Gard kissed her again, the heat of Jenna’s mouth a searing counterpoint to the rain soaking her. She teased Jenna’s damp shirt free of her jeans, dancing her fingertips over the slick, smooth skin of her lower back. Jenna’s hands roamed under her shirt. Nails etched lines of fire over her skin, teeth nibbled at her lip. She blinked water from her eyes and focused on the blue sky between the mountaintops. “Jenna. Look.”

“Oh God, don’t stop kissing me,” Jenna moaned.

“Wait.” Taking Jenna’s shoulders in both hands, Gard turned her on the blanket until Jenna’s back was against her chest. A huge double rainbow arched over the mountains, sparkling in crystal hues. Jenna’s head fell back against her shoulder, her hands restless on Gard’s thighs.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Yes.” Gard held Jenna close with one arm wrapped around her middle and opened the top buttons of Jenna’s shirt. She slipped her hand inside and cradled Jenna’s breast beneath the flimsy, damp material of her bra. Jenna’s nipple was a hard stone against her palm. She squeezed lightly and Jenna rolled her head on her shoulder, whimpering softly. She put her mouth against Jenna’s ear. “You like that.”

“Oh yes, yes.”

Gard fondled Jenna’s breasts beneath her blouse and popped the button on her jeans. “Watch the rainbow, Jenna.”

Jenna gripped her wrist weakly. “If you touch me, I’m afraid I’ll—”

“Shh, I know.” Gard skimmed her fingertips beneath smooth silk, caressing the satiny flesh between Jenna’s legs. Jenna’s clitoris was so hard she’d come very quickly, and Gard had never wanted anything more. She swirled her fingertips over the firm prominence and Jenna trembled in her arms. She kissed Jenna’s temple and sheltered her from the downpour in the curve of her body, afraid to break the spell that held them suspended in the arch of color flaming above them.

Trembling, Jenna pressed her mouth to Gard’s throat. “You’re going to make me come.”

“Let me.” Gard’s chest was so tight she couldn’t get enough air. Her head spun but she struggled to go slow, wanting to please Jenna more than she wanted her next breath. She dipped lower, slipped inside, cradled Jenna in her palm as she cradled her against her body. Jenna tightened around her. “You’re so close, baby. Let me.”

“Yes.” Jenna whimpered, her lip between her teeth, her lids almost closed. Her voice thinned to a whisper. “Please. You feel so good. I have to.”

Gard kissed her softly, filling her mouth, filling her body, holding her gently and stroking her over and over and over until the rainbow shattered with her cries.

Chapter Twenty

Jenna was torn between opening her eyes, needing to see Gard’s face, and never opening her eyes again, wanting to drift forever in the incredible haven of Gard’s arms. Still cradled against Gard’s chest, she couldn’t move, but she felt wonderful. Intensely satisfied. Incredibly pleasured. Inexplicably cherished. Terrifyingly vulnerable. She’d always considered an orgasm just an orgasm—never bad, always enjoyable—and she’d just experienced the most fabulous one of her life. But the amazing climax wasn’t what had shattered her into a million pieces. No. That was Gard. All Gard. The way she touched her, held her, knew her. Knew what she needed, what she wanted, what she longed for even when she had refused to admit it. Gard made her feel treasured, and realizing just how much that mattered scared her down to her toes.

“Are you all right?” Gard’s breath was a warm wind teasing over her neck.

“Anything I say is going to sound ridiculous.” Jenna forced her eyes open, willing her spaghetti-limp arms and legs into action. Bracing her hands on Gard’s thighs, she pushed herself upright and swiveled to face her. Oh God. Her heart couldn’t take much more. Gard’s hair lay in dark wet strands over her forehead and clung to her neck in curling tendrils. Rain ran in rivulets over her cheeks and dripped from the edge of her jaw. Her lips were parted, her breath coming fast, her eyes wild as the midnight hunt. Jenna framed her face, brushing away the clear crystal drops clinging to her lashes with her thumbs. “You’re so beautiful my heart hurts.”

Gard clasped Jenna’s waist. Her throat rippled but no sound came out. Naked need rode hard in her eyes.

“Oh,” Jenna whispered, kissing her softly. “No more teasing. I want to take care of you, gorgeous. Right now.” She kissed her again and fumbled for the button on Gard’s fly, her fingers still clumsy in the aftermath of her off-the-Richter-scale orgasm.

“We can wait,” Gard said hoarsely. “I’m—”

“Oh, don’t even try that line on me.” Jenna caressed Gard’s cheek. “I can’t tell you how much I want you—you probably wouldn’t believe me. But I can show you, and I know you need it.”

Jenna got Gard’s fly open, worked her hand inside, and clasped her gently, one fingertip gliding firmly down over her clitoris and almost into her. Gard stiffened and her eyes rolled before she seemed to focus on Jenna’s face.

“Jenna, I—” She choked, her hips jerking when Jenna squeezed slowly.

“The next time,” Jenna nipped Gard’s lip and pushed a little deeper, “I’m going to make you wait for a long, long time. But not today. You can’t wait today, can you?”

Jenna stroked and Gard shuddered, gripping Jenna’s shoulders, fingers digging in as if she were trying to hold herself up.

“Oh no, you can’t wait,” Jenna whispered, enthralled by the sight of Gard slowly coming apart right in front of her. She teased her a little, then stroked harder, fingers gliding out and then dipping back inside, each pass making her clitoris jump. “You’re going to come all over me in about two seconds, aren’t you?”

Gard panted, her hands opening and closing convulsively. “Jen… You’ll make me… Oh fu—”

Jenna kissed her, filled her, massaged her in her palm until her clitoris grew impossibly hard, pulsed rapidly, and exploded. Gard jerked and tried to pull away but Jenna held her fast with a fist in her hair, kissing her as Gard groaned into her mouth. When Gard finally sagged forward, Jenna clasped her tightly, one arm around her shoulders, her fingers still inside her. She kissed her damp forehead, her eyelids, her mouth. Gard—normally so contained, so defended—looked so exposed Jenna would have killed to protect her at that moment. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

Gard pressed her forehead to Jenna’s shoulder, her breath coming hard. She contracted around Jenna’s fingers and, with a helpless whine, pushed down hard into Jenna’s hand. “Oh, no… Jenna, God…”

“Oh yes, sweetheart.” Jenna watched, rapt, as the pleasure rained down Gard’s face. “Yes.”

Gard struggled to keep her eyes open, Jenna’s fierce expression making her come even harder. She came so fast and so hard it was almost painful. Almost. When the climax finally relented, she was lying on her side, her head pillowed between Jenna’s breasts. She didn’t remember falling or being caught. Totally wasted, stunned by how easily Jenna had taken her, she rubbed her cheek against the soft skin exposed by Jenna’s open blouse. She wanted to laugh and cry and do it again.

“Better?” Jenna whispered.

“Am I still alive?”

Jenna played her fingers through Gard’s hair. “I certainly hope so. That was just an appetizer.”

Gard chuckled and kissed Jenna’s throat. “I’m not sure whether that’s a threat or a promise.”

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we.”

Jenna sounded pensive, a little distant. Gard tensed, wondering if what she heard was regret. “I’m sorry I was a little quick off the mark. I’m not usually—”

“Oh, shut up,” Jenna said lightly. “You ought to know how sexy it is to get a woman so excited she comes the second you touch her. Considering that’s what you did to me.”

“That’s different.”

Jenna tugged on Gard’s hair, forcing her to tilt her head back until their eyes met. “Don’t even think of going there with me. I like to be in charge in bed—which means everything goes both ways.”

“In charge, huh?” Gard grinned. “Those sound like fighting words.”

“You can always try.”

Gard kissed her. The flirtatious note in Jenna’s voice didn’t bother her. After the intensity of what they’d just shared, she understood needing to back off a little. Hell, part of her wanted to run for the hills. What bothered her was the worry Jenna was trying, and failing, to hide. “Challenge accepted. In fact—”

A sharp ring fractured the steamy stillness of the glade and they both jerked. When the sound came again, Gard grabbed the phone off her belt, sat up, and stared at the readout.

“Damn it. Sorry. It’s Rob—my tech. He wouldn’t call me unless—”

“It’s okay.” Jenna stood and arranged her clothes, her expression suddenly remote. “We ought to be getting back anyhow.”

“Hello? Hold on for a second, Rob.” Gard grasped Jenna’s hand. “Is something wrong?”

“No, of course not.”

Jenna hurriedly gathered up the remains of the picnic, rushing as if she couldn’t wait to leave. Gard knelt on the blanket, her shirt out, her pants open, her body and soul even more naked. What the hell had just happened?

Jenna edged over to the far side of her seat as Gard headed down the mountain into Vermont, hating the distance she had put between them every bit as much as she needed it. Up there, in that secret, beautiful, out-of-time place she had ventured far from her safety zone. She hadn’t just lost control, she’d surrendered every protective instinct she’d ever had, physically and emotionally. She had wanted Gard so damn much. She hadn’t been able to feel her enough, couldn’t get her close enough. If she’d had a way to pull Gard inside her skin, she would have done it. She’d never in her life wanted to be that connected to another soul, to be joined. To be one. Now, when some small bit of rationality had returned, she couldn’t absorb wanting her that way, not when all she’d ever wanted, all she’d fought for, was to stand alone and never to be dependent on anyone. Never to rely on someone who might leave her, betray her, use her. She knew somewhere deep inside that Gard was not that kind of person, but knowing and feeling were two different things. Right at this moment she was just plain scared.