of wonder and satisfaction. He was her lover and she was his.

When she reached the hard, rigid evidence of his desire, he exhaled on a harsh groan and fitted his hands to her waist. He positioned her so that she straddled him, and drove himself slowly, relentlessly into her welcoming body.

“I need you,” he rasped. “I need you so much. Come for me, sweetheart. I want to feel you come while I’m in you.”

She loved knowing that he wanted her so desperately, loved knowing that she could thrill him, loved knowing that he thrilled her.

He reached between her legs and found the exquisitely sensitive spot. She caught her breath.

Moments later her climax struck in cascading waves, carrying her away.

“Jake.”

“Yes,” Jake said. “Yes.”

He watched her with half-closed eyes, enthralled. She sensed that he was trying to hold back but his formidable willpower failed him. The storm of his own release crashed through him.

When it was over, she collapsed on top of him. He held her very close and very tight.

• • •

?She felt him stir a long time later.

“There’s something you should know about me before we get married,” he said.

“Something else besides the fact that once upon a time you were a secret agent?”

She was lying on top of him, her head pillowed on his chest. The cabin was getting cold but Jake’s body was warm enough to melt a glacier. She did not want to move.

“I do have a job,” he said.

“What?”She raised her head so that she could look down at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?

“Because it’s not a very secure job. I could be fired at any time. The pay is erratic and uncertain. The hours are sometimes very odd. But on the positive side, I can do my work in Burning Cove just as easily as in Los Angeles.”

“I don’t understand. Do you sell real estate or stocks?”

“No.” Jake threaded his fingers through her hair. “I write the Cooper Boone spy novels under the name Simon Winslow.”

“You’re joking.”

He shook his head.

She eyed him warily. “You’re not joking.”

“No. I haven’t been writing for long, just a couple of years. I’ve only had two books in the series published. I can’t assure you that I’m going to be a success in that line of work.”

She thought about the yellow legal pad and the sharpened pencils that he kept in his briefcase. She wrinkled her nose.

“Does Luther Pell know about your writing career?” she asked.

“He’s one of the very few people who does know.”

She groaned. “You must have been very amused by my efforts to get you to concentrate on finding a new job.”