Need rocketed through her as he devoured, nipped, licked, his hand sliding down her spine and pulling her hips to his. The sharp contact sent a moan spiraling out of her, blooming vibrant and hot with the memory of how this man could wield enormous power over her desire. He owned it, and when his hand rode up her side to slide over her breast, she almost cried out with want.
Then Juliana did.
The sound ripped them apart, and just for a second Melanie stared up into his eyes, smoky with desire. She felt her insides give another small tremble, then she tore her gaze from his and went running on shaky legs toward her daughter. The baby stopped crying the instant she saw her mother, and Melanie sank into a chair, relieved. She struggled to catch her breath. Oh, she was a fine one to talk about restraint and being friends. Here she was making deals with Jack to be parents only, and she was falling into his arms at the sight of his bare chest.
Jack stepped into the kitchen, pulling on his T-shirt, then as if he didn’t know what to do with his hands, he raked them through his short hair. Melanie knew he was there. He could sense her shoulders tightening an instant before she pushed out of the chair and went to the oven.
Jack moved up behind her, waiting until she’d lifted out the bubbling pan before he said, “I scare you, don’t I?”
She hesitated, setting the pan on the stove, then let out a long-suffering sigh. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“What do you want me to say, Jack? That I don’t come apart at the seams when you so much as touch me? News flash, it just happened.”
“I wasn’t exactly a doormat, you know.”
“God, do I,” she said without thinking, and he laughed shortly.
“You turn me inside out.”
She spun around sharply, meeting his gaze. “That’s why we shouldn’t be…you know.” She waved the spatula toward the hallway.
“Trying to smother each other with our lips? Groping like teenagers?”
She reddened. “Well, that puts it in perspective.”
He smiled, moving closer and loving the flare in her eyes. “Anyway you shake it, darlin’, it’s still there.”
And so dangerous, she thought. If anything, those moments in the hallway reminded her that they were combustion waiting to happen and that she’d nearly forgotten her daughter in the face of her own need.
“I know. But sex isn’t everything.”
“It’s a nice start.”
Men, she thought, unable to stop her very supreme-female smile. They think first with their anatomy, then their hearts. “Okay, yes, I’ll agree that in bed we were a great match. But is that all you want in a marriage? A name on a piece of paper and a partner in bed?” Melanie dished up the meal onto plates and brought them to the table.
When Juliana fussed, Jack set her in her high chair and gave her a cracker.
“No, it’s not. But I think we have the makings of something stronger.” Jack wanted to tell Melanie that she scared him worse than facing down enemy weapons with only one clip left in his magazine. He felt helpless around her and he wondered if she really knew what she did to him with just one of those innocent “oh, really” kind of looks she got when she was skeptical. That kiss already told her she had him roped and ready for her. And his body was still aching for more.
“Maybe.” Melanie wasn’t going to mention that because they’d had a child together, there was more between them already and it also, very importantly to her at least, masked true feelings. That fact tormented her because Jack was a good guy. She’d found very little to dislike about him. What woman wouldn’t love a man who did the laundry and cooked, for pity’s sake?
Jack watched the emotions skate across her face as he slid gingerly into a chair.
Melanie frowned slightly at him. “What’s the matter? Are you sore?” He was shifting in the chair.
“Yes, I am.”
“Want a heating pad, some ointment or something?”
He stabbed at a portion of meat, looking at her through a lock of dark hair. “I don’t think that is the solution for this ache.”
“Oh.” His meaning sank into her like thick warm honey as she sank into her chair. “Oh.” And the part of her that said, Don’t be so pleased, dearie, was lost to the sheer feminine joy of He’s hot for me and still steaming, which was shouting in the back of her mind.
Melanie glanced up, her lips twitching.
“Eat,” he commanded. “Or I’ll come over there and make you feel so good you won’t be able to not smile at me like that.”
A giddy spurt of heat shot out to her fingertips. “Aye, aye, sir. Viable threat noted. Shall I go to Defcon Delta?”