“How did you get out of there?”
“My radio worked. I called in for backup. I searched the buildings while I waited. I wanted to find who was responsible, but there was no one in town. No one to take in. No one to make pay for what they had done.” He felt the anger surfacing with the memory of scaling the burning village for the cowards who had sabotaged the mission.
He had been raging with fury. He’d never felt anger sear him like it did that night. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do to save anyone, or find justice for their murders.
“I don’t know how long I waited before the helicopter touched down. I stood in the middle of the town watching it burn down around me. An entire village gone. They sacrificed their homes and schools just to ambush us. I’ve never seen anything so vile and dark.” He lowered his eyes as the pain ripped through his chest.
Aly’s hand slid to his cheek, warm and soft. “I’m so sorry, Wyatt.” He closed his eyes, trying to absorb the silkiness of her palm as a tear dropped from his lids.
“They were all gone.” He let the memories seep in. He remembered their faces. The jokes they used to make. The stories they told about their families. “Just gone,” he whispered.
“I know. I know.” She pulled his head to her shoulder and wrapped her arms around his bare back. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t know why I didn’t die with them. I should have died. I shouldn’t be here. I don’t deserve it.” He flinched. “I don’t deserve you, Aly.”
She rubbed her hands against his skin with gentle strokes. “Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that.”
“It’s true. I should have been able to save them. Someone.”
She shifted on the bed so she could look in his eyes. “Why would you think that was your responsibility? I know you did all that you could. You are a survivor, Wyatt. A true warrior.”
“Surviving is my burden,” he groaned.
“No,” she whispered. “It’s not. I promise.”
He stared at her. Fuck he loved her so much.
“It’s true that I was trained to kill. All of us in Special Forces are. But when my contract ran out after I got back, I decided to let that part of me go.”
She was silent.
He took a deep breath. “I thought I would just wander forever until I found St. Claire. Until I found you, Aly.”
He touched her cheek.
“I didn't tell you because you were already promised to someone else and I didnt want to burden you. I mean you were engaged up until about twenty minutes ago.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Right.” Nothing made sense, but at the same time she had clarity she hadn’t felt since she met Mitchell.
“Nothing has changed for me, Aly.” His blue eyes pierced her soul. “I want you just as much as I ever had. I want every part of you. I want to give you everything you need.” His hand lingered against her cheek. She wanted him to touch her as much as she was afraid of it.
“I was running. Hell-bent on escaping the memories. But I know the reason my bike broke down in St. Claire. It was to meet you.” His touch sent fire across her cheek. “I was in a black hole until I saw you.”
“I can’t even think.” She tried to push off the bed, but his hands gripped the side of her face, drawing her lips to his.
She groaned when his tongue slipped in her mouth. He kissed her hungrily, biting and sucking. The fever began to sweep between her legs. She clung to him as the kiss deepened.
Wyatt cradled her face in his hands, drawing her close to him. He savored the taste of her as their tongues twined. He drew a moan from her throat as he sucked and bit at her lips.
His hands slid to her hips.
“God, you’re fucking beautiful.” He stared at her breasts, ripe and round. Pink and soft. Puckering for him. Begging to be sucked.
He gripped one before his teeth landed on the nipple. He tugged and toyed, while his tongue flicked against her skin.
“Ohh,” she moned, fisting her hands at the back of his head.
The nipple perked under the heat of his mouth. He blew across it. He kissed between her breasts, then moved to the other side, sucking hard until he heard the moans from the back of her throat. His teeth raked against her skin as he sank to his knees, kissing and licking against her flesh.
He wanted to cover every inch of her. Taste her. Suck her, and fuck her until she was screaming his name.
His eyes flashed up to hers. Her gorgeous brown eyes misted with lust and want. It was all he needed to see. And in an instant he peeled the panties from her hips, dropping them to her ankles. She stood before him, flat against the wall. Her head reeled back. Her legs spread wide.
He didn’t ask. He knew exactly what he wanted. What he wanted to feel. His hands moved between her legs, spreading her slick folds wide for him.
“Ohh,” she whimpered.
With each moan and rock of her hips he felt his cock grow more solid.
“Aly?”
“Oh God.” Aly pushed off his massive chest. Her face flushed with want. “Yes?”
Jenny was knocking on the office door. Aly rushed to meet her. “We have a guest ready to check in.”
“Oh, right. The Sneldermans were supposed to be here at ten. Thank you.” She turned to look at Wyatt.
“We’ll talk later.” She collected herself and walked out, plastering a smile on her pink face. “Hi. Welcome to the Long Pine Inn.”
Chapter Twenty
Wyatt
It scared him how much he wanted to hurt Mitchell. The bastard had exposed him and almost killed Aly. Wyatt closed her door behind him, and walked past the reception desk. She didn’t look up as she signed in the new guests.
He walked through the foyer, deciding he needed an update from Glen on the bike. The air felt chilly. Fall was descending upon the small town.
Glen was polishing a headlight when Wyatt walked into the garage.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
“It’s going to be awhile. Parts got pushed back another few days.”
Wyatt huffed. “All right.”
“But, I have something for you.”
“What?”
Glen walked to the back of the shop and pulled a sheet off a motorcycle. “Want to try her out?”
Wyatt circled the bike. “Whoa. Where did you get her?”
“It’s my brother’s. He doesn’t ride anymore. I replaced the spark plugs. Thought you might need some wheels while you’re waiting on yours.”
“Are you serious?”
“Dead serious. Take her for a spin, Army.”
“Thanks, man.” Wyatt threw his leg over the bike and sank onto the seat. He revved the engine, smiling at the mechanic. “That’s a beautiful sound.”
Glen gave him a toothy grin. “Enjoy. See you back in a few days?”
Wyatt saluted him as he wheeled the bike out of the bay and onto the highway. It felt like flying as he roared down the highway. The wind in his face. But this time it was different. He wasn’t running. He was breathing.
He steered the bike onto the gravel trail Aly had shown him and cut the engine. He rested the helmet on the handlebars and started walking.
The leaves crunched under his feet. He saw the creek and smiled. He sat on the flat surface of the rocks, watching the water bubble and splash.
Chapter Twenty-One
Aly
Once the Sneldermans were checked in she walked to Wyatt’s room, but he didn’t answer. She checked the kitchen, but it was empty.
“He went across the street.” Aly stopped in the hallway and spun on her heels to face Jenny.
“Who?” she asked.
“You’re looking for the hot guest in 401 aren’t you?”
Aly felt the blush on her cheeks. “Well, I-I…”
“You don’t have to explain to me. He’s hot. I saw him leave. Looked like he was going to Glen’s.”
“Thanks, Jenny.” Aly left her in the hall and crossed the street to the mechan
ic.
She found him with his head under the hood of a car. Glen had been St. Claire’s mechanic for as long as she could remember.
“Hey, Glen. Have you seen Wyatt?”
Glen wiped a grease splatter from his nose. “He took off.”
“Took off?” She felt the panic stab her lungs.
“I told him he could ride my brother’s bike for a few days. His is going to take awhile. Might be another week or so. You don’t mind having him up at the inn do you?”
She noticed the motorcycle sitting in the corner. She felt a sudden sense of relief. “Of course not. Do you know where he went?”
Glen shook his head. “No, but he headed toward the dam.”
“Thanks.” She smiled. She had an idea of where he might be.
She pulled up next to the bike, and put her car in park. There were things she had done in her life she had considered to be risky. That time she dyed the ends of her hair pink. There was the time she lied to her father and got a tattoo on her hip. It was a small butterfly. He had grounded her for two weeks when he found out.
There was the time after prom she drank a pack of strawberry wine coolers and woke up with a nasty hangover the next day. Then there was an online account she had set up before she met Mitchell, but she was too chicken to actually meet any of the guys.
The farther she walked into the woods, she realized this didn’t fit anywhere on that scale. What she was doing now was completely out the realm of safe. She was walking into a pit of danger. She was walking toward a man who had just admitted he was killed people for a living.
He was sitting next to the creek. His broad shoulders wide and strong. She sighed, maybe a little too loudly, Wyatt turned around.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” If she stepped off the trail and closer to him, was she saying she accepted him? Was she making a gesture she didn’t she was ready to make yet?
“Want to sit?” He motioned to the rock next to him.
She ventured off the path. “Ok.”
She knew his eyes were on her. No matter what she did he was always watching.
“You found your way back here.”
He nodded. “Hard to forget this place. You told me there was magic here.”
She felt a sudden flutter of warmth in her belly. She didn’t know how he did it. He was tough and strong, but underneath the powerful exterior she had seen his tender heart.
“I think things make more sense now,” she murmured.
“Because you know I’m a Green Beret?”
She nodded. “You’ve been blaming yourself for what happened in Bhazni. You don’t think of yourself as a Green Beret. When you first told me, I was in awe of you being in the Army, but you didn’t tell me everything, Wyatt.”
“I couldn’t.”
“I want you to tell me what it means now,” she urged.
“Which part?”
“All of it. I want to understand. I need to understand you.”
“You do?”
“Yes. After last night I felt like I’d never known a man the way I know you, but there’s more. No more secrets.”
He reached for her hand. She pulled back, but tried to relax as he dipped it in the water. She felt the warmth rush over her fingers.
She looked into his eyes.
“This is how I feel when I’m near you.” He smiled, his eyes softening. “You warm me. You give me light. I feel the magic between us. You’re my home, Aly.”
As his skin drifted over hers, she could feel it. The hot springs were only immersing their hands. The connection between them was tangible wherever they were.
“How do you know? How did you know it was me?”
“I’ve been with other women. But when I saw you my heart almost jumped out of my chest. It was instant. My need for you. My desire to protect you. To give you everything. It’s my natural instinct to love you unconditionally.”
“What about all of those things Mitchell said? He said I should be afraid of you. Afraid of what you’ll do to me.”
Wyatt inhaled. “He was trying to scare you.”
“I’ve known him two years. I’ve barely known you two days.”
“True. But did he ever tell you who he really was? Did he ever show you his violent side? He hid that from you.”
She shook her head. They both knew the answer. “What did he mean when he said you would leave me?”
Wyatt tightened his hold on her hand as the water ebbed around their wrists. “A Green Beret is always a Green Beret, even if you take leave.…there could be a day I get called again but I will do my best to prevent that from happening” He paused. “I told you I would take care of you forever and I will.”
She nodded. She could barely breathe. His eyes were so intense.
“It’s my pledge to you, and yours to me.” He ran his thumb against her lip. She sighed, feeling his skin pry her lip forward. She touched the tip of his thumb with her tongue.
“How?” she asked.
His eyes flared. “I think you know how.”
Her chest rose. The tingles were shooting through her body. His voice was deep and husky. “I want you to tell me, Wyatt. Tell me how you are going to take care of me. Tell me how you’re going to make me all yours.” Maybe it was a challenge. Maybe it was a way to give her five more seconds to think about what she was doing. Whatever it was, it was turning her on with every word coming out of his mouth.
“Can’t I just show you?”
She shook her head. “Tell me.”
He pulled their hands from the bubbling spring. “First, I’m going to take every layer of clothes from your body.” He pulled the scarf from her neck and dropped it on the ground. “Then I’m going to kiss you. I’m going to lick you. I’m going to taste between your legs.”
She felt her knees go weak as Wyatt told her how he was going to use his tongue on her body.
“I’m going to suck your tits deep in my mouth. And when you ask me to make you mine, I’m going to sink my cock in you.” His eyes gleamed with seduction. “I’m going to fuck you like you’ve never been fucked, Aly.” His hand tangled in the back of her hair. “Every time I slid inside you, I’ll be bringing us closer together.”
She whimpered, knowing her panties were slowly getting soaked.
“And when you feel your orgasm tearing at you like lightning strikes, I will come so deep inside you you’ll feel the heat of my magic in every part of your body. It will bind us together forever.”
His eyes met hers. “That’s what I’ll do to you.”
Aly quivered. This was definitely more dangerous than pink tips in her hair. She licked her lips.
“Does that scare you to know what what I want to do to you?” he asked.
She blinked. She should take her time and think about what she was saying. “No.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Wyatt
Wyatt’s mouth crushed against hers. He felt the softness of her lips move under his. He thrust his tongue inside, tasting the sweetness of her mouth.
His hands slid to the edges of her sweater. He pushed it up, tugging it over her head. He smiled at her breasts. Two beautiful, lush globes bobbing just for him. Aly’s eyes lowered as he drew her to his mouth. He greedily pushed the bra out of the way, anxious to suck hard against her.
“Ohh,” she groaned as he nipped at the perk on her tit. His tongue lashed over the pink mounds.
He felt her hands slide to his T-shirt. She lifted it off his head and threw it near her sweater. He wanted to rub against her breasts. He wanted to feel every inch of her skin on his body.
“I want you so badly, Aly.”
She nodded, her eyes trailing over his chest and landing between his legs. His cock jerked under the tight pants. He was aching for her.
She fumbled with his buckle, while he wiggled her free from her jeans. He spread their clothes out on the grass next to the creek, and laid her bare back on the ground.
She lifted her hips off the ground so he could slide the panties over her thighs and off her ankles.
“I want all of you at one time,” he growled, taking in every inch of her exposed flesh.
“Me too.”
His palms grazed over her breasts and the swell of her stomach. When he reached the tops of her thighs, he licked his lips. He pressed his thumbs against the inner muscles until her legs opened wide for him.
“You’re fucking beautiful,” he growled.
He leaned toward her, watching as her bud pulsed with want. He drew a long slow lick over her center, parting her with his tongue.
“Oh God,” she clutched at his shoulders, her hips bucking toward him.
It was the only invitation he needed to taste more. He pried her folds wide with his fingers as he began to lap at her center. His tongue moved in and out, while she clutched at him, the frenzy building in her hips. He thrust it deep inside, swirling against her inner walls.
“Wyatt,” she whimpered. Her head thrashed to the side, when he pinched her swollen nub.
He continued to move his tongue along her folds, circling the bud, then dipping inside her. He watched as the rhythm in her hips quickened. He pressed on her knees, bringing her hips off the ground. With one last slow lick, he felt her lose control.
She screamed as the waves shook her. He lapped at her honey while she rode out the orgasm.
He looked over the landscape of her body. He’d never seen anything more gorgeous. Her tits perked. Her skin flush from coming. Her legs spread wide for him.
He smiled. “I’m going to love fucking you.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Her Pleasure Warrior_A Military Romance Page 7
