by Marie Harte
“I like aqua-blue.” Teal sounded too womanly, but damn if it wasn’t his new favorite color.
“Chocolate or vanilla?” she asked.
“Vanilla.”
“No way.” She laughed at him, and he softened—finally—and fell out of her.
Not wanting this closeness to end, he lifted her to her feet and picked her up, then carried her inside to the shower. She was no lightweight. The woman had serious muscle, but Thorn had no problem holding her.
“Oh my gosh, you’re carrying me?”
“No problem.”
“Not with those muscles—Master. And you like vanilla?”
“Vanilla as a flavor, not a lifestyle,” he amended with a smile as they continued down the hall.
She smiled back, and they showered together, each cleaning the other with gentle hands, learning through touch.
After they’d dried off, they dressed in shorts and tee-shirts—because if he had to watch her prance around in a bikini again, he’d take her, and his dick might fall off from overuse. They found Lobo and sat outside, drinking iced tea.
“What about you? Vanilla or chocolate?” he asked.
“Strawberry.”
“I didn’t know that was an option.”
She smirked. “It is when I make the rules.”
“See? We’re a lot more alike than you might think. We both like to be in charge.”
“Yeah, well, in bed I’m all for you taking the lead. But out of it, that’s another story.”
He nodded. “I like that about you.”
“Oh?”
“You’re pretty confident. It’s sexy as hell.”
She blushed, and he wanted to pull her into his arms and never let go.
Not good, Thorn. And not smart. You know better. Yet he couldn’t stop himself from feeling more for her than attraction. Affection, tenderness, and lust all balled together in a knot he knew would tie him up no matter how hard he fought.
Before he could say something stupid and probably scare her off, she said, “Tell me something about yourself. I mean, I know you’re Force Recon. Everyone’s heard of the notorious, loud-mouthed company gunny at Alpha Company. I also know you’re dictatorial, obnoxious, and need better discipline on your Marines.”
“Bullshit. Corporal Harris didn’t see you that day. He wasn’t gaffing you off.”
“Oh? So he saluted the officers behind me and to the left of me, but he didn’t see me?”
“No. I was talking to him at the time and he—”
“Gave me the same leering onceover you’ve been giving me since Lobo tore up your yard.”
He blinked. “Harris did that?” The little prick. And Thorn had thought he’d done the right thing by sticking up for his Marine, assuming at the time that Major Hotness had been on a power trip.
“Never mind, Thorn. Let it go.”
“Sure.” I’ll nail the kid when I see him again. He’ll be doing mountain climbers until he’s a sergeant—if he even makes it that far.
“I know Thorn—the Marine,” she said. “Tell me about Bobby’s family.”
“You make me sound like a schizophrenic.”
“If the shoe fits…”
“Smart ass.”
She laughed. “Well? Come on. Tell me. Do the Honorable Mr. and Mrs. Thorn live around here?”
“My mom and dad live in Swansboro right up the road. Believe it or not, I grew up here.” Most people around Jacksonville, North Carolina were tied to the Marine Corps base in some way. But not his folks.
“Military family?”
“No. I have two younger sisters who married Marines though. Does that count?”
“No. But it counts that you’re a Marine.”
“Gee. Thanks.”
She smiled. “So what made you join the Corps?”
“I kind of absorbed it through the town. Everything around here is Marine-related, you know? You see a guy with more than an inch of hair and he’s considered a hippie.”
She nodded. “I know. It’s so hard to date civilians. They seem so, I don’t know. Unkempt.”
“You and your big words.”
“Shut up.”
He chuckled. “My parents weren’t military, though my uncle was. My dad’s a salesman, recently retired. Mom runs the household. I have two older sisters, and like you, we’re tight. We all had a decent upbringing. Not rich but not poor. We’re pretty happy people, I guess.”
“So how did you get so intense, then?”
He shrugged. “Guess I’m just built that way. It’s funny. My dad is pretty mellow. I’m more like my uncle, who was a SEAL, actually. We have fun family reunions trying to outdo each other.”
“I’ll bet.” She took a sip of her tea and studied him for a moment. “So I have to know.”
“Yes?”
“Why no Mrs. Gunny Thorn? I mean, you’re not half bad to look at. Your body is amazing, and you know it.”
“I do.”
She rolled her eyes. “So humble. You seem somewhat intelligent and no longer live with your parents. I’m surprised you’re still single.”
“I could ask you the same question.”
“You could, but I’m asking you.”
“Fine. Yeah, there was a woman a few years ago. I was totally hot for her, but she had it bad for her childhood crush.” He still missed Maria, but with a fondness anymore, not so much a biting grief for things that might have been. The rest of them had paled next to her…until April.
“Years ago? No one more recent?”
“No one serious,” he answered. Not until you. “So tell me, why no Mr. Major?”
She sighed and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her foot against his calf and stirring a warmth that went far deeper than the skin. “I decided early on not to date Marines. Tried it once; it didn’t work. It was like he didn’t know how to handle the fact that I understood his job and wasn’t impressed by his ability to run a few miles without dying.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, he had issues, and he made it difficult when he involved friends of ours into our spats. I figured it would be easier to not date peers. But dating civilian guys is just as tough. When you’re a male Marine dating a female civilian, women think you’re studly in uniform. It’s okay for you to be strong. But try being a female Marine dating a regular guy. They feel like they have something to prove. More than one of my exes was jealous I spent so much time around men.”
“It’s the nature of the job.”
“I know.” She shrugged. “Heck, I do more before nine a.m. than most people I know who aren’t military. Civilians just don’t get it, at least, the ones I’ve met don’t.”
“Like your loser date the other night.”
“Thanks so much for bringing him up.”
He tried to hold back a smile. “Come on. Someone had to come close to tempting you with a ring.”
“Nope. I kind of gave up on guys for a while. Then I got so busy with work I just didn’t care enough to try.”
“But what about sex?”
“You don’t need a relationship for sex.”
He shook his head. “Try again, Miss I’ve-Been-Celibate-for-Two-Years.”
She flushed. “Okay. So I need to be committed before doing a guy.”
They both paused as the ramifications hit them.
“So are you saying we’re committed?” he asked slowly, not wanting to jinx what he wanted to hear.
“Um, well, I don’t know if I’d say that.”
He wanted to go out on a limb and tell her what he wanted—for them to try a real relationship. But she’d already said she was leaving in a few weeks. How stupid could he be to admit to liking her more than he should? Not only would she reject him, he’d be putting pressure on her to end their relationship before it had to. Damn, but Thorn wanted to be with her for as long as he could. So they’d go their separate ways before long. So what? They could enjoy each other now.
He suppressed the pain at thoughts
of her leaving and cleared his throat. “I don’t want to scare you or anything, but…”
She frowned. “What?”
“But I’m not a sex toy to be used and thrown away so easily.” He faked a tear, saw her relax in her chair, and put on a teasing front. “What we have, Miss Major, is an amazing physical chemistry that we’d be foolish to ignore.”
“Foolish, huh?”
“Yeah, and my momma didn’t raise no fools.”
“Any fools, you mean.” She shrieked when he grabbed her foot and nearly tugged her out of her chair. “Easy, Conan. I agree with you. We connect on that level, no question.”
“Yeah.” He grew hard just thinking about what else they could do that they hadn’t yet.
Her eyes widened when she noted his erection. “Not again.”
“What can I say? You put out some potent pheromones.”
“You’re such a sweet talker, Thorn.”
He tickled her foot. “Bobby. You’re such a sweet talker, Bobby.”
She tried to wriggle her foot away, still laughing. “Let go.”
“Nope.” Not now. Not ever.
Don’t I wish.
Chapter Six
A week and a half later, April didn’t know how he’d done it, but Gunnery Sgt. Bobby Thorn had gotten under her skin in a big way. The sex was off-the-charts hot, but she liked just being around him too. She should have spent her time basking under the sun getting a tan, riding the waves in the ocean, or hanging out with a few friends not lost in kids and husbands.
Instead, she found herself drawn to Bobby. God, she even thought of him more as Bobby now, especially when she kept growing all lovey and emotional.
Stop with the love nonsense. He’s just a fun diversion, nothing more. She reminded herself that he wasn’t that nice. Just the other day he’d raced and beaten her in a run around the block, then rubbed his victory in her face. What she’d been planning to do, but he’d ruined it by winning. Or when she argued with him about the Packers being a superior football team over the Panthers and he’d dumped water over her head. She’d retaliated of course, but she had further proof he’d never be easy to manage or a “nice guy.”
There, he was Thorn again, as in, a thorn in her side. Of course, when she’d told him how she sometimes thought of him, he’d laughed at the analogy and agreed with her. Which made her like him all the more.
I’m in so much trouble with him.
His body made hers sing. The sight of his bright blue eyes made her breathless. And the thought of no longer being around him made her want to cry.
She’d been in relationships before. Granted, her last had been a few years ago, but she’d never been so into a guy as she was with Thorn. The whole of him—mind, body, and spirit—spoke to her on every level.
They both liked to play to win and loved gloating when victorious. She would have gotten angry over his bowling triumph a few days ago if she hadn’t bested him hours before at miniature golf, then made him literally bow down to her, at the putt-putt place, because she’d won. He’d taken his loss with grace…then made her pay for it later that night.
She sighed as she took Lobo on his evening walk.
Her sister had phoned earlier in the day to inform April that she planned to arrive the next morning, a full week early. Apparently their mother had driven Jane up the wall, and being pregnant, Jane couldn’t drink their mother’s nagging away, so she’d done the next best thing and cut her vacation short.
Not that April could blame her.
“Yo, sexy. Wait up.” Thorn jogged to meet her, looking totally doable in swim trunks and a tank shirt, exposing his drool-worthy upper body. How did he get his arms that big? She did push-ups but she’d never managed more than stringy biceps.
He had a deep tan that brought out the vivid blue of his eyes. His thick eyelashes enhanced the color, as did the blue of his shirt. Under the fading sun, his body draped by twilight, he looked almost magical. A sorcerer casting love spells as he walked through the folding sand.
“Hey you. How was your lunch?” she asked, forcing her fantastical thoughts away.
“Great. All the Thorns are back in one place again. Courtney—my oldest sister—is back for another three years.” Her husband had rotated once again to Camp Lejeune.
“I bet your parents are happy.”
“Yeah, they love seeing all their grandkids.”
“How many nieces and nephews do you have?”
“Two. One of each. A boy from my Courtney, a girl from Lila—the middle child. And yeah, she hates when I call her that.”
April tugged on Lobo’s leash when he pulled. “Easy, boy.” To Thorn she said, “Well, that explains why you’re no Neanderthal. At least, not all the time.”
“Oh?”
“You’re actually a pretty decent guy, especially when it comes to handling women.”
“Glad you noticed.”
She laughed at his smug expression. “I could have sworn you were a chauvinist. But since getting to know you, I now understand you’re just an elitist. You hate anyone not Recon.”
“Not true.”
“Oh?”
He winked and grabbed her hand, holding onto it as they walked. “I like you, and you’re a loggie.” Logistician. “I’m all about support.”
“Why do I have the feeling you mean you’re all about anyone you think supports you Recon types? We don’t just work for you, you know.”
“Honey, everyone supports the ground pounders. Admit it.”
“Whatever.”
She liked bantering with him. And walking while holding hands felt special. Right.
He squeezed her hand, and she glanced at him to see him smiling. Walking so close, he seemed much more massive. Yet they fit…in so many ways.
“My sister is coming home early,” she told him.
“Yeah? Everything okay?”
April sighed. “As okay as it ever is with my mother. I told you we’re a tight family, and we are. But my mom…” She groaned. “I love her, but she can be so annoying.”
He chuckled. “You sound like my sisters. Courtney butts heads with my mom a lot. They’re too much alike. But not Lila. Lila lives to boss me around. Must be why she and Mom get along so well.”
“She sounds terrific.”
“Yeah, you’d love her,” he said sourly, then chuckled to show he’d been teasing. “So with your sister coming back,” he paused, sounding a little too casual. “Does that mean you’re leaving early? You said you planned to go to Raleigh, right?”
“To visit my parents, yeah. I’m not sure what I’m doing with my life—cue the dramatic music—now that I’m almost done with my leave.” And officially out of the military.
“What do you want to do?”
Another thing she really liked about Thorn. He asked her questions and listened for her answers. He didn’t talk to hear himself talk. He genuinely wanted to hear her and seemed to take value in her opinions.
“I wish I knew. I majored in business. I’ve spent the past ten years as a logistics officer. There are plenty of headhunters ready to place me in some corporate job somewhere.” But none of it felt right.
“Is that something you want to do?”
“Not really. Actually, there’s this cute little gift shop downtown that I’ve been eyeing. It could be so much more than it is, but it’s a risk investing in retail.” Yet anytime she thought about what she’d do with her life, she gravitated toward being her own boss.
“Anything worth having is worth taking a gamble, you want my opinion.” He stole a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Thief.”
He grinned. “Think about it, April. What do you like to do? Maybe something will come to you from that.”
“I like swimming in the ocean. Running on the beach. Walking with you,” she said playfully.
He swung her hand to his lips and planted another kiss on her. A simple peck that lit her up from the inside out. “It’s mutual, honey. Or should I sa
y, Ma’am? Wouldn’t want you to think I was getting too familiar or anything.”
“Oh please. You’re all about being familiar, especially when you think I’m wearing too many clothes.”
“Hey. My house, my rules. Bras and panties are verboten in the Thorn palace. And that’s an order, Major.”
“Dictator,” she muttered, trying not to smile. Thorn could lighten her burdens just be being him. God, why did she feel like she had to leave and go to some big company to make money? Oh, right, so she wouldn’t turn into her mother, losing herself in a man. Yet the thought of losing herself in Thorn had appeal…
“So you have no plans other than to visit your parents. Will you stay with your sister when she gets back?”
“I assumed I would. But there’s a plus to her being back—I won’t have to dog sit Lobo anymore.”
“Too bad. He and I are just starting to get along.”
She snickered. “You mean you found that monstrous bone in your garden, and now he won’t dig anymore since he got what he was after.”
“Who knows how long ago he buried it?” They continued to walk along the beach. The sun went down, leaving the clouds bathed in wisps of white over a pink sky fading into burnt orange, and finally indigo.
“What a beautiful evening.”
“Yeah.” He was looking at her as he said it, and her heart raced, as it always did, just being near him. “So I was thinking…”
“Don’t hurt yourself.”
“At ease, Major.”
She laughed.
“I was thinking maybe you could stay with me for a bit when your sister gets back. I mean, she might want her privacy and all. I don’t. I’ll be back at work in another week and a half anyway, and the place would be yours, pretty much.” He shrugged, as if her answer didn’t matter to him.
But she sensed the shift in their quasi-friendly relationship. Personally, she wouldn’t call them friends with benefits. More like lovers who argue like an old married couple who have hot sex.
