Chapter 42
"Jake?" Sam shouted as she came into the Three Ponies stone house kitchen. She listened, but didn't hear him answer back. "I bet he's asleep somewhere," she said with a smile.
Sam hung up her coat and started looking for him. He wasn't in the family room. She looked down the hallway and started for his room. The door was shut. She knocked softly then peeked in. He was face down under the covers. Sam couldn't help the snort.
She went in to him, shutting the door behind her. As she looked down at him as he slept, she felt the love she had for him wash over her. He looked so vulnerable as he lay there. She brushed back a lock of his black Shoshone hair.
Almost as if he knew she was there, he rolled over onto his side and opened one eye.
"Hey," she smiled at him.
"Come lay with me," Jake's tired voice said to her. He reached up and tugged on her arm. She noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt under the covers.
"Aren't you cold?" Sam asked as she lay down next to him.
"Nah, the quilt's warm," Jake said.
Sam picked up the quilt to look under it, but Jake snatched it out of her grasp.
"I wouldn't do that," Jake warned her.
"Are you…," Sam yelped. "Are you…"
"Naked?" Jake finished with a snort.
"Jake, you're naked?" Sam shouted.
"Calm down, Brat," Jake laughed. "I always sleep naked. It's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal?" Sam was incredulous. "I'm in bed with a naked man."
"You're on the bed," Jake reminded her.
"Oh that makes it so much better," Sam rolled her eyes. "Maybe you want to explain the difference to my father."
Jake shuddered. "Uh, no."
Sam snorted. "I didn't think so." She hit him.
"Does this mean you're not going to kiss me?" Jake gave her a lost puppy look.
"No," Sam laughed and rolled to him to kiss him.
Their lips met, broke apart to meet again. The kiss quickly turned heated as Jake's hands tangled in her hair to bring her even closer to him.
Sam's tongue asked for entrance which he granted. Their tongues danced and tangled and she whimpered as she was swept along. Her hands cupped his cheeks then slid into his black hair.
And still they kissed.
Sam tucked herself around him and Jake pulled the sheet and quilt up over them. Sam sighed in contentment and Jake nearly did as well.
Sometime later, she glanced at her watch to see what time it was, sure it was way after midnight. Sam was surprised it was only ten o'clock.
"What time is it?" Jake asked and he too was surprised when she told him.
"Do you think Quinn's asked Debi yet?" Sam asked.
"I don't know," Jake shrugged. He honestly didn't care anything about Quinn at that moment. He was just thinking of the woman in his arms.
"What's wrong?" Sam rolled more on top of him to look down into his face. Her hair fell over them like a veil. Sam grumbled and pulled it back only to have it fall over them again. "I'm going to cut this."
Jake rolled her over onto her back, supporting himself on his forearms. He used one hand to brush her hair back.
"There, see?" Jake smiled down at her. "Don't cut it. I like your hair."
"I remember my hair when I came back from San Francisco," Sam frowned.
"What happened?" Jake felt he could finally ask.
"I took Aunt Sue's sewing scissors to my pony tail in the attempt to look older," Sam told him.
Jake barked out a laugh and Sam giggled.
"It didn't work," he managed to tell her.
"No kidding," Sam laughed and Jake kissed her mouth. Her hands moved through his thick hair, loving the silkiness of it between her fingers. "I ended up looking like a freak."
Jake didn't say anything, but he did grin earning him a swat from Sam. The two of them laughed together.
"Marry me, Sam," Jake blurted out, surprising Sam.
"What? Now?" Sam asked.
"No, of course not now," Jake looked down at her and Sam almost cried at the softness in his dark brown eyes. "When we can."
"When we're done with college?" Sam asked.
"If that's the best time," Jake said.
"Yes, I'll marry you Jake," Sam sighed softly. "Whenever it's the best time for us."
"I love you Samantha Anne," Jake whispered, capturing her lips with his.
"I love you too, Jacob Dylan," Sam grinned against his mouth.
Jake ran his tongue down Sam's neck and she shivered. He placed his mouth against her jaw and sucked briefly. Sam giggled and shivered again.
His mouth latched onto the skin just above her breast and he sucked again, this time harder. When he finished, he latched onto the skin just above her other breast again and sucked.
She had a random thought that he was going to leave a mark. Oh gosh, that's what he was doing!
"Jake?" Sam yelped, trying to look down at her body. Was that a mark above each breast?
"Jake!" her hand rubbed the marks on her breasts. "Jacob Dylan Ely, you marked me!"
"Yes sweetheart, I did," Jake's tomcat grin spread over his face, his eyes squinting until they were almost shut.
"You branded me," Sam shouted.
"As my own," Jake wasn't a bit repentant.
"How am I going to explain them?" Sam wanted to know.
"Who else is gonna see them?" Jake had a question of his own.
"Well we girls do shower together in gym," Sam reminded him.
"Oops, I had forgotten that," Jake murmured.
She flipped him over onto his back and Jake laughed as she latched onto the skin on his upper chest and sucked as hard as she could. She checked the skin a few seconds later, then put her mouth on him and kept sucking until a mark showed on his dark skin.
"If I have to be branded, then so do you," she said smugly when she was done.
Jake looked down at himself, knowing he was in for it from his brothers, if they happened to see them. Otherwise, he didn't mind a bit that she had branded him as hers. He was, even without the marks on his skin. His heart belonged to her and only her.
When midnight came, the two of them kissed hungrily.
"Happy New Year, Brat," Jake murmured against her mouth.
"Happy New Year," Sam repeated.
A short time later, Jake said he'd take her home.
"I'll take your truck and bring it back tomorrow," Sam suggested. She was worried that he was tired, especially when he yawned.
When he would have protested, she stared him down.
Jake chuckled. "I do love you, Brat."
"You better," Sam grinned at him, licking the tip of his nose.
She got dressed while he slipped on a pair of sweatpants. Sam couldn't help leaning in and kissing one of the spots she left on his chest.
"Don't start or I'll start kissing yours," Jake warned her with a tomcat grin.
"That's not much of a threat, Jake," Sam told him.
He chuckled, holding her close to him for a moment before they left his room and he walked her towards the kitchen. When they reached the kitchen, he grabbed his truck keys from the rack where the family kept their keys.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Sam nibbled his lips.
"Okay," Jake's lips pursed against hers. "I love you, Brat."
"I love you too," Sam hugged him, feeling his lips brush over her hair.
She gave him a small wave and disappeared outside, where it had begun to snow.