by Hill, Teresa
She blushed, grateful for the near darkness, and fought not to bury her face in his pillow. That hot, tingly feeling was back all over her body. Her breasts felt heavy. Her nipples tightened and peaked. Between her legs, she ached.
She wanted him to touch her.
He walked over to the bed and looked down at her. “I like you in my shirt, too.”
“I like that you’re home.”
“I’ve never hated being away more.”
She didn’t know what to do or say next. Flirting with him was fun, but the tension was killing her. Was she supposed to go to him, wrap her arms around him and kiss him? Was he waiting for an invitation?
“Mace, you have to give me a clue here. What do you want?”
He eased down until he was sitting on his heels, which put him nearly at her eye level. “More than I suspect you’re willing to give right now, but like I said on the phone, I can wait.”
Such a frustrating man. “Mace,” she said again, “what do you want?”
His slow, sexy grin came back. “Kiss me goodnight.”
She’d never thought she’d take orders from a man and like it, but she did. She licked her lips, and his eyes flared with heat. She was nearly laughing as she leaned toward him, and he met her halfway.
His lips were soft, his breath hot. Need splintered inside her and darted throughout her body. His big, warm hands closed on her face, and he took over the kiss, nibbling and sucking on her lips, teasing her with his tongue, leaving her hungry for more.
When he finally pulled away, she whimpered and wondered where he found the strength, the will.
He must have known what he was doing to her, what she was thinking. “How would you feel about rolling over and making some room for me in that bed?”
Yes! She wasn’t sure exactly what he was asking, but her answer was yes.
She rolled over onto her back and then her left side. He pulled the covers away from her back and then the mattress gave beneath his weight. One of his arms slid beneath her head, across her shoulder and up the side of her neck to cup her chin.
His chest and then his abs, pure heat and hard muscle, pressed against her back. His other arm slid across her side and then beneath the bottom of her shirt and onto the bare skin low on her belly.
She sucked in a breath.
“Too much?” He nuzzled her hair.
“No.”
Her skin tingled, her breasts swelled and her nipples went so tight they hurt. She wanted his hand to cup her breasts, but she also wanted it to ease between her legs and take care of the ache there.
“You feel so good,” he muttered against the ultra-sensitive skin at the side of her neck.
Just him breathing on her made her shiver.
“Cold, Dani?”
“Smart ass,” she whispered.
He chuckled, the sound rumbling out of him, and used his teeth to nibble on her neck. “I love it when you give me shit.”
She loved it when he did this to her and held her like this. He bit down softly on her ear lobe, and she arched her back, pushing her hips against his. His cock, hard and thick, found its way into the valley between the fleshy globes of her bottom. That spot could have been created just for him.
“Ahh, God.” He groaned. “Perfect. So, so good.”
He was doing wicked things to her neck and shoulders, but his hands were locked into place. She wanted them everywhere. A pulse beat in his cock, and soon, an answering one throughout her body. She rocked her hips against his, the pressure so sweet.
“Mace.” Her voice was all heat and need.
The hand on her chin pushed her face to the side, and his mouth came down hard on hers, his tongue thrusting into her mouth in time with the movement of her hips against his cock.
He pulled his lips away barely long enough to whisper, “I want to make you come. Let me.”
“What about you?”
“I’m good with this. Although I may come in my pants like a damned fourteen-year-old.”
“Because of this?” She pushed her hips hard against him until they both groaned.
“You trying to embarrass me?”
“No, I just think if I get to come, you should, too.”
“Well, if you insist.”
“I do.”
“You first.”
The hand at her neck worked its way beneath her shirt to cup one of her aching breasts. She purred as he rolled her nipple between his thumb and the side of his finger.
“I can’t wait to have this in my mouth,” he whispered.
“You don’t have to wait.”
“I think I do. I promised myself I wouldn’t rush you into anything, and I’m already doing more than I intended.”
“Mace, I want — ”
“So do I, but I’m gonna make you feel really good. I promise.” He slid his other hand down into her panties.
She arched into his big fingers against her slit. His hand in front, his cock in back, his other hand on her breast, his mouth attacking hers — this was heaven. She was embarrassingly wet, and he’d barely touched her.
“Oh, yessss.” His fingers grazed her clit.
She bit her lip and arched into his hands, needing more, more of everything. But she wanted to feel his cock, too, and she rocked between the two.
“Oh, fuck.” Mace sounded as desperate as she felt.
His arms tightened around her until she was caught in a tight hold between his body and his hands. No more teasing. His tongue thrust into her mouth. His hips rocked firmly against her, and he stopped playing around with his fingers and got serious about stroking her until she bucked against him, gasped and nearly screamed,
Her toes curled under, her legs went tight. Her body spasmed around his talented fingers. His other hand pressed against her mouth, muffling her sounds, as she rode out a mind-blowing wave of sensations.
“Dani, Dani, Dani,” he chanted as she started to come down and he did his best to drag out her pleasure, nice and slow, while she rode his fingers.
“Again,” he demanded. “Give it to me again.”
She didn’t think she could. Her body was so ultra-sensitive she could barely stand him touching her, because it felt too good, but she never wanted this to end.
“Come on. One more.”
His hand still covered her mouth, his arms were tight, controlling her body in a way no one else ever had, and his fingers … They barely touched her, barely stroking.
She panted, making pitiful little whimpering sounds with every exhale. Her hands clamped on his forearms, because she needed to hang onto something.
“More?”
“Mmmm.” Yes. She couldn’t get the word out.
One of his fingers pressed, released her clit, press, release, the simplest movement, until she swelled beneath his touch and another wave of pleasure ripped through her.
“That’s it. There you go. Just like that.”
He sounded so proud of her, like she’d given him exactly what he wanted.
She was still coming down. He was bringing her down, nice and slow. Pleasure rippled through her. She shivered and was still whimpering when he suddenly rolled her onto her belly and stretched his whole body heavily on top of hers.
He thrust in earnest against her bottom, chanting, fuck, oh fuck, oh, fuck, Dani.
His cock throbbed against her ass. His finger on her clit pressed and released in time with his thrusts, and he came hard with his open mouth pressed against her shoulder to muffle his own sounds.
It was exquisite, feeling his whole body tense, feeling his cock pulse with his climax, his arms tight around her, his body so big and hot and heavy on top of hers. The whole world turned into pulses of pleasure as his body thrust against hers and they both sucked in air.
Again, he brought her down slowly, milking every moment of pleasure. He stroked her hair, nuzzled her shoulder, dropped little kisses there, against her neck, her cheek.
She felt his grin against her face as he said, “S
o, that’s how adolescent boys in Texas do it.”
She laughed, too, as he pulled his hand out from under her body, rose up and slid off her to end with the front of his body pressed heavily against her side. She turned her face toward him. He tucked her hair behind her ear, so she could see him, then cupped her cheek and kissed her softly.
He laughed and shook his head. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“But it felt so good.”
“It felt amazing, but I made a damned mess.” He eased away from her and pulled the covers down to her waist. “This is going to sound completely self-serving, but I really don’t see any other way. Your shirt needs to come off. I came all over the back of it.”
“Okay, but I don’t think I can move. You do it.”
He did, carefully, easily. All she had to do was lift her head for a few seconds, then let it fall back to the bed. She decided she loved his hands, especially when he lay back down at her side and stroked his hand up and down her bare back. Every way he touched her felt so good.
“I’ll get you another shirt,” he said.
“Mmm.”
That would be okay, although this was really nice, too, all this skin-to-skin contact, his hand so soothing on her back, his heat pressed against her side.
Life seemed so easy, so good.
* * *
Chapter Twenty
Mace
He woke up feeling like a million bucks.
He was jet-lagged and a little sore from a couple of hard licks he’d taken while he and his team took the train back from the pretend terrorists, but nothing major.
He’d slept like he hadn’t in ages. SEALs learned to always maintain some level of alertness, but he hadn’t last night. He’d made out with a girl in a ridiculously juvenile, yet somehow hot as hell way, and his body could not have been happier or more relaxed.
He woke up right beside her, as he’d been when he fell asleep, before making it out of bed to get her a clean shirt. She’d been right where he’d left her, lying flat on her belly, bare save for a little pair of panties.
He grinned thinking about slipping his fingers inside those panties, how warm and wet and sweet it had been to touch her. He felt too good to even be embarrassed about grinding against the glorious curves of her ass until he came.
It seemed he’d slept half on his side and half on her. He had a leg tangled between hers, an arm around her bare back, a hand in her hair and his chin resting against her head, like he hadn’t been able to let her go all night or get close enough to her.
Damn, she felt good.
He didn’t move at first, except to let one of his hands slide down and across her back, across her waist. He was tempted by her hips, but that was out of bounds while she was asleep.
This was enough, lying here with her, everything in him blissfully relaxed.
Well, almost. His cock was hard against her side, but no way he would wake her up. He’d gotten in at close to two in the morning, and it was only seven-thirty, late for him, but probably not for her.
He’d always believed he’d meet a woman one day. The right woman, and that would be that. He’d be hers. She’d be his. They’d build a life together. He’d hoped he wouldn’t find her until he was ready to leave the SEAL teams, either because he was done or because she mattered more to him than his work. The sacrifices, the worry, asked of a SEALs wife seemed too high to him.
He could do other things that didn’t demand so much time, travel and danger, but would still be satisfying. Life was all about balance. He could accept a new balancing act for the woman he loved.
He looked at Dani, all that soft skin and pretty hair, thought of all that she’d been through, how hard she worked to protect herself and depend on no one, the way she loved to give him a hard time …
It scared him, wondering if he could protect her, if he could be the man who never let her down, if she could trust enough to open up to him and love him. If she’d ever truly be over Aaron.
Loving a woman and always worrying you were her second choice? How would that feel over a lifetime? Could he do that?
Was she ready for that kind of relationship anyway?
He had a million questions and no real answers, except that he wanted more from her. More time. More closeness. More trust. More laughter. More touching. More kissing. More everything.
He could spend a lifetime trying to make this woman happy and safe. When he hadn’t been looking, she’d grabbed a hold on his heart, and he wasn’t even sure if she wanted anyone’s.
He was in deep with her, even though he still hadn’t found out the truth about Aaron and there was so much he hadn’t told her. It wasn’t like him to end up in such a precarious position. He was a planner, a careful man who looked ahead for all the dangers and obstacles in his path.
He’d done none of that with her. As he acknowledged how much he cared about her, he knew he’d left so many variables unresolved, left himself vulnerable to so many complications.
He just hadn’t been able to stop himself.
She tried so hard to be tough and strong, defiant even, and the vulnerability he saw in her just killed him. Practically from the first moment they’d met, he’d wanted to scoop her up and wrap his arms around her and protect her with everything he had. He’d wanted to dry all her tears and make her smile, permanently, and he’d wanted her understanding, her forgiveness. He’d wanted joy in her life, excitement and satisfaction, and he’d wanted to feel like he was home when he was with her.
He didn’t want to leave this bed.
He must have jinxed himself but good with that thought. Seconds later, his phone dinged at the arrival of a text message. He rolled over and grabbed his phone off the nightstand before it woke her.
It was his friend with the German GSG9. Have information you requested. Call me.
A cold shiver spread through his body as he looked at Dani, still sleeping peacefully beside him. Okay, Aaron, Mace thought, what were you trying to do when you fake-married her? And how is she going to feel about whatever that truth is? Could she be at peace with it?
Suddenly, he was afraid to get out of the bed and find out, afraid he might never make it back to a place like this with her.
* * *
Dani
She didn’t open her eyes until nearly eleven.
She never slept this late. Her whole body felt loose and heavy, sated. There wasn’t a single worry in her head. Well, except when she realized she was alone in the bed. She’d rather have woken up with him. Instead, she got a t-shirt he’d left folded up on the far side of the bed with a note that said, “Sorry. Fell asleep before I got a shirt on you. Had to go to work. Be here when I get home.”
There was that bossy streak of his. She hated to admit it, but it turned her on when it was something to do with her kissing him or letting him do things to her in bed.
He wanted her home so he could walk in the door and kiss her, right? So they’d end up back in his bed tonight? If that’s what his little note was about …Yeah, she was probably going to be okay with that.
She heard a tentative knock on the bedroom door. Mace wouldn’t knock. He’d barge right in, the way he’d barged into her life and pushed it in a completely different direction. Not that she was complaining. She’d desperately needed a new direction.
Leah opened the door and stood there grinning. “You’re awake. Finally.”
Dani nodded.
“And I think someone else must have been sleeping in your bed last night, because you’re naked and you have sex hair.”
“I have panties on, and I don’t have sex hair. We didn’t have sex.”
“Right,” Leah said.
“We just fooled around a little bit.”
“Fooling around with him is that good?”
Dani laughed. “Yeah, it is.”
“I’ll bring you a cup of coffee if I get all the details.”
“All the details? I don’t do that,” she said, but Leah had already walk
ed away.
She came back a minute later with a steaming cup of coffee she placed on the bedside as Dani slipped the t-shirt over her head.
“Here,” Leah said. “Now, scoot over and tell me about Mr. Sexy Navy SEAL.”
Dani took the coffee and sipped cautiously, because it was really hot. Almost as hot as Mace. “He has great hands.”
“No surprise there.”
“You know how some people touch you, hug you, and it’s half-hearted or rushed or feels like something they think they have an obligation to do, but don’t really want to?”
“Yes.”
“With Mace, it’s nothing like that. Everything he does with his hands matters, like there’s weight behind every touch, deliberateness, need, heart. It feels so good.”
“Could I borrow him? Just for a night here and there? I don’t think any guy has ever been into me that way.”
“I don’t think it’s that he’s into me. It’s just who he is, how he is with women. You’ve seen the way they keep showing up at his door. They want more. They’d beg for it, make fools of themselves for him.”
“And now you know why,” Leah said.
“I told you, we just fooled around.”
“Uh huh.” She picked up the note he’d left for Dani from the bedside table and read it. “Looks like he wants more of that tonight.”
Dani fought against a blush.
“Bossy thing, isn’t he?”
She nodded. No denying what was right there in writing.
“I think we need to go to the grocery store and make this man a nice dinner to welcome him home, and then I’ll make myself scarce, and he can boss you around some more. I picked up an extra shift at work so you’ll have him to yourself tonight.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Right. It’s not like I need the money.” Leah rolled her eyes. “Please tell me we’re not going to be in a hurry to get back to our apartment.”
“I don’t know. I’m sure he’ll want us to stay, but we can’t.”
“Yeah. We can. We’ll save every dime, find a new place of our own and be out of here in a few weeks, maybe a month. It’s not like I want to live off a guy or think that’s a smart thing for a woman to do, but I’ve lived in some shitty places with some scary people, and Randy’s one who seriously scares me. There’s being smart, and there’s being stupid. We’re not going to be stupid about this. Not anymore. Plus, that bossy man of yours with the great hands? You know he’s going to order you to stay, and you can share that bed with him every night and wake up feeling as great as you do right now. You’d be really stupid to pass that up.”
