by Lea Hart
She felt him push his big, blunt finger all the way in and press something that she’d thought only a myth until this point. “Oh, sweet mercy. That’s amazing.” Soon everything was a blur as bright lights exploded against her eyelids. She called his name and clenched the hand that was doing amazing things to her body. As the fire passed through her limbs, she collapsed against him. “That’s not playing fair.”
He picked her up in his arms, carried her to the bedroom, and gently placed her on the bed. “I think you said earlier that life isn’t fair. So this is something that you have to live with.” He kissed her gently. “I’m going to lock up and turn off the lights. Be back in a few.”
She stared at his retreating figure as he moved down the hall. “That man is more than a fortune.” She rolled off the bed, went into the bathroom, washed her face, and brushed her teeth. Returning to the bedroom, she watched Chris return and smiled as he moved toward her. She dug into her suitcase and started searching for a T-shirt to sleep in.
“Honey, don’t bother with clothes. They’re just going to come off. I’ll keep you plenty warm.” He watched her turn and smile as she started taking her clothes off. First came her shorts then the shirt and bra. As he held his breath, she slipped off her panties. She smiled, moved over to the bed, and slipped under the covers. He took off his T-shirt and noticed that her breath hitched as she stared at him. Good to know that he wasn’t completely powerless in this situation. He might have a few tricks of his own. He slipped off his shorts and out came the most obvious representation of his current mindset. He knew that it might not be something she wanted to see, because he was a big man, and he was having big feelings.
“Chris, you’d better come to bed. I think there’s something we need to take care of.” She giggled and smiled up at him.
“Honey, I don’t want to…if you’re feeling sore.”
“I trust that you’re going to be gentle and move really slow.”
“God, I hope that’s true.” He stalked to the bed and got in. He gathered her close and pulled her on top of him. “You’re in charge. You can go as slow as you want. It’s your show.”
“I have a show?”
“Yes.” He lifted his hips and moved into her. “You control everything.”
She moved down him, and accepted all of him. There was a lot of him to accept, so it took her a while. Sitting up, she stared down at him. “I like it up here.”
“You look good up there.” He slid his hands up her sides, moved them along her back, and gently rocked his hips back and forth. “I like the view.”
She bent down, kissed him lightly, and felt the shift through the center of her body. She smiled against his lips. “I like having my show. I’m not good at it, but I expect with practice that I’ll become better.”
“Well, I’m committed to your success. So practice we will.”
She laughed and started to move up and down. He moved his hips into her slowly. Because of his size, he was able to hit the spot that had her splintering apart. This might have been his show as well. That was fine, because she figured they were better together than apart.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Chris walked into the kitchen and admired the view. He felt like blinking to make sure it wasn’t a dream. “It seems like I don’t have to eat oatmeal this morning.”
Rachel twirled around and smiled. “It’s the weekend, and we don’t eat oatmeal on the weekend. We eat weekend breakfast food. Today, we’re featuring waffles, bacon, and fruit. Does that work for you?”
“It certainly does. I like weekend breakfast food. I like it so much that we should have it every day.” She gave him a disapproving look. “So oatmeal during the week.”
“You are free to eat whatever you like. I’m in no way the boss of your food. I would, however, like you to live a long, healthy, and happy life. Because I want to enjoy your company for as long as I can. But like I said, eat what you want.”
“So oatmeal during the week.”
“It’s your choice.” He gave her a naughty smile, and she knew that it had probably resulted in more than a few women doing what he asked. “It’s your life, and I want you to be happy.” The smile remained on his face as he took a step forward, placed his arm around her waist, and pulled her against him. Staring up into his eyes, she saw his want and desire for her. Swallowing against her dry throat, she tried to come up with something snappy. Nothing snappy came to her brain. The only message she was receiving was…want…want…want. His head lowered, and she closed her eyes in anticipation.
“Oatmeal.” He dropped his mouth to hers and pressed gently. He wanted to do more. He wanted to put her up on the counter, strip her of all of her clothes, and bury himself. But…patience was the better part of valor. So he lifted his head and rubbed his nose against hers. When he heard her erratic breathing, he was thankful that she seemed to be as affected as he was. The waffle iron let off its little chirping noise that signaled the waffles were ready. “But today we get waffles. It’s a good day indeed.”
She pressed her mouth against his ear and whispered, “Today is a good day indeed.” She stepped away and moved around him and took the waffles out and prepared the next ones. “Thanks for letting me invade your kitchen. You have just about everything, and it’s been a pleasure working in here.”
“You can bring over whatever I’m missing from your kitchen.” He took out the things he needed for the table, walked over, and started to set things out. He looked out over the backyard and realized they’d never made it into the pool last night. “Maybe we can go swimming this afternoon. We never made it in yesterday.”
She placed a big plate of bacon and waffles on the table and smiled. “I don’t have a suit. I don’t want to go in until it’s dark outside.” She waited while he studied the pool and wondered what was going through his mind.
“I need to plant a bunch of trees along the fence. I don’t think we have enough privacy. I’ve never really thought about it before, but I can see how it would be possible for someone to see over the fence.”
“It doesn’t really matter if we have suits on.”
“I don’t want someone looking at you in your bathing suit. What if you want to go swimming when I’m at work? No, I definitely need to plant some trees. Maybe a really tall fence all the way around the property. I like what Mark did in his backyard. I’ll call him and get the details from him. After they got that pool, he made sure that no one could come into the backyard without the code. I think that’s a really good idea.”
Rachel sat next to him and wondered what she had gotten herself into. Chris was an intelligent man and had a successful career in the Navy and also in the private sector. Yet what was coming out of his mouth made her question his grasp on reality. She studied him to see if he was as serious as he appeared.
“Rachel, why are you staring at me?”
“Because I think you’ve taken a trip to crazy town and I was wondering how soon you planned on returning.”
“Planting trees makes me crazy?”
“Yes, that’s my point.” She hit his arm and realized it was like slamming her hand into a wall. “I don’t live here, and you’re talking about seven layers of security for your backyard so no one will see me in my bathing suit.”
He crinkled his eyebrows as he listened to her. “Yes, you do.”
She waited for more and realized nothing else was coming. “I’m going to need more than that.”
“You live here, so I need to make the changes necessary for your comfort and safety. I want you to feel secure in your home and not be worried about someone trying to gawk at you. None of this makes me crazy.”
“I’m just staying with you until we get the Dean situation sorted out.” She started putting food on his plate and noticed him frown. “You didn’t think I was going to stay, did you?”
“Yes, I thought you might.”
“Is this how you date?”
“No.”
“Oh…my…God. You
’re doing the same thing that Max did to Rory. You’re trying to bind me to you after a week. Are you going to attempt to get me pregnant, too?”
“Not right away. I thought we would get married first.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and then started filling her plate. As she poured syrup on her waffles, she thought about how to escape all the crazy men in the world.
Chris said, “When I spoke to Dean the other day, he made a comment that I wasn’t that different from him, and I thought he was nuts. But based on the look on your face, I’m thinking that he might have been right. He said that he couldn’t help himself when it came to you. I told him to, if he wanted to live. I never thought there was one similarity between us. But what if there is? What if I’m just like him? I have all of these crazy feelings for you, and I want you to live here with me forever. I want it to start now. I don’t feel reasonable, and maybe I’m just this side of crazy.” He gazed at her with worried eyes and held her hand. He knew that the next couple of minutes were going to define all of his future happiness, and it was all up to her.
She shook her head and squeezed his hand. “You’re nothing like Dean. Every bone in your body is good. Your heart beats with sincerity, and your strength is used for the good of other people. You’re the best man there is, and you have proven that every day of your life.”
“But…”
“But you’re a little intense. I’ve spent the last year observing all the men at SAI, and I see it as an occupational hazard. There’s a certain sort of man who’s attracted to becoming a SEAL, and certain characteristics run through every single one of you. Your intensity has been used for good and not for evil. Dean isn’t an emotionally healthy person and has a bit of psycho mixed in with everything else.”
“So what can I do to make you comfortable? I don’t want to screw this up.”
“Relax and trust that what’s supposed to happen will happen. And don’t talk about trees. Unless, of course, you want to plant trees. Then go ahead.”
“That made no sense. Yes to the trees or no to the trees.”
“Whatever makes you happy.”
“You make me happy.”
“Eat your breakfast.”
“Do we get to go underwear shopping after breakfast?”
“Nice change of subject. It was smooth.”
“Ms. Miller, I’m nothing if not smooth.”
“Mr. Ellis, I can see that’s true.”
Leaning over, he kissed her and tasted syrup. He licked his lips, kissed her again and was interrupted by his phone ringing. It was probably important, so he got up and answered it, barking into the phone, “Ellis.” He listened to the update about the prints from Rachel’s apartment and the next step that the police were taking. “Thanks, man. I’ll call you tomorrow and follow up.” When he turned around, he found Rachel staring holes into him.
“Well…”
“It was Dean. They got the results this morning. He was in the system, so it didn’t take long. Robert, the lead detective, is going to speak with Gus and come up with a game plan. They have people out searching for Dean, but they think he’s gone to ground, and it may not be easy. They want me to come by the station tomorrow afternoon to discuss a plan. The police want to make sure that you have adequate protection, because they think he’s not going to stop.”
She twisted her fingers together as she stared down at her lap. “Honey, I’m going to take care of this.” He went over to her chair, scooped her up, walked over to the couch, and sat down. Holding her close, he kissed her head. “Today is going to be a good day. We’re going shopping, which is something I’ve never done before with a woman. Hell, I barely shop for myself. Then we’ll come home and roll around before people come over to watch the game. My brother’s game is being televised, so you can tell me if you like their outfits. Then, after everyone leaves, we can go back to bed and roll around some more, and then tomorrow, we go to work together. Just think how much fun it’s going to be, because now we can kiss during the day.”
She glanced up and smiled. “I notice a lot of your plans involve rolling around and kissing. In fact, that seems to be the main theme of your plans.”
“I like to lead with the good stuff, because I’ve found it makes the rest a lot more palatable. For the last year, the best part of my day was seeing you. I would look forward to running into you in the hall or maybe sitting next to you in a meeting or catching the elevator together. So the fact that we’re with each other now is pretty much a life goal accomplished. You make my heart beat fast, and I get nervous, and I say stupid things. I think this must be something important, because it’s never happened to me before.”
“Chris, I think that’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me. I feel like my heart just melted.” She pulled his face down and held it as she kissed him gently. “Thank you.”
“Ms. Miller, it’s my pleasure.” He rolled her on top of him and moved his hips so they were perfectly aligned. “Maybe we should spend a little time on the couch before we go shopping. We might need the right inspiration for our shopping trip.”
She lifted herself and got up. “We need to eat breakfast. You already had some inspiration this morning.”
He stood, took her hand, and walked back to the table. “I feel like you can never have enough inspiration.”
“Feel inspired by the delicious breakfast I made.” She passed him the fruit and smiled and then began to eat.
“Yes, dear.” He smirked as he dug into the waffles. “These are really good. I think I’m starting to feel inspired.” She let out a small laugh and seemed to relax. That’s all he wanted from her. Her happiness.
***
They strolled through Fashion Valley Mall toward Nordstrom and held hands. “Have you ever been to the mall on a Sunday?” she asked.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been to the mall at all.” She stopped suddenly and stared at him in amazement. “Rachel, it’s not that crazy. There are people who don’t go to the mall.”
She resumed walking and scrunched her eyes up. “But are they people we can trust? I feel like at some point everyone goes to the mall.”
“There is a whole segment of the population that never goes. Me, for example.”
She tried to give him a reassuring smile and pretend like it was normal. She had a feeling that she was failing miserably. “Okay.”
He leaned down and kissed her. “I have a feeling that being with you will afford me many opportunities for years to come to go to the mall.”
“Didn’t you ever come with your friends to hang out and maybe have a Cinnabon? I feel like it was a rite of passage for every kid in high school.”
“It might have been, but I was too busy playing hockey after high school, so I never made it to the mall for a Cinnabon.”
“I didn’t know you played hockey.”
“I played it from the age of ten through high school. I knew I wanted to be in the military more than I wanted to play, so I went to college instead of pursuing hockey. I never graduated and only lasted two years at University of Michigan.”
“Why did you decide to leave?”
“Because I felt like I was wasting my time. I couldn’t stand being on the sidelines, knowing that I could help. I was sitting in class when the Towers were hit. I went home at winter break and signed up for the Navy. My original plan was to graduate and then join and become an officer. I just couldn’t see myself waiting another two years to get a piece of paper. I went to basic in January 2002, and I’ve never regretted my decision.”
“Well, you are definitely a man who needs to get a Cinnabon at the mall. Maybe we could sit at opposite tables and flirt while we make eyes at each other. We can pretend like we are in high school.”
“I never would have had the guts to look at someone like you in high school. I was painfully shy and never knew what to say to girls. Maybe not much has changed.”
“Oh, I think a lot has changed. You’re not a man who lacks confid
ence, and I can’t imagine a woman has ever turned you down.” She watched his face and noticed that he didn’t reply. “No need to answer. Your silence says it loudly enough.”
“I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that I haven’t enjoyed the company of women over the last ten years. Because I have. The truth is that I’ve had only one serious relationship and that did not end well. The rest were women who were interested in getting it on with a SEAL.”
“I’m not ready for your dating history, Chris. I can’t hear about all of the women you’ve slept with. In fact, I think I can live without ever knowing that.”
“I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable.”
“I know. It’s none of my business. I will probably want to hear about the serious relationship, but I don’t need to know about the rest.”
He pulled her against him and kissed her head as he looked out over all of the people in the mall. “Fair enough. I don’t think I want to hear about the men in your past. I might have some violent feelings toward some of them, and it’s probably best if I don’t have actual names.”
They were about to walk into Nordstrom, and she stopped. “Do you want to hang out here? I’ll be back in about half an hour.”
“No, I’m going with you. I’ll help you choose, and then I’m going to pay for it.”
“I’m fine on my own. You can sit in the café and wait for me.”
