by Marie Force
“John.” I’m defiant, determined. In that moment, I don’t give a single fuck about consequences or condemnation or anyone other than him and me and what I now realize has been inevitable almost from the day we met.
“I don’t want you to hate me tomorrow.”
“I won’t.”
“Do you promise?”
“I promise.” I might hate myself, but I won’t hate him.
“We need a bed for this.”
He sits back, and as I stand to offer a hand to help him up, I keep waiting for my common sense to resurface, to call this off while I still can. But I don’t call it off. Rather, I take his hand and walk at his pace to the bedroom, where we turn to each other and take another good long look, as if we’re both deciding something that can’t be undone once it happens.
“You can say no at any time.” He releases my hair from its updo and then brushes it aside to kiss my neck.
“I’m not saying no.”
“Tell me the truth.”
“About?”
“Was it the uniform that did it?”
I didn’t expect to laugh right then. “It certainly didn’t hurt anything.”
“Good to know.”
I slip my arms around his waist, wanting to touch him everywhere now that I’ve given myself permission to have him. “You said you wanted the truth…”
“Mmm.” He’s unzipping my dress while continuing to nuzzle my neck.
It’s all I can do to remain standing. “It wasn’t just the uniform. I was so proud watching you do the interview earlier. I thought my heart would burst with pride for who you are and what you’ve endured. That you can still be so incredible after what you’ve been through… This is as much about admiration as it is about attraction.”
“You give me way too much credit. I might look good on the outside, but inside is still a bit of a mess.”
I cup the face that’s become so dear to me, even as I tried to resist him. “You’re doing great.”
“I’m much better since Mary Poppins showed up to whip me into shape. I feel hopeful again, and that’s entirely thanks to you.”
“Now you’re giving me too much credit.”
He shakes his head and uses his fingertips to push my dress down over my shoulders.
It falls into a pool at my feet, leaving me in only a black bra and matching thong.
“So fucking sexy, my prim and proper Poppy. Do you have any idea what your legs look like in heels? It ought to be against the law for you to walk around in heels in front of a guy who hasn’t had sex in six years.”
Once again, he makes me laugh, which I love because I can’t be nervous when I’m laughing. I attack the buttons on his shirt, powered by the craving to touch him the way he’s touching me.
“Easy on the buttons, babe. I only have one other uniform shirt with me.”
I grasp the hem of his dress shirt and undershirt and lift them both over his head, gasping at the muscular landscape of his chest and abdomen. I expected him to be well put together, but this… This is a masterpiece. “Damn.”
“Used to be better. It will be again. Someday.”
I hate that he sounds self-conscious about his body when he has absolutely no reason to be. “You’re beautiful.”
“I will be.”
I lean forward to kiss between well-honed pectorals. “You’re perfection right now.”
He releases the clasp on my bra, pushes it down my arms and then pulls me in so my chest is tight against his. We stand there for the longest time, sharing the same air, absorbing the magnitude of this moment.
One of his hands slides down to my ass as his hard cock presses against my belly.
I’m on fire for him, and when I look up at him, I see the same fire coming tenfold from him.
We kiss again, his lips and tongue ruining me for anyone who isn’t him. Only when I feel his muscles start to tremble from the effort to remain standing do I gently encourage him to sit on the edge of the bed. I kneel between his legs, untie and remove his shoes and go to work on his belt buckle as well as the various hooks and fasteners on his pants.
“Is it the Navy’s goal to make it difficult to get your pants off?”
Laughter does miraculous things to his face. “It wouldn’t surprise me.” He takes over, quickly freeing himself before lifting his hips to help me get his pants and boxers off. I make a point of completely ignoring the prosthetic, because I don’t want him to worry about that. Not now. When his long, thick cock springs free, I lick my lips in anticipation. I wrap my hand around the base and ease him into my mouth.
His sharp inhale encourages me to bring him the ultimate pleasure.
“Poppy… Not sure I can handle that.”
I ignore him and double down, taking him as deep as I can, until the thick head breaches my throat.
His fingers tangle in my hair. “Fuck.”
I love that after all the pain and suffering he’s endured, I’m the one bringing him this pleasure. I pull out all the stops with my tongue, lips and hand.
“Jules. Stop.”
I don’t stop. Rather, I suck hard and feel his entire body go tense in the second before he comes hard, flooding my mouth and throat with his essence. I take it all, everything he has to give, crossing a line that can never be uncrossed.
Chapter Nineteen
JOHN
I nearly go blind from the pleasure. Sweet, beautiful, oh so competent Jules nearly stops my heart with her enthusiasm. I fall back on the bed, sucking in deep breaths while she continues to clean me up. My cock leaves her mouth with a fitting “pop.”
“Poppy.”
She kisses my abdomen, outlining each muscle with her tongue as she works her way up, giving each nipple her attention. Before she makes it to my lips, I’m already hard again.
“Yes?”
I put my arms around her, running my hands over her back and down to cup her sexy ass. I have no idea why she changed her mind about letting this happen, but I’m not about to ask. “Shit.”
“What?”
“I don’t have condoms.”
“Do we need them?”
“Um, well, you tell me.”
“You haven’t done this in years, and I’m on long-term birth control. I had a physical a month ago, and I’m healthy.”
“Okay, then.” I’m raring to go again after years without. For weeks after Ava left me for good, I wondered if I’d ever want to do this with anyone else. But with Julianne warm and sexy in my arms, Ava feels like another lifetime ago. A beautiful lifetime, but I don’t want to think about the past right now, and that, in and of itself, is a priceless gift that Jules has given me.
“You have no idea how much you’ve done for me.” I frame her face between my hands. I kiss her softly, not wanting to scare her away with the ferocity of the desire I feel for her, and not just because I haven’t done this in so long.
It’s her. She’s the only reason I feel ready for something like this. Because it’s her. I’m not sure if my missing leg will make me clumsy, but if it does, she won’t care. I know this for certain. I feel safe with her, comfortable and protected from the madness circling all around me these days. She’s my buffer, my shelter from the storm, and I want to show her what she’s come to mean to me.
I don’t have the same strength I used to, so I have to use my words to get what I need, when in the past, I would’ve taken matters into my own hands and arranged her where I wanted her. “Let’s move to the pillows. I want you comfortable.”
She gets up, offers me a hand and pulls me up. That she does this instinctively, without fuss, moves me profoundly. She knows what I need and makes sure I get it, not just in here but everywhere else, too. A man who’s gone without softness and kindness for so long could very easily become addicted to her brand of care and concern.
I pull back the covers, my gaze fixed on her ass as she gets in first. By the time I slide in next to her, I’m desperate to be inside her. But first I need to
see to preliminaries, when the starved caveman inside me would skip them to get to the main event. She is the main event, and if I make this great for her, maybe she’ll come back for more.
We make out like teenagers, only this is better because we’re naked in the most comfortable bed on the planet.
As we kiss, she runs her fingers through my hair while I fill my hand with a plump breast, running my thumb back and forth over the tip that tightens under my touch. She squirms, trying to get closer, which is fine with me. I want her as close as I can get her. I gorge on her sweetness, the sexy caresses of her tongue against mine, the softness of her lips and the fragrance of her hair and skin.
Moving from her lips to her elegant neck and down to the tender tips of her breasts, I give her tenderness while battling the inner beast that wants to take, take, take of what she so willingly offers. Soon enough, I tell the beast. First I’ll give, and then I’ll take. I wish I could trust my arms to hold me up, but I don’t, so I stay on my side as I move down, drawing one nipple and then the other into my mouth while letting my hand wander down her body.
She parts her legs to let me in, encouraging me with the subtle shift of her hips and the tightening of her fingers in my hair.
I push the scrap of fabric between her legs out of the way to press one finger and then a second into the tight, wet heat between her legs, loving the way she gasps from the impact. Using my thumb, I caress her clit while sucking hard on her nipple.
She explodes in my hand, crying out from the pleasure, her responsiveness making me crazy for more of her. “John,” she says, panting. “Please.”
It’s been a long, long time since I did this, but I know what she wants, and she doesn’t have to ask me twice.
“Get on top.” I want this to be perfect for her, and I just don’t trust my own body to not let me down. I now have another reason to work hard in the gym so I can get back the strength to be everything she needs in bed and out.
I shift to my back, and when she straddles me, I realized she’s removed the thong, leaving nothing between us.
Her hands are flat on my chest, her gaze fixed on mine, the emotion arcing between us potent. I only hope she feels it as much as I do.
“I should apologize in advance if this is quick.” I offer a wry grin. “I’ll make it up to you the next time.”
“I’m not worried about it, and you shouldn’t either.” She moves to take me in, coming down slowly, her head falling back and her mouth opening on a silent scream that sends a surge of heat to my cock. God, she’s beautiful and sexy and responsive and… When her internal muscles tighten around me, I have to bite my lip to keep from losing control too soon.
My hands fall to her hips, holding on for dear life as she sets a demanding pace, almost as if she’s trying to break me.
Her gaze collides with mine. I see challenge, fearlessness, sexiness and desire in hers. I see joy and pleasure and the zest for life that’s so much a part of who she is. I’ve latched on to those qualities in her, and they’ve become my life raft in stormy seas. I slide my hands over her back to her shoulders, bringing her down to me. I need to kiss her, to feel her breasts against my chest.
I surprise myself and her when I turn us and break the kiss. “Hot damn. Wasn’t sure I could do that.”
Her smile lights up her face. “You can do anything.”
I push into her, giving her all I’ve got in one deep thrust. “You make me believe that.”
She spreads her legs farther apart and lifts her hips as her hands move over my back and down to grasp my ass.
Only because she took the edge off before am I able to keep up with her. I’m determined to make her come again before I give in to the burning need that has me sprinting toward a spectacular finish.
“Touch yourself,” I tell her gruffly, wishing I could do it, but I’m not able to multitask yet.
She reaches down to where we’re joined as I bend my head to roll her nipple between my teeth. The combination has the desired effect, and when she clamps down on my cock, I’m done. I come so hard, I see stars. The pleasure is bone-deep, heating the blood that flows through my veins and making my heart swell with emotions I thought I might never experience again.
“Poppy.” I turn us again so I won’t crush her with my tired body.
“Yes?” She’s sprawled on top of me, her hair tickling my chest as aftershocks ripple through us both.
“That was awesome.”
“Mmm, sure was.”
“Are you okay?”
“Uh-huh. You?”
“Better than I’ve been in a long time.” Now that I’m allowed to touch her, I can’t stop. My hands move over her soft skin, memorizing every dip and valley, every handful of sexy ass and muscular thigh.
She shivers when goose bumps break out on the surface of her skin.
I go hard inside her.
She laughs, and the sound of her joy is the sweetest music I’ve ever heard. Then she lifts her head and stretches to see the bedside clock. “It’s almost time for the show.”
“Don’t care.” I squeeze her ass cheeks and thrust into her like the randy bull I am. The floodgates have opened, literally, and now that my libido has returned, I want to fuck until I can’t move, until she’s too sore to take me, until I sate the desire that burns through me so hot it threatens to consume me.
“Yes, you do. Let me go, and I’ll grab the clicker.”
“I’ll only let you go if you return to exactly where you are right now.”
“I will.” She smiles as she kisses me.
I let her go and push myself up on my elbows so I can watch her move around the room. Her breasts are bigger than I expected them to be, and they bounce when she moves. Sexy as fuck.
The clicker is behind the TV. She points it at the TV and turns it to the local NBC channel. I forget that she lives here and knows all things New York. I experience a pang of concern. What will we do when I’m back in San Diego and she’s returned to her life in New York?
Stop. Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’ve got weeks yet to make yourself necessary to her. Right then and there, that becomes the primary goal of this media tour—to make myself necessary to her.
“You promised to come back.”
Smiling widely, she returns to her post on top of me.
“Um, that’s not exactly where you were.”
She shifts her hips and takes me to the hilt. “Better?”
Gasping, I say, “So much better.” Being inside her is like touching heaven.
“I can’t see the TV,” she says.
Holding her hips, I thrust in deeper. “You don’t need to. You were there. You saw it live.”
“I want to see it,” she says, laughing.
I turn us so we’re on our sides, facing each other, my cock still embedded deep inside her. I’m not sure where I’m getting the strength for these sexual gymnastics and wonder if I’ll pay for it with soreness tomorrow. If so, who cares? It’ll be so worth it. “Better?”
She nods, but stares at me and not the TV, her hand on my face as she kisses me.
The show comes on with music and announcements. I hear my name, but I keep my gaze fixed on her, fucking her slowly but deeply, my hand on her ass to keep her right where I want her. I shouldn’t be able to do this, but for once, my body cooperates, and I don’t ask any questions. It feels so good. I just want it to continue for as long as possible.
We listen to Jimmy’s entertaining monologue as we kiss and touch and move together in an erotic dance. After commercials, Jimmy introduces me. My heart gives a lurch when I recall the fear I had of falling after I made the spontaneous decision to leave the crutches with Muncie.
“I was so proud of you for walking out there,” she whispers against my lips.
“I was scared shitless that I’d fall and make an ass of myself.”
“No one ever would’ve known you were anything but cool and so sexy in that uniform. Every woman in America would like to be me
right now.”
I laugh. “Shut up.”
“Shut me up.”
I thrust my tongue into her mouth and fuck her harder, moving to the sound of my own voice coming from the TV. I couldn’t care less about the interview or anything other than the pleasure I’m finding in her arms. I’ve been deprived of pleasure for so long that I am greedy for it, rougher with her than I should be, but I can’t help it.
“Jules.” I break the kiss to suck in a deep breath. “This is so good, you… You’re so good, so good.” I bury my face in her neck and breathe her in, wanting to drown in the scent of her.
Her fingertips dig into my back, letting me know she’s close.
This time, I want to own her orgasm. I reach down to caress her clit, teasing her and then backing off several times, until she’s all but clawing at my back, begging me to give her relief. I tease her some more before finally letting her have what she wants.
She screams when she comes, and I can only hope Muncie is far enough away from us that he can’t hear her.
I power into her, over and over again, riding the waves of incredible pleasure until I can’t hold back anymore. I tighten my arms around her and come hard, right as Jimmy brings Miles out to surprise me.
We’re quiet for a long while as we listen to the interview and come down from the high we found together.
“Did you like meeting Miles?” Her hand makes small, soothing circles on my back. It’s been so long since anyone touched me this way. I want this night to last forever.
“Yeah, he seems like a really great guy.”
“His story is so sad. He was crazy about Emerson.”
“That came through in his letter. Did he meet Sky through Ava?”
“Yes. She fixed them up, actually. She became very close with Miles while working with the family group.”
“Sky doesn’t like me very much.”
“It’s not that…” She bites her lip as if she’s hesitant to fill in the blanks for me.
“What is it, then?”
“Sky and Ava lived together during the time that Ava was trying very hard to get back on track. It wasn’t like she left San Diego and her life there behind and never looked back. There were a lot of potholes for her on the road to happily ever after with Eric.”
