by Hart, Lea
“Maybe you were not ready for so much honesty so quickly at a time in your life when you are facing so many changes. It hasn’t even been a week and I’m telling you that I am going to marry you and put a baby in you.”
“Yeah, I might not have been ready for so much honesty right off the bat. Maybe if you waited until next week I might have handled it with more grace.”
“I just want you to let me in, let me in your life and your heart and your soul. I feel like I will not be satisfied until I have you completely bound to me. Maybe because I have all of these feelings that I’ve never had before and I’m scared shitless. I want you to be in the same boat as me. That way if we go down, we go down together.”
“That makes sense, I didn’t know SEALs were scared of anything - especially going down in a boat.”
“As a rule I would say that we’re not, except when it comes to our hearts. We are a bunch of hard men who have done an impossible job for a lot of years and faced a lot of nasty shit. If you asked one of us if we would choose to face a bunch of tangos or face our hearts, we would probably choose the tangos. At least that’s something we know how to deal with.”
“That’s something I can understand. I’m the type of person who likes things that are concrete, like the ocean. Something that I can point to and know what it is. Maybe that’s why I’ve struggled with love. I can’t touch it. I can’t hold on to it and make sure it never changes. I understand how crazy that sounds….. believe me.”
“It doesn’t sound that crazy to me.”
“That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“I thought when I told you that I had faith in you was the best thing.”
“I want to add this, these are the two best things anyone has ever said to me.” You are batting 1000.”
He got up and pulled her hand and brought her into his lap. “I have to touch you now - I hope you don’t mind.”
Unable to respond because he had his mouth on hers and his hands were inside her robe, she let herself fall into him. He kissed her, avidly, sucking, licking as if he couldn’t live without her. He lifted his head and his deep green eyes blazed into hers. His hands tunneled through her hair and cupped her head. He was holding her tightly, holding her still as if he was afraid she was going to avoid the kiss. Which of course was ridiculous.
He stood up in one motion with her in his arms and turned and placed her gently on the bed. As he untied her robe and looked down, at her she realized she’d never seen such intensity in a human face before. It was as if he was reading her mind and heart. “I need this, I need you.” She nodded, throat dry, this was the very definition of desire. He undid his robe and let it fall off as he ran his hands up her body, “Let me in Rory… let me in.”
She shifted her legs and adjusted her hips, he dropped his hips and waited. She pulled him down and tilted her hips so that he was inside and lifted her head and whispered in his ear, “Now.”
With a growl that came up from his belly that gave her goose bumps, he thrust inside. He filled her completely, “Are you OK?” A drop of sweat fell down his chin onto her breast. Tugging him back down, she tilted her hips so he moved even more deeply inside of her.
He had to feel the welcome. “Oh yes,” she sighed, grasping him even more tightly. He started moving slowly with measured thrusts, completely in control. He touched her everywhere inside and she let herself go. Enjoying the feel of him under her hands, against her chest and groin, feeling the rhythm of his thrusts, she rode the wave of pleasure. When she exploded, it took her completely by surprise. Her body shot into overdrive from one second to the next. It was like an electric shock, and she instinctively held on tighter to him. He was the only stable thing in the universe right now.
“Yeah, baby that’s it.” He felt her contractions hard around him. He moved in her faster and harder and kept her contractions going on and on. For a while they were one, moving tightly in unison. “Oh god,” he breathed. His voice sounded shaky as a shudder went through him and passed through her. He started coming in huge hot jets and felt himself almost black out.
Their bodies were covered in sweat, and he was breathing heavily and panting. She felt his big barrel chest bellowing in and out. She tightened her arms around his shoulders - feeling the absolute strength of him. Enjoying the weight of him, she took shallow breaths. He finally rolled over and kissed her head, “I think my head blew off.”
She looked over and smiled and closed her eyes and fell instantly asleep. I guess I wore you out. Sweet dreams. “Love you Rory.”
CHAPTER TEN
“Good morning beautiful.”
Opening an eye she looked over and smiled at the good looking naked man lying next to her. “Did I pass out last night? One minute I was drowning in pleasure and the next minute it was lights out.”
“Yes, I think I wore you out.”
“In the best possible way…. I thought it might have been a dream.”
“I want to wake up every day like this… kissing you. No pressure of course. Just wanted to let you know all my dreams came true in the last twenty four hours.”
Running her mouth down his neck she felt him shudder as she moved her hand down his body. “I didn’t know that a southern man with a deep voice was going to become my kryptonite. The sound of your voice utterly seduces me.”
“I’m glad you told me that, because now I know that I have to speak quietly in your ear when I’m doing this.” In one motion he rolled on top of her, parted her knees with his leg and swiftly and completely entered her.”
“Don’t say anything too complicated because….” she arched into him “the way you feel makes me feel….everything.” Shuddering she felt his equally enthusiastic response as he moved slowly and completely inside of her. Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore the last thrust had her going over the edge into a free fall of pure happiness.
Whispering in her ear, he encouraged her to let go and thrust hard several more times and then joined her. Much later when his brain began functioning again, he lifted himself up on his elbow and ran his hand down her back, “I love how you fall apart when I touch you. You are a woman who is always in control…. and I make you lose control.”
“I told you that I don’t want a boyfriend or a husband, but will you be my love slave? I have waited 28 years to have an experience like this, and I don’t want to give it up anytime soon. You touch me and I fall apart. This has never happened to me before.”
“Love slavery can be arranged. Does it go both ways?”
“I think it has already been established that I will follow where ever you lead. What else would you like?”
“Your heart.”
“I don’t give that away until the second month of knowing someone. So you’ll have to wait a little while.”
“I can do that.” Kissing her hard, he got up and looked for the coffee maker. “I better not slack in my duties of making coffee. Is there a maker in the room or should I run downstairs?”
“There is a maker over there. I’ll jump in the shower and then we can go down for breakfast.” Getting up, she made her way into the bathroom, he stared at her until she disappeared behind the door.
“For the rest of my life she is going to be the queen of my world.” He made quick work of getting the coffee ready and gathered their clothes from the room. He didn’t want anyone finding any of Rory’s lingerie. He opened his laptop and checked in for the day and was happy to see that they had made progress on the research they were doing on the two suspects in Rory’s case. He wanted to be done with this and give her a solution once and for all.
***
Sitting on the patio, they watched the dolphins swim past as they drank their coffee. “Do you have any updates for me on my stalker?”
“We have it narrowed down to two computers, so I’m looking seriously at two people. Derick is running further background checks, and I think that will give us the final piece that we need to determine who it i
s.”
Ok, sounds good. How do you think I did at the gun range yesterday?”
“How do you think you did?”
“I guess I was as bad as I thought. I was hoping you were going to tell me that I had potential.”
“I didn’t say you were bad. It takes practice and a lot of work to become proficient.” He held out his hand, “Feel this callous. I have had a gun in my hand every day for over fifteen years. He held out his other hand and let her feel the callouses. “If I don’t practice - I lose my accuracy. I don’t need the same accuracy that I had when I was on the teams, but I still work at it.”
“Why do you have callouses on both hands?”
“We practice with both hands; if something happens to your dominant hand, you still have options.”
“I don’t know if I have a feel for it, but I’m going to keep practicing.” Breakfast was delivered and they started to eat, “I love our restaurants. I think that is what keeps people coming back.”
“I agree. This is some of the best food that I’ve had in a long time. Tell me what our plans are this weekend?”
“I was thinking that I could go over to my sister’s house and spend time with her. I know you have things to do, and I don’t want you to have to worry about staying with me.”
“You are not going to be out of my sight until we have this guy behind bars. End of story”
“I’m glad to know you are open minded. I think that is a good quality.”
“I’m not open minded about your safety. We can do whatever you want. How is that for open minded?”
“It’s my turn for Sunday lunch, so my sisters are coming over on Sunday and maybe my Mom and Bob. Do you want to invite your brother and the guys from the office?”
“Sure, I’ll do that today when we get in.” Leaning over he kissed her gently but with unmistakable possession. “Thank you baby.”
“For what?”
“For letting me in just a little.”
Smiling, she didn’t say anything and took his hand and held it. It was going to have be enough for now. “To change the subject…… I think I will have some notes for you later on this afternoon about recommendations for your business. I also spoke with Birdie and she is having several people forward their resumes for the accounting position. I will review them and then pass them on to you. You can then tell me who you want to speak with. I also think you need a human resources person to coordinate benefits across all of the offices. I don’t think you are providing enough health insurance benefits for the guys and their families. I also think that you need to form a corporation with the partners in all of the offices. That will allow you to run a more efficient operation, and be more profitable. These are just my preliminary recommendations, but I will probably have quite a few more as I do more research.”
“How many days have you been studying this?”
“I think one or two. Why?”
“Because, I think you’re brilliant and I am so grateful that you are willing to take this on.”
“It’s very exciting. I love this sort of thing.”
“That’s good, because I don’t like it. I get to hand it over to you. How much is your current salary?”
“Max that seems like a personal question.”
“Let’s think back to last night and this morning… where was my mouth? Where were my hands and other significant body parts, and who was moaning my name? Oh yes that was you. Does it still feel like a personal question?”
“You have a point. My current salary is $ 265,000.00, plus benefits, stock options and bonuses.”
“I would like to offer you $365,000 plus whatever else you want.”
“You would be over paying me and I don’t want that. Right now I’m consulting in exchange for you protecting me and taking care of my stalker. If I ever decide to come and work for you, then we can discuss it at that time.”
“It is not if, it is when: and it is not for, it’s with.”
“We’ll see.”
He took her hand, looked her in the eye and very quietly whispered, “It’s a done deal, and I will wait for you to come to the same conclusion.” He dipped his head and kissed her gently and completely.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Is that the last bag?”
Bringing in two heavy bags, he set them down on the counter. “Yes, how many people are coming?”
“It’s going to be seven of us My Mom called earlier and said that Bob wasn’t feeling up to it. I haven’t heard from Birdie this morning. Should I be worried?”
“When a man gets injured on an op and makes it out alive, then he has a decent chance of surviving. Birdie said he was flown to Virginia Medical Center and that means he is almost guaranteed to make it. The longer you last, the better your chances are. If he was still on the naval medical ship, then I would be worried.”
“I’m still worried. I know Birdie is probably going out of her mind, but not letting anyone know.”
“If you make it out of the op, your chances have improved 100%.”
“I’m glad that I’ve met you after you retired. I don’t think I would have been very good at waiting for you to come home.”
“That is the nicest thing you have said to me. It means that you would’ve taken me on.” He watched her shrug her shoulders and try to hide a smile. She started putting the food away and avoided looking at him. That told him more than a lot of words she could have said. “At least you would have kept me as a love slave anyway.”
“That’s for sure…. you’re amazing.”
“As soon as Frank, Sean and Derick get here, I will leave on my run. Is there anything else you need me to do before lunch?”
“I’m sorry I’ve kept you from your routines this week. Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve been fine.”
“I have loved spending this week with you. Who cares if I miss a couple of runs? I’m going to have a new routine anyway since we’re living together.”
“For now, but when the stalker gets put away you can move back to your place.”
“You don’t want to live together?”
“I don’t even want a boyfriend - I’m not going to live with you.”
“I wish you would quit saying that.”
“I keep saying it because you’re ignoring everything I say.”
“I wasn’t ignoring you this morning…. I was listening very carefully.”
“That’s true. You listen when you like what your hearing.”
The doorbell rang and saved them both from further discussion about their relationship. They were of opposite opinions, and it didn’t look like they were going to come to a consensus anytime soon. Max walked over and disengaged the system and looked through the peephole. Two very pretty women stood on the other side of the door. “Sweetheart, it’s your sisters.” He opened the door and smiled, “Hello ladies.”
“They both looked at him carefully and studied him for a moment and then walked in. Catalina was the first to speak, “You must be Max. My sister didn’t tell us how good looking you are.” Setting her bags down, she stepped over to embrace him. “Welcome to the family.”
He looked over her head at Rory who was standing in the kitchen and gave her an, ‘I told you so look.’
Catalina stepped back and let Isabella have a turn, “So you’re the one keeping my sister safe?”
“Yes, I am. We are very close to nailing the guy and I expect that this will be taken care of in the next week.”
“Thank you, I can’t tell you how good it makes me feel to know that Rory has you. She’s been terribly stubborn about this and I’m glad she finally came to her senses and let someone help her.” She kissed him on the cheek and then gathered her stuff to take into the kitchen.
He heard the three of them speaking in Italian and knew they were talking about him. The sisters seemed to welcome him and assumed that they were together. Why was Rory so stubborn about this?
The doorbell rang again, and he opened it up and welcom
ed his brother and friends in. “Hi guys, Catalina and Isabella have already arrived.”
Frank looked into the kitchen and felt like someone hit him in the stomach when he caught sight of one of the sisters. He heard them speaking in Italian and listened to the conversation. Apparently Max was pushing Rory into being in a relationship, and she was complaining to her sisters. Max took the guys over and introduced them to the ladies. The sisters were charming and friendly, and the woman who had his heart thumping was named Catalina.
“Sean and I are going for our run, Frank and Derick will be here in case you need anything.”
Rory brought out a plate of antipasto and set it on the table in front of the TV. “Help yourself.”
Frank stood next to Catalina and stared at her, she must have felt it because she turned and gave him a faint smile.
Catalina said something to her sister and it took every ounce of control for Frank not to respond. He wasn’t ready for the ladies to know that he spoke Italian and about five other languages. He wanted to get as much information as he could before he confessed. Catalina had asked her sister who the statue was standing next to her.
Rory handed him the remote and told the guys to make themselves comfortable. Max walked out of the garage at that moment and she saw him in his running shorts and no shirt and felt her breath catch. She said a small prayer in Italian, Frank didn’t think it was going to help her resist his best friend, no matter how many candles she promised to light at the church this week.
He watched Max walk over and kiss Rory with a lot of enthusiasm and whisper in her ear, then she blushed and kissed him back. It just took some people longer to accept their fate. She was probably one of them.
Derick and Frank sat on the couch as Isabelle brought their drinks over. “So were you both on the teams with Max?”
Derick thanked her and took the glasses, “Yes, we have worked together on and off for ten years. We can’t seem to get away from one another.”
