Danger Zone: Tales of Military Passion

by Marie Harte

  His lips played with hers as he pushed inexorably farther into her pussy, taking her very breath away. She had to gasp for air as he buried himself to the hilt, sparks and fireworks already sending her close to release. Her fingers were tangled together behind her back, gripping so tight she was sure they were white from the pressure.

  Everything had changed. She’d walked into this party one way, but she would walk out something – someone – different. There was no turning back.

  Chapter Six

  ‡

  IT FELT LIKE coming home.

  Being balls deep in Amanda was sublime. He’d thought he hadn’t forgotten the exquisite feeling of her hot, wet cunt gripping him but he had. Somehow his memories had dimmed over the years but they were brought back into sharp relief as he fought for control. He couldn’t embarrass himself, not with her. He wasn’t the callow youth he had once been but he sure as hell felt like it at the moment.

  He hadn’t been sure what she would do when he’d commanded her to put her hands behind her back and offer herself to him. He’d braced himself for rejection but instead had been the recipient of her sweet surrender. She enjoyed the feeling of being helpless, under his control. It was then and only then she felt as if she could relax and let go.

  Pulling back, he thrust in again and then again, the pressure in his lower back building each time. They rocked together, his cock rubbing her clit with each stroke. She bucked underneath him as she neared her climax, her quickening breaths becoming more frantic. Her teeth sunk deep into her lush lower lip and she groaned as he slid over a particularly sensitive spot deep inside.

  “Please, Sir. Please may I come?”

  His sweet submissive had remembered the rules after all. His cock swelled even as her pussy tightened and he had to drag air into his starved lungs to be able to answer her plea.

  “Yes, Mandy. Come for me now.”

  The words sounded hoarse and tortured but she must have heard him anyway. She whispered his name as her climax took her to the top.

  She had never looked more beautiful than at this moment. Her hair had fallen from its upsweep and now was in disarray around her shoulders, the pins scattered on the marble. Her skin had taken on a rosy, flushed tone and her breasts jiggled with each stroke as she braced herself on the vanity.

  He thrust one last time and finally gave in to the relentless pressure, his orgasm roaring through his balls and out his cock. Hot seed filled the condom as his dick jerked and pulsed his completion. So fucking good. If he were honest, it had never been this good with anyone else. Only Mandy.

  When it was over, he rested his forehead on hers letting their breathing return to normal. Fear begin to build in his gut at what she would do now. Would she embrace the new beginning he wanted so badly, or would she gather her scattered clothing and run away from the emotion simmering between them? He could only hope for the former and deal with the latter if that was what she chose.

  Her small hand pressed on the middle of his damp chest and he reluctantly pulled away. She winced as he withdrew and he wondered how long it had been for her. Had she slept with many men since her divorce? She’d been incredibly tight, but then she had been years ago as well.

  “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

  She shook her head and pushed her hair away from her face, shiny from sweat. “I’m fine. I need my panties, please.”

  Her voice was soft and low, her eyes on the marble floor. He retrieved her undies and gave them to her before turning to handle the condom. They straightened their wrinkled clothing in silence, the tension once again an impenetrable wall between them. He thought he’d destroyed it but in mere moments she’d built up a fortress stronger than ever.

  She tried unsuccessfully to straighten her hair and eventually gave up, letting it hang in loose waves around her shoulders. Her lips were swollen, her face glowed, and her eyes had a sated quality that together all screamed of a woman who had been satisfied well. Darby or any of the party-goers downstairs would take one look at her and know exactly what she’d been doing.

  “Let me drive you home,” he offered, wanting to save her from that fate. If he’d been thinking straight this wouldn’t have happened. Now that it had he couldn’t regret it, but that didn’t mean he’d lost all sensitivity for her feelings.

  Amanda pressed both hands to her face and for a moment he thought she was crying. He reached out to comfort her but she looked up and shook off his hand, her expression angry. “Don’t. Just don’t. It’s bad enough what happened here, but don’t make it worse. How could we? What was I thinking?”

  “We weren’t thinking, we were feeling.”

  “You don’t know anything about how I feel.” She swiped at her hair and tucked her purse under her arm.

  “Then tell me,” he offered. “Tell me everything and let me try to make up for what I did.”

  “Everything is not about you.” Her voice had risen in the small space. “I’m not here to make you feel better about yourself. Now get out of my way.”

  He had no choice this time but to step aside, not wanting to upset her further. As she passed him, he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder but she didn’t look up and meet his gaze.

  “Please let me drive you home. You’re upset. You can slip out the back door and I’ll meet you in the driveway.”

  “I’m going to find Darby and then I’m going home. Not with you. Leave me alone, Seb. There’s nothing here for you.”

  After what had happened between them he didn’t believe her, but she obviously needed some space to process everything. He opened the door and she brushed past him and out into the hall. Following her at a discreet distance, he was surprised to see Darby climbing the stairs to intercept her.

  The man took one look at Amanda and one look at Seb who wasn’t far behind. Clearly Darby knew what had been going on and he didn’t look very fucking happy about it. His arm went around Amanda’s shoulders and he led her down the stairs but not before throwing a warning look over his shoulder at Seb.

  Warn away, buddy. No one would keep him away from Amanda now that he knew she still had feelings for him. He would do anything to win her love, and the battle began right here, right now.

  *

  AMANDA STAYED SILENT as Darby drove her home. He had, of course, figured out what had happened between her and Seb upstairs at the party. It was only then that she had realized why Seb had wanted to drive her home – “hot, kinky sex” had been emblazoned across her forehead in big neon colored letters. She’d kept her head down until they were out of the house but she was sure she’d received some strange looks on the way.

  “I don’t want you to see Sebastian again,” Darby said abruptly, breaking the silence.

  Appalled at the way he was speaking to her, she twisted in the seat so her back was to the door. “I don’t think I appreciate your tone. I’m a grown woman and I make my own decisions.”

  After her fiasco of a marriage to Emmett, no one was going to run her life ever again. Not even Sebastian Gibbs. If he thought he could swoop in and start bossing her around, he had another think coming. And Darby? Since when did he bark out orders?

  “You can’t think clearly when it comes to that man. I thought you two would dance and that would be it but things have taken a turn. You obviously need someone to talk some sense into you. I remember how things were when he left. I didn’t think you were ever going to recover.”

  “But I did.”

  Amanda didn’t feel the need to justify her actions to Darby or anyone else. She was past that point in her life.

  “Yes, finally.” The car swept into her driveway, the headlights illuminating the manicured lawn of her Mediterranean style home in a quiet suburb north of Clearwater. Darby put the car in park and killed the engine. “You fucked him tonight, didn’t you?”

  Unclipping the seatbelt, she pushed open the passenger door. “This conversation is over. Call me sometime if you can speak to me like an adult. I don’t question you
r decisions and I expect the same courtesy.”

  Darby grabbed her arm and she jerked away. “I’m tired of being manhandled. Everyone thinks they can tell me what to do and I’m sick of it.”

  “Listen, I’m sorry.” There was desperation and regret in Darby’s tone. “I just don’t want to see you go through it all again. Sebastian is bad news.”

  “I think you’re being a little dramatic. Seb isn’t evil.”

  He hadn’t set out to destroy her thirteen years ago. Not on purpose, anyway.

  “Is there any reason to see him again? You’ve avoided him all this time, after all.”

  “He’s doing some pro bono legal work for the foundation.”

  Amanda didn’t mention that Seb had indicated he wanted to see her again, that he wanted to somehow make up for everything that had happened between them.

  “Let your administrator handle this, Amanda.” His voice gentled and his fingers brushed her own. “I’m your friend and I just want whatever is best for you, that’s all.”

  “I know you do, and thank you for that. Good night.” She swung her legs out of the car and he moved to open his door.

  “Wait a minute and I’ll walk you to the door.”

  She wanted to be alone to deal with all the colliding emotions inside.

  “No, it’s not even ten feet.”

  Not waiting for his reply, she quickly exited the car and jogged up the path to her front door. After she unlocked it, she turned to wave to Darby who was still in his car. He looked put out but started the engine and reversed down the driveway. She’d deal with Darby and his hurt feelings another day. Probably by tomorrow he’d be on to something else, forgetting all about their conversation tonight.

  Walking through the living room and kitchen, she flipped on a few lights. Physically she was exhausted, but mentally her mind was way too active to be able to sleep anytime soon. She stopped at the refrigerator in her large, homey kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and a few of the homemade cookies she’d made earlier today from the plate on the counter before heading back into the master bedroom.

  Placing the water bottle on the nightstand and holding a cookie in her mouth, she stripped off her evening dress and panties, tossing them aside. They seemed to reek of sex, Seb, and illicit passion. It was a concoction she hadn’t experienced in a long time, although it was probably only her imagination.

  Padding naked into the bathroom, she started a bath and poured in a few drops of oil before climbing in herself. She relaxed in the steamy water as it lapped at her chin and tried to make sense of what she’d done at the party.

  The one thing Amanda had learned in therapy was to own her actions and decisions. She had allowed her need and passion for Seb to override her good sense. It hadn’t been smart but there was no going back. She had to deal with the fallout. At least they’d used protection. Bringing an innocent life into this mess would have only served to make things worse.

  Seb had said he wanted to talk about things, make up for what he’d done. Her first reaction had been complete rejection of the offer but perhaps she’d been too hasty. There was no real way for him to make up for things, but it might be a good idea for them to finally talk as adults. Maybe this was the closure she needed to allow herself to move on. She’d spent so much time trying not to think about the past that the fact was she hadn’t dealt with it all that well.

  If Seb initiated more contact she would talk to him. Maybe she could finally put Seb – and her feelings – in the rearview mirror.

  Chapter Seven

  ‡

  “DO YOU HAVE the Blum file?” Dane breezed into Seb’s office with the usual smile. It was a Saturday morning and the office was quiet. Chris was at his parents’ house in St. Augustine for the weekend so it was just Dane and Seb.

  Seb dug his hand into a scattered stack and pulled out the file. “Right here.”

  Dane grimaced at the disorder of Seb’s office. “How can you find anything in here? It looks like a grenade went off.”

  “I know where everything is. My organizational skills are deceptive but effective.”

  “Your organizational skills are non-existent,” Dane retorted. “You forget I shared an apartment with you.”

  Seb, Dane, and Christian had been roommates all through Harvard undergrad and then Harvard Law. That was one of the reasons they knew each other so well. Seb could deal with clutter around him, but Dane, on the other hand, was meticulous in everything whether it was his home or his grooming. Chris fell somewhere in the middle, as usual. He was the go-between whenever Seb got too casual or lackadaisical or Dane got too obsessive-compulsive.

  “I could never forget that. You were a pain in the ass to live with.”

  “You’re no fucking day at the beach yourself.” Dane plopped down into a guest chair and stretched out his long legs. “Why are you here anyway? We haven’t been open for business long enough to be behind.”

  Seb shrugged and reached for his coffee cup. “I wanted to get a few things cleared away for Monday, that’s all. I probably won’t be here very long. What’s your story?”

  Dane held up the Blum file. “I got a call and they’re ready to settle.” He dug into the front pocket of his jeans. “That reminds me. You had a call this morning from a Lance Poplin—says he’s ready to make a better offer. Whatever that means.”

  Dane tossed the paper on the desk and Seb picked it up, perusing it for any clues as to what the offer might be. Unfortunately the message was just as his friend had said and nothing more. Seb would have to call Poplin to find the details, and then talk to Amanda. At least now he had a concrete reason to see her again.

  “This is the developer that’s trying to run Amanda and the women’s shelter out of the house they purchased. Poplin wants the entire block for condos.”

  Dane snorted in derision. “Just what Florida needs is more condos. Shit, is real estate coming back again? All we need is another bubble to burst.”

  “It is,” Seb said dryly, frowning at his now empty coffee cup. “He low-balled the first offer so I hope this one isn’t a waste of my time.”

  “Is Amanda looking to sell?”

  “She’d entertain the right offer.” Seb got up and crossed the room to the coffee pot in the corner and poured himself another cup. He pointed to the spare cup on the counter, but Dane shook his head. He was probably on one of his health kicks again.

  “What about you? Is spending time with Amanda a good idea? Chris or I can take this over for you.”

  If it was possible, Dane was even more protective than Seb, and declaring his intentions was going to upset his friend.

  “Actually, we may have had a breakthrough last night. I think she still has feelings for me. And hell, you know how I feel about her—always have. I decided last night that I’m going for it. For her. I never thought I’d get a second chance but I really think this might be it. I won’t pass it up.”

  “A breakthrough?” Dane sat up straight in the chair. “I don’t even want to fucking know what kind of breakthrough you had, although by the smug-ass smile you have on your face this morning I can guess. But have you lost your mind, dude? What will you do if she tells you to take a hike? You’re too old to go back into the Army and get yourself blown up or shot all because your heart is broken. Fuck, Seb—think this through.”

  Seb rubbed his thigh where a bullet had left a nasty scar, thinking of how he’d stayed up half the night thinking about this very thing. He was done thinking and it was time to take action.

  “Trust me, I have. If Amanda blows me off, well, then I know for sure that it’s not meant to be. But dammit, Dane, how can I walk away from this chance to be with the only woman I’ve ever loved? Could you do that?”

  Dane stood and moved toward the door. “I’ve never been in love so I have no idea. Watching you, by the way, sure doesn’t make me anxious to do it, either. It looks messy and painful so I’ll just say no thanks. There are no shortage of willing women in this world. S
hit, you don’t need to marry them, Seb. Just throw them a diamond bracelet or some earrings every now and then. That keeps them happy and you out of divorce court. Repeat after me…community property.”

  Seb shook his head at his best friend. “When did you get so damn cynical?”

  Dane just laughed and took the coffee cup out of Seb’s hand. “Have you met my parents? I learned at the feet of experts. Put that swill away and let’s go get some breakfast. Pancakes are on me.”

  Seb eyed Dane suspiciously. “Is this just a ruse to get me somewhere so you can talk me out of this? I won’t change my mind.”

  “No way.” Dane raised his hands in surrender. “I’m your friend, and if this is what you want, then that’s what I want. Hell, maybe I’ll give you some pointers with the ladies that I’ve picked up over the years.”

  “Now this I’ve got to hear. Not that I plan to use any of them. It’s purely for entertainment value.”

  “Listen and learn, bro. I’ll get my keys and we’ll get out of here.”

  Dane loped down the hall whistling a song from their days in high school while Seb tried to straighten his desk for Monday morning. Despite the ribbing he’d given Dane, it might not be a bad idea to brainstorm some ideas to woo Amanda. It had been over a decade since Seb had given a damn whether a woman cared or not. This was too important to mess up.

  *

  IT WAS SIMPLY another quiet Sunday night for Amanda. She knew most of her friends would have called it boring, but she enjoyed puttering around the house in old clothes and no makeup. She’d worked in the back yard this morning and then lazed in the pool in the afternoon. Now she was showered, her stomach was growling, and the contents of her refrigerator left something to be desired. She’d already eaten her weight in chocolate chip cookies. She needed real food. Delivery might be her only option for sustenance. She was sifting through pizza coupons when she heard pounding on her front door.

  “Just a minute,” she called out, making a face at her cut-off shorts and tank top. No bra. Crap. She hated the damn things and never wore one when she was home. She’d just have to cover up. Picking up the stack of coupons, she held them against her chest and went to answer the door.