by Lucy Gage
“I don’t need two hands on the wheel,” he reminded her. He nipped at her ear. “Set the cruise, keep your hands on the wheel and just stay in your lane. You ever done this before?” he asked. She shook her head. “Good. Me either,” he whispered. He liked the idea of having something new with her.
“And here I expected to take you for a wild ride,” she laughed.
This is just the start of a great week of memories, he thought.
Bring it on.
**********
They made it inside the house, but no further. He knew she no longer had panties on and she wore another pair of fuck-me heels – bright pink – which matched the silky top that hugged the curves of her breasts. He had touched them earlier and the nipples beaded just for him.
That’s how he liked to see it, that they responded to his touch.
They ignored the bags and raced into the house from the garage. As she unlocked the door, he ran his hands up her skirt and grazed her wetness again. So ready.
Neil pulled a condom from the string in his pocket and handed it to Meghan, who’d made quick work of taking down his pants to his knees. She rolled it on and he lifted her skirt as she wrapped her arms around his neck and helped him lift her onto him. Then he took her against the wall, slowly but surely. She fell apart in moments, right there in his arms. He had a little more stamina now and he kept going as she writhed in his embrace.
“More, Neil. Again.”
“If you insist,” he offered. Such an ego boost, to get a woman off more than once before you came. As she flew apart the second time, he joined her and cried her name as she murmured, Oh, Neil, in his ear.
They came down from the high of climax, finally, and Neil let her slide down his body until her spiky heels were safely on the floor. Her arms still wound around his neck, his ass hung in the wind.
Neil laughed. “Definitely didn’t make it to the bed,” he noted as he held her in his arms, nuzzling her neck.
“You’re damn amazing, you know that? I don’t think I can walk. How did you do that to me?”
He chuckled. “Practice.”
She looked at him. “You practice that with other women?”
He smiled, shaking his head. “That wasn’t quite what I meant. I’ve made a woman come more than once before now, but I meant that I had plenty of practice with you already. Just have to build up stamina and know how a woman needs to be touched to get her off.”
“You sound like you have a lot of experience.”
“Not that much. Just learn quickly is all. And I’m observant.”
“You said that last night, when you asked me to dance.”
“Part of my job, to pay attention.” He reached down and pulled up his pants so he could walk, then he scooped her into his arms. “Where is the bedroom?”
She didn’t protest his carrying her, but pointed him where to go and clung to his neck. Kissing him, she declared, “We’re not done talking.”
“Nope,” he agreed as they headed to the bedroom.
Later, lying on the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms, Neil pulled her close and held her tight. He fell harder all the time. Every single time she came for him, it yanked him further under. Every time he held her, his heart became more entwined with hers.
Chapter 12
They were lying on a blanket on the floor of Meg’s living room, nude and eating the fruit from their indoor-picnic lunch. She loved being naked with Neil. The longer she knew him, the more intimately she learned his every muscle, the more acutely aware she became of his amazing body.
Neil’s head lay in her lap, his body perpendicular to hers, his legs stretched out, ankles crossed. Her left hand played with the fuzzy hair on top of his head. Though it had seemed ridiculously short at first, Meg realized it was soft and sexy. She especially liked when the hair on his head and the scruff on his face brushed the sensitive skin on her inner thigh. A smile crossed her face at the thought.
A chuckle escaped her when Meg looked down and saw that Neil was aroused again, probably from the insanely sexy way his tongue and lips erotically sucked the sticky juices off the fingers of her right hand every time she fed him fruit. His ability to mimic the Energizer Bunny continued to impress her. Hot.
As she admired his muscles – particularly the splendid one protruding from his pelvis – she better observed the tattoo that resided at the top of his pubic hair, just at the end of his abdomen. It said Nosce te ipsum, written upside down. When she’d noticed it before, from the angle most people would see it, she’d thought it must be in Gaelic, given that the letters were Celtic. She was surprised to see that it was in Latin.
“‘Know thyself?’ And it’s written upside down. I bet there’s a good story behind that.”
Neil cringed. “Maybe.”
“Okay, soldier. Spill. It must be a really, really good story if you’re that embarrassed.”
Neil sighed and looked as if he debated whether or not he wanted to tell her. Finally, he said, without looking at her. “That one came after a particularly bad night of drinking.”
“Oh? So that was a drunken tattoo experience?”
“No. I didn’t get it when I was drunk. I got it a few days later.”
“Explain.”
He sighed again. “Fine. This is one of my most embarrassing moments, just so you know.”
“I’ll share one with you after. How’s that?”
“Sounds fair.” He inhaled deeply and launched into a story of drunken debauchery – or so he assumed. He’d been so trashed after a couple of record-breaking keg stands that he didn’t remember much.
“You had a threesome and can’t remember it?”
“I have no idea what happened. All I know is that I woke up and there were two girls in bed with me and I was buck ass naked and so were they.”
Meg laughed. “Holy shit!”
“Yeah, you’re telling me. That’s the least of what went through my brain. Which felt like someone had slammed it repeatedly against a brick wall. And my mouth felt like it was full of sand. I can only assume they were more drunk than me, because when I crawled out of the bed, they were both still passed out. I got dressed as quickly as I could and hustled the hell out of there. I wasn’t sober and it was a long walk back to my place. I think I puked a few times on the way back and I was sick most of that day. Which really sucked because I had a final exam the next morning and had to study.”
“So, the tattoo. How did that fit into the scenario?”
Neil sighed again. “A couple days later, when my exams ended, I drove to Kentucky and met Owen and my buddy Jack while they were both on leave. Their families live in Kentucky, so I was spending a week visiting with them before they left for deployment later in the year. I was headed to Ranger School a couple weeks later, figured I’d drive to Georgia from there. I got my first ink with Jack right after Basic, and he wanted to get another tat before he left, so we went together.”
“Did Owen go, too?”
He laughed at that. “No. Owen hates needles. He says we’re nuts.”
“Why did you get ‘Know thyself’?”
“It’s my alma mater’s motto. I told Jack and Owen what had happened at that party and they were both pretty surprised because it’s just not me. Honestly, I’m not the kind of guy who gets excited about being with two girls. I don’t like to share my woman. Owen said, ‘You should have known better than to get that drunk, Murph. What were you thinking, doing keg stands? That’s just not like you.’ So when I went with Jack to get our tats, I decided I’d remind myself every day that I should trust my instincts. I knew it was a mistake to do those keg stands as soon as my buddy dared me, but I did it anyway.”
“I get that. How did you decide to get it in such an… interesting place?” Meg traced the letters on the tattoo and Neil shivered.
He gulped and his penis twitched, which Meg thought was funny, though she suppressed the laugh.
“A couple reasons. For one, I knew by then what I w
anted to do in the Army, and I figured it was probably a dumb move to have a tattoo in a visible location, so it had to go somewhere covered by clothes. And since I look down there every single time I take a piss, it seemed like a good place to remind myself regularly that I know me best and I should listen to what my instincts say. Can’t really see it as well if it’s on my ribs or my back.”
“Doesn’t hurt to see it before you sleep with someone, either.”
He laughed. “True.”
“And I’m sure more than one woman has admired it.”
He turned to look at her then, adjusted so that he sat next to her and touched her cheek. “Only one has ever read it and known what it meant. And I’ve never told anyone else the story of why I got it.”
That made Meg’s insides go mushy. “Keep saying things like that and I might think you really like me,” she said as she ran her thumb over his lip.
He brushed her hair out of her eyes. “I do really like you.” He looked at her so intently, Meg’s heart skipped a beat. Yikes.
She brought things back around. “So your first tattoo was the trifecta on your ribs?”
Neil let her get away with the subject redirection. “Yeah.”
“Why that?”
“Lots of reasons. You know what it means?”
“Um, I think so. Holy Trinity?”
He nodded. “Yep. That’s one meaning. There are others. Mother, father, child; mind, body, spirit; past, present, future.” Neil lifted his arm so that she could see it better. “See the lines on the circle part? Those are actually words. It says ‘faith, hope, love’ in runic script.”
“Runic script? Like from The Hobbit?” she asked, laughing.
“Well, not just from The Hobbit, but yeah, sort of. I wanted it to say that but didn’t want to get crap from the other guys in the military, so I figured I’d write it in a language most people can’t understand. I designed the tattoo, but Jack actually drew it for the artist who put it on my body.”
“Is Jack an artist?”
“He’d tell you no, but he is. You should see the tattoo on his back. It’s an eagle soaring and he’s the one who drew it.”
“Runic script, huh?” she said, moving so that she sat on his lap and straddled his hips. “Are you secretly a huge geek?”
Neil laughed and kissed her quickly. “If you could remember me from high school, you’d know the answer to that question already.”
“Let me guess, you always had your nose in a book, wore glasses and were the skinny, goofy kid.”
“Close. I have perfect vision, so no glasses. But I was scrawny as a toothpick, with huge feet and a deep voice. I needed to shave daily, but I couldn’t grow into my body. And I always had my nose in a book. I devoured books. Still do, when I can.”
“You have a book with you now?”
He grinned. “Yep.”
“And? What is it? Do you actually have The Hobbit in your bag?”
Neil laughed. “That would be appropriate, but it’s Patriot Games.”
“Tom Clancy?”
He nodded. “I’ve read it a bunch of times. It’s my favorite Jack Ryan story.”
A weird sense of deja-vu snaked down her spine, but she couldn’t explain it for the life of her. Meg pushed it aside and concentrated on the beautiful man in front of her.
She caressed his cheek with the back of her hand, that sexy five o’clock shadow a rasp against her knuckles.
“It didn’t make you want to be in the CIA?”
Neil’s hands brushed lightly over her skin, from her ankle all the way to her ribs as he said, “I wanted a family. One thing reading Tom Clancy told me was that it would be hard to have a family if you were in the CIA. Thought it’d be better to follow in my Dad’s footsteps.”
“Why didn’t you go into Special Ops?” Neil just looked at her and said nothing. Oh. “Is that what you do?”
“I can’t really explain what I do.”
Meg looked away and tried to get up.
“Hey,” he said, turning her face toward his and anchoring her hips to his lap. “I would if I could.”
Meg nodded and swallowed, hard. Her eyes felt a little watery and she closed them to ward off tears.
Why are you getting so emotional? This is a fling. Isn’t it?
“Does that scare you?” Neil asked as he kissed her forehead.
Yes, it scares the crap out of me, she wanted to say. Where did that come from? Instead, she said, “A little.”
“Because you’re afraid of me?” he asked.
Meg shook her head. “Never. Because I’m afraid for you.”
“Does it help if I say I’m good at my job?”
She shrugged. “I guess. I hate to think of anything bad happening to you.” I can’t imagine this world without you. Wait, what?
Neil kissed her, so gently that she felt as if she were made of porcelain. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“For what?” she asked in the same tone.
“For caring.”
Meg couldn’t say what she wanted to say, it caught in her throat. After all, how could she think, I care so much about you, already? So she kissed him back, her tongue plunging into his mouth, desperately trying to fuse their lips together so that he couldn’t get away.
Maybe she couldn’t say it, could hardly even think it, but she wanted to show him. Because she did care for him already, deeply. And it terrified her. How could she feel this much for a guy she’d just met? But she did. The very idea of his life ever being in mortal peril made her heart drop into her stomach.
She didn’t know what was more scary, worrying about his safety, or the fact that she could be so invested in him after just a day.
**********
“It’s a gorgeous day. Let’s go to the beach,” Neil suggested the next day.
“It’s beautiful out there, but I don’t swim unless it’s at least 85 degrees. The ocean here is just too cold.”
“We don’t have to swim. We can just walk on the sand. And you can skip the swimsuit.”
“Why is that?” Didn’t he think she was attractive? He’d said she was numerous times…
“Because I don’t want other guys to look at you right now. I’ll be too jealous.”
“Getting possessive, aren’t we?” Meg asked, secretly beyond flattered but feigning annoyance. Neil saw through it.
“Absolutely. This week, you’re mine. Remember? I don’t like to share. I don’t want to see other guys ogling you. I like the idea of me being the only one who gets to see you in so little this week.” He kissed her then. It started sweet but quickly escalated into hot, wet and let’s-get-naked territory.
“Mmm. Okay. I’ll skip the swimsuit. You planning to swim?”
“Yep. I don’t mind the icy Atlantic.”
“Oh, good. Then I can still ogle you.”
“You can ogle me as much as you want,” he said, brows wiggling.
“Good. Then before we go to the beach, I’m going to ogle you up close and personal. With my hands, my eyes and my mouth.”
Neil groaned. “You’re teasing,” he said.
“Never,” Meg replied. “I want to make sure that you don’t forget how great I am when I’m the only woman on the beach without a swimsuit.”
“Not a chance of that. You have something less revealing?”
“I wear a one-piece to do laps.”
“Good. Wear that.”
“Neanderthal.”
“You know it,” he said, smirking.
“Get over here,” she said.
Meg pulled Neil closer by the waist of his boxers, which she then yanked until they were over his hips and impressive erection. She dropped to her knees and showed him her appreciation for his body. When he came, he cried, Oh, God, Meghan, you’re amazing. As she stood, she ran her hands up his legs, over his abs and around his neck.
“Did you like that?” she whispered.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of you doing that. I didn’t t
hink it could be better than the first time, but that was an improvement.”
She laughed as she kissed him. “What, you’ve never had anyone blow you at highway speeds before?”
“Nope. But I meant the very first time.”
Meg was confused. “When was that?”
“You still don’t remember, do you?”
“I guess not.” How disturbing to not remember giving a blow job to a guy she considered incredibly beautiful and a rock star in bed.
Neil rubbed her shoulders.
“Don’t worry. I promise, it was amazing. You’re quite talented.”
Meg laughed and said, “Thanks.” But it was still weird to think about how much she couldn’t recall of that first night with Neil.
Nonetheless, he’d turned out to be so much more than she could have ever imagined when she first saw him at LAX – gorgeous, smart, so sweet and such a gentleman. Well, most of the time. Their sexual chemistry defied charts and he could be an animal in bed. But they also had fun together and could sit and talk for hours, even when they weren’t trying every sexual position under the sun.
Meg had never, in her life, met anyone like him.
So when he expressed jealousy about other men looking at her on the beach, instead of getting all feminist on him, like she normally would, she acquiesced.
Toward the end of their beach day, Meg sat on the blanket with Neil behind her, his arms around her torso and her knees up to her chest as she leaned into him. Neil’s head rested on hers and every once in a while, he’d nuzzle her hair.
“I could sit like this forever,” he whispered.
Meg closed her eyes against the sun, breathed in the salty ocean air, the scent of sunscreen and barbeque, the sound of seagulls squawking and the surf pounding the shore. She loved the ocean and she wanted to let its beauty meld with all the things that meant Neil: the masculine smell of deodorant, shampoo, laundry soap and man; the beat of his heart against her back; the feel of his skin against hers; and the sound of his breath in her ear.
What would she do after he left? How could anyone ever compare to him? And they weren’t even at the end of the week yet. So much time left, and yet, so little. She sighed.
