“What’s wrong?” he murmured.
“What?” She froze, wondering what he was getting at. “Everything is fine.”
“You went from limp and relaxed to crazy tense.”
His tone of voice was flat. She kept trying to read past that, but there wasn’t any emotion to read. That made her even more uncomfortable and nervous. How was she supposed to figure out where she stood with this guy?
Crap. I’m going to have to ask.
“Cassidy, just spit it out.”
“I just—well—I guess I was sort of wondering.”
“Yes?”
Ugh! What was she wondering? “Are you—did you enjoy yourself?” Okay, that was so not what she really wanted to ask, and she could actually feel the surprise in his body as he processed her question.
“Of course I enjoyed myself.”
He made it sound like a given. Great. Now she felt like a moron. “I think what I was really getting at was that I’m wondering why you’re still here.”
Now he froze. She actually felt every one of the muscles in his abdomen tense up. The guy was really built. He put the washboard in washboard abs. But for now he also seemed to be upset. Great. She’d pissed him off. That was pretty much her luck.
“Are you mad?” she asked softly.
“Not at you.”
She mulled that one over. It made no sense. “Who else would you be mad at?”
“Sweetheart, you must have slept with some serious assholes in your past,” he muttered. “Did they just drop a load and leave?”
“Drop a… Oh!” She giggled. She couldn’t help it. The phrase was so entirely apropos and yet disturbingly gross all at the same time. “I suppose you could describe it that way. Yes. I’ve never had much luck with long-term relationships, you know? They were always into sex as long as the sex was going on. Then they would want to go home because they had to work in the morning, or they didn’t like to spend the night away from their own place, or—well there were any number of reasons, really.”
“Yeah,” he told her. “They were assholes.”
“So you mean you want to stay?” She was still trying to figure all of this out. “I thought you might be more comfortable in Rachel’s room. I changed her sheets and everything.”
“A woman always has the right to throw a man out of her bed,” Romero conceded. “But if you’re not throwing me out, I’m not leaving.”
“Oh. Wow.” Great. Now she was tongue tied. How charming. “I’m not kicking you out.”
ROMERO WONDERED IF she had any idea how adorable she was when she was flustered. In the dim light of her bedroom lamp he could see her biting her lip as she tried like hell to figure out what to say.
He pulled her closer and tucked her into the curve of his body. “Now be quiet and get some shut eye.”
“Okay.”
“What those dumbasses apparently don’t realize is that half the fun is waking up in the middle of the night and having sex all over again,” he explained.
That got her attention. He could practically feel her trying to stay quiet. Finally she gave up the quest. “So you would want to have sex again tonight?”
“Of course.” He gave a lusty yawn and shut his eyes. “But we need some rest after the crazy day we’ve had.”
It grew quiet in the bedroom. Romero felt himself dropping off. The scent of Cassidy’s skin next to his was strangely soothing. The bed was also filled with the scent of their lovemaking. He liked it. The combination was a good one.
“Romero?” she whispered.
He was barely coherent. “Humph.”
“Why did you tell me to call you Jase?”
He opened his eyes. He couldn’t actually answer that because he didn’t know why. That was a first for him. So he came up with something and just went with it.
“That’s my name.”
“Oh.”
There was another pause. Then he could tell she was having difficulty staying silent. “Why do people call you Romero?”
“My name is Jase Romero.” He nuzzled her neck. “In the military we usually go by a last name or a nickname. I suppose you could say it’s part of the culture.”
“Do you always ask the women you sleep with to call you by your first name?” Her hesitancy touched him on a deep level.
It made him want to be honest. “No.”
“So why did you ask me to call you that?”
“Because you’re not like any other woman I’ve slept with,” he explained gruffly. “You’re different. I don’t really know how. Not yet. I haven’t overanalyzed it like you’re about to.”
She laughed, the sound almost merry in the near dark. “Funny, but you know me awfully well for having just met me.”
“I don’t feel like we only met a few hours ago.” He wondered if she felt it too, or if it was just a combination of hormones and endorphins.
“I feel the same way,” she whispered. “It’s like I’ve known you before and didn’t realize it.”
“Maybe this is one of those things it’s better not to question,” he suggested.
She stretched against him, her soft body rubbing enticingly over his skin. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Go to sleep,” he whispered. “It will all look different in the morning.”
Soon he felt her settle. Then it was Romero who stayed awake late into the night, trying to decipher the answers to questions he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
Chapter Nine
Cassidy had never woken up with a man in her bed before. For some reason she had always assumed that the experience would be negative. Perhaps that came from listening to too many of her coworkers or friends over the years complaining about how their men took up too much space, snored, or made other distasteful noises. Sometimes there were even complaints that a man made the bed smell bad.
None of that applied to Romero. When Cassidy stretched and opened her eyes, she felt deliciously warm. His muscular arm was thrown over her side, and her naked bottom was pressed up against his groin. He smelled divine. His pure, unadulterated maleness was mingled with something else more primal. Her sleepy brain registered the scent of sex, and it made her smile.
“Good morning,” he said. His sleep-roughened voice was terribly sexy.
She felt inexplicably shy. “Hi. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“SEALs don’t sleep. Not deeply, anyway.” He nuzzled her neck. “I was awake the moment you were.”
“Oh.” She thought about that for a moment. Her eyes were drawn to the hand resting on her forearm. The back was scarred and tanned a dark brown. “What’s it like to be a SEAL?”
He seemed to be thinking it over for a moment. “Rewarding.”
“That sounds like an advertisement. Surely it’s a little more complex than that.” Using two fingertips, she traced the veins on the back of his hand. The man had muscular fingers. Was there anything about him that wasn’t muscular?
“It’s hard to describe what it is to be a SEAL,” he finally said. “Having my brothers with me on a mission, and the way it feels to trust someone with my life, those are difficult things to slap a label on.”
She felt her gut knot at the notion of him being in danger and having to trust his fellow SEALs to that fierce extent. “I’d never thought of it like that. I think I was just considering the brutal physical training.”
“Most people forget that the really brutal part comes after all the training.” He chuckled. “Training was a piece of cake compared to some of the missions we’ve been on.”
“I’m not even sure I want to imagine.” She squirmed around to face him. The patch of dark hair on his chest tickled her nose. She buried her face against it anyway. “I have to admit that I don’t like the thought of you being in danger like that.”
He rubbed his chin on the top of her head. “I’m flattered, sweetheart, but that’s pretty much just a part of the job.”
She kissed his chest, lightly rubbing her face against the ha
ir and enjoying the change in texture between skin and hair. His scent was comforting. She placed her palms on his hard pectoral muscles and slowly began sliding them lower, toward his belly.
Romero groaned. Then he grabbed her hands and pushed them farther, until her fingertips were brushing the root of his cock. She felt him with her hands, exploring the contours and savoring the incredibly soft texture of his skin. He was so very hard. His shaft jutted up from the nest of dark hair at the base. Then she moved one hand lower and cupped his balls. She gently kneaded them, in awe of their softness and complete vulnerability.
He began moving his hips, thrusting his cock against her hand. She gripped the shaft and gently squeezed until she felt the throbbing of his heartbeat against her palm. He grew harder. A drop of precum beaded at the tip of his cock. She used her thumb to spread the silky fluid around the head. The action seemed to drive him wild. His hands settled on her shoulders, and he was moving restlessly against her hand.
“I need you, Cassidy,” he growled.
She brushed a kiss over his lips. “Tell me how.”
Romero rolled to his back, taking Cassidy with him. She straddled his body, her knees nestled up against his hips and his cock pinned beneath her splayed sex. The teasing friction made her hotter and wetter, if that was even possible. She was achy and oh so ready. Still, she arched her back and let her pussy glide over his swollen shaft. The action caused him to grab her hips and try to lock her in place.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, holding her weight on her arms and lowering her head to give him a light kiss.
“Stop teasing and fuck me,” he ground out.
The erotic order caused her self-control to snap. She felt the tip of his cock catch against her opening. That was all she needed. She changed the angle of her hips and felt him slide deep inside her body. The sensation of fullness was exquisite. She threw her head back and squeezed her eyes shut as she rode him to oblivion.
Her nipples tightened into hard little points. Each motion of her body against Romero’s made her breasts bounce and jiggle. The pressure created an even deeper ache inside her body. Her inner muscles clenched hard around his cock. She ground harder. Each stroke caused the tip of him to brush the sweet spot so deep inside her.
“Come for me, Cassidy,” Romero growled. “Say my name and show me how good it feels.”
“Jase!” she cried out. She put her hands flat on his chest and pushed him as deep as she dared. “Oh God, Jase, I’m coming!”
The climax was like an explosion inside her body. Every nerve inside her body fired at once. She was overtaken with the sensations as she spiraled toward fulfillment. Then she felt him grab her hips and thrust hard, coming up off the bed as he did. The sensation of warmth filled her as he poured his seed inside her.
Cassidy collapsed to his chest, content to lie there and be quiet. He put his arms around her body, and there they remained in silence.
ROMERO COULD NOT ever recall being this satisfied with a lover. There was something about Cassidy that seemed to fit him in a way that no one else ever had. He felt comfortable with her. There was no artifice or hidden agenda. With Cassidy, what you saw was what you got. It was as shocking as it was refreshing.
He didn’t know how long they’d lain there in silence before his phone began to chime on the nightstand. He grumbled a bit as he felt around to find it. Cassidy hadn’t moved. He didn’t want her to.
“Is someone calling about Rachel?” she murmured, her words slurred since her face was squashed against his chest.
“I sent those photos I took to my friend Yates in DC,” Romero explained. He flipped through the texts and links that Yates had sent him in response. “Apparently our friends at the club have quite a reputation in the drug trade.”
“But those rooms had nothing to do with drugs.” She raised her head, gazing up at him. “How could they have a reputation for being a go-to place for buying drugs, but nobody thinks to mention all the women that go missing?”
“Could be bait,” Romero mused. He thought about all the ways that men managed to lure women into trouble. “Maybe the guys like our friend Adams use drugs as an incentive to get a woman to go up there.”
“Ugh!” Cassidy looked disgusted. “That means Rachel was stupid enough to fall for something like that. What is wrong with her? She’s a great person. I know she is. I love her to death. But the woman can’t make a good decision to save her life.”
“She’s been like that her whole life,” Romero murmured. “My team has known her for years. When Trapp took over her care after their parents passed, she just sort of went wild.”
Cassidy made a face. “Her parents were sort of overindulgent anyway, from what I’ve heard. It used to piss her off that Trapp made all these rules she had to follow if she was going to get money from him.”
“And what did you think?” Romero wanted to know. She seemed like such a sensible person. He had a feeling she and Rachel were opposites on many different subjects.
“I think if you’re going to expect someone to support you, it’s going to come with a price,” Cassidy muttered. “Speaking of. I really have to go to work.”
“Aren’t you a teacher?”
“Yes.”
“But it’s summer vacation.”
“Yes. But our district has these teacher work days during the summer, and if you want to get paid, you go to work.” She made a face. “Will you be all right by yourself for awhile?”
Romero almost laughed out loud. “I think I can manage. I’ll talk to Yates and get some more information. Then I might nose around town a bit and see what I can come up with.”
“Then I suppose I need to get up and get in the shower.” She heaved a gusty sigh. “I’d much rather stay in bed and forget about the real world for awhile.”
He clamped his arms around her body. “And if I tell you I’m not letting you get up?”
“I would be just a little weirded out by this strange sense of something approaching humor that you’re exhibiting,” she teased.
The sparkle in her blue eyes was incredible to see. He gently touched her cheek with his fingers. “I’m sure people say this all the time, but your eyes are very beautiful.”
“So are yours.” She tapped the end of his nose with her index finger. “All of the stuff you don’t say out loud is right there for me to read.”
He actually felt alarmed for a moment. A SEAL’s safety was dependent upon his ability to keep his thoughts and emotions hidden. How could she be seeing things in his eyes like that?
“Don’t look so horrified.” She pursed her lips and looked as though she were getting ready to impart the secrets of the world. “There are times I cannot read you at all. I suspect that what has happened is that you’re letting me read you. It’s really flattering. I think it means that you trust me. And honestly, for a forty-eight hour window of knowing each other, we’ve had a lot of experience with having to trust each other.”
“That is true,” he murmured. “I normally don’t trust people very quickly.”
“I don’t either,” she admitted. “Most of the time people let you down. They don’t take things seriously when they’re important, or they minimize your feelings on a subject. They accept comfort or they want you to listen to their woes, but they never reciprocate. They’re always too busy to listen to you. People generally suck. But you most definitely do not.”
He gazed at this woman who had given such a splendid summation of his own feelings. It was as if the two of them shared a lot more than this crazy experience of searching for Rachel. Romero was beginning to think that he’d been looking for Cassidy his whole life without realizing it.
Gently tugging her up the length of his body, he pulled her mouth to his for a kiss. The connection was profound. He felt as if he could feel her soul reaching out to brush against his. The fanciful thought would have made him roll his eyes three days ago. Now he was beginning to see everything in a whole new light.
“All right,” she whispered. “I’m going to shower. Please leave me your phone number. If anything happens today before I get back to this apartment, I will phone or text. Okay?”
“You’d better,” he told her gruffly. “And I’ll be waiting when you get home.”
She smiled up at him. “You’d better be.”
Chapter Ten
Cassidy whistled a little as she puttered about her classroom. It was funny that Romero had never actually asked her what subject she taught. She wondered what he would think about her being a history teacher. She knew a lot about the SEALs, in theory, of course. They had always fascinated her in a way that other spec ops teams in the other military branches never had. The SEALs were the only ones that didn’t really specialize. Their rationale was that everyone should be able to do a little bit of everything in case one guy was lost or incapacitated. And working in four to eight man teams meant there wasn’t much depth from a personnel perspective.
She picked up a stack of old magazines that she used for several of the projects she assigned to her classes throughout the year. Students had to make a collage that demonstrated history repeating itself. It was one of her favorite assignments, simply because it always fascinated her to watch the kids make connections between the past and the present.
There was only one storage room in her second floor classroom. She had the thing packed tight. It boasted a nearly twelve-foot ceiling and shelves from the floor all the way up. Now she was trying to stuff a bin of magazines back into its spot near the top shelf. It was a task that involved a very large stepladder and some maneuvering.
She was perched on the top step of her ladder with her arms over her head trying to jostle everything back into place when she heard someone at the closet door below. A shot of adrenaline made her shaky, and she craned her neck trying to see who might be there.
“Hey, Ms. Cross.”
Great. She wasn’t sure what was worse. A thug from the club trying to get rid of her for asking about Rachel, or the middle school history department’s resident sleazebag Wilson Jones.
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