His To Claim (The Westmoreland Legacy Book 4)

by Brenda Jackson

  Bringing the SUV to a stop in front of the cabin, he cut the ignition. She hadn’t moved. She was still standing there, leaning against the post with one of those “I need to decipher your mood before I approach” looks on her face. Whether she knew it or not, usually that look told him more than what he wanted to know. Now he couldn’t help wondering just what had gone on while he’d been away. He was also curious about how she had handled it and whether or not he would agree with the outcome.

  He got out of the vehicle and closed the door behind him. “Teri.” He suddenly felt his gut clench from the effect her honey-brown eyes had on him.

  “Hi, Mac.”

  He tried not to focus on her lips but was powerless to do anything less. He loved her lips. The shape. The taste. And then because neither of them could help themselves after being separated for over eight months, they began moving toward each other as sexual tension sizzled between them. The moment she was there, standing directly in front of him, he pulled her into his arms. Explanations would come later. Right now, this was what he needed. The feel of her warm, feminine body pressed against his and the taste of her mouth.

  He kissed her, long and deep, the woman he’d loved for over ten years. The woman who had rocked his world the first time he’d seen her. The woman who still managed to remind him what a damn lucky bastard he was even on those days when he felt like nothing was going right with her. She was the mother of his children and the reason he fought hard during every covert operation. He wanted to come back to her.

  To this.

  He deepened the kiss and she reciprocated in kind. He loved her taste. Always had and he figured he always would. She moaned into his mouth and he loved the sound. It had been a while since the last time he’d heard it. And he wanted more. More moans. More of her body pressed against his. He wanted her naked.

  She could explain the reason she’d felt the need to come here later. He needed her now.

  Sweeping her off her feet, he carried her into the house.

  * * *

  Teri felt them moving and knew they were headed for the bedroom. She had to stop him. More important, she had to stop herself from once again being totally overwhelmed by Mac. She wanted him and he wanted her and, in the past, knowing that had been enough.

  But not this time.

  She was tired of the off-the-chart-lovemaking followed by the questions and arguments. They needed to talk first.

  When she yanked her mouth from his, he placed her on her feet, and she scrambled out of his arms. She looked up at him. Mac was tall, way over six feet. He had skin the color of café au lait, dark brown eyes, solid cheekbones, a sturdy neck and a pair of the sexiest lips any man had a right to own. And whether he was clean-shaven or sporting a beard on his masculine jaw like he was doing now, Mac was a hunk. A very sensuous and handsome hunk. He stood there, his focus entirely on her, and the desire she saw in his eyes wasn’t helping the situation.

  “What’s wrong, Teri?”

  If only he knew.

  “We need to talk first, Mac.” She needed to tell him everything. About the baby and about the purchase of her ranch. Not to mention all the doubts she’d been having.

  He reached back out for her. “We can talk later.”

  That was his answer for almost everything. Whenever sexual need took over his mind on his return from a mission, the lovemaking would come first, followed by a good whole day of sleep. After that he’d spend quality time with the girls. Only then would he turn his well-rested, all-too-critical attention to her. He would ask how things had gone while he’d been away. She would tell him. Then the arguments would start. He would tell her how he would have handled the situation differently had he been there.

  That “I know what’s best” attitude would rattle her. It was what had driven them to seek marriage counseling when they’d reached the five-year mark in their marriage. He’d disliked Mr. Blum, the counselor. He hadn’t like airing their dirty laundry to a total stranger, nor had he liked having that same person remind him that marriage was a partnership.

  “No, Mac, we need to talk now.”

  He eyed her warily. “Why can’t it hold, baby? I missed you. I love you and I need you, Teri. I need you bad.”

  She drew in a deep breath, knowing that was that. Those sentences got to her as much as the sight of him standing there.

  Her Mac.

  Because she knew from the look in his eyes that he did need her. She never knew what happened during those covert operations, the hell he went through, or how close he came to losing his life. Any information was highly classified and he couldn’t tell her, so he held it inside. But she would know how hard it had been from the intensity of their lovemaking whenever he returned. And his words were always the key. The words he’d just spoken pretty much let her know that before they talked, he felt an urgency to let himself go. To reclaim his soul and hold on to his sanity. He wanted to forget all the anguish of the last eight months. Forget it and release it in her arms.

  But what about her anguish? Wanting to reclaim her soul and hold on to her sanity? What about how she’d suffered in losing the baby she’d wanted and how she inwardly blamed herself...no matter what the doctor said. She would always wonder if traveling to Texas had been the cause.

  “Teri?”

  Mac saying her name made her realize that she’d just been standing there, staring at him. He had extended his hand out to her. Should she take it and find peace in his arms for a little while? Could they put off talking for later like he’d suggested?

  Knowing no matter how much she wanted to, probably should, she couldn’t deny Mac anything.

  At that moment he was as crucial to her as she believed she was to him.

  She took the couple of steps to him and placed her hand in his. He pulled her closer and swept her back into his arms to carry her into the bedroom.

  When he placed her on the bed, at that moment everything felt good, right, so totally perfect. For now, she would put out of her mind any thoughts of those things that had driven her here. Instead she would give her full concentration to the man whose eyes were connected to hers. The man who was looking at her with intense, deep passion and desire.

  And she was returning that gaze with the same need and longing. She knew her eyes were filled with the desire of a woman who loved and appreciated the man standing beside the bed, staring down at her. He’d removed his shirt and she thought the same thing now that she had when they’d met over ten years ago. Thurston McRoy was a very good-looking man. The six-foot-three-inch hulk of a navy SEAL could be one tough-as-nails badass but also a total pushover when it came to his girls. Although she might not know the details of the covert operation he’d just left, there was no doubt he and his teammates had been through hell and back and that they had left their mark on anyone who dared to threaten the country they loved.

  “Like what you see, Teri Anne?”

  He always asked her that question and her response would always be the same. Yes, she loved what she saw, especially his well-built body. He exercised often, and it showed. He was slightly older than most of his teammates and claimed he had to make sure he stayed in shape to keep up with them. Whatever the reason, he wore his age of thirty-nine well. She wondered if he was still thinking of retiring from military service at forty-one. He hadn’t talked about retirement much lately. Her husband was a SEAL through and through and she couldn’t imagine him being anything else. A lot of people assumed SEALs were paid a huge salary for the risks they took with their lives for their country, but they weren’t. Most made under sixty thousand a year. She knew for most military men it wasn’t about the salary but the service. She could say the same for Mac. The only reason they had everything they needed was because of his initiative in investing alongside his friend Bane Westmoreland.

  Knowing he was still waiting on her response, she said, “Yes, I definitely lik
e what I see, Thurston McRoy.”

  She mostly referred to him by his given name in the bedroom. She called him Thurston and he called her Teri Anne. They felt doing so created an even more intimate bond between them. Like they were using that time to not only deepen their connection but to get to know each other all over again. Something they felt they needed to do whenever he returned from his long excursions.

  Smiling, he leaned down and captured her lips and she suddenly became drenched in passion of the most provocative kind. Eight months was a long time to be without each other and their bodies were letting them know it. The starvation and greed were evident.

  Their tongues tangled and swirled, feasting on each other. For a minute it was hard to decipher which one was his and which was hers. Didn’t matter. They shared the hunger, the persistence, the ravenousness. Everything about Mac was delectable—his taste, the way she fit in his arms, the way their bodies meshed together like that was the way they were supposed to be.

  Finally, he snatched his mouth back and began undressing her with the urgency of a man who knew what he wanted but thought he might just die before getting it. When she was totally naked, he paused a moment and stared at her with the keen eyes of a husband. A lover. A man who knew her body in and out. Could he detect that something had been there that he hadn’t known about? But was there no more?

  “You’re beautiful as ever. I am one hell of a lucky man.”

  His words made a knot in her throat thicken. He could say some of the most touching things. “And I’m a lucky woman.”

  Her head began whirling as he lowered his mouth to hers again and captured her mouth like he had before. Like he had every right to do so and intended to take full advantage of that fact.

  Breaking off the kiss he moved back to remove the rest of his clothes and she got turned on just watching him. Jeans so tight they seemed imprinted on his flesh were slid down tight, masculine thighs. Then he stood there in sexy black briefs that clearly defined how well-endowed her man was.

  Her man.

  Yes, he was that and he would continue to be her man. Whatever issues they were dealing with were merely hiccups along the way. They would just have to deal with them later. She just hoped that when they did, they would remember this time when they pushed all thoughts, except for each other, aside, and put their love front and center.

  She watched him ease his briefs down his legs and then he moved toward her with blazing hot desire burning in his eyes. “I want you,” she whispered.

  “I want you, too,” he whispered back, placing a knee on the bed and then drawing her to him. He kissed her again, long and deep, before releasing her and moving back from the bed to stare at her nakedness.

  She felt her stomach tighten and her navel tingle. Seeing him without clothes was making heat consume her from top to bottom. “I love undressing you. I’ve thought of doing it every single day I was gone.”

  His words sparked every cell within her. Mac had the ability to use words to take her to another level. That, combined with her physical attraction to him and the sexual chemistry that always seemed to radiate between them, made what they were sharing mind-blowingly extraordinary. The thought that he could desire her so deeply always did something to her.

  He moved back to the bed and whispered erotic words in several different languages as he lowered her back against the pillows. And when he towered over her, she felt overwhelmed by the look she saw in his eyes.

  She felt his hard shaft sliding inside her and she cried out his name, loving the feel of him stretching her. He kept going deep until he couldn’t go any more. He began moving, slow at first, then faster, thrusting in and out, and she couldn’t help crying out his name again and again. Then a climax struck her, ripping through her with an impact that nearly stopped her breathing.

  She heard Mac’s deep growl, the prologue to his orgasmic release. His thrusts kept coming, deeper and harder, and then she felt the instant his body began trembling above her, exploding inside of her.

  “Teri...” He whispered her name seconds before leaning in and taking her mouth in his, kissing her as if to make up for the eight months they’d been apart.

  She returned his kiss with just as much hunger and need. When he finally released her mouth she whispered, “Welcome back, Mac.”

  Then he reclaimed her mouth as if to start their lovemaking process all over again.

  Four

  Teri raced Amsterdam across the grassy plains with her hair blowing in the wind.

  She loved this and hadn’t realized how much she’d missed racing until this trip. With Tia taking riding classes, Teri had saddled up to ride, as well. But racing her horse was what she liked best. She needed this and she needed it now.

  She had awakened that morning feeling somewhat dazed after making love to her husband most of yesterday and last night. Her pulse pounded every time she thought of all the things they’d done. At one point she’d thought he had fallen asleep from exhaustion and she had moved to ease out of bed.

  Mac had awakened quickly and looked over at her. His eyes, laden with sleep, still managed to simmer with desire, and he had then proceeded to show her once again just how badly he wanted her.

  She didn’t have to go into town to call to check on the kids. Although her cell phone didn’t work, Mac’s special government issue security phone worked just fine. They’d talked to Mac’s parents and the girls.

  Late yesterday evening they had left the cabin to drive to Cheyenne for dinner and to shop at one of the Western outfitters. Mac had told her he would be staying with her for the rest of the week, which she’d figured he would. He had purchased several pieces of Western wear and he looked sexy as hell wearing a Stetson on his head.

  She figured they would get the chance to have their talk during dinner but instead he steered the conversation, deliberately or otherwise, to other things. Such as the monstrosity of a house his teammate Bane Westmoreland and his wife, Crystal, were having built. They would be hosting a housewarming party when the house was completed and Mac and Teri were invited to attend.

  She’d followed his line of conversation and brought him up to date on the girls, telling him how well Tia was doing with her horse-riding lessons and how Tatum had expressed an interest in gymnastics. And of course that meant Tempest was interested, too. She’d mentioned how she’d called in a plumber for the kitchen sink and about their yardman’s illness. He’d listened as he always did and asked questions when he’d needed to do so.

  She slowed Amsterdam down and headed back toward the cabin. This was the second time she’d ridden him today. As Mac usually did after returning from a long operation, he had slept through breakfast and lunch and there was no reason not to think he wouldn’t sleep through dinner. He always said it was only when he was back on American soil he could let his guard down and sleep peacefully. Usually the girls, upon hearing their father had returned home, would camp outside the bedroom door waiting for him to wake up. He had a close relationship with their daughters and was a good dad.

  As she trotted the horse back toward the cabin, she saw Mac. He was standing in the same spot on the porch where she’d been standing yesterday when he had arrived. He was leaning against the post, jeans riding low on his hips, shirtless and with a Stetson on his head.

  She tightened her hands on the horse’s reins. Her libido should be exhausted after the sexual activities she and Mac had participated in during the past twenty-four hours. Instead, however, it was flaring back to life. Why did he have to look so sexy standing there while sipping his coffee with his full attention on her?

  She brought the horse to a stop and eased down, tying Amsterdam to the hitching post. “You’re up, I see.”

  “Yes, and the first thing I noticed was that you were gone.”

  She came up the steps to him. “Did you honestly expect me to stay in bed and sleep as long as you
did?”

  “You used to.”

  She nodded, remembering. Yes, she had. That was before their first child. Whenever he came back from being gone on one of his operations, she’d been more than happy to spend her time lying in bed beside him for hours, days and nights.

  She tilted her head back to look up at him. “That was the pre-babies days.”

  He chuckled. “You’re right about that. In fact, I do believe it was during one of those sleep-ins that Tia was conceived.”

  It had been and him bringing that up reminded her of the reason she’d come to the dude ranch in the first place. “Yes, that’s when Tia was conceived.”

  Neither one of them said anything for a minute and then Mac said, “I think it’s time for us to talk, Teri. I need to know what drove you to come here.”

  As far as she was concerned it was past time. “Okay, let’s talk.”

  She walked past him to go inside and he followed.

  * * *

  Mac watched his wife dust herself off before sitting down on the sofa. “Let me put this away,” he said, before going into the kitchen to place the empty coffee cup in the sink.

  She had wanted to tell him yesterday about whatever had driven her here and he should have been ready to hear it then. After all, he’d come home to find her gone, with his parents suddenly developing lockjaw about why she’d taken off. During the flight here, he’d been antsy about hearing what she had to say.

  Then he’d seen her and the only thing he’d wanted was her. That had been pretty damn understandable since she was his wife and he hadn’t seen or touched her in eight months. Teri would always be a desirable woman to him. In reality, she was a lot more. Whether she knew it or not, she was his life. He loved her so damn much. His teammates thought if she didn’t know her value to him it was his damn fault for not telling her and saying it often.