“My mother was a saint,” Erick said with a laugh.
“Well, she must have been an excellent teacher.” Bailey looked at the others at the table. “Can the rest of you cook?”
“You better believe it,” Grace said, drawing Bailey’s attention. “I made sure every one of our children knows their way around the kitchen.”
“Let me just say,” said Leslie, Patrick’s wife. “Patrick is fabulous in the kitchen.” She propped her chin in her hand. “It’s why I keep him.”
Everyone laughed, but none harder and louder than Patrick. “I thought it was the thing I did with my tongue.” He stuck out his tongue and waggled it around.
“Patrick!” his wife said as she popped him with her napkin. “We have company.”
“Sorry, Mrs. Ellis,” Patrick said.
Bailey’s grandmother laughed. “I might have known a few tongue tricks of my own.”
“Grandma!” Bailey exclaimed.
Levi put his arm around the back of her chair and laughed with the rest of the family.
Cherry Ellis pushed back her chair and stood. “Let me help you with these dishes, Grace.”
“Absolutely not,” Grace said. “Can I get anyone coffee?”
No one wanted coffee, and the group stood, the sound of wooden chair legs scraping on cedar flooring had goose bumps jumping up on Bailey’s arms. She started stacking plates and collecting silverware until Levi stopped her.
“Appreciate the help, but…” He gestured toward his father, brothers and brother-in-law already loading up dirty glasses and silverware. “The guys clean up.”
“Really?” Bailey said with a wide smile. “I like the house rules.”
The women adjourned to the living room. Bailey took a seat on the sofa next to Macy. As the other women were talking about people in town, she leaned over to Levi’s sister. “How are you feeling?”
Macy rubbed her protruding abdomen. “Pretty good, now that the nausea and vomiting have stopped.”
“Good. What are you? Six months? Seven?”
“Closer to eight months.”
Bailey’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “I didn’t realize you were so far along. Is there anything I can do to help?”
His sister’s shoulders relaxed, as though expecting Bailey to say something negative. “Thanks, Bailey, but I think I’ve got it covered. Nancy is attending the childbirth classes with me. The plan is she will go through labor and delivery with me.”
Bailey nodded. “It’ll be good to have your sister with you.”
Macy fidgeted. “I guess you’re wondering about the baby’s daddy.”
“Nope. None of my business,” Bailey said. “But if there is anything I can do to help you in a medical way, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you for not judging me.”
“Not my place.”
Macy bumped Bailey’s shoulder. “And for keeping Levi off my case this week.”
“Well, first, I didn’t know I was keeping Levi off your case. And second, it’s been my pleasure.”
Macy laughed.
“Cherry,” Bailey said to her grandmother. “We need to call it a night.”
Her grandmother pushed out of the chair she was in. “Yes, we do. I’m usually in bed by now.”
“You are not,” Bailey said with a laugh. “You’re usually opening a beer about now.”
Her grandmother swatted at Bailey’s backside, missing it by a mile. “Don’t tell everything you know.”
Cherry bussed a kiss on Grace’s cheek. “It was good to see you, Grace. Your kids have grown into nice adults.”
Bailey turned to her grandmother. “Let me run back and say bye to Levi and the guys. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll get your jacket from upstairs,” Nancy said.
Bailey hurried through the dining room to the kitchen and heard the guys ribbing Levi about her. She paused, embarrassed to be listening, but dying to know what he would say.
“You boys leave Levi alone,” their dad said. “After all, we’re all just thankful that some female didn’t find him too ugly to kiss.”
There were hoots from the kitchen, including a laugh she was sure was from Levi.
“Seriously, bro,” one of the brothers said. “She’s hot, and nice, and smart. What does she see in you?”
Bailey thought it was Sam speaking, but she wasn’t sure.
“She has good taste,” Levi said.
She knocked on the door before entering. “Hey. Cherry and I are headed out. Thank you for a wonderful evening.”
Levi dropped the dish towel in his hand onto the counter. “I’ll walk you out.”
“Trying to get out of work again,” Patrick drawled.
“Yep.”
Levi took her arm, and they walked into the living room. Bailey hugged each woman and thanked Grace again. Levi held out both of his bent arms to Bailey and her grandmother. Each woman took a side, and he walked them to the car.
“Thank you, Levi,” Cherry said, and patted his cheek. “You’ve grown into quite a handsome man.”
“Thank you, Cherry.” He opened the passenger door and helped her into Bailey’s beat-up truck.
Bailey took his hand as they walked to the driver’s side. “Thank you.”
“It’s still early. Let me pick you up, and we can go for a drive or something. I have a surprise.”
“Oh, I love surprises.”
“I’ll finish here and be by your place in, let’s say, thirty minutes. That work?”
“Perfectly.” She glanced down at her body. “What I have on okay?”
He shrugged. “A little dressy for a car ride. Throw on something comfortable.”
Forty-five minutes passed before Bailey heard Levi’s truck pull into the drive.
Opening the front door, she called behind her, “See you later, grandma.”
“I’m going to bed,” Cherry said. “I’ll have no idea when you get home.”
Bailey saw the twinkle in her grandmother’s eye. “Playing matchmaker, old woman?” she joked.
“Don’t have to. I think you’re doing just fine without me.”
Bailey locked the door behind her and hurried down the steps. Levi was standing outside the vehicle smiling.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey, back. Hop in.”
He was glad to see her. Bailey knew that for a fact, but she perceived a pissed-off mood, too.
As soon as she was in the passenger seat, he leaned over and pulled her in for a long, deep, tongue-thrusting kiss, or rather kisses. Finally, he settled back into the driver’s seat with a long sigh.
“Thanks,” he said. “I needed that.”
“What’s happened? You look like you’ve got a bug up your butt.”
He looked at her and burst out with a loud laugh. “I swear. My team would love you. That’s exactly what Compass would have said to me.”
“Compass?”
“Rio North. My closest friend on the team.” He started the engine and drove down her drive.
“I guess you’ll be glad to get back and see him. Is he on leave, too?”
“Permanent leave, unfortunately.”
Bailey heart broke at the thought that Levi’s friend had died. “Oh, I’m so sorry. How did he die?”
“What?” Levi chuckled “Thank you. I needed that. Compass isn’t dead. He retired after our last mission. He’s home in Savannah.”
Bailey exhaled. “Thank goodness. I was trying to figure out how to comfort you on the loss of your friend.”
Levi patted the bench seat. “Scoot over here. I can think of a few things you could do that would, um, comfort me.”
She slid next to him, and he draped an arm around her and tugged her tight to his side. “So, now that I don’t have to comfort you about your friend, why do I get the impression that you’re chapped about something?”
“My sister Macy,” he said. “Damn stubborn.”
“Pretty much like your other siblings and yo
u, I’d say.”
His head turned slowly toward her, and he arched an eyebrow.
“I’m serious,” she said. “You all have strong opinions. I can’t see that she’d be any different.”
“Let me ask you something. You’re pregnant, and the guy you’ve been dating for a year and who is father to that baby asks you to marry him. Why would you say no?”
“When did he ask her?”
“As soon as she told him about the baby.”
“Ah. I see.”
He waved a hand. “Well, I don’t see. She loves him. He loves her. They’re having a kid. Why won’t she marry him?” He wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck. “And why does every woman nod and understand, and us poor guys are like, what? Explain it. And use small words.”
She laughed. “I don’t know if Macy loves Doug—that’s his name, right?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. Doug. I don’t know anything about their feelings or the relationship. All I know is they had sex, she got pregnant, and then he asked her to marry him.”
“Yes! That’s it exactly. What am I not getting?”
Bailey put her hand on Levi’s thigh, and then kissed his neck. “It’s a gal thing. A woman wants to marry a man who wants to marry her because she’s the one for him. She wants him to want her. Following?”
Levi turned on a left signal light and wheeled onto a paved road off Sterling Highway. “So far, so good. Continue, unless that’s the entire explanation, and in that case, nope, not following.”
She squeezed his thigh. “I don’t know your sister well, so I’m answering as though I’m in her shoes. Let’s say I loved a guy and had been with him for a year. Then I got pregnant, and of course, it’s his because I’m all faithful and everything.”
“Of course,” he said, tossing her grin.
She returned his grin with her own. “Now that I’m pregnant, he asks me to marry him. I don’t know if he’s marrying me because I’m the one for him or because he feels obligated to since I’m pregnant.”
He pulled into a driveway, stopped and shut down the engine. “What difference does it make?”
“No woman wants to marry a guy because he feels like he has to. She wants to marry a guy who wants to get married because of her, not because of a baby. Get it?”
Levi shook his head like he was slinging off water. “Women are so…so—”
“Smart?”
“Um, yeah. That’s what I was going to say.”
“Seriously, I suspect Macy turned down Doug because she wasn’t sure why he asked her. I get it. In a case like that, I would spend the rest of my life worried that, no matter what my husband said, I had coerced him into something he wasn’t ready for or didn’t want. Not all love leads to marriage. Some love fizzles out.”
He nodded slowly. “I think I got it. Doug’s my friend. Macy’s my sister. What should I do?”
“Stay out of it is my suggestion, but somehow, I don’t think you’ll take my advice. And where are we?” She gestured through the windshield at the dark house.
“Surprise.” He smiled.
“You bought me a house? You shouldn’t have.”
He laughed. “You totally overestimate what a SEAL earns, darlin’.”
She giggled.
“But no, I didn’t buy this. Belongs to the parents of a high school friend. His parents moved to Anchorage and use this place for a getaway. He offered it up to me for my stay.”
“And this is okay with his folks?”
“I called them. They aren’t coming down until the first of July. I’ll be gone by then.”
His words dug a pit in her stomach. She really liked him. Saying goodbye in about ten days was going to suck.
“So, you got a house for us?”
“Yeah. Too presumptuous?” He frowned like maybe he’d overstepped or that they were on different pages. He turned until he could take both of her hands. “I don’t have a lot of time left before I have to go back. I want to spend that time with you.”
She tightened her fingers on his, and then tugged her hand free. Her heart pounded as blood whooshed in her ears. She could feel the arteries in her neck throbbing too, but that wasn’t the only area of her body throbbing.
With a swallow against the nerves clogging her throat, she laid her hand on his thigh. And as she slid her hand toward the bulge in his jeans, she crushed her mouth to his. As her fingers glided over his arched zipper, he moaned and took over the kiss, thrusting his tongue in and out of parted lips.
Her belly clenched. Her breasts swelled, aching for his touch.
She wrenched her mouth away long enough to say, “I think we’re on the same page.”
Levi jerked his keys from the ignition. “Come on,” he said, rushing out of the truck.
She followed behind him around the corner of the house to a massive rear deck perched on the side of cliff overlooking the Cook Inlet. While he worked a key into the door lock, she leaned over the railing and soaked in the view. Blue-gray water spread across the inlet to snow-capped mountains. Yellow and orange streaks filled the horizon at the water’s edge with dark cloud striations. Bright golden rays shot from the sun squatting on the water, ready to drop below and out of sight for a very few hours.
“This must be what heaven looks like.” She blew out a long sigh.
Muscular arms wrapped around her waist from behind. His hard chest pressed into her back, while other hard places pressed into her rear. Soft, warm lips found that special spot just behind her ear. Chills skittered down her spine. She squeezed her thighs together in an unsuccessful attempt to quell the ache there.
“Heaven is you in my arms.” His voice was deep and guttural and breathy, generating chills on top of her chills.
She turned around and met a gaze dark with lust. When she kissed him, he thrust his rigid staff into the vee between her legs. With a low groan, she pumped her throbbing pussy against him, but there was no relief. She needed so much more.
She needed him inside her, shoving and plunging until she could find the release she so wanted. “Isn’t that door unlocked yet?” she said against his lips.
Grabbing her hand, he pulled her across the deck and through the door into a living room, kicking the door shut behind them. Then he slung her over his shoulder and marched through the house to a large bedroom that overlooked the inlet. She might have complained about his heavy-handedness if not for her delicious view of his extremely taut butt. The flex and play of the muscles as he walked had her stomach in a tumble. Yum.
He stopped and lowered her, letting her slide down his body an inch at a time until her toes touched the hardwood floor. As her body had lowered, her pullover shirt had ridden up, stopped only by her breasts. Broad, warm hands covered her sides. Thick fingers stroked up her sides until they glided under the bunched material and pushed it up and over her head. Her top ended up somewhere in the room. She didn’t care where. Her mind was on the hard bulge in his pants.
Before she could act on her fascination, he clutched her shoulders and turned her back to him. He placed silky kisses on each shoulder as he lowered each bra strap. She pulled her arms through the loops, and when he unhooked the back, her peach-toned bra dropped to the floor at her feet. His fingers skimmed along her flesh until each hand caressed a breast. His mouth deposited a field of kisses across her shoulders and down her spine as he plucked and rolled her sensitive nipples.
When his mouth reached the waistband of her slacks, one hand skated down her abdomen to the button to unfasten it, and then pull down her zipper. Now loose, her pants dropped to the floor.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said against her skin. “So fucking beautiful.”
The tip of his tongue licked where her waistband had left a mark. Goose bumps jumped up and marched down her spine. When he tongued her again, her head fell backwards, her long hair covering her back like a sexy, silk curtain.
Her heart slammed in her chest. A powerful lust surged through her ce
lls. She felt like she could explode at any moment.
But he didn’t give her the chance. His fingers replaced his mouth and eased beneath the elastic of her panties to slide them down her legs to where her pants lay.
“Pick up your foot,” he demanded in a rough voice.
His harsh voice sounded needy and stressed. She shivered in response.
She did as he’d demanded. One foot and then the other, kicking off her shoes at the same time. He swept the pile of her clothes away and left her standing naked and exposed to his inspection. Would he be disappointed? Wish her thinner? Shorter?
Her worries were for naught. His mouth was on her ass, leaving a trail of kisses down each side, licking the area where the flesh of her rear met the flesh of her thigh.
She groaned and widened her stance, as much for balance as a suggestion of where she’d like his tongue to go. She swayed as overwhelming desire consumed her.
“Turn around,” he said, his voice husky and low.
Arousal trickled down the inside of her thigh as she turned.
“Spread your legs.” Not a request. An order she quickly obeyed.
He grabbed her thighs and pushed them further apart and groaned.
“God. You’re wet, so wet.” He put his face into the vee and drew in a deep breath. “You smell wonderful.” He flicked out his tongue and traced the seam of her sex. “Sweet, like honey. Addicting as a drug.” He laved her with the flat of his tongue from her clit to her opening. He thrust his tongue inside her and sucked.
She glanced down at this strong, mighty warrior at her feet and swooned. His dark hair shone in the late sunny rays peeking through the small slit in the curtains. Thank heavens for the midnight sun providing her the opportunity to see the incredible sight that was Levi Van der Hayden.
Her legs quivered. Her knees wobbled.
“I can’t take much more,” she said with a gasp. “I’m going to…”
“Go. Come on my tongue.”
Her back arched as the building electrical storm inside her erupted. She cried out his name as her body shook with jolts and quakes until the tornado inside slowed to a spin and eased.
Chapter 12
Hot SEAL, Alaskan Nights (SEALs in Paradise) Page 11
