by Maya Banks
“Once I got in, I loved it. Everything just clicked.”
“Let me guess. You joined the Marines?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Even though I was pissed at the Marine who saved my life back then, he became my idol as I grew older. Once I got over my initial grief, I was grateful that he’d not only risked so much to save me, but that he’d risked his life and had been injured trying to save my family. His job was to protect my father, but he was willing to give his life for all of us. That made a huge impact. I joined the Marines to honor him. To prove that his saving me meant something and that maybe I could give back. Help someone else.”
“So how did you end up with KGI, then? I mean, if you loved the Marines so much.”
He smiled. “I was at a crossroads. I loved the service. Loved my fellow Marines. But I was restless. Wanted to do more. I just wasn’t sure what. By accident I overheard a conversation about Sam Kelly and that he was recruiting for a private special ops team. I called him and then took leave to meet him. We talked it over and I knew I wanted to give it a shot. So when my time was up two months later, I left and joined KGI. Rio was already there and was leading a team. Sam was forming another and wanted me to lead. I handpicked my own recruits and they trained under me. I’ve never looked back. Never regretted my decision. The Marines made me who I am, but KGI made me better.”
“How old was your brother?” she asked, hoping she wasn’t pushing too hard.
“He was sixteen. Nine years between us. I looked up to him. Wanted to be just like him and my dad. My brother wanted to be a Marine. It was all he talked about. In a way, I did it as much for him as I did for the Marine who saved my life.”
“Sounds like you had a wonderful family and that you grew up around the globe just like I did.”
He smiled. “Yeah, they were the best. My mom was just this warm person that everyone loved. It wasn’t the fake politician polish that so many wives have perfected. She was genuine, the real deal. Everyone who met her was instantly charmed. And she could remember anyone’s name after meeting them once. No matter how long it was before she saw them again. She made everyone feel special. Like they mattered. From the lowest ranked to the highest. Didn’t matter to her. She had a smile for everyone.”
Her heart squeezed a little at the instant warmth that had flooded his eyes when he spoke of his mother. She reached over to lay her hand on top of his, and he immediately turned his palm up so he could capture her fingers.
He stroked over her knuckles with his thumb, sending little tingles of delight up her arm.
“I think it’s also why I like the Kellys so much, even though they kind of baffle me. Especially Marlene. She reminds me a lot of my own mother. It’s a catch-22 for me to be around them, though. I like them a lot. But they also remind me of what I lost.”
“Yeah, I get that,” she said softly. “I don’t know what I’d do without my parents and my brother, even though I don’t see them that often. But if I didn’t have them, it would devastate me. I email them regularly and we try to talk on the phone at least once a week.”
He nodded, continuing to stroke his thumb over her hand. It was nice. Just sitting and talking and him touching her intimately. It wasn’t sexual, but she liked it even better because she got the sense that he cared a little at least.
“What about you? You said you grew up all over the globe. Your parents travel a lot? Were they doctors like you?”
She nodded. “Yeah. They both were. My brother is a doctor too. They worked for an organization for years that offered free healthcare and vaccinations in third world countries. They stopped for a while when my brother and I were younger. We’re only two years apart, so they stayed stateside and went into private practice until we were old enough that they felt comfortable bringing us to some of the rural, far-flung corners of the world.”
“Bet you had one hell of an interesting childhood,” he mused.
“Yeah, it was anything but boring, that’s for sure. My mom homeschooled us, but occasionally we were in places where we could attend classes with other kids our age. My father is smart. I mean he’s a doctor too, but my mom is a genius. She’s positively brilliant. Even my dad admits that she’s way smarter than he is.”
“You must take after her,” he said.
Her cheeks warmed at the compliment but she shook her head. “My brother is the smart one. He has a photographic memory. He can recall even the smallest bit of trivia. He absorbs everything and retains it. I’m absentminded. A trait I inherited from my father, I’m afraid. I’m a bit of a klutz—okay, not just a bit. I’m a total klutz. I space out sometimes because I’m in my head and forget where I am or what I’m doing. And I tend to blurt out whatever’s on my mind, no matter how inappropriate it may be.”
He smiled. “Yeah, I’ve witnessed that part.”
“It gets worse,” she muttered. “I’ve actually been pretty good around you only because you leave me tongue-tied most of the time.”
His eyes flickered in surprise.
“That can’t come as a surprise to you,” she said dryly. “At least not now that you know how attracted I was to you.”
“I knew how I felt about you,” he pointed out. “Not necessarily that you reciprocated my preoccupation. For all I knew, I was just an opportunity for some hot monkey sex, as you put it.”
She laughed and then she leaned forward, leaving one hand in Steele’s grasp and propping her other elbow on the table so she could rest her chin in her upturned palm.
“So what are we doing here, exactly, Steele? I’m not good at coy little games. I suck at flirting or pretending to not want something I desperately want.”
“And what do you want?” he asked quietly.
She shook her head. “Oh no, I asked you first. I may blurt out shit but I’m not that much of a glutton for punishment.”
His chest rose and fell as he expelled a quick breath. “I don’t know, Maren. I haven’t figured it out yet. That’s probably not an answer that’ll win me any brownie points, but the fact is, you’ve knocked me completely off balance.”
“How long are you planning to stay?” she asked, silently holding her breath as she waited for his response.
He looked uncertain for the first time. Almost as if he were nervous, though she couldn’t fathom anything making this man nervous.
“I have a few days,” he hedged. “But if you need me out of your hair before then, just say the word and I’ll take off.”
“I don’t believe I said anything about wanting you to leave,” she said lightly. “But I don’t want to make an ass of myself and ask you to stay if you had no intention of spending more than a night with me. Not fond of humiliating myself in front of a guy I’ve been lusting over.”
His hand tightened over hers, his thumb pressed to her knuckles. “Ask me to stay, Maren. If that’s what you want, say it.”
“Stay,” she whispered. “For as long as you have the time off.”
He lifted her hand, turning it so his lips pressed the inside of her palm. “I’ll stay,” he murmured against her skin. “But only if I get to stay in your bed with you in it and I’m inside you. And tonight? Those glasses stay on while I fuck you.”
CHAPTER 12
AS Maren prepared for bed, she ruefully acknowledged how strange it was for her and Steele to be acting almost like they were a permanent couple. Cozy dinner. Nice conversation. And now he was in the shower and she was climbing into bed to wait for him. It was a given that they’d make love and even though they’d had sex twice now, she was still nervous as she propped herself up against pillows, keeping an eye on the bathroom door for him to make his appearance.
She fidgeted with the sheets and then glanced down at her pajamas. It was pointless to have worn anything, but it seemed a bit much to be naked when he got out. Which was ridiculous because he’d made it clear they were having sex. But she wasn’t quite brazen enough to act like a siren temptress. Though she had left her glasses on. It gave her a tiny
—okay, maybe a huge—thrill that he had a thing about her wearing her glasses.
A moment later, the door opened and Steele walked out with just a towel wrapped around his hips. His hair was damp and moisture still clung to the light smattering of chest hair. He paused when he caught her staring at him, and for a minute they simply stared at one another.
God, but the man was gorgeous. Not in a pretty, polished way. Not at all. He was rugged. He bore scars. He wasn’t what she’d consider a truly handsome man with perfect features. His face was hard and when he wasn’t smiling he looked absolutely intimidating. But when he smiled and those ice blue eyes warmed? He had a devastating effect on her. She couldn’t imagine a woman alive who could resist that smile.
“You checking me out?” he asked in amusement.
She nodded, not at all abashed.
“Too bad I can’t return the favor. Can’t see much of you in those pajamas with the sheet pulled up around you.”
“I can fix that,” she said huskily.
Her inner temptress was coming out. Forgotten were any inhibitions about waiting naked for him. She grabbed on to the temptress and embraced her full-on. Between the two of them they were going to seduce this mouthwateringly gorgeous man.
She rose up on her knees, letting the sheet drop. She tugged the top over her head and then lay on her back to shrug out of the bottoms. When she was done, she sat back up and faced Steele.
“Better?”
“Much.”
He let the towel fall to the floor at his feet, revealing a very rigid erection. It strained upward, nearly flat against his taut abdomen.
“That looks painful,” she said with a raised eyebrow.
“You’ll make it all better,” he said as he advanced toward the bed.
He planted his fists onto the bed and leaned toward her, fusing his mouth to hers. Then he pressed forward, taking her down onto the mattress beneath him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, anchoring him to her, and kissed him back.
“You taste so damn good,” he muttered. “Don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you. And getting to fuck you when you are wearing those glasses . . . definitely top five on my list of fantasies.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she said lightly. And then she laughed because it totally fit his personality that he kept referring to a list of the things he fantasized about. Probably had his entire seduction of her mapped out to the nth degree.
“Didn’t say that. Not a bad thing at all. I can think of worse things to be addicted to.”
“I kinda like being someone’s drug of choice. It’s good for my ego. People usually aren’t very happy to see me since they only come around when they’re hurt or sick. Until recently, that’s the only time you ever saw me.”
“I can safely say I’ll never cringe at the thought of seeing you. Especially if you’re naked and I’m inside you when I’m seeing you.”
“You’re not inside me,” she whispered.
“I can fix that,” he said, echoing her earlier words.
“Mmm, why don’t you get right on that then.”
He reached for a condom, lifting off her long enough to roll it on. Then he spread her thighs and settled between them, positioning his cock at her opening. He hesitated, though, sliding a finger inside and stroking through her wetness.
She sighed when he hit a particularly nice spot. Then he rubbed his thumb over her clit, and her entire body tightened in pleasure.
“You’re really good with your hands,” she said. “But you’re even better with your mouth.”
He arched an eyebrow and amusement simmered in his eyes. “Is that a hint?”
“It’s a fact,” she returned.
He chuckled. “In that case, I’ll have to prove you aren’t wrong.”
He shifted downward, his hands sliding down her sides to her hips and then down to cup her ass. She squeezed her eyes shut and arched upward as soon as his tongue lapped over her clitoris. He nuzzled gently, licking, sucking and lightly grazing the sensitive, quivering flesh.
Then he pressed his tongue over her opening and licked upward in one long swipe.
Her knees went weak and her legs started shaking. He licked back down and then circled her opening, lightly rimming it before plunging his tongue inside her, tasting from the inside out.
“Steele!”
“Delicious,” he purred against her skin.
The low vibration of his voice sent shivers of pleasure through her belly. He toyed with her clit, circling and flicking it lightly with his tongue until it was rigid. Each swipe of his tongue sent her closer to orgasm, until her entire body was coiled into a tight knot.
“Inside me. Please, Steele,” she panted. “I want you now. I’m so close and I want you inside me when I come.”
“And I want to be inside you when you come. Tight like a fist around me and then when you get wet and silky? Never felt anything better,” he growled. “Want to see those eyes all cloudy with desire, those glasses perched so cute on your nose while you go wild for me. Only me.”
He rose, gripping her knees and spreading her wide as he positioned himself over her. He thrust forward, planting himself deep on the first thrust. Her hands flew to his shoulders, her fingers digging in as ecstasy engulfed her. Rising, sharp, overwhelming.
He began plunging, back and forth, hard and then harder still. Fast, forceful. His hips slapped against hers as his body came down over her. He covered her completely, his face buried in her neck as he continued to pump in and out of her. His teeth grazed her skin and then he sank his teeth gently into her neck, his tongue immediately soothing the love bite.
“Not going to last,” he breathed. “You feel so damn good, Maren. I could do this forever.”
She smiled dreamily as she ran her hands up and down the muscled wall of his back. She let them drift lower, feeling his buttocks rise and fall over her.
“I could too,” she whispered. “You’re very good at it, Steele.”
He chuckled against her neck and then kissed a path to her jaw before finally claiming her mouth again.
“Come with me,” he whispered. “Let’s go together.”
She closed her eyes and hugged him tightly to her. He slid his arms beneath her, holding her just as tightly to him. Tangled legs and arms, bodies joined, undulating. Hot, breathless. Kissing, gasping, soft sighs of pleasure.
It all ran together in a hazy blur as her orgasm crashed over her. She felt suspended in air and then began to slowly drift downward, floating back down to the bed where she lay beneath him as his chest heaved against hers.
“Steele?”
“Yeah.”
“Next time I want on top. I’ll even wear my glasses.”
His body shook with laughter, and then he kissed her nose. “You got it.”
CHAPTER 13
MAREN was draped over Steele’s body, warm and lush, her soft breathing signaling she was sound asleep. He made no effort to move her. He liked the feel of her in his arms, covering his body like a blanket.
He toyed with her hair, twining it around his fingers before gently tugging it away from her face so he could see her soft cheek. Her eyelashes rested against her skin, a shade darker than her light blond hair. She moved up and down with the rhythm of his own breathing and her legs were tangled with his.
Gently, so as not to awaken her, he slid the glasses from her face and set them on the nightstand so she’d rest more comfortably.
They’d finished their last bout of sex an hour earlier, and Maren had drifted into sleep after riding him long and hard. He’d loved every minute of having her atop him, head thrown back, hair flowing down her back, her breasts pushed forward so he could touch and taste. As promised, she’d left her glasses on, perched precariously on her cute nose while she fucked him senseless.
God, he was losing it. Thinking about her cuteness. Her nose and glasses for Christ’s sake. He glanced down, watching as she slept deep. Secure. Like she knew she was pro
tected, and she damn well was with him.
He remained awake, though, savoring the still and quiet that had descended. And he liked having Maren in his bed. Or rather her bed. He leaned his head forward to press a kiss to the top of her head and left his lips there a long moment as he inhaled her scent.
He was in deep shit.
He didn’t have time to ponder that particular revelation because his sat phone went off.
Goddamn it. Not now. Anytime but now.
Maren stirred and lifted her head with a frown. “What’s that noise?”
He sighed. “I have to take that. Sorry.”
She started to slide off him but he rolled, gently setting her aside before he reached over her to where he’d put the phone on her nightstand.
“This better be goddamn important,” he growled into the phone.
“Steele, it’s Sam. Sorry, I know you’re taking downtime, but I need you for this. Rio and his team already drew a mission.”
Steele’s lips tightened and he glanced sideways to where Maren was lying on her side, head propped in her hand as she silently watched him.
“Give me the rundown,” Steele said.
“How soon can you be here?” Sam asked. “Don’t have time to get into it now. I have more calls to make. Are you going to contact your team or do you want me to call them in?”
“I’ll call them,” Steele said shortly. “I’ll be there in twelve hours.”
He laid the phone aside and then turned to Maren. “I’m sorry. I have to go. Sam needs me.”
She didn’t quite quell her disappointment. Her eyes dimmed even as she nodded her understanding. He wasn’t any happier about the interruption than she was.
He leaned down, tucking one finger underneath her chin and lifting so her lips were even with his. He kissed her lingeringly, savoring the sensation of her soft mouth against his.
“This isn’t finished,” he said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Do you understand?”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “Be careful, Steele. I’d rather you not come back because you need medical attention. I want you to come back because I’m irresistible.”
