In that way that she knew him, she understood this was what he was waiting for. His satisfaction, his knowing awareness of her, his inherent certainty that he owned her body and knew its secrets were all expressed in a single smug breath.
Confident of his conquest, he rolled some of his weight onto her. He shoved his knee between her legs hard, so her pussy rode his thigh. Then his hand moved from her side to cover her breast. He palmed her, his big hand establishing ownership, then rubbed his thumb over her nipple until it tightened.
He leaned over and touched his lips to hers. “You’re so easy, Red. So responsive.” He kissed her again, deeper.
“Brian was a sexual idiot, wasn’t he? Your body is a freaking erotic playground, and I bet he never recognized it. You’re so fucking better off without him.” He’d started pinching her nipple while he spoke, rolling it, twisting, and making her breath harsh and needy. “Everything pleases you.”
Moving his mouth along her jaw, kissing and nipping along the way, he found her earlobe and took it between his teeth. He tugged, a slight, seductive pain-pleasure. After a long moment he kissed his way along her neck to her breast. He had both nipples then, his fingers working one and his mouth drawing in the other. He sucked hard on it, then held it gently with his teeth while his tongue nuzzled her.
“Reinen.”
“Yes, baby. I’ll take care of you. You know I will. Have patience.”
She knew he was right. She did know it. But she needed his touch, there, on her clit. She started rocking against his thigh, seeking that one, necessary touch. But he held back, nudging against her pussy, even managing to stimulate her ass, all while withholding that one touch she needed.
“Reinen.” Opening her eyes, she turned her head to glare at him.
Without breaking suction, he let go of her breast with his mouth, giving her nipple a sharp sting. He looked at her in amused indulgence, a conquering hero enjoying the spoils of war. “What do you need, baby?”
“Touch me.”
He had both hands on her tits now, working her. “I am touching you, sweetheart.”
“Ri.” It was a whimper and a plea, not a thing she could be proud of, but it seemed to please him.
His lips next to her mouth, he instructed her. “Tell me what you want. Say it.”
She took a frustrated breath. “I need to come. Touch my clit.”
“Please?”
“Yes. Please.”
He lifted to look up at her, unsympathetic. “You’re not helpless. Do it yourself.”
“Ri.”
“Do it. Make yourself come. I want to watch.”
And he did, waiting with his gaze on her right hand, lifting a brow and shooting her a look in impatience.
At his mercy, compelled by the power of his will, she slid her hand along her body and touched herself. Intently, he watched, and it seemed as though the force of his gaze drove her fingers. She touched lightly at first, but he squeezed her nipples roughly, another of those nonverbal orders. Following his command, she stroked herself with more fervor. In a few moments she moaned, forgetting that she was pleasuring herself and falling into the spell of his sexual domination.
He pushed his knee up harder between her legs, and she began humping against him helplessly. The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes and succumbed was the heat of his gaze watching her—the frantic motion of her hand, the grip of his big hands on her breasts, and her face as she fell into orgasm.
“Mmm. Mmm. Reinen.”
“Yes, baby. Fuck, yes.”
He pushed her hard, everywhere he touched, driving her higher, until she wracked and wailed.
When it was over, he soothed her, gently palming her breasts until the sting of his stimulation calmed and stroking her hair away from her face. He picked up her hand and took it to his mouth, sucking her taste from her fingers. Then he pulled up the sheet and a light blanket and covered her as though he was tucking her in for the night. He rolled onto his back and brought her along, so she fell asleep snugged into his shoulder, his arm around her securing her at his side.
She woke once during the night. He was lifted over her again, his body already situated between her legs. His fingers slipped into her hair on either side of her head as he kised her awake. She could feel the hard length of his cock surging against her thigh.
“Felicity,” he murmured. “I need you.”
She opened her eyes and he was there above her. Immediately he pushed in, filling her cunt, making her gasp. He gave her no time to adjust, but just pumped into her, full, determined strokes that matched the intensity of his gaze.
His fingers clutched against her head as their passion rose. Their breath came in rough gasps, sharing the same air. His eyes flared and his body tensed, his thrusts increasingly powerful.
Wordlessly, holding her gaze to the very end, he drove them over. He clenched and growled as he came, his answer to the spasms and cries he wrenched from her. With his hard, final shudders, she felt the spurt of his cum as he emptied into her.
Hot and wet, deep inside her.
He hadn’t used a condom.
She savored it for a moment, in the way she knew he intended it. A sign of his possession, a primal signal of ownership. She couldn’t find it in herself to object.
Opening her eyes to his gaze, she saw the challenge in it. He wanted her to see his meaning. They held there, watching each other as their breathing slowed. He still filled her, not ravaging her any longer, but still possessing her.
Finally, her eyes drifted closed, and she knew he would take it as a surrender. He kissed her softly and whispered, “That’s my girl.”
Then he lifted away, turned her to her side, and snugged up against her. He had one arm under her head and reached to cover her breast with that hand. Sliding his other arm over her hip, he ran his fingers down and pressed them in between her legs, deep enough to penetrate. They drifted off that way, Reinen asserting his dominion even in sleep.
Chapter Three
“I thought you had duty all night, Danny. What are you doing up?”
It was way past light when Reinen had woken to the buzz of his cell. He’d slipped out of bed—slipped his fingers out of Red—and walked into his other room before he answered it. He’d given the woman a pretty good workout last night, and she deserved her rest. She probably didn’t have to sleep off three margaritas normally, either.
It wasn’t typical that one of his crew from medical would be calling him at 0800 on a Saturday morning, especially after a duty night.
“Personnel recall, man. We need you on the ship in two hours. We’re loading up for humanitarian aid, and the old man wants us underway at fourteen hundred.”
“Fuck. Haiti?”
“Yeah.”
There’d been a storm that hadn’t quite reached hurricane level, but it had still beat the hell out of Haiti, causing flooding and mudslides and all kinds of hurt. The rumor was that Reinen’s ship would be called up, but if you spent your life in the Navy listening to rumors, you’d drive yourself nuts.
The corpsmen would play a big role in supplying the ship for medical treatment as well as the water and tents and shit the displaced would need. And if the captain wanted them out to sea by two, Reinen had a lot of work to do. From his open doorway, he looked at that red head with real regret.
“All right, Dan. I’ll be there in a half hour or so. Do you want to hit your pit for a couple hours? I could stop by your house if you get Karen to pack your gear.”
“Nah. Thanks, though. You know she’d have my head if I don’t come home and kiss her good-bye.”
“You’ll be doing more than kissing and I know it. You should call first and tell her to be ready for a quickie. That way she could be on her knees already when you get there.”
Dan and Karen had a great marriage. It was one of the best he knew in the Navy, which was an institution notoriously hard on couples. But if you didn’t razz your buddy about him screwing his wife or you sc
rewing his mother, well, you just weren’t doing your job.
“Shut the fuck up, man. I’m still going down the call list, so I gotta go. See you in a few.”
“Yeah, man. One of those kisses you give Karen is from me.”
He closed the phone, his gaze still on Felicity. Rolling her over for his own parting quickie had significant appeal, but he didn’t have much time. And though it pained him to even think the words—they had to talk.
So he left her sleeping while he showered quickly and dressed. Most of his gear was already in the truck, so it only took him a minute to throw a few things into a bag. Sternly forcing himself not to think about what he was doing, he moved a little piece of white lace from the pocket of his jeans to a zip pouch in his bag. When he was done, he sat down on the bed next to her and stroked his fingers along her head. He loved her hair. The color was spectacular—and natural, he had reason to know. It was lush and gently curled and felt just as soft and sexy as it looked.
And all that had him feeling like a pussy.
“Felicity. Sweetheart.” He touched his lips to her temple, then gave her shoulder a little shake. “Baby.”
She opened her eyes slowly and took a minute to focus. She wiped her mouth, probably looking for drool, which she missed anyway.
He planted a kiss on her forehead then rubbed it in with his thumb. “I’m sorry, Felicity. I’m going to have to go. My ship’s been called up. We’re sailing in a few hours.”
She sat up, belatedly remembering she was naked. He lifted up when she tugged at the sheet, letting her pull it up to cover her breasts. When she was finished with that, she swiped her hair back from her face and met his gaze. He could see when the memory of that last hot, bare fuck came back to her.
Thinking it was time for her to get what was between them, if she hadn’t caught on already, he didn’t back down from the challenge in her look. “Yeah. I didn’t use a condom. I took it as a safe bet that you’re on some sort of birth control. And I figured your idiot doctor would have used a condom even so, considering that he didn’t have you in mind for happily ever after.”
The jerk wouldn’t have wanted any unexpected complications to get in the way of his future with the doctor bitch whose mouth he’d been plundering. Reinen could see that Felicity didn’t care for his analysis of that situation, but he was right, and it served him to remind her that the asshole was an asshole.
“So I presumed we had the pregnancy thing covered and that you’re disease-free, as I know I am. I haven’t had sex without a condom in years. Even so, I’ll get tested on the ship first thing, so you can be sure, too.”
She dropped her head, no doubt regretting what she’d now be thinking was her risky, unsafe behavior of the last twelve hours. He wouldn’t have it. He tucked a knuckle under her chin and raised it, waiting for her to look up at him.
“This is the point, baby. You’re mine.” He spoke the words hard, with emphasis. “Until I get back and we finish this.”
She looked at him, still silent, and he had to suppress his frustration.
“Do you understand, Red? I’m not done with you. We’re not done.” He’d added that last when she opened her mouth to object. He realized he was letting his inner caveman show. It was a part of himself he knew was there and that he accepted. She’d seemed okay that he’d let loose of it a bit when he’d taken her sexually, but now they were in relationship territory. And that was always a fucking minefield.
One he didn’t have time for. Biting back a sigh, he kissed her, then rested his forehead against hers. Staring into her eyes, too close to focus, he tried to hide his impatience.
“Honest to God, I’d have helped you move today.” He’d never admit it, but there was a fair chance he’d have moved her out of her place and right into his—he wanted to be with her that bad. Maybe he’d have the fucking Navy to thank for keeping him from heading over a cliff.
She still didn’t speak, and he wanted to shake her. He was giving her more by far than he ever had to any woman, and she seemed to have no appreciation for it. The fact was, he was a little riled. He had this urge to bind her to him that should have scared the shit out of him. But it felt so fucking right. He took her shoulders and nudged her just a little. “Felicity.”
She lifted her head like she was just waking up, and he reminded himself he ought to give her a little latitude for the shape she was in. He was pretty sure she didn’t have a lot of experience dealing with a morning after like this one.
“Yes,” she said. “I understand. You have to go.”
Fuck. “Yeah, but—”
“I get the rest of it, too.” She had her brain back, and listed off her response to every point he’d made. She was bright, and she made him want to kiss and hug her and act like a complete idiot.
“You shouldn’t have made love to me without a condom until we’d discussed it—that was a serious breach of trust we’ll have to discuss later. But yes, I have a birth control implant that is reliable in the extreme. And I’ll get tested while you’re away as well.
“I don’t appreciate your reminder that Brian was playing me, but I get that you were trying to be practical and not hurtful. I’m not yours.” She used finger quotes there. “But I think what you meant to ask”—another emphasis to let him know he’d overstepped—“was that I not be with anyone else until you get back. I agree to that, with the expectation of the same commitment from you.”
She waited for his grudging nod. Then she stroked his face, a sweet touch that soothed the snarling beast in him. “And I believe you’d have helped me move today, and I would have appreciated it. Good?”
He couldn’t stop himself from kissing her then, and he made the most of it. “Yeah, good,” he whispered into her hair when he was done. God, he wanted her. Wanted to keep her. It hardly bore thinking about. And if she wanted to pretend she wasn’t finger-quotes-his, well, there’d be time for that later. He’d gotten what he needed, at least.
He kissed her hard once more and held her face. “I really have to go. I feel it’s my responsibility to leave you money for a cab since I can’t drive you home. But I also think you’d be pissed if I did. So which will it be?”
She smiled, understanding him way more than he was comfortable with. “No money.”
“I figured.” But it unmanned him, and she knew it. Fuck it. If she was going to be easy, he wouldn’t like her so much. “All right. I’m grabbing a mug of coffee, then I gotta go. Take your time. The house will lock itself.”
He touched her lips one more time and held her gaze. “I’ll see you, Felicity Reed. On the pier, when we pull in. I’ve never put in for first kiss before, but this time I will. I want you to be there. Yeah?”
It was about a thousand times nearer to a proposal than he’d thought he’d ever come, and he was pretty certain she understood.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’ll be there.”
He accepted the symbolism of her commitment, his caveman satisfied. He gave her one last kiss. “Good girl.”
* * * *
As he pulled into the garage, Andrick Skinner breathed a sigh of gratitude, in counter to the silent string of curses he’d been mouthing since he’d gotten the recall message. Ri’s truck was still there. Not that his buddy would have a solution to his problem. No one would. Andy was screwed. But it felt good to be able to expect a little sympathetic company while his career imploded.
“Come on, baby. Let’s go see Uncle Ri.” He climbed out of his SUV and opened the door behind him to wriggle Juniper out of her car seat. Grabbing his daughter onto his hip, he went through the door to the kitchen. Reinen was there, just filling a coffee mug from the pot on the counter. A scattering of girl clothes on the island and Ri’s T-shirt on the floor told him his buddy hadn’t spent the night alone. And that there was still a woman in the house.
That was more than a bit unusual. Reinen had been a hound dog back in the day, for sure. But he’d toned it down some lately, not trolling the bars the way he
used to. Plus, Andy couldn’t remember a time when a woman Ri brought home was still there in the morning.
Ri looked up from his coffee and read the situation in a flash. Yeah. Like Ri, Andy was supposed to be on the boat in a little over an hour. And he had a not-quite-one-year-old on his hip. Without a babysitter.
“Uh-oh,” Ri said, even as he gave a smile to the baby and opened his hands to take her. Junie loved Ri, and the way Ri took to her like a second daddy had totally flabbergasted the whole ship. No one had seen that coming.
It was a mutual adoration club, and, with a squeal of delight, Junie leapt into Ri, circled her arms around his neck and gave him a wet kiss.
“I got the recall notice when we were already nearly home. Hang onto her while I grab our bags.”
Reinen nodded, already engaged in whatever nonsense babble Juniper was sharing with him. The man drew women’s attention like a magnet, and it apparently started young.
Andy had his overnight and Junie’s diaper bags slung over his shoulder as he headed back to the kitchen. He paused in the short hallway when he got a glimpse of Ri’s piece just come down the stairs.
She was a babe, like he’d expect of any woman Ri brought home. She was tall enough to stand up to Reinen’s six three, with long legs and generous curves. She was a beauty of a redhead dressed in one of Ri’s Navy Corpsman tees, being that her clothes were still scattered all over the kitchen. And in the garage, as he’d noticed on his way back to his car. It must have been some night.
He wished he could remember what that felt like.
The woman had caught Ri still making goo-goo eyes at Junie, and it took her aback some, seeing her stud play with a baby. Ri caught sight of her and got a look at her raised brow and crossed arms when he reached for his mug. “Oh, Red,” he said, and Andy had to enjoy his stammer. “This is Juniper. She belongs to one of my housemates.”
Billings, Rachel - Three Men and a Woman: Felicity (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 4
