by M. Malone
Yes. Matt wanted to howl at the moon he was so overjoyed. There wasn’t anything in the world a man wanted to hear more than his woman declaring that he gave her what no one else could.
“As soon as we met, I felt that connection I was always hearing about. I wanted to be near you, to talk to you. To kiss you.” She blushed a little and sat next to him. “It made me uncomfortable at first since you were coming to me for help. But I looked forward to seeing you week after week. The days you missed treatment were really hard to get through.”
“They were for me too, baby. You have been the highlight of my life for the past two months. I want so much more from you than an occasional night of passion. Do you? Or is that enough for you?”
Penny climbed into his lap and held his face between her palms. “I’m so sorry I treated you the way I did. I was just running scared. I do want more from you. I just don’t know how much more, and I know that’s not fair to you.”
“Let me worry about what’s fair to me. Just spend a little time with me. By the time I’m done with therapy, you’ll know if you want me to stay.”
“What if I don’t?”
“You’ll know.” He pulled her closer and held her still so she couldn’t look away. “So beautiful.” He trailed his fingers up and down her arms and she shivered under his caress.
“I love the way you touch me. You always make me feel so feminine and beautiful. You touch me like I’m delicate, even though I’m not.”
“You’re not delicate, you’re strong, which I find incredibly sexy. But being strong doesn’t mean you aren’t precious. Because you are, Penny. You are so very precious to me.”
She let out a soft pant and gripped the front of his shirt in her hands.
He took that as a directive and pulled his shirt over his head. “That can go.”
Her hands raced over his skin greedily. When she skimmed over his stomach and stopped at the waistband of his shorts, it was Matt’s turn to hold his breath with anticipation. He lifted his hips so she could unbutton him and then helped her slide them off. He quickly shed everything else while Penny took off her own clothes.
When she leaned over him the next time, her magnificent breasts swung in his face. It was a privilege to cup the heavy weights and take a taut nipple in his mouth. She sighed above him as he gently laved the tip. He loved watching her fall apart, the faces she made, the soft sounds that rose from the back of her throat.
He rose and walked to the bed, kissing and caressing the whole way. By the time they fell atop his sheets, Penny straddled him. She looked into his face as she took him deep inside. Matt gripped her hips as she rocked against him, taking him closer and closer to the edge every time. It wasn’t long before he hung suspended on the edge, staring up into Penny’s eyes.
They tumbled over together, Penny gasping her pleasure against his mouth.
After a few minutes of cuddling, Matt reluctantly got up to dispose of the condom. Once he got back in bed, he yanked Penny back against his chest.
“This time you aren’t running out on me.” He held her tightly and rolled, tucking her against his side. Her back was slick with sweat and it gave him a visceral level of satisfaction to know he’d worked her up. After a few minutes, Penny pushed up to sitting. His grip on her waist tightened.
“I’m not running away. Promise.” Penny’s eyes sparkled as she climbed from the bed. “I just need to wash my makeup off before I fall asleep.”
Matt dozed lightly, hearing the distant sounds she made, cabinets opening and shutting, running water, and the squeak of the pipes as she turned the faucet off. The bed dipped under her weight a few minutes later and his eyes popped open.
With one look,he knew he was done for. He’d never thought that by scrubbing off her makeup Penny would reveal the one thing he was powerless to resist.
“What are you staring at?”
She scrunched her nose at him before she leaned over and kissed him lightly. The freckles usually covered by her makeup were a beguiling pattern covering her pert nose.
Freckles. His Penny had freckles.
Yeah, he was done for.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
WHEN PENNY PULLED open the front door of Matt’s house the next morning, she’d only been intending to get one of her bags from her car. She wasn’t sure who was more surprised, her or the group of people standing on the doorstep.
“Hi, we’re here to see Matt Simmons.” The guy in the front was tall and well built. He was clean-shaven and wore his dark hair razored extremely close.
Military, Penny thought. As she observed the man standing behind him, she got the same impression.
Penny blinked several times before her brain kicked in. “Oh, yes. He’s here.” Before she could turn around, the group let out a collective whoop. “Ace!”
She whirled around to see Matt standing directly behind her. To her surprise, he kissed her squarely on the mouth before he reached around her and opened the screen door. “What the hell are you guys doing here?”
The group filed past them and into the house. Penny backed up slightly until she was half-hidden behind Matt. Surreptitiously, she patted the top of her hair down. She was seriously regretting her decision not to put on makeup and comb her hair before leaving the house.
“Penny, these are some of the guys from my old unit. This is Tommy McCann and his wife Danielle. And this is Saul Shepard and his wife Cora. Guys, this is my girlfriend, Penny. She’s the physical therapist I told you about.”
A warm glow rose to her cheeks as she observed Matt’s pride in introducing her.
“So you’re the physical therapist?” The guy he’d introduced as Tommy picked her up and spun her around.
“Wow. It’s nice to meet you, too!” Penny clutched at his arms when he finally set her on the ground.
“Guys, don’t scare her off yet.” Matt put a possessive arm around her shoulders.
Saul chuckled. “You can’t keep her hidden away forever. We’ve all been hearing about your miracle worker. Look at you, man. I’d never know you got hurt looking at you now.”
Matt led them into the living room. Penny dragged in a few extra chairs from the kitchen.
“So, you’re all in the same unit?” Penny asked.
“We used to be. Matt was reassigned last year.”
“There are so many stories we can tell you about Ace,” Tommy bragged.
“For starters, why do you call him that?”
There was a chorus of voices then.
“Oh you haven’t seen his competitive side yet?”
“He always has to be number one.”
“I don’t care what it is, from shooting to bowling, he has to be the best. If he isn’t, he’ll practice until the day he can beat you.”
Penny laughed along with the others. She’d gotten a small glimpse of his competitiveness in the bedroom. The man was an inexhaustible sex god. He’d been determined to make her feel so much pleasure that her eyes had almost rolled to the back of her head.
“I’ve seen how hard he works in therapy. He hates to lose.”
It was a good thing too, she thought. It was likely the only reason he hadn’t given up on her.
Over the next few hours Penny got a chance to see a different side of Matt. He was more serious with his friends than he was with her. It made her wonder if he found it as difficult to let down his guard as she did.
“So how long have you and Ace been dating?” Cora asked. The guys had migrated to the kitchen, leaving Penny, Cora, and Danielle in the living room. Loud trash talking and laughter spilled into the room every few minutes.
“Not very long. It’s all still sort of new. Have you been with Saul long?”
“We’ve been married for five years now, and it’s been tough at times. I miss my family back home in Colorado. When he’s deployed, I feel like I’m living life in a constant state of limbo. Like I’m sort of stuck in a holding pattern, waiting for him to come home. But at the same time, I’ve lear
ned that I’m a lot stronger than I thought I was. I can hold down the fort while he’s out there doing his job. I love him so much that it’s worth it.”
“My dad was a captain in the Army. He just retired last year. We moved a lot growing up, so I know how hard it can be. How isolating.”
Both Cora and Danielle made soft sounds of agreement.
“If you ever need someone to talk to, feel free to call me or Danielle. Military wives stick together. No one else understands how hard it is. Don’t be shy about asking for support if you need it.”
Penny sat stunned as the other woman got up to refill her drink. It was stupid, but once again she was being caught off guard because she hadn’t thought about the future. She’d come down here impulsively because she couldn’t stand the thought of Matt not being a part of her life. But when you were in the military, your life wasn’t your own. She knew this from experience. If she and Matt stayed together, she’d have to live it all over again. A military wife. That’s what she would be eventually.
The one thing she’d sworn she wouldn’t do.
* * * * *
AFTER EVERYONE LEFT, Matt closed the door and walked back to the living room where Penny was curled up on the couch. She’d been extremely quiet the last hour. His friends could be a bit much, so he’d tried to hurry them along. Penny wasn’t as extroverted, so he was worried they’d overwhelm her. Or that they’d tell her something he didn’t want her to hear. There were certain embarrassing stories that he’d prefer stay buried. Penny finally seemed to see him as a man instead of the bratty kid she used to babysit. He didn’t want anything to change her opinion.
She looked up when he entered the room. “Is everyone gone?”
“Yeah. Sorry about that. I didn’t know they would be here that long. Shep said they were just passing through.”
“That’s okay. They were all really nice. So nice that it made me feel bad.” Penny hugged her arms close.
He sat on the couch next to her and pulled her into his lap. “Why would you feel bad? I want you to like my friends.”
“I feel bad because I’m not like Cora and Danielle. I can’t keep a smile on my face as we move from city to city and base to base. I’ve done it too many times already.”
“I know. But, Penny, I’m not asking you to do that.”
“You aren’t asking me right now, but there’s going to come a day when you’re reassigned somewhere far away and then I’ll be stuck in the same situation. Caring about someone that I can’t have. Worrying about you all the time.”
Hope burst forth in his chest. Matt could feel that the smile on his face was too big, but he couldn’t seem to rein it in. She didn’t even realize it, but she’d just sealed her own fate. Now that he knew she cared for him, there was no way he’d let her go. Ever.
“Now that I know you have feelings for me and it’s just fear holding you back, I have hope. We can overcome fear. I can’t overcome lack of interest.”
She elbowed him playfully. “You knew I was interested. I doubt I’m that good of an actress.”
“Well, no, you’re not. You make this little sound in the back of your throat.” He stroked her behind the ear with the tip of his nose and she let out a little murmur.
“Mmm hmm. That’s the one.”
“Matt! You’re always teasing me.”
“Trust me, I’m not teasing you, pretty baby. You’ll know when I’m teasing you. I might do this.” His hand slid down her front to rest right between her legs. The heel of his hand nestled against her and she let out another soft, arousing sound. “Or this.” His fingers pressed through the cotton fabric of her jeans, rubbing the seam against her in a circular pattern.
“Matt, we can’t.”
He could only assume she’d meant it to come out sounding like a denial, but to his ears, it sounded more like a plea. “Oh, but we can.” He laid her back on the couch and tugged on her jeans. After a few wiggles of her hips, they slid easily down her long legs. He used his teeth to pull at her panties and she reared up off the couch. The motion allowed him to pull the cotton down her legs. He tossed them over his shoulder.
She wiggled halfheartedly in his arms. “I need to get on the road.”
“I know. I’ll be fast.” He punctuated the statement with a soft nip to the skin on her inner thigh. She shuddered and bit her lip while he settled himself between her thighs.
He had no intention of going anywhere for a while. At least not until she screamed his name a couple of times.
* * * * *
THE NEXT DAY, Penny patted Matt on the shoulder after they finished a set of exercises. “You’ve made some amazing progress over the past two months. It won’t be long now before you don’t need me anymore.”
He’d regained full range of motion in his shoulder, and they were now working to increase his strength and flexibility through the use of light weights. Although she knew it hurt his male ego to use the small, brightly colored dumbbells instead of the large weights he’d probably been pumping before, he’d been a good sport through it all. He’d even allowed her to take pictures for the website and had posed comically with the small weights as if he was struggling to lift them.
It wasn’t that often she got to see Matt in such a playful mood. It was a heady thing to realize she’d had something to do with that. There were many known scientific benefits to having great sex. Less stress, lower blood pressure, and better sleep were just a few of the more obvious benefits.
It was also a phenomenal mood booster. She’d caught herself humming in the shower that morning, and nothing Charles had said to her today had pissed her off. She simply didn’t care.
“Not that I haven’t enjoyed this, but I’m anxious to see how much progress I’ve made. Is it safe for me to do a mock fitness test just to see how I’d do?”
“It should be fine. Do you want to use the gym?”
At his nod, she gathered her clipboard and led him down the hall to the gym.
“I’ll start with the sit-ups. Last time I barely passed this part because my shoulder was aching so badly I couldn’t concentrate.” He sat on one of the thick blue mats and then interlocked his fingers behind his head. He started slowly, lowering and raising his torso carefully.
“How do you feel?” Penny asked.
“Good. I think I can do more than enough to pass.”
“No pain?”
“None. It’s strange to be able to do this without trying to hide how much it’s hurting me.” He increased his pace and then stopped a few minutes later. “I can do more than fifty sit-ups and I’m barely winded. This is encouraging. You were right that I needed to give my upper body a rest for a little while. I must have been overtraining because I feel stronger than ever now.”
He lay back until he rested on the mat. Then he turned over and got in push-up position. Penny sprang forward, instinctively ready to assist if he needed it. But it seemed like her help was unnecessary because he lowered himself smoothly before coming back up.
He’s doing it, she thought. Up and down, he pumped out push-ups to a beat no one else could hear.
He was healed.
Penny felt a pang behind her heart, but she pushed it aside. Her goal with her patients had always been to get them back to where they’d been before. Helping a patient rewind time so they could do the same things they used to was always her ultimate endgame. It shouldn’t be any different for Matt just because she cared for him. Despite how hard it would be for her to see him go, his goal was to qualify for the Special Forces. It was his dream and she wanted to help him achieve it.
It appeared she already had. Until he suddenly stopped moving.
“Matt? Are you okay?” Penny moved closer and then sprang forward when his arms gave out and he collapsed to the mat below him.
“I can’t do anymore.”
“It’s okay. You did quite a few. I’m sure with enough time you’ll be able to build on what you’ve done.”
“You don’t understand. I o
nly have a certain amount of time to qualify.” He sat back on his heels. “I was so sure that this was the miracle I needed. I thought that if I worked hard and did everything you said that I’d be strong enough. But I’m not. I’m still not.”
He hung his head. Penny’s heart ached at the devastated look on his face.
“I’m not going to pass like this.” He stood and scrubbed his hands through his hair. “It was all for nothing.”
He walked out of the gym without giving her a backward glance.
* * * * *
THAT NIGHT, PENNY arrived at Matt’s house and pulled into the drive. She’d waited for him in the gym for ten minutes before she realized he wasn’t coming back. It was hard to know how to handle the situation. He probably wanted space, but she wanted him to know she was there if he needed to talk.
His whole existence the past few months had been focused on one goal: passing the Army fitness test. Penny had always been confident that he would get there eventually. However, she hadn’t known he was under time constraints. She could help him get better, but there was only so much healing the body could do at one time. After he’d walked out, she’d gone back and reviewed his medical file again, looking for something, anything, she might have missed that could have helped him heal faster. There was nothing.
The stark truth was that he’d sustained a serious injury, one that had been exacerbated greatly by his actions in pulling his friend to safety. She couldn’t even imagine the agony he must have endured to somehow keep a grip on his friend’s body. In fact, dragging his friend for such a distance was probably what had caused the shoulder dislocation in the first place.
It broke her heart that someone heroic enough to try to save a friend was paying the price by losing his dreams. It just wasn’t fair.
