She cupped his jaw and urged him to look at her. “So that’s why you pay it forward. Because he helped you, but you couldn’t help him.”
He nodded, grateful that she understood why he spent so much of his spare time helping his fellow vets.
She leaned close and whispered a kiss across his lips. “You’re an amazing man, Captain.”
He smiled, cradled the back of her head and kept her close for a deeper kiss. One filled with gratitude and love. When they broke apart, she tucked herself back against him and he said, “I’m glad I could help you feel more at home.”
Bridget definitely felt more at home with her new friends and with him. In the first few weeks when she had been back, it had been a rough adjustment. Life had seemed to be throwing everything at her, from finding a job and an apartment to getting back into school for the last few classes she needed for her engineering degree.
Becoming a part of Maggie’s circle of friends had brought some stability to her life, especially since they understood a great many of the emotions she was battling.
Meeting Mark had added another whole element to the mix. She hadn’t really planned on being involved with anyone, but he was too hard to resist. And now, lying beside him, it was easy to picture herself here with him every night. Waking up beside him. Maybe one day having a family to fill the home he had built with such care.
“I’m definitely more at home and in control. I really need to be in control,” she said, maybe a little too vehemently.
He stroked his hand up and down her back, the motion soothing. “I get it, Bridget.”
She murmured her agreement and closed her eyes, calm filling her thanks to his peaceful embrace. As his breath slowed and sleep came to him, she let herself fall off into slumber and dreams of being with him again.
In her fantasies, her back was spooned against his front and his arms surrounded her and held her tight to his hard erection.
He plucked her nipples with his fingers and one hand drifted lower to part her center and caress her clit.
She moaned out loud and roused, only to realize that what she was feeling was far from a nighttime fantasy.
Chapter 8
“Mark?” she asked, her voice husky with sleep.
“Sssh, it’s just a dream,” Mark said as he stroked his fingers across the swelling nub of her clit and all along her center. She was already wet and hot and all he could think about was slipping inside her.
He parted her nether lips and drove his fingers in, thrusting while he tweaked and tugged the sweet tips of her breasts.
She ground her hips against his cock and sucked in a hesitant breath, almost as if she was fighting the release he felt building inside her. But then he remembered her last words just before they had drifted off to sleep. How she had said she needed to be in control.
Applying gentle pressure on her shoulders, he urged her to face him.
“This is your dream, Bridget. What do you want?”
Her body visibly shook and her half-lidded gaze dropped to his cock. She licked her lips nervously and in soft tones said, “I want you to touch yourself. And I want you to talk dirty to me.”
He didn’t know how he was going to manage to hold back with her watching, much less manage a word, but hell, if that’s what she wanted . . .
Reaching down, he fisted his hand around his cock and stroked himself. Leaning close, he whispered, “I’m imagining it’s your hand around me, Bridget. So smooth, but powerful. Working me.”
He stroked up and down and as he did so, she hiked her thigh up over his and the smell of her arousal, the heat of her, was so strong that his cock swelled harder. He jerked rougher and faster. Moaned when she reached up and tweaked the taut nubs of her breasts.
“God, your tits are beautiful. So perfect.”
“Do you want a taste?” she said, but even before he replied, she was moving closer and offering them up to him.
“Fuck, yes,” he said and worked himself more insistently.
“Not yet,” Bridget said, kind of liking being in charge.
She shivered at the sight of him touching himself, his big hand wrapped around his thick long cock. His erection gloriously flushed and engorged.
She cupped his balls. They were tight and hard and he groaned and stroked even faster as she massaged them in her hand.
“Talk to me, Mark,” she said, her voice shaky and her insides vibrating with so much need that she had to caress her clit to satisfy the urge.
“Fuck, Bridget. I can’t think when I see you playing with yourself like that. I can’t hold back much more,” he said as the first hint of pre-cum glistened on the head of his dick.
“I want you inside me, Mark.” She brushed away his hand and wrapped hers around his erection, guiding it to her center.
“I need to get – ”
“You said you were safe. I’m safe, too. I want to feel all of you inside me.”
He shuddered and in a strangled whisper said, “Are you sure, Bridget?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life, Mark.”
With a husky moan, he rolled her beneath him and entered her with one sharp move, skin slick against skin.
“Ah, God, Bridget. That’s – ”
“Incredible,” she said on a long breath and arched her back to increase his penetration.
“No, don’t, babe. I’m going to lose it.”
She looked up at him. His arms were braced on either side of head, holding his weight off her. The strain showed in the chiseled muscles of his arms and chest. She ran her hands along his chest and fingered the tight nubs.
He huffed out a pleased sigh and she leaned up on one arm and suckled him, earning another satisfied sound.
“Come with me, Mark. Please,” she said and bit his chest gently.
His groan this time was low, long and so intense, the vibration ran through her and into him. He shifted his hips, pulling out before driving back in, so forcefully he moved her up on the bed and wrenched a gasp from her.
He stilled. “Sorry. I don’t want to hurt you.”
She smoothed her hands across his shoulders and locked her gaze on his. “I’m strong, remember?” she teased and grinned.
“Damn straight,” he said with a chuckle and let loose his restraint.
He retreated and then entered her again, each thrust building the heat between them until her body shook from the release growing inside her. She raised her knees and cradled his hips, pushing off with her feet and increasing the depth of each plunge of his hips.
He murmured her name, the tones of his voice low and urgent, as he built the passion between them, the movement of his hips faster and more determined. Untamed and unrelenting until her climax smashed into her.
She arched her back, called out his name, and bit her fingers into his shoulders, holding on as wave after wave of pleasure washed over her body. As the slick slide of his cock fought against the friction of her contracting around him, caressing him.
Mark closed his eyes against the sight of her, lost in her passion. She was so beautiful and he wanted to bring her even more pleasure. He gritted his teeth and moved in her again, almost lost in the amazing feel of her pussy against his bare cock. Slick and sizzling. So snug and accepting of him as he pumped into her again and again, extending her climax.
He experienced intense pleasure of his own at the feel of her and the sounds she made, calling his name. A rough sigh and sharp cry as another orgasmic blast exploded through her.
Against his dick her body constricted around him, the tension so powerful that he couldn’t stop his own release. He ground into her deeply, spilling his seed inside her. His empty dead seed.
The pleasure that swamped him was a turbulent mix of passion, regret, and hopefulness.
As he dropped onto her, spent, she wrapped her arms and legs around him, trying to calm him, as if sensing the turmoil within him.
Long moments passed as they lay there, entwined. Their bod
ies slowly returning to normal, although he knew his life would never be normal again. She had touched his heart and opened up the corners of it he had closed off. The hidden spaces filled with thoughts of what he had wanted in life, but could no longer have.
He locked away those thoughts again and slipped from her and to his side, but she didn’t leave him. She tucked herself tight to his side again and stroked her hand along his chest, trying to comfort him.
“Don’t shut me out, Mark,” she said and leaned up on her elbow to gaze down at him.
As much as he wanted to let her in, he knew doing so would only bring them both a world of hurt.
“It’s almost time to get up. I’m going to make us some breakfast,” he said and bolted from the bed.
Chapter 9
Mark snagged a pair of jeans from a recliner a few feet from the bed and hopped from one foot to the other as he escaped the room.
And me, Bridget thought.
She’d sensed his withdrawal, physically and emotionally. As much as she had wanted this to be only one night of pleasure when the evening had started, sometime during the night it had become about more for her. She wanted to get to know him better. Wanted to think it could become something permanent.
Something where they could share many more nights of pleasure.
But judging from Mark’s rush from the room, he might not be feeling the same.
Unexpected pain filled her chest, but she told herself to suck it up and be the strong and in control woman she claimed to be.
Because she sensed he needed a little time to himself, she took her time washing up and took the liberty of peeking into his chest of drawers to borrow a t-shirt. It swam on her and reached to mid-thigh.
Enough coverage for now, although she’d have to put on something else for the trip back to the hotel.
The smell of bacon wafted up the stairwell as she reached the second floor and she heard him puttering around and then speaking to someone in a soft crooning voice.
As she reached the kitchen, she realized he was kneeling down by the French doors that were open and led to the garden. She walked closer as he said, “Hey, Slate. Good to see you, buddy.”
She walked to stand next to him where he was busy stroking the belly of a runt of a grey cat.
“Is he yours?” she asked and bent down beside him. The cat was in obvious ecstasy judging from the loud purrs and she understood.
Mark’s hands were dangerously sexy weapons.
Down girl.
“Slate doesn’t really belong to anyone. He just comes and goes as he wants,” he said.
Like the people in his life. Like his ex-fiancée and the parade of women she’d heard about.
The cat seemed to have had enough of his loving. With a shake of its head and genial swipe of its paw, Slate ambled out the open French door and scampered away.
They rose together and she tugged on the fabric of his t-shirt. “I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t want to do the walk of shame this morning when I go back to the hotel. Besides, if Maggie finds out, I’ll never have a moment of peace.”
He offered a wry grin and took hold of her hands. “Why’s that?”
“Because all I’ll hear from her is ‘I told you so.’”
His grin broadened and he gave her hands a playful shake. “Maggie thought you and I should get together?”
“Yep. She thought we’d be a good match,” she said, but the light in his eyes dimmed a bit and he looked away.
“I’m not sure I’m a good match for anyone.”
She cradled his jaw and urged him to face her. “Maggie would say ‘I’m calling bullshit on that.’ Look at this house. Your cat. You want so much, but you’re afraid because of your ex.”
“And you’re not afraid?” he challenged with an arch of one brow.
She shrugged. “I’m not afraid to try and see where this could go, Mark. I like you. A lot. I enjoyed what we did last night, didn’t you?”
An unrepentant grin filled his features. “A lot. But – ”
She laid her index finger on his lips. “No buts, Mark.”
He teasingly bit her finger. “I was going to say, but I’d like to enjoy it again this morning.”
She chuckled and waggled an eyebrow suggestively. “Would you?”
He nodded and slipped his hands beneath the hem of the t-shirt to cradle her bare butt. He walked her back toward the counter and out of sight of the open French doors. As soon as she was against the granite, he whipped the t-shirt up and off her body, baring her to his gaze.
“You’re beautiful, inside and out,” he said and laid his hand over her heart.
She mimicked him, splaying her hand over the center of his chest. “You are, too, Mark.”
He brought his body up against hers and the push of his erection had her immediately wet and throbbing again. As he dipped his hand to her center and parted her, he moaned and said, “I don’t think I can ever get enough of you.”
“Good, because I want you just as bad.” She reached between them, undid his jeans and his cock sprung past the gap of denim.
She spread her legs and he thrust in, burying himself in her. Holding still as they both held their breath and he leaned his forehead against hers. For long moments they just stood there and then he braced one hand on her back and the other on the counter to protect her.
She leaned back and with his support, wrapped her legs around his waist, and grabbed hold of his shoulders.
He rocked in and out of her, rousing their passion. Ratcheting it up ever higher until they were both driving wildly against each other, reaching for a release that nearly shattered them when it came.
She buried her head against the crook of his neck and cried out his name. Tightened her grasp on his shoulders and around his waist as her orgasm slammed into her. He fell over the edge with her a second later, his body shuddering with his climax and a few rough final strokes of his hips.
He rested them against the counter for a few minutes until he slipped from her and she lowered her legs to the ground, still a little weak-kneed.
She helped him zip up and he reluctantly covered her with the t-shirt once again. “I guess I should get ready to go back to the hotel,” she said.
He hesitated, worrying her until he skimmed his hand down the side of her face, the touch tender and loving. “You had planned to stay the weekend. Maybe you could get your things and stay here even if you’ll have to listen to Maggie’s mouth.”
She grinned. “I think I can handle Maggie as annoying as she can be.”
“Awesome. Let’s have breakfast and we can go and check you out. Bring you home.”
Bring me home.
She didn’t know if it was a slip of a tongue or how he really felt. But what she did know was that she wanted to take a chance with him and see if this could be home.
Tangling her fingers with his, she said, “I’d like that, Mark. I’d like to come home with you.”
The grin on his face was all she needed to know that being here with him was worth the risk.
Chapter 10
Three months later
Bridget scooped out some cat food onto Slate’s plate as the cat insistently wound around her legs, purring loudly. Since moving in with Mark a month earlier, the cat had been coming back more and more often.
“Come on, kitty. Give me some space,” she said as Slate almost tripped her up as she rose and walked over to the counter. She desperately needed her morning coffee, but as she poured herself a mug, the smell of the java hit her hard and a bout of nausea slammed into her.
The mug rattled against the granite as she set it down clumsily and ran to the downstairs bathroom. Dropping to her knees, she retched and gagged as her stomach twisted in revolt.
Mark rushed in, kneeled behind her, and gently drew her hair back from her face. “Babe, are you okay?”
She shook her head and leaned back into his comforting embrace. “I don’t know what hit me. I think I have the flu or s
omething. My stomach has been really off for the last few days.”
“Why don’t you go lie down and I’ll get you some toast.”
She nodded, stood with his help, and rinsed out her mouth. He walked with her to the stairs, but it was a lovely morning. She motioned to the French doors. “I think I’d rather lay out there and get some sun.”
“Sure, Bridget. I’ll bring you breakfast in a second.”
She wasn’t the wilting waif type, but her stomach was so upset that she wasn’t going to argue with him about his taking care of her this morning. She went out to the garden and curled up on the chaise longue. A few seconds later, Slate scampered out from beneath a row of colorful petunias and laid down beside her, happily licking himself. His happy purr a constant vibration.
The warmth of the sun and the cat’s company chased away some of her discomfort. As she smoothed her hand across her abdomen, quieting the final topsy-turvy twists of her gut, the sunlight shimmered on the engagement ring on her finger.
She smiled at the sight of it. So much had changed for the better in just the few months they’d been together. And in the month since they’d become engaged, they’d pushed on to create the home they both wanted so much.
They’d even reached out to an agency to see what they’d eventually need to do if they decided to adopt to grow their new family.
Our new family, she thought, but in a sudden blast of insight, it occurred to her that she’d been so wrapped up in school, work, and Mark, that she hadn’t been regular with her period in the last few months. Counting down, she realized that it had been at least two months since she’d had her period.
Two months.
She tried not to panic since she’d always been regular. But then panic gave way to another feeling.
Hope.
When Mark placed the tray with some tea and toast on the table beside the chaise, her stomach lurched again and a chill swept over her body.
“You’re looking a little green,” he said and laid his hand on her forehead. “You’re not warm, just clammy. Maybe you should stay home from work today.”
“I’ll be okay. I just need to eat.” To prove her point, she grabbed the toast and took a bite. She smiled at him past the lump in her throat and the way the toast seemed to stick there, nearly choking her.
One Night of Pleasure: Military Romance Featuring a Sexy Navy Hero (Take a Chance Book 5) Page 5
