MILITARY ROMANCE: The War Within Himself (Alpha Bad Boy Marine Army Seal) (Contemporary Military Suspense & Thriller Romance)

by Claire Branson

  “Coffee?” Her accent, like Antony’s, was French, but hers was much broader, deeper as if she was French rather than having been educated there.

  “Yes please,” Raine muttered as she dragged herself over towards where the French woman sat.

  You fucking idiot, Raine. You saw the pictures on the Internet. Every one of the other women Antony was with looked just like her.

  But if that’s true, why spend so much time and money on me?

  He’s obviously loaded. Money means nothing to his type, and he wanted to see what it was like to hump a porker!

  Raine shook her head, trying to dislodge the nasty little part of her subconscious that seemed to hate her so much.

  “There you go,” Miss French Perfection said, pushing a cup towards Raine. Her accent made it sound like ‘Zere you go,’ but Raine made no comment. “You are waiting for Antony, yes?” she added.

  Raine took a deep breath preparing to hear the worst. “Yup, that’s me, waiting for Antony. Got any idea where he is?” She asked, not really wanting the answer. French Perfection tossed her head, making her tight little curls bounce.

  “I think he is in his room, taking a shower.” She looked at Raine. “I am Celine, his assistant.”

  Raine felt a little better after hearing that. “Raine,” She said, offering her hand, “I’m...” What was she? Raine had no clue at the moment, “A journalist.” Celine frowned.

  “You are doing a story on Antony?” she asked in confusion. “I was not told.”

  Raine grimaced. “Not so much doing a story on Antony as...doing Antony. If you see what I mean?”

  Celine laughed.

  “You are very funny,” she observed.

  “So they tell me.” Raine countered.

  “So this is good then. Antony has been alone for so long, and now he has a pretty young girl to keep him company.” It sounded wholly condescending to Raine, but it might just have been Celine’s accent. “I am glad to meet you, Raine.”

  They drank coffee in silence for a few minutes before Celine said, “It looked as if you were upset when you first come out here. Why?”

  Raine paused before answering. “I did wonder if you and Antony were...”

  Celine laughed again. “Antony is not like this,” she said. “He would not do something like this to two women. He is too much of a gentleman.” Celine ran her eyes up and down Raine’s physique. “And if I am telling the truth,” she added salaciously, “you are more my type than he is. If you see what I mean.” She smiled and stretched. “I must go and change, darling. I think we have to be leaving very soon.” With those final words, Celine prowled across the penthouse and into the third room.

  Raine sighed, wondering what kind of weird, mixed-up people she was getting involved in.

  The elevator doors pinged to admit a pair of tuxedo wearing men, who pushed a pair of trolleys across to the table. They unloaded a mass of food before Raine and promptly left after biding her a quiet good morning. She buttered a slice of toast and was about to eat when a door opened, and there he was. Raine’s stomach clenched at the sight of him – and the memory of what he did to her last night – and she felt as if she should stand up for some odd reason. Antony took two steps into the room and halted, looking up at her with a huge smile lighting up his face.

  “Mon amour, you are even more beautiful than I remember,” he said, and Raine smiled in return. Antony crossed the penthouse and laid his hands gently on Raine’s shoulders, drawing her to him.

  Raine felt the hardness of his body pressed against her soft curves and relished the contact. Antony had a sinewy yet muscular physique without an ounce of fat to cover the rock hardness of his frame. He brought his lips to hers, warm and soft, before sliding his tongue into her mouth. He tasted of toothpaste, mouthwash and something which was purely Antony, and Raine was hooked.

  Antony pulled back and spoke in a husky voice, “I wish we had the time to carry on from last night, ma fille sexy, but unfortunately I have to return to Crutch Junction. There are a few meetings I have to go to.” He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Help yourself to breakfast. I want you to keep your stamina up.” Antony’s grin made Raine blush, and he laughed. “So beautiful. So sexy,” he told her.

  The three of them, Raine, Celine and Antony, were aboard the Learjet less than an hour later and soon after in the air, streaking through the Texas sky towards Raine’s hometown.

  Although she had been dreading the flight again, Antony’s presence was a calming one, and even though he was busy talking to Celine and sorting through his emails, he made sure he held her hand and kissed her fingers from time to time.

  Carson greeted them at the airfield with the dove gray and chrome of the car polished and without a speck of the dust which blew unimpeded across Crutch Junction. Celine slid into the front seat beside him while Antony and Raine sat in the rear. Antony twined his fingers with Raine’s as they made the short drive to her mother’s house.

  “Will you let me take you out again tonight?” Antony asked, looking as if he might be denied.

  “Sure,” Raine said. Leaning in for a kiss, she made sure her breasts pressed into his arm and chest. She twirled her tongue around his lips, and he groaned.

  “What you do to me!” he cried in mock despair.

  ***

  Raine nervously stepped through the door to her mother’s house. She hadn’t planned on being away all night, and even though Antony had hired someone to come and spend some time with her, she still felt guilty for not being there.

  “Mom?” She called crossing the threshold.

  “Hello, Raine.” Her mother actually sounded cheerful, making her feel a little better. Raine found her in what had been the family room when she was growing up, snipping coupons from a paper. “Come and look at this!” her mother cried happily. “Seventy-five cents off of orange juice!”

  Raine smiled even as a little more of her hope died – she had hoped her mother’s condition would miraculously get better somehow – her mother couldn’t stand orange juice.

  “That’s great, mom,” Raine told her, trying to control her voice. “Maybe we can go shopping later and get some.”

  Her mother peered at her as if she was strange. “Suzie said she’d take me. You don’t have to bother.”

  Suzie eh? I’m going to have to meet you.

  Raine sat there and listened to her mother’s idle chat as she cut coupons out of various magazines. Suzie seemed to be the hot topic at the moment, and Raine listened for as long as she could stand it before making her excuses and leaving.

  Once she had changed out of the ridiculous dress she had been wearing, Raine thought about Antony.

  Where are you right now? You said you had a lot of meetings to go to. Who are you meeting? What about? Are you thinking about me? I wish I was with you right now.

  His absence was a palpable pain in her chest, and Raine laughed at herself even as she wiped tears from her eyes.

  Jesus Rainey, you only met him yesterday, get a grip!

  Making a decision, Raine got up and drove into town, heading for the office of her longtime friend, Lisa Gomez.

  Lisa’s office had not changed in the slightest since Raine had been there more than ten years ago. Precariously stacked mountains of files and assorted papers covered any horizontal surface, like the dying fingers of some massive paper beast. Lisa sat at the back, almost as if she was attempting to hide.

  “Raine?” Lisa asked as Raine tried to navigate to the back of the office without toppling one of the paper towers with a breast or buttock. “Shit, it is you!”

  “Hey Lisa. Still peddling lies in that rag of yours?”

  A feral smile crossed Lisa’s face. “You know it, baby.” Lisa had changed even if the office hadn’t. There were a few more lines around the edges of her eyes, her hair was a little grayer and she had filled out in the last few years, now sitting larger than Raine. “You coming back to work for me?” Lisa asked, trying to snag an a
nswer as soon as possible. Raine made a face.

  “Don’t count on it. I only came home to look after mom.”

  “How is she?”

  “How you’d expect for someone who’s got dementia and terminal cancer,” Raine stated flatly.

  “Jesus, Raine. I’m sorry.”

  “She doesn’t know about the C. I thought it would be easier on her, you know?”

  “Yeah, but really hard for you, eh?” Tears started in Raine’s eyes, and Lisa jumped up to hug her. “Come on. Let it out, and you’ll feel better.” Raine cried for a while, grieving for the mother who had a death sentence hanging over her head. Eventually, Lisa suggested they go and grab some coffee and head for a diner a few blocks down.

  Coffee and Compassion looked a little more run down than when Raine had been there last. She and Lisa slid into a booth and ordered coffee. Their teenage waitress looked pitifully underfed and as bored as only a teenager could.

  “Talk to me,” Lisa said, and Raine poured her troubles onto her old friend, telling her about her break up with Sam in Chicago, losing her job at the Chicago Tribune and then finding out about her mother’s illness.

  Lisa listened, asking a few clarifying questions here and there – her journalistic idiosyncrasies as much a part of her as breathing – and making sure she interjected the occasional hum of agreement. When she had finished, Raine felt as if a weight had been lifted from her and grabbed Lisa’s hand, squeezing it in thanks.

  “So tell me about this Antony you’ve met,” Lisa said.

  Raine smiled shyly, a blush crawling up her neck.

  “Antony DuBesne,” Raine murmured and sighed like a schoolgirl with a crush on her teacher. “It’s hard to believe I only met him yesterday. I went to the Paradise, you know? Downtown and...” Raine trailed off when she saw the expression on Lisa’s face. “What’s wrong?”

  Ten minutes later they were back in Lisa’s office, staring at a series of articles involving the DuBesne Corporation and a number of its subsidiary companies.

  “Yeah, look here,” Lisa said, scrolling to one story. The headline read, “ADB Holdings to Acquire More Land.”

  Raine skimmed the text, picking out the salient points, which mainly involved this company buying up vast tracts of land in the middle of Texas.

  “So...?” She wondered.

  “So what does this company want with all that land?” She raised her eyes at Raine as if the answer was obvious. “It’s no good for farming. They can’t be intending to build on it, so that leaves?”

  Raine still had no answer.

  “Christ, no wonder they gave you the boot in Chicago. What else is Texas famous for? Oil and gas, right?”

  Raine nodded. “But if this land was any good for that kind of thing, it would have been bought up decades ago.” Raine said.

  “This company, ADB Holdings, is thinking about the future. Not the present. When the wells run dry and the gas is all pumped out, they have to start fracking to make it commercially viable again.”

  “And you think ADB is buying up most of Texas so they can frack it later?”

  “That’s what I fracking think, Raine,” Lisa said, “but I can’t prove anything.” She began typing, looking something else up. “Maybe you can though?” she asked, showing Raine the website she had called up.

  Raine looked at a slick, stylish and professionally built site, which depicted the management team of ADB Holdings, the CEO, who Raine had sipped coffee with that very morning, Celine Moreaux. Standing to one side was another person she had breakfasted with – and slept with – Antony DuBesne.

  “Why do you want proof? Are they doing anything illegal?” Her heart pounded when she asked this.

  “No, I don’t think so, but imagine what a story like this could do for my paper.” Lisa’s eyes were huge.

  “Your paper?” Raine said in shock.

  Lisa nodded. “I bought it about four years ago when the owners were going to close it down. I took it back from the coupon and advertisement paper it had become and started reporting again, featuring local things which affect local people. Like your new boyfriend.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” Raine moaned. “I only met him yesterday.”

  “Well, what if you just happen to see anything lying around? Could you let me know about it?” Lisa pressed.

  “Maybe, but I’m not going to do anything that’ll hurt Antony.”

  “I wouldn’t ask you to,” Lisa assured her friend, “but do the same rules apply to him?”

  ***

  Her Ford F-150 grunted its way back to her mother’s house, where Raine took a shower, sluicing the dust and sweat off. Drying her hair, she noticed she had a text from Antony, and her heart started to beat faster.

  Just from a text? You’re pitiful.

  I’ve been thinking about you all day. The message read.

  Me too. Raine sent back.

  You’ve been thinking about yourself? ;)

  His smiley face made her laugh.

  Of course, and about this guy I met.

  GUY? What guy?

  Where was the smiley face now?

  One I know. He’s sexy and funny and a little crazy. She replied.

  Is that it? I know someone much better.

  Who? Raine played along.

  This beautiful girl, she means a lot to me even though we only just met.

  Really?

  She’s beautiful and sweet with a smokin’ hot bod. I just want to worship every inch of her.

  Maybe you should go get her.

  I’m on my way.

  What? He’s coming here? NOW?

  Raine calculated the time it might take him to drive from the Paradise Hotel to her mother’s house. Figuring she might have about fifteen minutes before he arrived, she tried to make sure she looked as sexy as she could. She decided on a knee length skirt and iridescent, dark-green blouse with dark stockings and her frilliest lacy underwear.

  Just in case.

  She heard a knock at the door and her mother answered it.

  God, I hope that’s Carson.

  Slipping a pair of black heels on, Raine grabbed a sequined bag, stuffed her cards and phone inside and headed downstairs to see what carnage her mother was causing.

  “What you have to understand,” her mother was relating to Antony, “is Raine hasn’t had much experience with men. Oh, I know all about her little secrets. She thinks I don’t, but a mother knows...” Raine hit the floor running.

  “Hi, Antony!” she chirped, hoping to curb her mother’s tongue.

  “You certainly dress better than most of her high-school boyfriends.”

  “Thank you, mom,” Raine said, trying to guide her mother into the family room. Antony followed, a grin on his face, as he laid a warm hand in the small of her back. Raine felt a tingle jab up her spine and across her scalp.

  Just from a touch? How is it he’s got this control over the way my body reacts?

  Suzie – Raine presumed it was her anyway – was quite comfortable on her mother’s sofa, flicking through some of the magazines her mother had been clipping coupons from earlier.

  “Hi,” she greeted Raine in an over-friendly manner. Looking to be in her mid-thirties, she had on a vile, green tracksuit in some polyester blend with apparently-cheap running shoes and had a large, plastic necklace draped around her neck. Her hair had been forced into a ‘50s perm, and she wore so much makeup that it looked as if her face might actually have been bulletproof.

  “You must be Suzie,” Raine said offering her hand.

  Suzie took it with a grip as weak as damp paper. “Raine,” she said with a condescending tone. “Your mom’s told me so much about you.”

  “I’m sure she has,” Raine stated, knowing fully the kinds of things her mother had to say about her. She turned to Antony, “Are you ready?”

  He nodded and said goodbye to the two women.

  Raine slid into the pale interior of the gray car and waited for Antony to join her. On
ce he was in and Carson pulled away, she asked, “Who is Suzie, and where did you find her?”

  Antony looked at her with an amused expression. “Are you jealous, mon amore?”

  “Not at all, but she’s looking after my mother. I should know whether she’s some kind of head case.”

  Anton took her hand and stroked his thumb over the back of her fingers. “Suzie is a fully-qualified nurse, and she has years of experience caring for people with a multitude of illnesses, many of who have been family members close to me. Does this satisfy your curiosity?”

  Raine blushed. “I suppose so.” She slid across the seat, closing the small gap between them.

  Antony leaned over and pressed his lips against hers, taking her lower one between both of his. Raine kissed him back, and their mouths battled wetly, his tongue flicking in and out of her mouth, tasting and claiming it. They pulled apart, breathless and grinning.

  “I missed you today,” Antony said.

  I love the fact you can just say stuff like that.

  “I missed you as well,” Raine said. “What are we up to this evening?”

  “I have managed to find a drive-in movie theater not too far away.” He told her with a completely straight face.

  “Just the three of us or are we stopping to get a date for Carson?” Raine asked sarcastically. “I’ve got wise to your sense of humor, Mr. DuBesne.” Antony made a sad face and put his hand on her thigh. A thrill shivered up her leg, straight to her very core, and she bit her lower lip as he stroked her round flesh, squeezing gently.

  “I like this skirt,” he told her in a low, husky voice. The tone of his words sent more shivers up through Raine, and she felt her nipples harden inside the lacy bra she had on. Antony stared into her eyes as his hand slid further up her thigh, making her gasp.

  Jesus Christ! I’m getting wet for him, and he’s only touching my leg.

  Raine reached over and grabbed his tie, pulling her to him and shoving her tongue in his mouth. Never one to feel confident enough to express her sexual wants, she felt completely free with this near stranger and sucked his tongue into her mouth, moaning at the heat which built between them.