With one hand on either side of her head, Noah leaned in.
“The least I can do before you marry another man is remind you of what you’ll be missing.”
She wanted to hiss and spit at his arrogance.
She wanted to roll her eyes and shove him away.
She really wanted to feel nothing, to have no reaction at all.
But she couldn’t do any of those things.
All she could do was watch as he lowered his head.
Feel as his mouth closed over hers.
Hot, intense and desperate, his lips slid over hers in big hungry bites before he nipped at her bottom lip. Gwen gasped as need, sharp and painful, gripped her. As if he’d been waiting for just that, his tongue plunged.
Her body melted. Her mouth opened, tongue tangling with his as she gave herself over to sensations pounding through her.
“I gave you one last ride before I walked,” he reminded her in a rough voice between kisses. “Aren’t you going to give me the same?”
She knew she should shove him away. She should call him out, cuss him out and then shove him away.
Instead, her fingers gripped his shoulders, clenching tight before she pressed her palms down the hard muscles of his chest. Oh, baby, what a body he had. It’d been amazing at twenty-three. Cut and strong. But now? Now it was freaking unbelievable.
Her mind screamed warnings that her body ignored.
She’d wanted Noah since she was seventeen. She’d dreamed about him, fantasized over him, reveled in him and craved him.
Then she’d done without him.
If this was it, her only chance for the rest of her life?
Then by damn, she was going to have all of him.
A SEAL’s Sacrifice: Chapter Four
Noah had spent the last five years telling himself Gwen wasn’t as delicious as he remembered, pretending that his cravings for her were all in his imagination.
But now that he tasted her again?
He knew better.
Need pounded through him, desperate and edgy as he sipped at her lips. His tongue dipped and swirled in the welcoming warmth of her mouth.
She tasted so good.
His hands curved over her waist, skimming along the sweet flare of her hips before sliding down to cup the sexy slope of her ass.
She felt even better.
He squeezed her butt once more, reveling in the fullness before angling his hands up to slide between their bodies where her breasts pressed against his chest, warm and lush.
He’d lost count of the number of times had he woken in a sweat, dreaming about these breasts.
His fingers scraped along the edge of deep vee of her dress, the sequins a cool contrast to the hot silk of her skin.
He dipped his finger a little lower, his nail scraping over the delightfully pebbled tip of her breast. The feel of her gasp in his mouth was as exciting as the feel of her nipple under his knuckle.
Gwen’s fingers dug into his shoulders, her body sinking into his. Rock hard, his dick throbbing in time with their dueling tongues, Noah tried to reel himself in.
He’d only intended to remind her of what they’d had. To prove to her—to himself, even—that the flame hadn’t gone out between them.
But now that he’d tasted her again, he couldn’t stop. Like an addict falling off the wagon after years of abstinence, he needed to binge.
His tongue plunged deeper, his knuckle sweeping back then forth over the pebbled delight of her nipple.
She moaned, light and soft against his mouth.
She was so damned responsive, so freaking hot. Her body was a work of art. One he wanted to strip down and worship.
Now.
Tight with need, desperate for more, he skimmed his fingers over her dress to scope out hooks and zippers.
He had to see her.
It was her trembling that pulled him back from the edge.
Holy crap.
They were in a hallway.
A hallway that was the only thing separating them from the view of two hundred pairs of curious eyes.
He didn’t want her marrying someone else, not even Russell. But blindsiding her in a semi-public hallway wasn’t fair.
He should let her go.
Put a little distance between them—at least ten inches. He’d charm her into waiting while he got his body under control, then he’d convince her to listen.
He didn’t know what he’d say, but he was sure he could talk her into at least sitting down and talking with him before she did something crazy like commit to another man.
Then she sucked his tongue into her mouth.
And Noah lost it.
His train of thought.
His intentions.
His control.
All gone.
He grabbed her with one hand, the other blindly reaching for the nearby doorknob. Wrenching the door open, he pulled her into privacy.
Privacy turned out to be a dimly lit coat closet. Given that it was a swank hotel, the closet was pretty good sized. Not big enough to get horizontal, but definitely roomy enough for some vertical action.
Noah took two seconds to recon, yanked the door closed, then angled Gwen against the cozy wall of coats.
Her face was a shadow but he easily found her mouth with his. Their tongues tangled, hot and wild. Her hands raced over his body, shoving his jacket off his shoulders. Noah reluctantly released her to let the heavy fabric slide off his arms. As soon they were free, his hands dove into her hair, slipping through the heavy silk before skimming down her body.
His fingers, accustomed to manipulating complex explosive wiring in the dark, made quick work of the hooks on her dress before tiptoeing down her spine. When they reached her hips they encountered fabric again. Her zipper gave way to flesh. Soft, succulent flesh.
God, she felt good.
Addictively good.
She gave a tiny moan of protest when he pulled away, but he couldn’t stop himself. He had to see her.
His eyes, used to night maneuvers, had adjusted to the dim light. Without his body holding it in place, the heavy fabric of her dress fell, pooling at her hips for a moment before the weight pulled it to the floor with a soft thud.
Leaving her bare except for a tiny swatch of black silk.
“Oh, Baby,” he murmured. Holy mother, she was incredible.
Her head fell back against the cushioned wall, her eyes gleaming as she stared back at him.
“This is crazy.”
“How can something that feels this good be crazy?” he asked quietly, his eyes locked on the sight of his hands cupping, holding, squeezing those lush breasts. His thumbs circled her nipples, brushing back and forth over the silken pebbles.
“We shouldn’t be together like this. It’s a bad idea.”
But even as she murmured the words, she was reaching for him. Her hands made fast work of his shirt, shoving at the fabric to get to flesh.
As soon as she’d freed him of his shirt, she pressed her hands over his pecs, working her way down his six-pack. Her moan of appreciation made Noah damned grateful to the Navy for keeping his body in such good shape.
“Then let’s be bad,” he suggested, leaning forward to run his tongue over the sensitive tip of her breast before blowing softly on the quivering flesh. At the same time his fingers reached between her thighs to dance over her wet heat. “Let’s be really, really bad.”
Taking her throaty moan as agreement, he dropped to his knees. Leaning his head against her thigh for one second, he closed his eyes and breathed deep, reveling in the fact that he was here with her. That she was in his arms, real to his touch.
He never wanted to let her go again.
Noah slowly, reverently, slid her panties down her legs, his fingers caressing every inch of her flesh from the top of her thighs to the tips of her toes still encased in those sexy silver sandals.
As if she were a dream, he skimmed his hand back up the inside of her thigh, spreading her legs jus
t enough so he could reach his goal.
Noah traced one finger along her pouty, wet folds, then leaned forward to sip at her heat. He wanted to go slow. To entice her as he lured her into a realm of pleasure she’d never be able to escape.
But the first taste of her drove him crazy.
He couldn’t resist. He had to have more.
His tongue plunged, his fingers working her folds to send her up higher, faster.
She gripped his shoulders, the way her nails dug into his flesh adding an erotic edge to his pleasure.
He felt her climax building before he heard her breath quicken, before the sound of her soft moans escalated. His fingers joined his tongue, stabbing and swirling.
She went over with a loud gasp.
The taste of her coating his tongue, the sound of her cries echoing in his heart, he quickly rose.
He barely remembered to grab the condom out of his pocket before he let his pants fall to the floor. In less than two seconds he had Gwen in his arms again and his mouth on hers.
He cupped her butt in his hands, squeezing rhythmically in time with their dueling tongues, then gave her a tiny lift. In sync, Gwen wrapped her legs around his hips, the spiked edge of her heels digging into his hips.
One part of his mind—the only part of his brain with a single drop of blood left—wondered at how perfectly in sync their moves were still. Five years since they’d lost themselves in each other and they still read each other perfectly.
And he was reading her well enough to know that she was about to explode.
Unable to wait any longer, he slid inside her in a smooth, easy thrust.
Then he froze.
His arms clenched, his body tightening.
It took every single, solitary degree of control he had to keep from exploding then and there.
Damn, she so hot. So wet and welcoming.
He buried his face in the curve of her throat, breathing in her spicy floral scent.
Needs and emotions poured through him at tsunami force.
He was home.
A SEAL’s Sacrifice: Chapter Five
Oh, God.
Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.
She was still reeling from the first orgasm when Noah’s plunge sent her flying over the edge again. She could barely breathe through the sensations ripping through her body, spiraling faster and harder and stronger in tiny explosions of pleasure.
Oh, God.
Gwen’s head fell back against the softly cushioned wall, trembling as Noah drove into her again with a satisfied moan. Her hands slid over his shoulders, fingers gripping the rigid muscles before her nails skimmed down his biceps. Her hands couldn’t even wrap around the broad, rounded muscles. She squeezed but they were rock-hard. Somehow that turned her on even more, another ripple of passion spinning through her system.
This was Noah.
Here.
In her arms.
Inside her body.
He felt so good.
Gwen moaned.
Noah plunged harder, his hands angling her higher to meet his thrusts.
She shuddered, another orgasm coiling tight and heady in her belly.
She knew she needed to stay quiet. They were having sex at his brother’s engagement party, for crying out loud.
In a public hotel.
In a freaking coat closet.
She shouldn’t be doing this.
But, oh, God, it felt so good. And she couldn’t hold back her moans. Not when he made her feel like this.
Her skin was on fire, her body filled with so much need. Needs only Noah could fill, wants only Noah could understand. In this moment, he was her whole world.
Gwen’s fingers tightened, her nails digging into the concrete hardness of his biceps as he skimmed his lips over her cheek, along her jaw. His teeth scraped a fiery trail along her throat before he buried his mouth in her neck, nibbling and sucking at the sensitive flesh just beneath her ear.
Gwen’s eyes flew open as he nipped, the pain sending hedonistic spirals of pleasure surging through her body.
She tightened her legs around his hips, her thighs gripping his body so tight that not even air could come between them. She couldn’t get enough of him. He was her dream lover, her ideal man.
He was her everything.
Gwen barely had time to compute that realization before he took her mouth again. His hands were like fire, moving over her body with a blistering heat. Inciting needs, desires, an intense craving like nothing she’d ever felt before.
Not even with him.
Suddenly terrified of the power of her cravings, sure that she was building toward heartbreak along with a wild climax, Gwen tried to regain a tenuous thread of control. But she couldn’t find a single one. All she could do was ride the waves of pleasure and trust that she wouldn’t break when she reached the end of the fall.
His tongue thrust in time with his body, sliding in and out with delicious friction. Faster and harder, harder and faster. Gwen’s trembling thighs tightened, her body tensing as her climax began uncoiling, snapping loose tiny explosions of passion.
Noah ripped his mouth from hers, burying his face in the curve of her shoulder as his fingers dug into her hips.
His thrusts grew sharper, his moves jerky.
He plunged, hesitated, then as his teeth scraped the soft flesh of her throat, he plunged again.
“Mine,” he breathed, the word a guttural moan in her ear as he gave one last thrust before groaning his release. “You’re mine.”
The words made her whimper.
The image made her tremble.
The power of his claim sent her flying over the edge, her own body exploding with a climax so strong she saw stars.
The orgasm spun through her body, this one so powerful that Gwen felt like she was dying from the power of it. Everything went black, even the sparkling stars behind her eyes were gone. Bell-like ringing filled her ears. She wasn’t even sure if she was breathing or not.
All she was sure of was Noah.
He was her anchor, his body pressed tight against her, securing her to the wall so she didn’t slide into a quivering mass of melting pleasure all over his feet.
She wasn’t sure when she came back into herself.
It was a slow realization that she could feel her toes, that she could hear Noah’s still-labored breath, feel it hot against her shoulder where he’d buried his face.
Her muscles were still like water, her thighs heavy and trembling and her insides quivering with tiny aftershocks of pleasure.
It took her a few moments to identify the feeling pulsing through her system, filling her heart. Happiness. Pure, intense happiness. She hadn’t felt like this in years.
How long had her hands been rubbing small, soothing circles over the damp skin of Noah’s back? How long had they even been in here?
It seemed like it’d only been a heartbeat.
It felt like forever.
It’d been so good. So incredibly wonderful.
She’d felt so right in his arms.
She wanted to stay here forever.
Gwen’s breath, already so labored that it burned her throat, disappeared. Panic clutched her belly, shoving aside all pleasure in its terrified dance. Her hands still trembled, but the shaking was fear now.
Fear that she’d just made the biggest mistake of her life.
A mistake she wouldn’t be able to recover from this time. After all, how many times could a broken heart heal?
Even as the terror of those thoughts gripped her, she still couldn’t bring herself to pull out of Noah’s arms. Not when she knew her time here was so short.
She didn’t realize that a single tear had slid down her cheek until the salty warmth coated her lips. Gwen pressed them tight together, breathing in deeply through her nose to try and shore up her strength.
“Why?” she asked, her word barely above a whisper.
Noah stiffened under her hands, muscles tightening against her body. She wa
ited, but anger didn’t follow. Neither did he pull back to give her that charming smile and try to talk her into another round of great sex instead of tiptoeing around words that might be construed as relationship talk.
Instead, he sighed. His breath danced through her hair, cooling her heated skin. The tension poured away as he pulled back to give Gwen a soft kiss.
When she saw his expression in the dim light, she realized he hadn’t ditched the tension. He’d simply handed it over to her.
“Why? Because we’re great together,” he said quietly, his fingers skimming over her face before sliding a long, damp strand of hair off her temple. “We belong together.”
Gwen’s breath disappeared.
A buzzing filled her ears and her mouth went dry.
She’d been in love with Noah since she was a giddy girl of seventeen. Even when he’d broken her heart, she’d still loved him. She’d learned to accept that she would love him forever.
That’s just the way it was.
So she’d waited half her life to hear those words from Noah. She’d imagined them plenty of times, they even echoed through her dreams. She’d wanted Noah to feel that way about her—about them—more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.
Gwen trembled, trying to find the strength to breathe.
Because now he did.
And now it was too late.
A SEAL’s Sacrifice: Chapter Six
“Let me go,” Gwen murmured, her legs sliding down his to settle on the floor. “Please, Noah. Let me go.”
She was proud of those words. After all, she’d managed to offer them without crying or screaming.
Go her.
“Give me five minutes and we can do it all over again,” Noah teased. But from the searching look in his eyes, she could tell that he’d caught the edge in her voice. Either that or he was picking up on the terrified tension in her body.
Still, he didn’t release her.
She didn’t struggle. Not because it wouldn’t be dignified—to hell with dignity. The only reason she didn’t struggle was because she had no strength.
But when he caressed his hand over her breast and Gwen flinched, Noah sighed and loosened his hold on her. Gwen forced her knees to lock and angled her shoulders against the wall to ensure she didn’t sink to his feet.
Lucky 7 Brazen Bachelors Contemporary Romance Boxed Set Page 19
