by Cecy Robson
In truth, I don’t know what I am to her, but I’m not letting him know that. “That’s right.”
“A bartender,” he says.
“I’m a soldier,” I fire back, ramming my fingers into his chest hard enough to make him stumble. “Special Forces, former Ranger, and someone capable of beating your ass if you ever hurt Trin again.”
“This here bartender as you called him served his country for eight years,” Hale says. “Show respect, son.”
Mason and Sean take Hale’s lead and run with it. They don’t have to raise their voices much, seeing that by now the music’s stopped and the entire bar is watching us.
Mason points at Trin’s ex. “While you were scrolling through Instagram on your iPad, Callahan here was shooting down our enemies to give you that privilege and freedom. The hell’s wrong with you giving a man who’s bled for our country a hard time?”
“You should be thanking him!” Mrs. Brewster shouts, to which every last patron yells in agreement.
The idiot lifts his hands, trying speak and soothe the now fuming crowd. But no one is listening. “To disrespect Callahan is to disrespect America,” Sean says, talking over him. “You trying to disrespect America?”
“Kick his ass, Spanky,” old man Perrington yells.
Jesus.
The blonde starts up with Becca. By now I know Becca well enough to realize this is mistake. “It didn’t have to be this way,” the blonde says, angry tears streaming down her face. “You were my friend, too.”
Hale and I barely catch Becca in time when she hurtles herself forward. “You stopped being my friend when you screwed over the best person I know!” Becca yells. “Trin trusted you and you treated her like she was nothing. All because you couldn’t handle one man looking at her instead of you!”
Hurt and something else flashes in that young woman’s face. Becca nailed her with something a lot of people can’t handle, truth. She whips around, the prick she came with shooting after her, but not before Becca screams, “You ever come in here again, you’ll be leaving with fewer teeth!”
At this point, Sean’s leading the crowd in God Bless America. Although it should be funny, it isn’t. If that duos’ presence fired up Trin’s friends this bad, I can only imagine what they did to her.
“Trin’s been gone a long time,” I tell them. “We need to find her.”
“I can cover the bar if you want,” Mason offers. “I can’t mix drinks, but I can pour beer.”
He knows I want to go after her so I don’t hesitate, and take him up on the offer. The rest of us hit beach, splitting up and taking off in a sprint.
Sean and I cut left, we’re running pretty fast and calling her name. But even though he’s a lifeguard and in decent shape, he’s winded not long after we pass my place. I slow to a stop to give him a moment to breathe. By the looks of it, I’m not sure how much longer he’ll last.
“Sean, head back to Your Mother’s. Maybe Trin’s already there. But in case she’s not, I’ll keep heading this way.”
He shakes his head. “Hale and Becca would have called if she’s there.”
“Not if they’re still out looking for her,” I tell him.
“Good point,” he says. “But let’s make sure.” He fumbles through his shorts. “Shit, I forgot my phone. You have one?”
“Not on me.” I place my hand on my hips and think things through. “Remember that overturned rowboat we passed?”
“Yeah?”
“A few yards to the left of it, there’s a break in the trees that leads to my house. Go back to the bar in case Trin’s returned. But if you find her before then, and if she’s hurt or something, take her back to my place and use my phone to call for help.”
He frowns. “Shit. You don’t think anything happened to her, do you?”
I hope not, but that’s not what I tell him. “Just thinking like a soldier, is all.”
Sean seems satisfied with my excuse and edges back. “Okay. But she wouldn’t have gone all the way to her post. So if you hit that section of beach and don’t see her, head on back.”
“I will.”
I take off running again. There are a few couples walking along holding hands, but no Trin. When only about half a mile remains between me and her post I pause and look around.
“Damn it. Where are you?”
I turn back toward Your Mother’s, out of my mind with worry. I don’t think I jog more than a few yards before I see a familiar figure break through the water’s surface. With the poise of a mermaid, she flips her hair back, sending it soaring over her head in an arch to smack against her shoulder blades as the waves sweep against her tiny waist in their rush to return to sea.
Moonlight drenches her skin with its glow as she abandons the ocean, her head high, her small, lean muscles gracefully moving her forward, and salt water trickling along her curves. Without realizing, I’m almost to her, knowing who she is, and drawn by her magnetic pull.
“Trin?”
She whips around, my eyes widening when I realize only a tiny pair of black panties and bra cover that sweet, wet body.
Holy shit.
“Callahan?” she asks.
I jerk my head to the side, feeling myself get very hard, very fast.
She hurries toward me. “What are you doing out here?’
“Shouldn’t I be asking what the hell you’re doing?” I snap.
She stops in front of me. “Did you just growl at me?” she accuses.
“No.” In her defense, given what’s trying to punch a hole through my jeans, I’ll admit, my voice is pretty damn strained.
“You did so just growl at me. What’s your problem?” she asks, crossing her arms.
“What’s my problem?” I turn to face her, but after another look at well, everything, I realize it’s a mistake. Again, I avert my gaze. “You’re the one standing in your panties, soaking wet―” I grimace. Talk about the wrong thing to say. Now I’m ten seconds away from busting through my zipper. “―while me and your friends have been worried sick looking for you.”
“I only went for a swim to clear my head.”
“In your panties?” I ask.
She pauses. “You like saying that word, don’t you?”
“Trin―”
“I mean that’s like the second time you’ve said it.”
I don’t have to look at her to know she’s smiling, but I do. Great. Now she’s cold, and I don’t just know that because she’s hugging herself and shaking. Two of the stiffest, most tempting nipples I’ve ever seen are protruding against the lace of her bra, demanding I step in for a closer look, begging me to touch, insisting that I lick, and pleading for me to suck―
I curse out loud and rip off my shirt, offering it to her without looking. “Here, take it.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
“Trust me. I do,” I say, growling yet again. Hell, wonder why?
“I’m serious,” she insists. “My clothes are right over there.”
I make the mistake of looking up in time to see everything the good Lord gave Trin bounce perfectly as she runs along the sand. She stops and scans the beach, then jogs further up, the globes of her ass stretching against the tiny piece of fabric barely keeping her covered.
Jesus H. Christ.
Just ahead of her, what appears to be a pair of college-aged boys are walking toward her. Both stop dead when they see her, one of them flat out pointing.
Oh hell no.
Trin turns around when she sees me charging toward her. “I can’t find my clothes. The current must have taken me further down―hey.”
I shove my shirt over her head and yank it down past her ass. She squeals as I throw her over my shoulder and storm in the direction of my house.
“Spanky, put me down this instant.”
If I don’t shake the image of her in those barely-there clothes―or the way things bounced as she ran―by the feel of it, I may very well be living up to that nickname several ti
mes tonight.
She wriggles against me, likely trying to break her arms free. “I mean it, Callahan!” she yells.
“Zip it, woman,” I tell her.
She stops wiggling. “Did you just tell me to zip it?”
“Yup,” I answer.
“Well, that’s rude.”
I huff. “Says the woman running around in her―”
“Panties?” she offers. “You were going to say it again weren’t you?”
“I was going to say skivvies,” I fire back, lying through my teeth.
“No,” she drawls. “I don’t think you were.”
For the love of all that's holy. Her arms are practically tied, she’s draped over my shoulder, and she’s still talking like she’s standing right in front of me. Does this woman ever shut up? No, of course not.
“Hmm. You seem to be walking funny,” she points out. “Everything all right down there, big boy?”
I know she’s playing with me and having fun doing it, but my steps slow anyway and I mutter a curse.
“What’s wrong?” she teases. “You sound ah, frustrated.”
Here’s the thing. I’m not quite sure if she knows I’m harder than that stand of trees we pass as we head toward my back door, or if she’s pretending like I could be. One way to find out.
I set her down in front of the sliding glass doors. She hurries to thread her hands through the shirt holes, freezing in place when I lock my eyes on hers and my right hand cups her face.
With my other hand, I push the strands of her wet hair behind her shoulder, taking care to be gentle while I continue to hold her stare. “Maybe I am frustrated,” I say, my voice rough. “But there’s this little brunette who I bet can help me out with that.”
At first she doesn’t say anything, but when she does her voice barely registers. “Who might that be?”
I move in close, real close, like I’m about to kiss her. Trin lifts her chin higher, closes her eyes, leans forward, and ―
I drop my hands so quick, Trin stumbles forward “I don’t know her name,” I tell her, clasping her elbow to steady her. “She’s back at the bar.” I turn and head into the house. “Let’s get you some pants so we can head back and I can find out.”
The door slams shut as I reach the small hall leading to my bedroom. Quick steps echo behind me half a second before a couch pillow nails me in the back of my head. I turn around, laughing my ass off.
Trin’s standing in the middle of my living room fit to be tied. “You-you―”
“Panty-loving stud?” I offer.
“That’s not funny,” she says, stomping her feet.
Damn, she’s cute.
I stroll up to her, grinning. “Now, Trin, what’s got you all worked up?”
She crosses her arms. “What do you think?”
“Can’t say I know,” I say, stopping directly in front of her.
“Yes, you do,” she tells me, her voice quieting. “You know I really like you.”
I straighten. It’s one thing to suspect it, but it’s a whole other thing to hear her say it.
She shifts her gaze to the floor. “I don’t―” She lets out a breath and meets my eyes. “It would kill me to see you with someone else. But if that’s what you want, don’t expect me to sit around and wait for you.”
I catch her elbow when she tries to leave, realizing what an ass I am. I wasn’t thinking about her ex, or how he cheated on her with her friend, or hell, how they both showed up tonight. The way she came out of the water, looking like she did, wearing what she was, all I thought about was her, and how much I wanted to touch her. But she hasn’t forgotten them or how they made her feel.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
Her face crumbles a little. “It’s okay if you’re interested in someone else. I’d rather know now than—”
I pull her to me. This time when I lock my eyes with hers, I mean to do more than tease. My stare flickers down to where my erection is trying to tear its way through my jeans. “Does it look like I’m interested in anyone else?”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, my . . .”
I’m not sure who moves first, but we’re suddenly on each other, kissing like this is our last goodbye. The shirt she’s no longer wearing falls to the floor as my hands slide beneath her panties to cup those silky round globes. I wrench her up and carry her to the couch, lowering her on top of me in a straddle.
Her mouth tears away from mine to find my throat, licking and sucking, making me want to do the same except not to her throat.
I strip her out of her bra, my lips latching onto a very stiff nipple.
“Oh, God,” Trin gasps, clutching my head.
My teeth graze over the point until I pull it deep in my mouth and flick it with my tongue. Her other breast, it needs attention, too. I reach between us, rolling the nipple with my fingers.
Trin bucks against me, grinding her hips. We’re moving fast, rough, hot—both of us loud and getting louder. God damn―I’m so into her, and the way her body reacts to mine.
Everything is going well, until it’s suddenly not. Her movements slow and something changes in her demeanor when I try to tug off her panties. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I know something’s wrong.
I lean back to get a better view of her face. She averts her gaze, her racing heartbeat pounding against my hand as I pass it along her sternum. Trin’s . . . scared. For as much as she’s played and teased, I know that much is true—just like I know that I’m the cause.
So instead of pulling off her panties, and taking her to my room where an unopened box of condoms sits in my drawer, I yank the edges up and drag her to me for a long deep kiss.
At first, she startles. I take my time, stroking my tongue over hers until she relaxes and returns my kiss with equal heat. My palm smooths over the soft skin between her breasts, feeling her heart settle so I know she’s more turned on than frightened.
“Better?” I murmur against her ear.
She moans when I tug on her lobe. “Sorry,” she manages.
I trail kisses along her neck. “Don’t be,” I whisper.
She groans when she slides over my thick erection. “Do you like that?” I ask, nipping her chin.
“Yes,” she stammers.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
My fingers grip her hips, and my mouth returns to play with her nipples. The tilts of her pelvis are slow at first, but it’s not long before her speed increases.
I’ll admit, rubbing like this fully clothed isn’t something I’ve done since I was sixteen. But I like how she feels on top of me, and I love how she responds. Her hair bounces against her shoulders with how fast she’s working me, and her grunts grow fiercer with each pass. Between those lust-filled cries and her reddening face, I know she’s peaking. I help her go faster, desperate for a scream that will signal her release.
The moment I hear it, my head lolls back and that familiar tightening claims me. Fuck. This might not be full out sex―not with three layers of clothing between us―but it feels real damn good. I come with her riding me hard.
She slows her movement as I finish, her breathing as crazy as mine.
“Shit,” I say, lifting my head from the couch and glancing down. Her panties are stretched and my boxers and jeans are soaked. While I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, there’s something I need to know. “Are you on birth control?”
“I am,” she confirms, easing my worry with her words and voice. She pauses, then carefully says, “My last check-up states I’m clean, and I haven’t been with anyone since. What about you?”
“My blood tests have always been clean,” I assure her. “The last one I had was in March.” I slide my hands along her hips. “And it’s been a long time since I’ve been with anyone, even like this.”
She smiles in that soft way of hers that doesn’t quite show her teeth. “Good,” she says.
I kiss the spot between her breasts when she cradles my head against her. A
lthough her breath has begun to slow, her heart is beating wicked fast.
“Were you scared?” I breathe against her skin.
“Yes,” she admits. “This is sort of all new to me. I thought I . . .” She clears her throat. “I thought I’d had orgasms before. But based on what just happened, it’s pretty clear I’ve been missing out.” She bites on her bottom lip and adds. “Is this normal?”
I chuckle, tickling her skin with a few strokes of my beard. “No. But like I said, I haven’t been with anyone in a long while. I usually last―”
“Please don’t tell me about being with anyone else.”
I tilt my chin, meeting the sadness dimming her pretty brown eyes. “Trin, you don’t have to worry about other women.” I hesitate, but then add, “You’re all I ever think about.”
Her voice quiets. “You’re all I ever think about, too.”
Good.
I pull her against me, covering her with a blanket before reaching for my house phone. “Here. You better call your friends.”
Becca picks up on the first ring and she’s so loud I have no problem hearing her. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me,” Trin tells her.
“Where the hell have you been?”
“I went for a swim to clear my head. Callahan found me.” She takes a moment to smile at me. “I’m with him now.”
“You’re kidding.” Her voice drops. “Did you show him your titties?”
Seeing how Trin doesn’t answer right away, for Becca, that’s as good as hearing, “yes”.
“Holy fuck. You did didn’t you?” she squeals. “Hey, Trin’s over at Callahan’s showing him her titties.”
“No, shit,” Hale calls from a distance.
Trin covers her face when she catches my grin. “I have to go, Becks. Look, I’m sorry I worried you.”
“Aw, sugar, you can make it up to me by telling me all the dirty little details later. Bye now.”
“It was your idea to call her,” she insists when I start laughing.
I stroke her hair when she settles against me, trying to warm her rapidly cooling body.
“Where were you?” she asks. “You were gone a long time.”
She means when I took off without telling her. “I had some things to take care of,” I admit.
