Healing Home

by Madden, J. M.

  When Link reached out and gripped her spare hand, she didn’t say anything, just held his fingers all the way home.

  They pulled up in front of his house and Link rolled up the windows. “Hold on a minute and I’ll help you.”

  BB appreciated that. Normally, she could walk pretty well, but sliding out of a taller truck wearing a dress and wedge heels, carrying a thirty pound dog made it a little more difficult. When he opened the door she let Link take Frankie from her. The dog grunted but didn’t protest. Then he held out a hand to help her to the curb.

  BB got her feet and straightened, leaning up to kiss his strong chin. “Thank you.”

  Rather than move out of the way, he leaned down and kissed her lingeringly. As if she wasn’t excited enough, BB thought. The tiniest looks and touches thrilled her, and it wasn’t just because she hadn’t been dating for a while. It was most definitely Link.

  When he finally pulled away, she was ready to strip down in the street and fuck him on the front lawn.

  BB cleared her throat and stepped away. “I think we need to head into the house.”

  Lincoln grinned in the darkness. She could see the flash of his bright teeth. “I think you’re right.”

  The porch light was on next to the front door. Lincoln entered the code into the front door lock and paused long enough to reach out and stroke a finger down the leaves of the flower in the flower box. “I really like these. I’ve never bothered putting anything in here because of my schedule. I thought they would die.”

  BB snorted. “These ones will never die. I promise.”

  He gave her an appreciative look, and BB felt guilt prick her heart. “Lincoln, they’re fake.”

  He paused on the threshold. “What?”

  “They’re fake. You don’t have to worry about them dying because they’re not alive.”

  Link dropped Frankie to the ground and stepped back out to finger the leaves again, harder. “Are you serious? Here I thought you went to all this trouble to plant flowers for me.”

  BB snorted. “No. I know you’re not here enough to care for something like that.”

  Lincoln laughed, shaking his head, then pulled her close so that he could press a kiss to her forehead. “I’m glad you told me. I would have felt stupid later.”

  He led her into the house, closing the door softly behind her. “You looked beautiful today. Not sure if I told you before we left.”

  BB smiled, flushing a little. “Thank you.”

  “And you seemed to get along with the women like you’d known them for a long time.”

  She shrugged, dropping her purse to the kitchen table. “They’re nice women. Very protective of you.”

  Incredibly, she thought his cheeks went a little pink, but it was hard to see in the dim room. “Really? Did they tell you why?”

  She leaned against one of the chair backs. “A bit. Mary said even she got sucked in a bit.”

  Lincoln sighed, dropping down into the chair beside the one she was leaning on. “Alicia was a chameleon. She changed to suit whatever situation she was in. At first I thought she was just adaptable, you know? It took me a long time to see the manipulation in her.”

  “She didn’t want you to see it. That’s the point.”

  “Yes, I suppose,” he agreed eventually.

  BB knew it was hard to be fooled like that. You began to second guess every decision made. “I don’t think you should grade your decision making skills on Alicia. She was a practiced manipulator. Mary said she’d been married two other times?”

  “Yes,” he said darkly, leaning his elbows on the table.

  BB sat down beside him. “Then she learned early to milk a situation and make it work for her.”

  He sighed heavily. “Yes, she did.” He stared across the kitchen for a long minute before glancing back at her. “I’m sorry to talk to you about this.”

  “Why on earth are you sorry?” She gasped, hand going to his arm. “Don’t be. I’m not passing judgement on you or anything. Hell, my ex fed me a line of shit for months before he finally asked for a divorce. And then he tried to take part of my creative property, too, a move I hope his lawyer put him up to. Alex had never been cruel but when we separated he became a completely different man.”

  “Why did you split?”

  Bb sighed. She’d wondered that herself many nights. “I’m not even sure. I think it eventually came down to jealousy. We’d known each other from college. He was an artist. Did these huge mixed-media panels on social issues. He had an agent at one time and several big shows, but nothing really ever came of them. He would sell a few pictures, but never as many as he wanted. Then I landed a syndication deal with the Post. Which is huge. He pretended to be happy for me, but he wasn’t. Not really. Alex always had this inflated belief that his work was more important than what I did, even though I made most of the money in the marriage.” She shrugged lightly. “I kept my head down and kept working. When he did eventually leave, I didn’t even notice for a couple of days. In my defense he was known for disappearing into the woods for days at a time.”

  BB doodled on the tabletop with her fingernail. “Eventually I was served divorce papers in the mail. And because I had used Alex’s ‘form’ in a couple of my strips, the lawyer thought he deserved half of my income from those strips. I hired an entertainment lawyer from LA and he straightened them out quickly. My sister, being the know-it-all that she is, made us sign a prenup before we got married. Best thing I ever did. We each left with what we came with and we sold the house, splitting it evenly. Overall it wasn’t a bad divorce, but not something I plan on doing again.”

  “I don’t blame you. Damn.”

  BB grinned at him. “You’re not the only one allowed to fuck up.”

  He grinned with her and nodded slowly. “I appreciate that.”

  Taking one of her hands in his, he lifted it to kiss her knuckles. BB thought it was a very sweet gesture.

  “I really like you, BrandiLynn Beatrice Jones,” he told her, holding her gaze. “You make me hope…” his voice trailed away.

  BB leaned in, stroking a finger down his lean cheek. Her heartbeat was racing. “What do you hope, Lincoln?”

  His jaw firmed and he cupped her hand. “It’s not important.”

  He began to pull away, but she stopped him. “I hope I will find love, someday. I’m not sure what Alex and I had counted.”

  Blinking, Link nodded. “Yes, I hope I find love someday as well.”

  But his eyes lingered on her hard, as if he was trying to tell her something. Or trying to decide if she was actually the one.

  BB didn’t have the courage to tell him she thought she could fall in love with him. She’d already seen what a great guy he was, both with his friends and with her. And if she was honest with herself, it was probably almost definite. The thought of leaving him tomorrow was heartbreaking, but she would serve out her contract and if he wanted her to stay longer, maybe he would ask her.

  God, the pleasure… just thinking about not having him with her made her more determined to have him now.

  “So, since this is our last night, what would you like to do?” She asked, smiling suggestively.

  Something lit in his eyes, some awareness, and he sat back in the chair. “Well, I’m sure we can come up with something to do.”

  BB stood up from her chair and moved toward Link. He moved to get up as well, but she stopped him. “Turn your chair my way.”

  He did as she asked, no hesitation, his knees spread in a truly masculine, inviting pose. BB grinned. Yup, that’s what she wanted. Planting her feet, she gave a little wiggle as she reached beneath the sun dress to slip off her panties. Lincoln’s eyes lit with arousal as he watched the scrap of fabric disappear across the room. BB reached out to rest a hand on one shoulder, then straddled his hips. Immediately, Lincoln’s strong hands gripped her butt cheeks in his hands, pulling her tight against the front of him. BB held back, though, reaching down to unfasten the tan cargo sho
rts. He wore black silky athletic underwear beneath, and she could see his heavy erection already straining the fabric. It had only been seconds, but their bodies had no idea. As she eased the elastic down over his erection he lifted both of them up to give the fabric room to move.

  BB loved the sultry look he had in his eyes. He knew he was about to get fucked and he was all about it. She was too for that matter. All day today her body had been aware of his.

  “Can we take this off?”

  He tugged at her dress. BB ripped it over her head, tossing it and the lacy bra away. Then she tugged at his t-shirt. Link didn’t even hesitate as he shucked his shirt, then pulled her tight against him. Again, though, she pulled back. Stepping away from him she tugged on the shorts. He lifted his ass enough that she could pull them off, but she didn’t straddle him again. Instead, she went to her knees between his spread thighs.

  The floor had to be uncomfortable but she didn’t feel it as she rested her arms over his thighs and leaned in to press a kiss to the swollen head of his cock. There was a glimmer of moisture there, his body betraying its excitement. BB leaned in and licked up his shaft, focusing on that tiny pearl of excitement. Link gasped, his hands going to her head.

  Flavor burst on her tongue, and she took a second to absorb it. Then she leaned in again, wrapping her lips around the head so that she could swirl her tongue around it. Lincoln gasped, and BB grinned as she pulled up. “You okay?”

  “Yes,” he said in a rush, as if he didn’t want her to stop.

  Laughing, BB lowered her mouth again, this time sliding deeper. There was no way she could take his entire penis into her mouth, he was too big for that, but she could make up the difference with her hands. As she licked and squeezed with her lips, her right hand squeezed down, finding the thick base and the groove up the center. She rubbed her thumb there in deep circles and his hips began to shift. The fingers in her hair tightened and she could tell that he wanted her to go deeper with her mouth, so she did.

  It had been a long time since she’d done this, but her technique was apparently working. She looked up Link’s body. His teeth were gritted but he was staring down at her with a hard intensity, his face slack with pleasure. “You’re going to have to stop, soon. I can’t take much more. You don’t want me to come this way.”

  There was no fucking way she was stopping. BB focused back on her task, licking and swallowing , her fisted hand moving in time now with her mouth. Link’s movements began to take on a desperation, and the grip in her hair tightened. BB didn’t mind, though. His desperation was feeding her own excitement.

  Then his rasping breaths caught and he strained against her. BB could feel his orgasm coming. Just a few more seconds… Lincoln cried out and her mouth filled with his release. BB kept moving, even as his movements tried to pull away from her, dragging every bit of pleasure from him she could.

  Eventually his grip on her hair loosened. Grabbing a dishtowel from the oven door, BB wiped her hand and mouth, tossing the rag to the floor where her clothes were. Then, straightening, she leaned in and wrapped her arms around Lincoln’s middle, resting her head on his chest. His heart was in a mad gallop and she smiled as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “You’re so fucking hot,” he rumbled. “Do you have any idea what that does to a man? I feel like I’m going to stroke out or something. You made my toes tingle.”

  BB laughed softly. “So, you don’t want me to do it again.”

  “That is not what I said,” he responded quickly.

  She giggled again, loving the feel of his skin on hers. Her knees were going to be bruised if she didn’t get up off this floor though.

  As if he heard her thoughts, Link’s arms tightened around her, pulling her up to stand before him. Before she could say a word one of his hands were between her thighs and a long finger ran along her slit.

  “Oh, fuck, baby. Feel how wet you are. Even your thighs are wet.”

  Bb closed her eyes, her head rocking back on her shoulders as Link explored her. Yes, she’d known she was wet. Her body was still humming with excitement and arousal at what they’d done. Link had had a release, but she hadn’t yet.

  She didn’t understand when Link pushed her to take a step back. Then she felt the table at her butt cheeks. “Rock back, baby.”

  BB sat on the table, her legs out to the side. Lincoln moved between her thighs and helped her lie down on the cold surface. “Let me look at you,” he whispered.

  It was hard to be so open with someone like this, but there was an easiness between them. She did as he told her, propping her knees on the table and letting her knees rock out. Almost immediately a finger ran the length of her slit, making her shiver. She was swollen and ready, her body aching to be filled. The blow job had been fun, but she’d kind of screwed herself in that now he couldn’t fill her the way she wanted. At least not for a few hours.

  Then two of his fingers plunged deep into her body and her brain shorted out. Yeah, okay, umm…

  “Too much?” He asked.

  “No,” she breathed, shifting her hips to accommodate.

  “Then I’m not doing it right,” he said softly.

  His hand began to move inside her and a soft, wet heat burrowed in from the top. Was that his tongue? Oh, damn…

  Lincoln had talents she’d never imagined…

  Lightning struck her body as the tip of his tongue swirled around her clitoris. Then again and again. Lincoln seemed to read her body and know exactly what she needed, and the orgasm she’d been craving finally washed over her, bowing her back off the table. Every muscle in her body contracted and she twisted away from his mouth, but he followed her. He gave her a second for the pleasure to peak, then started tonguing her again. BB cried out, her body quivering. Link removed his hand from her body but wrapped both arms beneath her thighs, pulling her tight to his mouth. Then he kissed her again, prolonging that sweet agony.

  BB lost track of what he did, only that incredible surges of pleasure washed over her again and again. At some point he carried her to bed, but she was barely aware. There was a deep, satisfied flutter of satisfaction throughout her body, sapping her energy. The last thing she felt was Lincoln curling up behind her, his arm going possessively over her hips as he spooned her from behind. This was exactly how it should be.

  Chapter 8

  Lincoln was jolted from a dead sleep less than two hours after he’d carried BB to bed. The alarm on his phone tightened his gut. That was a team notification.

  Trying not to wake BB, he stepped out of bed and picked up his phone. The message was short and to the point. Get your ass to base. Emergency Response.

  Fuck…

  Lincoln looked at the woman in his bed.

  She’d sat up and in the light from the bathroom he could see her eyes were wide with fright.

  “I’m sorry, baby, but I have to go. That was our emergency call in, and it must be something big if they’re tapping us. We’re supposed to be on leave this week.”

  She left the bed and crossed the room to him, snatching up a t-shirt and a pair of panties from her bag. “What do you need me to do?”

  More than anything, that one sentence tightened his throat with appreciation. She could have bitched or moaned— he’d expected both— but instead she was asking him what he needed. He cleared his throat. “I think there’s a stack of underthings in the dryer, still. Can you get those for me?”

  As he began gather his gear he watched her walk out of the room. For the first time in years, he regretted having the job he did. If he had his choice he would stay with her.

  There was so much they hadn’t said to each other.

  But maybe this was good. Rather than a lingering goodbye, it would be quick and precise. Neither one of them had said anything about the future, so even though he felt like they could build something, maybe it was better she see exactly how life was in the Navy. The deployments and the uncertainty. He had no idea where he was going or what he was doing, but he
knew he would be in danger.

  When she came back she had a stack of folded underwear in her arms and all of his socks had been paired. He stared at the items for a long moment. No one had ever done that for him. Normally, he just shoved everything in the bag and dug out what he needed as he needed it.

  “Thank you,” he told her, voice rough.

  Then, because he couldn’t help himself, he tugged her to him for a kiss. “I’m sorry I have to go now. I want to thank you for everything you’ve done. It’s been the best homecoming I’ve ever had.”

  “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” she told him, her own voice sounding tight. In the light of the bedside lamp he thought he could see tears in her eyes.

  There was a ticking clock in his head. He needed to get to base, but he was seriously dragging ass. How much worse it must be for the guys with legitimate families, kids and wives. Trying to explain to a child why daddy had to leave had to be one of the hardest things imaginable.

  Crossing to the gun safe he keyed in the code and drew out what he needed. He check the clip in his sidearm and made sure he had all his mags. Then he shoved several knives into sheaths positioned across his body.

  BB seemed daunted when he stood before her completely kitted out, but she still stepped forward to lean up on tiptoe and press a kiss to his lips. “I want you to be safe, Lincoln Bezel.”

  His breath stalled in his lungs as he waited for more, but she just stopped there. “I will, BB. You be safe going home, okay? Thank you so much for being here for me this week.”

  “It was my pleasure,” she said, tears filling her eyes again. Then, in spite of everything he wore she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a fierce hug, just like she had when he’d first met her. Lincoln held her as long as he dared before he pulled away. “I have to go.”

  Frankie plopped down in front of him, blocking his way, and he took a second to lean down and pet her. “You take care of your mama, now, Frankie.” He scratched her ear like he learned she liked, then stood and headed for the door.