by Marie Harte
She crossed her arms over her chest and nodded to the bed. “I was just turning in. Since we, um, slept together the other night, I don’t see why we can’t again.”
John fought to keep the stupid grin off his face. Now that he’d decided to give in, he felt lighter in his skin. Hell, maybe nothing would happen, but at least his options were open.
His eager dick demanded otherwise.
He escaped to the bathroom for a moment to catch his breath. He’d been in firefights, had a gun held to his head, jumped out of airplanes in the dark, but the thought of baring himself to Shannon eclipsed all of those things. Everything else had been work. Shannon meant something to him.
You need to get your fucking ass out there!
He used the bathroom and washed his hands and brushed his teeth. When he had nothing else to do, he rolled out into the bedroom.
Shannon had turned off the lights, and only the soft glow from the bedroom window illuminated the room.
The bed presented a bit of a problem. It was taller than his at the apartment, and would be a struggle to get into it from the chair. Surveying the problem, he moved to the bottom and used the short corner foot post as leverage. Straining, he got himself onto the mattress, but his face burned with humiliation. He wasn’t graceful at the best of times, let alone when he was at a disadvantage in a new environment.
The embarrassment was for naught, though. Shannon was curled up on her side, facing away from him. John’s throat swelled with emotion at her sensitivity. She knew there was no way in hell he’d ever ask for help, so she left him to his own devices.
John dragged himself up the bed and under the covers. He left his jeans and t-shirt on, simply because he didn’t want to look like he expected more. The only thing he removed was the Beretta and harness, which he placed within reach on the bedside table. His heart pounded his chest in expectation as he settled back against the bed. All thought of danger outside the house slipped away as her scent overwhelmed him.
Shannon peeked at him over her shoulder, then rolled over. As if she’d been doing it for years, she laid her arm over his belly and nestled her head on the cup of his shoulder. John allowed himself to cradle her closer. He pressed a quick kiss to her head. “You’re really something, Shannon.”
Her arm tightened around his middle. “You’re pretty awesome yourself.”
He didn’t know about that. Sure, he’d gotten attention for doing his job in the Marines, but he’d never had anyone tell him that in his personal life. Relationships had been few and far between, and superficial at the very best. The way Shannon affected him was outside his scope of knowledge.
But he enjoyed learning. Even when she was pissed at him it allowed him to know more about her. It was fascinating.
She ran her hand over his chest now and outlined his pectoral muscles. Her fingers pressed against the creases between the muscles of his stomach, and it felt so good. Lying down beside her was supposed to give him a chance to catch a breath, but it only aroused him further. Her fingers teased along his waistband, and the tension between them suddenly skyrocketed.
He grabbed her hand. “Shannon, I don’t want you to be…disappointed.” He could feel his face burn with humiliation, and was thankful it was fairly dark in the bedroom. “Things don’t always happen the way I expect them to, if they happen at all.”
She sighed beside him, and propped herself up on her elbow. There was just enough illumination from the outside street light he could see the curve of her cheek as she smiled. “John, like I told you before, we can do as much or as little as you want. There’s no pressure, other than what you’re putting on yourself. I love being with you. If lying beside me is what you’re comfortable with, that’s what we’ll do.”
Squeezing him with her arm again, she rested her head back against his shoulder and hummed contentedly.
John appreciated her willingness to go slow, but it aggravated him too. He wished she would push, because the curiosity was slowly killing him. Doubts battered at his mind, but one thought ripped through more clearly than any other.
Could he actually perform?
His stomach twisted in knots as he debated how to proceed. His hard-on ached, and demanded attention.
Twisting, he reversed their positions until he loomed over top of her. His dick rested against her lush hip, and it was all he could do not to grind into her. “I can’t promise you anything beyond this, Shannon. Hell, maybe nothing will happen. My body isn’t like it used to be. But I can make sure you’re taken care of.”
She gave him the sweetest, sexiest smile and looped her arms up around his neck. “John, I’m sure you’ll take care of me. I have no doubt. And don’t worry about promises. I’m here, number one, because I am your friend. I want the best for you. If I can help you over this hurdle, so to speak, I will.”
His throat tightened with emotion, and his eyes burned. He buried his face in her hair to keep her from seeing. He had to clear his throat several times before he could talk though. “Thank you, Shannon. We’re friends with benefits, now, huh?”
She giggled beneath him, and nipped his neck. “I guess so.”
He couldn’t help it. Dragging her hips against him, he pressed his erection into her side.
“Oh, damn,” she sighed.
John found her mouth with his own, and sank into her. For months he’d moped after her, watched her, fantasized about her. She had tormented him with her sweetness and sexiness. But nothing could have prepared him for the absolute enjoyment he felt as he explored her mouth. Shannon let him have everything she had, and gave him more than he’d ever hoped. She pulled away and lifted the ragged t-shirt over her head, baring her full, unbound breasts. John’s vision actually darkened. He thought he was going to pass out as all of his blood headed south, to his already rock-hard cock. The tingle in his balls told him orgasm was not very far away, and he couldn’t believe how aroused he was.
Dark, cinnamon-colored nipples pouted up at him and he wrapped his mouth around the one closest to him. Shannon moaned as he drew the nipple deep and teased it with his tongue. He shifted to the other side and drew that one in as well. He lifted his head enough to blow a gentle breath across both tips.
Shannon tugged him against her. John levered himself up onto his arms and shifted his lower body over hers. She bent her knees to cradle him against her pelvis, and John couldn’t restrain himself any more. Tightening his stomach for all he was worth, he curled his stomach and pressed his cock against the hardness of her pubic bone. The movement felt freaking sensational, so he did it again. Shannon moaned in his ear, and her tiny hands slid beneath his waistband to clench his ass.
John ground himself against her again, then again, unable to help himself. Shannon pressed kisses against his chest and neck, whatever her lips could reach, and rocked him against her. Her hands left his ass and circled his waist. John felt a tug at his zipper, and the gentle brush of her soft hands on his naked cock was his undoing. He felt the orgasm rush at him, and couldn’t get his mouth to move quick enough to tell her to stop. “Wait, I can’t…oh, fuck!”
For the first time in years, he had an orgasm with a woman. Kind of. John let his body play out the movements, but humiliation burnt the edge off quickly. He wanted to burrow into her neck and disappear. Furious with himself, he rolled to the side and sat up. One glance at her lower body confirmed that he’d come all over her, and her hand. He couldn’t force his eyes to her face, because he knew he would see the same things he felt. Disgust, embarrassment. Ripping his shirt over his head, he turned it inside out and used it to clean every bit from her body. “Shannon, I am so incredibly sorry.”
He reached for her hand, but she pulled it away. John watched, fascinated, as she lifted the hand to her mouth, and slipped one wet finger between her lips. Electricity shot through him as her eyes fluttered shut as she licked herself clean.
Even though it had been mere seconds since he’d come, his cock tingled.
Her lang
uorous eyes opened, and she smiled. “I think that’s the hottest thing I’ve been a part of in, well, ever.”
Exhilaration slammed through him, and he closed his eyes for a second. She wasn’t disgusted. He swallowed thickly, unable to believe his good fortune in finding a woman like her.
Shannon looked at him with one brow raised in question.
“I thought, you uh…” He had to stop to clear his throat. “I thought you’d be disgusted I came all over you.”
She looked down at her still moist belly. The cotton of her pink panties was dark with wetness, and she undulated on the bed. “Not hardly. That was the hottest thing I’ve ever felt. Although I’m kind of…” She shifted on the bed again, and reached both hands up to tweak her hard nipples.
John cursed when he got her meaning. Of course she was still hungry. She hadn’t come yet. “Take your panties off.”
She scrambled to do as he said, but looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “You’re overdressed too.”
John couldn’t agree more. He maneuvered his legs around, and stripped the clothing off. And was attacked by self-consciousness again. His heavy thighs had withered away with disuse, and it was difficult to sit beside her and not compare. Her body was heavenly, lush and firm with health. And he was pale. He had Italian in him from his mother’s side of the family, so that left him with some natural color, but the dark, sun-baked tan he used to have had faded long ago.
When he met her eyes, she smiled gently. “Whatever it is bothering you, get over it.”
John laughed outright, and leaned down on his right elbow beside her. Her expression was clear and eager, and she turned to face him so she could run her hands over his chest. Her fingers traced over the tattoo on his arm, outlined the anchor, the eagle, and the globe. “Did this hurt?”
“No.”
She raised her eyebrows at him, and he shrugged his high shoulder. “Okay, maybe a bit. But it was worth it.”
She smiled in agreement. “I think so. It’s very sexy.”
Resting her hand behind his neck, she leaned up to kiss him, and he met her halfway. The ease with which he accepted the intimacy scared him. He’d never been this easy, or relaxed, or turned on with another human being.
Flat out, he was humbled by her acceptance.
Kissing her with everything he had, he glided his hand down to pluck at her nipples. She moaned into his mouth, and it was all he could do to go slow. The patch of dark brown curls at the juncture of her thighs taunted him. He wanted to spread her wide and explore her. And taste her. God. His mouth watered.
His almost-erection flexed at the thought, drawing her attention.
*
SHANNON TRIED NOT to pant as she looked down at John’s body. Yes, the paralysis had had an effect on him, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as she expected. His legs were crisscrossed with pale silver scars. It certainly wasn’t as bad as what his own mind probably concocted. And the working parts more than made up for the non-working ones.
His cock flexed and hardened. The thought of having that lurid purple head in her mouth, or body, made her shudder. Her clit pulsed with the need to come. Daring to reach out again, she squeezed the tip of him with her fingertips.
John surged into her hand, his cock filling quickly and impressively. Shannon didn’t know he’d be so big, and it actually worried her.
With a groan, he pulled her hand away. He kissed her palm and rested it on her own breast. “Your hands are dangerous. Leave it there.”
Shannon grinned in spite of herself, but it slipped away as he lifted her thigh up over his hip. His cock was only a couple inches away now, and her heart thumped painfully against her chest. She wanted to nestle him between her legs more than she’d ever wanted anything before. Her pussy clenched in expectation, and her eyes fluttered shut.
He didn’t do what she expected, though. She felt a tickle at her pussy lips, and looked down to find him swirling her short, damp hair with his fingers. Even that felt wonderful. Then he slipped his thick middle finger between her folds, and just held it there.
Shannon moaned, and pressed a kiss to his mouth. It was a struggle not to grind against his hand, and he seemed to understand that. The tip of his finger danced up around her clit, then swept down around her opening. He paused there, building her anticipation, before gently sliding his finger inside.
Shannon panted, willing him to move. “Please,” she moaned. “Please.”
John plunged his finger deeper, grinding the palm of his hand against her clit. She gasped as pleasure slammed through her. “Harder,” she whispered.
In and out, he set up a steady rhythm designed to build. “You are soaked,” he grumbled.
Then he lowered his head to her nipple, and started to suck. Shannon cried out, and her hips worked against his hand.
Frantic heat built deep in her body, and she didn’t try to fight it. She’d lusted after John for months, and now that she was finally with him, she wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to enjoy him. She gripped his cock in her hand and pumped lightly.
John pulled away from her touch and pushed her flat on her back. Then, more gracefully than she would have thought possible, he rolled over and pushed himself down the bed. His moist breath suddenly teased her wet folds and his hands pressed her knees wide. A split-second later, his tongue laved her cleft from top to bottom. Shannon cried out, and tried to cover her mouth with her hand to keep the sound in, but she had no control over her body. That frantic heat grew and became too big to contain. John shoved his finger deep as he flicked at her clit with his tongue, driving her over the edge. Shannon whipped her hands out to clutch the blanket, and let the scream go that had been building for so long.
But he didn’t let up. Her body quaked and shuddered through one of the hottest orgasms she’d ever had, and just as her body began to calm, he flicked his tongue again to prolong her pleasure. Shannon moaned and clutched his short hair, not sure if she was shoving him away or holding him to her. Finally, though, she did push him away, gently. “Oh, my God.”
John looked up the length of her body, mouth glistening with her release, and gave her the sexiest, most self-satisfied, manly grin she ever seen on his face. “I’m glad I still remember what to do.”
Did he ever. Her heart contracted in her chest, and tears actually came to her eyes. Friends with benefits, my ass. He’s mine.
He elbowed his way up beside her, and gently fondled her breast as she recovered her breath. Shannon knew he was hard, and the need to take the night further pushed her. John covered her mouth with his own and nibbled softly. Shannon tasted her own saltiness, and it made her clit contract.
She pulled away and pushed against his massive shoulders, guiding him flat. Then levered herself up and over his hips. She held her body high, away from his, and plumped her breasts for him. John’s face darkened as he watched her, and his strong hands clamped onto her hips. She brought one knee up, centered herself over the tip of his cock and lowered.
The work they did before was good, because the moisture from her release eased the way for his size. Even then, it still took several movements to seat him in her body. Shannon had never felt so full.
“Oh, fuck,” John whispered. “Just hold right there for a minute.”
His hands trembled on her hips, and his strong jaw clenched. “I never thought I’d feel this again.”
Shannon leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his pursed lips. John moaned and clasped her head in his palms, guiding her mouth. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he held her to him and flexed his stomach, shoving into her. She gasped as the fullness intensified. Originally, she’d planned to ride John, but he plunged well enough beneath her that she didn’t want to move.
That expectation began to build again, and she panted, making minute adjustments to what he was doing to heighten the sensation. His excitement began to build as well, and he guided her to sit up, then held her hips in his hands.
Shannon gasped at the posi
tion change. It was too much. Her body struggled to accept him. Her thighs quivered as she lifted high, bouncing lightly before sinking down again. Within seconds, though, she wasn’t doing enough. She seated herself harder, panting, as that tantalizing flame grew brighter. It suddenly flared out of control as John rested a thumb just above her clit.
When she rocked down, her clit bumped against his finger, and that tiny touch was enough to swing her over the edge. As she orgasmed around his body, crying, John tightened his hands on her hips and slammed her down against him. It was good he was as strong as he was, because she had gone beyond coherence. Within just a few seconds, though, he stalled out beneath her, quivering, shaking, and roared out his own release. Shannon rocked against him, and felt the spread of scalding heat as he released into her body.
She collapsed against him, boneless, crying, rocked to her very foundations. John wrapped both arms around her and held her to him. He seemed just as affected as he wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumb. When his body relaxed out of hers, Shannon forced herself to get up and go to the bathroom to clean up, even though she didn’t want to leave. John seemed just as reluctant to let her go, and eager to have her back in his arms when she returned. Shannon snuggled in against his chest, more content than she could remember being in a very long time.
John cleared his throat and tilted his head to meet her eyes. “Are you okay?”
She smiled, and raised a brow. “You mean after my ravishing? I can’t walk straight yet, but I think I’ll be okay.”
Even in the dim light, she could see his face turn ruddy, but he grinned. “I don’t think I can do much right now either, but I feel fantastic. Actually, I feel like I did when I was fifteen and lost my virginity with Ellen Nichols.”
