by Em Petrova
* * * * *
Arielle saw the love burning bright in Cav’s eyes and everything shifted for her. A lock in her heart clicked open, and she wasn’t completely sure if she wanted to, but she let him in.
He was a good man. She didn’t want to live without him. Everything else she would handle, because he was worth it.
A choked noise left her throat, and she turned his hand over, eyes blurring as she placed a bandage on his cut finger. When she lifted her gaze to his, a tear trickled down her cheek.
Her voice came out thick. “I always knew I was a hopeless case. An Army brat and the wife of a lieutenant? I can’t just live a civilian lifestyle.”
He grasped her face in both hands, his thumbs stroking across her cheeks and the wetness there. “What does that mean? Arielle, do you—”
Going on tiptoe, she cut him off with a kiss. Her mouth sealed to his, stopping any further talk. When he plunged his tongue between her lips, she bowed against him, sliding her arms around his neck.
He hadn’t started cooking, and they weren’t in danger of burning down the cabin when he picked her up and carried her off to the bedroom, kissing her the entire way.
Need had her panting by the time he laid her down on the mattress, and she yanked him close, needing to feel his weight against her and have his scent all over her.
Their kisses burned hotter and more out of control. He tore at her clothes and she ripped his shirt overhead to run her hands up and down his carved chest and abs. Juices soaked her inner thighs, and he poised between them to lap up the wetness before thrusting his tongue into her slick folds.
He licked her from bottom to top and then circled her straining clit so many times that her mind fogged with all the pleasure. When her inner walls clenched, on the cusp of orgasm, he sensed she needed to be filled too and slid two fingers deep in her pussy.
She cried out, head thrashing side to side. A hard pulsation struck, and she clutched his head, pushing him down for more even as he sucked her clit into his mouth and drove his fingers in and out in a rhythm that blew her mind.
* * * * *
No recovery was needed—Arielle dug her fingers into his shoulders. “Get inside me. I need you.”
He grinned as he stripped off the rest of his clothes. When he surged up the bed, splaying her thighs wide, he took one look at her wet pussy and nearly lost it.
He clamped a hand over the head of his cock to stave off an early release. Looking down into her eyes, the words shot to his lips.
“I’m in love with you, you know.”
Eyes soft, she wrapped her arms around him. “I know.” She pulled him down.
He sank between her thighs. His cock brushed through her juicy folds, and he purposely nudged her clit with each pass until a sexy flush coated her every inch of skin and his cock was good and wet with her juices.
“Cav…” She bit down on her lip.
“Give me the words. I know you’re holding back from me. You can’t ever hold back, Arielle—I won’t let you.”
Looping her arms around his neck, she pulled him in till his mouth hovered a breath away from hers. Up close, her eyes burned with desire and love. She was feeling it, but dammit, he wanted to hear it.
“I love you, Cav.” She kissed him, tongue stroking over his, and he couldn’t hold back another second.
He drove deep, right to her core. His balls slapped her body. Her soft walls clenched his hardness, and instinct took over. He kissed and fucked, rolled her above him and sucked her nipples till they strained.
When he felt her tightening around him, his own control snapped and he pounded into her pussy. The angle, the heat… Fuck, he couldn’t take it.
He roared his release, pouring into her deep. She swirled her tongue over his till the final cry left her lips.
Seconds later, with her head pillowed on his chest and her fingers stroking over the hairs on his chest, she whispered, “How?”
He opened his eyes, shocked to realize they were in the cabin and not at her place. He’d lost all sense of reality.
“How what?” he asked gently.
“We just met up again… How did it happen so fast?”
“Maybe that’s why. I already knew you and we could pass over all the preliminary stuff and get right to the loving part.”
She leaned up on her elbow, hair swinging forward as she stared at him. A smile cut across her face, leaving her like a glowing goddess. “The loving part’s the best.”
“Mm. You’re telling me.” He rumbled as he claimed her mouth again.
Minutes later, she broke away. “Cav, what were you cooking before you cut yourself?”
“Chicken alfredo and broccoli. Why?”
“Because I’m freakin’ starving.”
He threw a look toward the window to find the sun had sank. “I forgot about everything but satisfying my woman.”
She slapped his hip. “Well, get out there and finish that dinner. Your woman needs a meal.”
Chuckling, he heaved himself up. His long day and the night before were catching up to him, but he had enough energy to cook and take Arielle to bed again before exhaustion claimed him.
After cleaning up, he went to work preparing the meal. The chicken in the package was still cold from the grocery store, so that was a bonus. And the frozen broccoli had melted, so it sped up the process.
Arielle pulled out a jar of alfredo sauce and wrinkled her nose.
He reached over and plucked the jar from her hand. “You’re going to love it.”
“I will—but because you cooked for me. Here, let me do the pasta.”
Working together felt good, providing a sense that their bond could continue to grow stronger and stronger.
“Tell me about your day,” he said as he stirred the chicken to brown all sides.
She was silent for a long moment. He studied her profile.
“Was everything okay?”
“Yes. We just had a drill today.”
“What kind of drill?”
“Another bomb threat drill.”
His lungs constricted and then burned from not drawing enough oxygen. He kept his voice even when he asked, “How did it go?”
“That stuff is scary. Tornado drills are one thing. There are school shooter drills too. But this one felt too close to home for many of us. Some of the kids were crying, and other students were hugging them, trying to calm them down.”
“Damn. That’s rough.” His voice came out soft and gritty.
She nodded. “It’s not the best side of my job, that’s for sure. I’ll take a know-it-all, smart-mouthed disruptive teen over that any day.”
He’d rather hear about those sorts of problems in her day too. The idea of her being in any compromised situation made him want to punch spikes through concrete with his bare fists.
“Something else happened.”
He turned his head to look at her.
“Every year the students take a trip to the museum, and it’s something each class looks forward to. A way to blow off steam and get out of the classroom. But today, the principal told the faculty the trip’s been cancelled.”
“Why?”
“At first, we thought it might be lack of funding, but that isn’t the case. It’s because after that bomb threat on the road, a bunch of parents raised hell that they don’t want their kids being bussed around more than necessary, and these wouldn’t be school buses. They’re chartered from an agency.”
“I see.”
“At the end of the day, they made the announcement about the trip being cancelled and… well, it didn’t go over at all well with the kids. They’re upset, and understandably. Hell, I’m upset.”
While he was sympathetic, the thought of her on a bus full of kids in danger on a field trip was far worse.
She stirred the pasta, silent and distracted. After a minute, she threw him a weak smile.
“Guess I’ll try to amp up some of my lesson plans, make them more interesting and f
un for them. Maybe even have a movie day.”
He hooked an arm around her middle and drew her against his chest, burrowing his face in her hair. “What will you watch?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Definitely something rated G or I’d have the parents on my back, and dealing with their offspring is bad enough.”
He kissed the top of her head, inhaling her sweet scent. “What I wouldn’t give for a safer world for you.”
Tipping her face up, surprise crossed her features. “You give yourself every day to just that very thing, Cav. Most men can’t say that.”
Yeah… but is it enough?
Chapter Eight
Arielle rested against Cav’s hard front, and he brought his arms around her. Water sloshed over the side of the bathtub.
“This tub isn’t exactly big enough for both of us.” She giggled at the sight of his long, muscled thighs and knees sticking up on either side of her. She’d known by a glance at the tub and then at Cav that they weren’t a good fit, but he’d been so sweet and romantic, running a bubble bath and telling her it was for two.
She’d never done such a thing, shared such a moment with any other man, not even Darren. And she had to admit to the perks—like having big arms around her and a pillow of his chest.
He brushed a lock of damp hair away from her cheek and trailed a fingertip down her throat to her collarbone. He slid his callused touch over the curve of her breast and circled her nipple, which hardened beneath the surface of the bubbly water. A soft gasp left her.
All of a sudden, she felt him go dead still. No—deadly still.
Each muscle of his body stiffened, and then he grasped her by the shoulders and pushed her forward so he could shoot out of the tub like the depths had turned into a pool of lava.
He dashed out of the bathroom, bare naked and dripping wet. She didn’t even hear his feet make a sound as he strode to the bedroom. A second later, he appeared in the doorway, bubbles clinging to his chest and the hair pillowing his still semi-hard cock.
He was holding a weapon.
She jerked to her feet, wrapping her arms over her nakedness. “What’s going on?”
“Someone’s coming and they’re trying to be quiet about it.”
“What?” She leaped over the side and grabbed a towel. But Cav wasn’t so modest as he struck out to meet the intruder.
At this time of night, there wouldn’t be hikers, but maybe a couple of people from a neighboring cabin had gotten the wrong one and were trying to—
She squeaked as she heard the front door hit the inner wall. Then a bark of a laugh sounded, followed by the heavy thump of boots.
Heart racing like she was trying to outrun a serial killer, she rushed into the bedroom and threw on the first clothing she found, which happened to be Cav’s oversized T-shirt. The cloth hung to her knees but at least she was covered.
A heartbeat later, Cav came into the room, a broad smile on his face. “We’ve got company.”
“What? Who?” Her mind bounced around like a kid on a trampoline, trying to make sense of whether they were in danger or in for an evening of fun.
“The guys and their ladies all drove down to surprise us. Seems they booked cabins here too, and they’ve come bearing food and drinks.”
Dear God. She gave him an are-you-freakin’-kidding-me look.
He stepped up to her and closed his hands gently over her shoulders. “They were trying to come to the door quietly in case we were asleep.”
She stared up at him. “But you heard them.” She still didn’t know how.
“It’s my job.” He shrugged and then looked her over in his shirt. His eyes darkened as his pupils dilated with the familiar look of lust. “Damn, I love seeing you in my shirt, but you’ll probably want something of your own to meet the guys.”
“And their women,” he had said.
Fantastic. She was fresh from a bubble bath, barely dried off, her hair wet at the ends where they’d dipped into the water.
And she also bore more than one red mark from a night of explosive sex with Cav.
“Give me a minute,” she said weakly.
He dropped a kiss to her forehead and reached for his own clothes.
She gawked at him. “You greeted them like that?” She practically yelled it.
He chuckled. “Yeah, not ideal. The women had to turn away, and Lennon actually let out a growl and jumped in front of Edie.” He laughed again, a low rumble that spread through her senses as much as seeing him pull up his jeans sans underwear and tuck his cock into his fly before zipping the denim.
She was not going out to meet new people without underwear, though, and reached for a pair. She yanked on the rest of her clothes and then raked her fingers through her hair.
“What time is it?” From the front of the cabin, she heard a party kicking into gear, with bottles clanking and the fridge door opening and closing as people either put food in to keep cool or took things out to consume.
Cav checked the time on his phone. “Just past eleven.”
God, this was the longest day, and it was about to get longer. She wasn’t in the mood for socializing. Meeting friends in this state, after a long day of work, the two-hour drive, then finding Cav wasn’t here and may not show up at all, and finally sex, dinner, more sex… and the tub… seemed like more stamina than she possessed.
He studied her face. “Baby, I can tell them to go. We can meet up with them tomorrow.”
“No, they’re your friends and I don’t want to seem like a colossal bitch. It’s fine—I’m just a little surprised that my boyfriend leaped out of a tub and went stalking to the door fully armed and bare-assed.”
He tossed back his head and laughed, and damn, that did a whole lot of something to her insides. Heated and wanting already, she tucked her top into the front of her jeans and declared she was ready to meet the Ranger Ops team and the women who loved them.
If this was anything to go by, she had a feeling life with Cav would always keep her on her toes.
Walking out of the bedroom into the living space filled with people took some courage—she wasn’t one for the spotlight. But once Cav took her by the hand and she saw the warm smiles on everyone’s faces, she relaxed and began introducing herself.
The five guys were each as big and bad-ass as the next. The cabin suddenly seemed so much smaller with all their bulk taking up the breathing room.
Since she was accustomed to memorizing names in a classroom of twenty-five children six periods a day, she quickly remembered the names of his teammates. And the five women shooting smiles her way as they organized food for an impromptu party were as individual as the men they loved.
“Come with us,” the lovely dark-haired woman named Avery said, grabbing her by the arm. “There’s too much testosterone in this room.”
In the kitchen, Arielle expected to really be put in the spotlight, but the ladies had a way of drawing her in and relaxing her with their easy rapport.
“I’m sorry we invaded your private weekend.” Avery threw her a sheepish look. The woman had a body to kill for, as toned as a workout instructor’s. “It was Sully’s idea.”
The captain.
His wife Nevaeh’s smile had an apologetic curve. “We were all at the bowling alley, and suddenly he said it didn’t feel right without Cav there, so we picked up the party and came to you. Luckily, we got cabins of our own and this makes a short getaway for us. And even luckier, I’ve got a sitter overnight for the kiddos.”
Arielle tried to keep up with the talk of babies and careers. But one thing became increasingly certain to her after only a short time of being in their company—each woman loved their man with as much ferocity as Cav loved her… and Arielle found herself understanding her own feelings so much better after listening to them.
They were a team—and their women were the team that supported their men. It didn’t mean they were swallowed up by waiting by the phones for word from them or giving up careers. They were
all strong and capable women who happened to love strong and capable men.
As Arielle picked up a tray full of cheese, bologna and crackers, she offered her new friends a smile before heading into the living room, where the men were clustered around the big rustic coffee table, dealing cards.
Cav looked up as she entered, his eyes shining at the sight of her.
She was finished being frightened of what was to come from loving a military man. She’d already lived through the worst once, but having Cav was worth all the worries and not knowing.
Because she knew he’d walk across hot coals—probably armed and naked—to get home to her.
* * * * *
“It’s been forever since we’ve had a bonfire. What was it—a year ago out at Sully’s place?” Cav crossed his ankles and stretched his legs toward the fire ring. They’d started the party again by lunchtime, scavenged enough fallen wood and kindling to last them long into the evening, and flames leaped toward the cloudy sky.
After a long night of poker with the guys, he’d dragged Arielle into his bed and made love to her more slowly this time. The sweetness of her responses still lingered on him, and he kept seeking out her gaze.
She sat a mere foot away in her own wooden lawn chair, her hair swept under a ball cap. Damn if she wasn’t the cutest woman he’d ever set eyes on.
Reaching out, he captured her hand. One tug had her out of her chair, and he drew her down across his thighs. She put her arms around his neck, uncaring what the others seated around the fire had to say about her public display of affection.
He cupped her nape and brushed his lips across hers once.
“Do you mind not being alone?” he whispered so nobody else would hear.
She shook her head. “It’s fun having a big group. And the women are great.”
Stroking her spine, he said, “I’m glad you enjoy their company. We get together kind of a lot.”
“For guys who work so close together, I’m not surprised. Teammates, best friends and brothers.” She gazed at his lips before kissing him softly.
