Breaking Hearts (Delta Force Strong Book 5)

by Elle James

  The security guard had confirmed that there was a security camera on the corner of the bungalow and along the pathway leading from the hotel to the bungalows. He would keep an eye on the cameras and warn them if anyone was coming their way. But what if they came in from the ocean? The security guard wouldn’t see it until they were right there at the bungalow.

  Sophia finished her glass of wine and set the glass on the table. She leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes.

  “Tired?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yes, I could go to sleep right here.”

  “Why don’t you go on to bed?”

  “That would require me getting up,” she said with a sigh. “I don’t think I can do that right now.”

  The problem with Sophia falling asleep on the couch was that Blade was going to sleep there. And he’d promised himself that he wouldn’t sleep with Sophia that night. He hated to disturb her, so he let her rest there.

  Her eyes being closed gave him the opportunity to study her face. She’d cleaned off any makeup. He could see that her eyelashes were the same pretty red as her hair. The soft freckles across her cheeks were even more pronounced after spending the day in the sun. Her lips appeared soft and beautiful, just like her, and he was sorely tempted to taste them.

  No, it wouldn’t do for Sophia to fall asleep next to him. The longer she sat there and the deeper her breaths became, the hotter he got. If he wasn’t so worried about her safety, he’d go out and find a woman to take to bed, but the thought of anyone else just didn’t appeal to him. Abruptly, he rose from the couch, afraid if he sat there much longer, he wouldn’t be able to get up.

  Sophia blinked her eyes open. “Where ya going?”

  “Nowhere, but you’re going to bed.” He held out his hand, and she laid hers in his. He pulled her to her feet then scooped her legs out from under her and carried her into the bedroom.

  “You know you don’t have to carry me,” Sophia murmured, her breath warm on his neck. “I can walk on my own.”

  “You’re tired,” he reasoned.

  She looped an arm around his neck and held on until he stood beside the bed. “You know you don’t have to sleep on that couch tonight.”

  He laughed. “Yes, I do.”

  “It’s not long enough for you. You’re so tall. You could’ve left me on the couch and slept in here.”

  He shook his head. “No, this bedroom is the most fortified of all of the rooms. If somebody breaks in, they’re going to go through the door or one of the large patio doors. It’s best if I stay out there, and you stay in here.” He laid her down on the bed.

  She didn’t unloop her arm from around his neck right away. Instead, she stared up into his eyes. “What if I have a dream again?”

  “I’m in the next room. All you have to do is call out.”

  “Promise?”

  He nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I promise.”

  Sophia tightened her hold around his neck and pulled him down to her, pressing her lips to his.

  He returned the pressure before he could think straight.

  When she opened to him, he swept his tongue in to caress hers. His body tightened. His pulse quickened. If he didn’t leave soon, he wouldn’t. He reached around his neck and loosened her grip, squeezed her hands and laid them beside her on the bed. Then he leaned back and said, “I swore we wouldn’t do this.”

  “It’s not nice to swear,” she said and smiled. Her shirt had bunched up some and exposed her midriff.

  “Sweetheart,” he said, his voice tight, “I don’t want to ruin a perfectly good friendship.”

  She stared up at him with her deep green eyes. “What if I don’t want to be your friend?”

  He was so very tempted. “That would be a real shame. I would miss you as a friend. Go to sleep, Sophia.”

  “What if I have a bad dream?”

  “Leave the door open. I’ll hear you.”

  Disappointed, she laid back against the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. “Goodnight, Blade,” she said, her tone curt.

  Blade left the room before he decided to stay.

  Sophia’s gaze followed him through the door. Well, hell, so much for seducing the man. He really was determined to stay in the “friend zone.”

  The lights blinked out in the living room and silence descended.

  She couldn’t even open a window to let the sound of the waves lull her to sleep. Sophia could hear the sound of ice clinking against glass.

  Blade was just as awake as she was, only he had the advantage of a drink in his hand.

  “Blade?” she called out softly.

  “Yes, Sophia?”

  “Have you ever been in love?” she asked softly.

  For a long moment he didn’t answer. “I thought I was once.”

  She scooted up into a sitting position. “Really? What happened?”

  He snorted. “When she found out I was walking away from my parents’ money to join the Army, she dumped me.”

  “Wow.” Sophia slid back down in the bed. “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not,” Blade said. “I’m glad I learned her true colors before we did something stupid like get married. We would probably have ended up divorced, or worse, bickering like my parents.”

  Silence stretched between them for a few long moments. Then Sophia offered, “You know not every woman is after money.”

  “Maybe not, but they want something else that I’m not capable of giving.” His tone was hard, unbending.

  “And that is?” she asked.

  “Stability.”

  Sophia’s heart stuttered but she pressed on. “Stability could mean different things to different people.”

  “Maybe so, but as a Delta I don’t see that happening in my life.” The ice in the glass clinked as if he swirled it around. “Not as long as I’m a member of the military.”

  It was none of her business, but she had to know. “Do you think you’ll ever let yourself fall in love again?” Sophia’s breath lodged in her throat, awaiting his response.

  He didn’t answer for a long time. “I’m not sure I know what love is. My parents sure didn’t set a good example of it.”

  “I guess I was lucky,” she said. “My parents did. I asked my dad once what it felt like to be in love. How would I know when I fell in love? He answered with a question. How would you feel if that person was no longer with you? If the answer was broken-hearted, then that’s love. That kind of helped me through the death of both my parents at the same time.”

  “How so?” Blade asked.

  “Knowing that they went together meant neither one suffered a broken heart.” Her chest tightened at the memory. “Blade?”

  “Yes, Sophia.”

  “As your friend… I hope you let yourself fall in love again. You deserve to be loved and to be happy.” She didn’t want him to say anything after that, so she added, “Goodnight, Blade.”

  “Goodnight, Sophia.”

  She reflected on her father’s words. If Blade were to leave her life, would she be heartbroken? She thought long and hard about it, and the answer was yes. But she also loved him enough that she wanted him to be happy. If it wasn’t with her, well, then he would be happy. That’s all that mattered.

  Just because he’d kissed her once didn’t mean that he was in love with her. She’d rather he fell in love with her, but she couldn’t make somebody fall in love with her. Either they did or they didn’t. She wasn’t convinced that he didn’t love her. There’d been something in that kiss, and she had the rest of the week to figure it out.

  Chapter 8

  Blade finished his drink and set his glass on the coffee table. He turned and laid his head on one arm of the couch and draped his legs over the other. At least the cushions were soft.

  He lay awake for a long time staring up at the ceiling. Had he ever felt broken-hearted over any woman who’d left his life?

  No. Not even the woman he’d thought he was in love with. Her walkin
g out on him hadn’t broken his heart. He’d been pretty young then and was probably more in love with the idea of having someone to come home to than actually loving the person.

  His thoughts came around to Sophia. She was his friend, and he loved living next door to her. He looked forward to seeing her every time he came home from deployment. When Rucker, Mac and Bull’s women had shown up at the airport, Blade had found himself looking around for Sophia’s red hair and green eyes. He’d been disappointed, and even more so when she hadn’t come to his house when he’d finally made it home that night.

  If Calderón had gotten away with Sophia before Blade had had a chance to rescue her, would he have been broken-hearted? That all out desperate feeling when he had seen those men dragging her away, would he have felt the same way if it had been anybody else that he was responsible for? Maybe, but even more so because it was Sophia. With his ears straining for every little sound, he drifted off to sleep.

  The wind picked up during the night, tossing the palm trees outside the bungalow. The slapping sound the fronds made woke him.

  Something else caught his attention. Was it a whimper coming to him from the bedroom? Blade rose from the couch, stretched and worked the kinks out of his neck as he hurried toward the bedroom.

  Sophia laid tangled in the sheets, her arms and legs thrashing. “No,” she moaned.

  Blade stopped by the side of her bed and touched her shoulder. “Sophia, you’re having a bad dream. Wake up.”

  She moaned again, her eyes remaining shut.

  He leaned over her. “Sophia, sweetheart, wake up.”

  Sophia jerked awake, her eyes opening wide. When she spotted him, she cried, “Blade.” She flung her arms around his neck and clung to him.

  He lifted her in his arms and sat on the bed cocooning her body with his. He smoothed his hand over her curls and spoke to her in a soothing tone. “It’ll be okay. Those bad guys aren’t here. I’m here. I’ll take care of you.”

  She buried her face in his neck, her body trembling.

  He crooned to her, speaking in hushed tones until her trembling subsided.

  Her hands slid over his chest, and she pressed closer, draping one of her legs over his.

  “Sophia?” Blade whispered into her ear. “Are you awake?”

  She murmured. “Mmm.”

  “No more bad dreams?”

  She shook her head, her soft curls brushing against his skin, stirring him.

  He drew in a shaky breath and let it out. “I should go back to the living room.”

  Her arm tightened around his chest “No. Please stay.”

  Blade was afraid that if he stayed, he wouldn’t be able to resist exploring each freckle on her skin.

  Her hand slipped from his chest down to his torso.

  Blade’s groin tightened. If he didn’t move immediately, he’d do something he might regret.

  When her hand reached the elastic of his boxer shorts, he felt a moan rising up his throat. Now. He had to move now.

  Her hand slipped beneath the elastic of his boxer shorts and skimmed across his engorged shaft.

  His breath lodged in his throat.

  Oh, sweet Jesus. It was too late. He tipped her chin up and stared down into her pretty green eyes reflecting the light from the bathroom. “Do you know what you’re doing to me?”

  She chuckled as her warm fingers circled him. “I have a good idea.”

  He swept a strand of her hair back behind her ear. “You know this could ruin a perfectly good friendship?”

  Sophia’s forehead wrinkled. “Screw friendship. Look, I want this. No strings attached. No expectations. Just stay with me tonight. Then, you can date all the women in the world, and I won’t say a thing. I’ll just be another notch on your bedpost.” She gave him a stiff smile. “And I’m okay with that.”

  “But what if I’m not okay with it? Sophia, you deserve better than that. You’re my friend, and I value that friendship.”

  Her hand tightened on his erection and slid up and back down where she fondled his balls.

  A groan escaped his mouth. “This isn’t right.”

  “Does it feel right?” she asked. “It feels right to me.” Her hand tightened.

  “Damn, Sophia.” He groaned again. “Yes, it does.”

  “Then go with it,” she whispered.

  The walls he’d erected around the feelings he had for her crumbled. He drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Well, if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do this right.”

  A smile spread across her face. “I like the way you’re thinking.”

  He flipped her onto her back, leaned over her and captured her mouth in a deep, crushing kiss.

  She opened to him and met his tongue with hers.

  When he finally broke the kiss, she laughed, gasping for air. “Nice start, soldier. What else ya got?”

  “Sassy much?” He shook his head and bent to press a kiss to the side of her neck just below her ear.

  She leaned her head back, giving him more access to her long slender throat.

  Blade kissed a path down her neck, stopping to press a kiss to the pulse beating at the base of her throat. He skimmed over her collarbone and downward, pressing his lips against the soft jersey material of her T-shirt and capturing one of her breasts in his mouth.

  Sophia arched her back, grabbed the hem of her T-shirt, pulled it up over her head and tossed it to the floor, giving him full access to her skin.

  He accepted her offering, drawing her nipple into his mouth and sucking gently. Then he flicked it with his tongue and rolled the hard little bead between his teeth.

  Sophia writhed and moaned beneath him.

  His blood pushed molten heat throughout his body, and he grew harder with each passing second. From that breast, he moved to the other one and gave it the same attention. Then he moved down her torso one rib at a time. When he reached the edge of her shorts, he paused. He might be ruining a friendship, but he wouldn’t ruin her life. He climbed out of the bed and went into the other room to where he’d left his duffle bag. Once he’d found his shaving kit and the protection he’d stashed there, he was back in a flash.

  Sophia smiled. “I thought maybe you’d changed your mind.”

  He held up the packet. “No, I didn’t change my mind, but I didn’t lose it either.”

  She nodded.

  His brow furrowed. “I haven’t changed my mind, have you?”

  She swung her legs over the side of the bed and held out her hand for the packet.

  His lips curled up on the corners as he handed over the condom. “What are you doing?”

  She gave him a slow sexy smile. “Taking matters into my own hands.” She stared up at him, locking her gaze with his, and then she slipped her hands beneath the elastic of his boxer shorts and pushed them down his hips, letting them fall to the floor.

  He stepped free of them.

  She reached for his hardened shaft and ran both hands over the length of it, pausing to fondle him at the base.

  His breath caught and held, arrested in his lungs. For him, there was no going back. He was coming apart at the seams and damned himself all the way to hell for what he was about to do to her after she did whatever it was she was going to do him.

  Sophia leaned forward and touched her tongue to the tip of his erection.

  His cock jerked automatically. Blade groaned.

  She looked up. “That hurt? Or was it good?”

  He drew in a deep breath to steady his beating heart. “Good,” he bit out between clenched teeth. Just being near her mouth made him want to blow.

  When she leaned forward again, she took him into her mouth. Her hands gripped his buttocks and pulled him forward until the tip of his cock bumped against the back of her throat. Her mouth was so warm and wet, like he imagined her channel would be.

  Sophia’s tongue swirled around his shaft as she pushed him back, just enough. Setting the rhythm, she guided him in and out of her mouth, increasing
the speed each time.

  Blade buried his hands in her hair, loving how the curls wrapped around his fingers and how she responded to his slightest pressure. Soon, they were moving in sync, the pace growing faster and faster.

  When he teetered on the edge of his control, he pulled free of her mouth. He wanted to be inside her when he came.

  Sophia smiled up at him, feeling powerful after the control she’d had over him for the few short minutes they’d been together. There was no doubt that he liked what she was doing.

  “Your turn,” he said, as he settled between her legs with the tip of his shaft touching her entrance. “I want you,” he said. “But we’re not finished.”

  She gave him a lazy, sexy smile. “What’s keeping you?”

  “This,” he said, and he worked his way down her body quickly, grabbing hold of her shorts and panties and dragging them down her legs to her ankles and off. Then he kissed a path up the insides of her legs to the center of her desire.

  Sophia sucked in a breath and held it. He parted her folds and tapped his tongue to that plump strip of flesh, packed with thousands of nerve endings. When he touched her there, it was as if every one of them ignited.

  She gasped and clutched his shoulders.

  He flicked her again, and fire burned through her veins. Her fingernails curled into his skin, and she lifted her hips off the mattress, rising to meet that incredible tongue, wanting more. Every touch pushed her closer to the edge until she vaulted into the stratosphere. Tingling started at her core and spread outward to the very tips of her fingers and toes. She rode wave after wave of sensations until she collapsed against the mattress. Climaxing with Blade should have been enough. But Sophia still wanted more. She wanted to feel him inside her, filling her.

  Blade rose up over her and captured her mouth in a deep kiss at the same time as he pressed his shaft to her entrance.

  Sophia clutched his bare buttocks in her hands and pressed him in, taking his full length into her slick center.

  He paused, giving her time to accommodate his girth. Then he drew out and pushed back in, settling into a slow, steady pace.