He ran his hands up my sides, eager to touch me. “And now?” he murmured.
“My shirt,” I said breathlessly, “take off my shirt.”
He did so slowly, the calluses of his palm and fingertips lightly abrading my sensitive skin. He rubbed the flat of his palms against my breast, pushing the shirt up and over the lace-covered mounds and then lifting the cotton over my head. I ground down against him, and he groaned audibly.
“I want you to kiss me,” I moaned.
“Where?” he drew me close to him, his breath whispering over my skin.
“Here,” I said. I lifted my breast to him.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked me, moving down so that his mouth was positioned just over the crest of my breast. “Lick it? Suck it? Bite it?”
I was panting now. “All of it.”
He didn’t require more instruction. Through the lace, he mouthed my breast. I fumbled at the bra, wanting to feel his wet mouth against my skin. He understood and released the bra closure, pushing it down my arms, all the while licking and biting and sucking on me. I rubbed harder against him.
“Do you want me to touch you anywhere else?” he asked, his lips moving against my breast.
“Yes,” I said. Oh yes. I wasn’t even conscious anymore. I was lost in his touch and in the flame of our desire for one another. I grabbed his hand. “Touch me here, Noah,” I placed his hand between my legs. “I’m so wet for you.”
His forehead was resting against my chest as he stared down at his fingers dipping inside my panties. “Jesus, Grace, I love how hot I can get you.” He pressed the flat of his palm against me and rubbed his fingers against the soft flesh between my legs.
I started to say something more, but he brought his hand up to my mouth. “Not another word, or I’ll come in my shorts. Your dirty talk is too much for me.” He looked up ruefully and dropped his hand away.
I gave him a pained smile. “Then take the wheel.”
And he did.
Noah
I must have fallen asleep after our celebration, because the next thing I knew was that I was alone in Grace’s bed. I swept out a hand and it hit the crinkle of paper. Grabbing it, I sat up, flipped on the nightstand, and began to read.
Dear Noah,
Don’t let this go to your head, but you were right to not come for me two years ago. Neither of us was ready. We both had to face down our greatest fears.
I know your fear isn’t of water anymore. I know that your greatest fear is that you aren’t good enough. But you are. You are the best kind of person, Noah. The best kind of friend, the best kind of supporter, the best kind of lover.
I will never want more than I have in you. The journey may have been long, but it was oh-so-worth it.
You are even better than Odysseus because he was an imaginary character dreamt up by some writer. You are real. And amazing.
I love you and will always love you.
Your Grace.
P.S. The weather is always really hot around you, for some reason.
Epilogue
Noah
“Really?” I looked down at the circular shield with the red, white, and blue circles that Finn had handed me. “Who put you in charge of costumes anyway?”
Finn clapped me on the shoulder. “Take it up with Bo. He insisted.”
Bo waved his sword at me while Lana and Amy helped buckle him into his chest plate.
“If I’m the only one wearing tights in this photo shoot, someone is going to be having a hard time walking tomorrow,” I yelled out. No one was listening to me. I felt the press of a familiar set of fingers along the top of my ass. I guess someone heard me.
“If it makes you feel better, your costume is kind of a turn-on.”
“How much of a turn-on?”
“Post-fight, can’t wait to get out of the car, turn-on?” Grace whispered against my back. I lowered my shield to cover my groin as I felt my body tighten in response. Tights were not very good at disguising a guy’s reaction to the woman he loved, particularly when she was stroking a sensitive patch of skin on his low back.
“I, ah, think you need to take two steps back and to the side.” But when she listened to me, I immediately regretted it. I swept her close to me and placed my shield at her back.
She pushed out her lower lip, which I took as an invitation to bite. She drew back, and I followed to give her a firmer kiss, but she placed her hands against my upper arms.
“No more kissing or we’ll end up giving everyone a free show.”
“Like I care.” I pressed her closer to me. Never a fan of PDA, I really couldn’t get enough of Grace. I admit I liked having her within arm’s reach, preferably with her amazing rack pressed against my chest and arm. My eyes crossed a little at the thought of licking down the line of my dog tags that disappeared into the valley that her v-neck T-shirt exposed. I contented myself with laying a hard, wet kiss across her mouth. When she parted her lips, I swept in, allowing the hoots and laughter of our friends to serve as the soundtrack to our happily ever after.
The End
Contact Me
Look for Bo’s story in August 2013. You can read an excerpt at JenFrederick.com
If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review at Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or any other reader site or blog you frequent.
I love hearing from my readers, so drop me a line at [email protected]. You can also find me on Facebook (http://facebook.com/AuthorJenFrederick) or Twitter (@jensfred).
Author Notes
I took a few liberties with the facts of reality in telling my story. It is highly unlikely that Noah and Bo served three deployments in row, particularly after 2011. One of the longest concurrent deployments on record was the eighteen months served by the Iowa National Guard. Ordinarily, you would have to get a special dispensation from the Department of Defense to serve that long in a war zone.
It is also rare that Grace would not be able to attend some classes in the Art Department, even if she did not have a major in Art. I made up that part of the story to provide the dark moment of Grace’s life. I hope you’ll forgive me for taking the artistic license.
All other errors are, of course, mine.
Acknowledgments
No book ever reaches the publication stage in solitude. This journey would be stalled on my laptop if it weren’t for a group of people who encouraged me and provided faultless guidance.
To my beta readers: Brie, AW, Daphne, Elyssa, and Kati, this book would have been a sad and sorry product without your input.
To my editing team: RL, Daphne, and AW, each pass gave this rough rock a wonderful polish.
To the ones who know more about self publishing than I may ever learn: Jessica and Elyssa.
To Meljean Brook for the amazing cover.
To Sean for all the help with the military aspects. All errors are mine, of course.
To my friends: Gretchen, Chris, the MGL email group.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
Author Notes
Acknowledgments
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Undeclared (The Woodlands) Page 25
