The shaking didn’t stop. It went on and on. The faint murmurs, the hushing sounds as his emotion finally broke free killed her. For this strong man to be brought to this, for the Forces that had forged him to drive him to his knees, she was furious.
And hurt.
So incredibly hurt.
She wanted to give him everything he needed, but she knew she couldn’t.
Before anything, they’d always been soldiers. The Forces had come first for so long, she was used to taking second place. Gia didn’t mind—it was the way of it. Theirs was more than just a job; it was a vocation. Or at least, for Josh and Luke it was. How could she make it better when that vocation had snapped back and sunk its fangs deep?
“I’m so sorry, baby,” she whispered, repeating it over and over, hoping the words penetrated.
After only God knew how long, he stopped shaking, and the stillness was almost as terrifying as that constant tremor. His arms relaxed and he let her move. With care, she sat up and studied him.
His eyes were closed. The dark blond hair atop his head mussed and tousled, the same bronzed lashes damp with tears. His skin was pink, sore around those wet eyelids.
She bent over him, hovered a hairbreadth away, then brushed her lips over the tender flesh. The lashes fluttered a little, but he let her minister to him, let her tend to him in the way she’d been craving for the last month.
Kissing him the way she’d dreamed, Gia let her tongue savor the physical evidence of the sacrifices he’d made. She dotted his cheeks, peppering them with her love before moving to his lips. Carefully, she slid her tongue over the morsels, enjoying his taste before taunting him with gentle flicks.
It didn’t take long for the hard, grim line of his mouth to relax, and she slipped her tongue between those delicious lips, finally being able to kiss him the way she needed.
And he responded.
She thought the angels might have sung at that moment, those wonderful seconds when he retaliated with hesitance to her teasing.
Gia reached for his hands and made a bridge with her fingers. He clenched down tight, enough to make her rings pinch, but her focus wasn’t there. It was on this, the tenuous connection that was steadily growing.
His hips began to arch beneath her, and his cock seemed to come to life. It started to slide through the lips guarding her sex, nudging her clit every now and then but with no obvious intent. The sensations those movements triggered were like explosions behind her eyes, but she retained her focus, enjoying the implosion gathering between them.
A shudder racked her when his cock, now fully hard, rubbed ceaselessly against her clit. She cried out, hard, the sound sharp enough to ricochet around the bedroom. The noise jerked him out of whatever stasis he’d fallen into, because his hands fought hers for freedom, and they palmed her ass when she let go. He pushed her hips down, hard against his groin, and she immediately arched her back, glorying in that intense touch.
“Put me inside you,” he half growled against her lips, the words still mumbled as the two of them continued to sup from each other.
She nodded, half sobbing for breath as she reached between them and grabbed his shaft. It pulsed in her hand and was drenched from a combination of her juices and his. She trembled when she nudged it against her pussy, and with intent this time, rubbed her clit with the glans.
The instant she did, both of them cried out. Every part of her ached for him, and she was too far gone to tease. She let the tip brush against her, then accepted his length with a slowness that spoke of her tightness.
Gradually, she impaled herself on his cock, delighting in the thick fullness and feeling nothing less than wonder that he was letting her do this. That his walls were low enough to let her in.
A shudder escaped him, and he whispered, “God, that feels good, baby. I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so much, you’ve no idea.”
“I do,” she sobbed against him, and by God, she did. Sex had always been the lifeblood uniting the three of them. These last months without it had been bearable because she hadn’t been horny, but she’d missed the intimacy, those glorious moments of union.
Arching her hips, she rocked down, back and forth, tempting and taunting them both. She went slow and steady because he let her do no less. His hands were back on her hips, urging her to go at his pace. The slow and steady rocking with little to no friction against her clit made her eyes cross, but it was the kiss that drove her wild.
Josh had a tendency to steal her breath. Literally. He’d kiss and kiss and kiss, take her air away, then, he’d choke her, squeezing her throat tightly and dragging her up the hill to climax.
This move, this endless, ceaseless kiss was part of Josh’s repertoire. The notion that Luke had changed so much that even in the bedroom he was different, shocked her, but she was too busy trying to breathe, riding Luke, kissing him, and controlling the pleasure flooding her.
Where the orgasm came from, she didn’t know. All of a sudden she had to rip her mouth from his, she had to. Air roared into her body, somehow supercharging the pleasure she felt, intensifying it so it slashed through her senses, decimating every part of her control.
She clamped down hard on him, her cunt a vise as tight as the clasp Josh sometimes pressed around her throat. She squeezed him, milked him with her climax until he yelled out, voice hoarse, his glory in the moment almost as potent as the pleasure she’d felt.
For a few seconds longer, her hips continued to move of their own volition. Her body was strung out, but she wanted to ride them both to the far distances of their pleasure.
When she eventually stopped, the sounds of their panting breaths were an echo around the otherwise silent bedroom. She retreated to her position of earlier; the only difference, now she was sweaty as hell, and his softening shaft was still tucked inside her. Her forehead stuck to his chest, but she was too tired to give a shit.
“It remembered,” she whispered, her voice a rough rasp.
“What did?”
“Your cock. Obviously it has a homing device.”
For a second, there was silence, and then he burst out laughing. And somehow, Gia knew he’d turned a corner and that she’d been the one to help him do that.
She didn’t know why, but she knew it was the truth. That was all that mattered.
Chapter Eight
“Everything all right?” Josh popped his head around the door to her office.
She pursed her lips at the sight of him. Part relieved and part furious at his presence. He’d been gone longer than usual this time. No calls, no e-mails, not even a text.
The jerk.
“As all right as it can be.”
He frowned at her. “Where’s Luke?”
“I’m not his keeper. As he keeps on pointing out to me,” she retorted, bitterness lacing her tone.
“Had another argument?” Josh folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve told you to let him be.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing. As far as I’m aware, he’s gone out again.”
“Yeah, but on the whole, Gia, you can’t deny he’s been better. I’ve noticed it too.”
“Then it must be a miracle,” she mocked, her anger bleeding through. “Where the hell have you been, Josh? Like it’s not bad enough having Luke AWOL half the damn time, now you are as well.”
Rather than be irritated, he grinned. “I’ve been protecting the family’s good name.”
As she eyed him, her attention zeroed in on the shit-eating grin. “Well? Spill.”
“I didn’t want to say anything…”
She butted in, “Like always. See, this is why we don’t think you share.”
“I prefer sharing information when I’m certain it will be of use.”
His formality had her sniffing. “That’s a bullshit excuse if ever I heard one, but I’ll forgive you if you tell me what the hell is going on.”
“Gladly. I’ve managed to prove Luke’s innocence.”
That had her sitt
ing up from her slouched position in her desk chair. “Seriously? Don’t BS me, Josh. I’m not in the mood.” She wasn’t. Her four-hundred-page manuscript was slashed through with purple and red…never a good sign, and always involving lots of work.
The last thing she wanted to write about was happily ever afters and the like. If anything, she wanted to write about doom and gloom. It fit her current mood.
Sex hadn’t been the nirvana she’d hoped it would be for Luke. Sure, he was better, and he was going to the psychologist without complaint—
Huh…
Maybe it had worked.
The thought had her blinking, but she quickly focused on Josh. Mostly because he clicked his fingers in front of her face. Narrowing her gaze at him, she snapped, “You know I hate it when you do that.”
“Yeah, well, you know it pisses me off when you wander off.”
“I don’t do it on purpose.”
“No, and I’m not here to start an argument.” He shrugged. “This is about Luke, not about us, Gia. You need to remember that.”
Stung at the reminder, nevertheless, she nodded. “I know. I haven’t forgotten.”
“Are you certain? Why do you think I’ve been making all these sacrifices, huh? Because I get a kick out of living at the base?” It was his turn to sniff. “Yeah, right. You think I wouldn’t prefer to be at home with you all? Of course, I would, but I’m the only one with the ability to change all of this, and I have.”
It was hard to be irritated with him when he was bouncing with his discovery. Her voice was low, gravelly when she whispered, “Why? What’s going on?”
“Luke told you the ins and outs of the case, right?”
“At least as far as I’m aware.”
“Well, unfortunately for Harrison, he snatched the wrong newlyweds. They were a local couple, but their fathers were important. It was akin to a business merger.”
“Newlyweds?” Gia remarked, sorrow filling her at what the bride had had to endure. God only knew what the groom had suffered.
“Yeah. Harrison infiltrated a wedding, basically to put pressure on the fathers. I’ve found out Harrison is an investor in some of the oil fields out there.”
“Out where?”
“Classified information, Gia, so remember that when I tell you Gaddafi ruled it once.”
She nodded, then rocked back in her chair. “How could a colonel afford to invest in an oil field? I’m assuming you mean it’s a large investment? Also, don’t the big oil companies keep dibs on all that?”
“Yeah. Well, that’s the point. The particular oil fields Harrison has a piece of, all belong to the two fathers of the newlyweds. I’m going to assume they had some kind of under-the-table deal going on, because something went sour.”
“More like the shit hit the fan.” When he cocked a brow at her use of a cuss word, she shrugged. “Lexi is with your mom.”
“I thought the place was quiet.”
She pursed her lips. “It was.”
He took the hint and grimaced. “Sorry, I guess I should have knocked and asked if you were busy.”
“Like you’d ever remember to do anything like that.” She chuckled, then sobered up a tad. “As if I wouldn’t want you to interrupt when you have news like this.”
He scowled. “I would. And anyway, I can learn. It’s not as though you had to teach me how to use the toilet when we first got together. I’ve somehow managed to survive the intricacies of daily life without having my hand held.”
Snorting at that, she grumbled, “Come on, finish the explanation. Harrison kidnapped the kids of the oil companies’ owners…but why would he want to do that?”
“From what I can tell, a few soldiers alongside Harrison have been offering protection from the rival families. If there’s a wedding and a truce between the two fathers, there’s no money.”
When the ramifications of that hit home, she sneered. “God, that son of a bitch needs to pay.”
“He will. Karma’s a bitch.”
“True.” Gia studied the satisfaction on his face, but had to ask, “You’re sure you can make this stick? Dead certain?”
“Yeah, I can. That’s why I’m happy. It was theory before. Now we have proof. Physical proof because an investigation was opened into the girl’s disappearance.” He studied her, his smile losing some of its full beam. “You don’t look too enthralled.”
“I don’t know what to be. Luke might want me to be supportive in his own quest for security and truth, but I don’t think that’s what’s plaguing him. And that’s what matters to me.” She sucked in a breath. And she said what she’d been saying all along, hundreds of times or more… “I want him back.”
“It takes time, Gia,” Josh murmured, coming over to stand beside her desk so she couldn’t ignore him—he knew all her tricks and trade secrets. “It does. We’ve been lucky with our injuries. Truly blessed. And what Luke’s gone through, it’s not a round of tag. It’s hard-core shit.”
“I know. I know it’s not firsthand, but I’m not an idiot. It’s a wonder you’re not as bad as Luke, jumping at every little sound.” She looked down at her laptop and fiddled with the logo sticker on the wrist rest. “I guess I should be thankful for small mercies, eh?”
Josh sighed. “I think you need a break.”
That had her head popping up. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“How is it ridiculous?”
“I’m not the one who’s been blown up, Josh. If anyone needs a break, then it’s Luke.”
“I’m not saying he doesn’t, only that you need one more. Luke is…” He moved around the desk and settled deeply into the chair there, then bridged his fingers, resting them on his lean belly. “To be blunt, sweetheart, whether the sun is shining and a beach is in the background or not, it isn’t going to change what’s going on in his head. You, on the other hand, would benefit from a bit of R&R.”
She frowned. “But I don’t want it.”
He sniggered. “Do you hear yourself? You don’t want to go to the beach?”
“No, I don’t.”
“How about the mountains?”
Gia glared at him. “I want to stay at home.”
“You’re always at home. Unless you’re running errands. And at the moment, home isn’t the haven it should be. You need to get out. Do something for yourself. You’re too isolated, love.”
“Are you listening to yourself? Since when was dedication to our family a bad thing?”
“It’s not, and I love you for putting our family first before everything else. But this is me doing that too. I’m putting you first because you never do that.”
“I can’t. There’s too much stuff to be done around here.”
He shrugged. “Tough. It can wait, and if it can’t, then get cracking because you need a break, and I’m going to see to it you get one.”
“Why? Why now?” She eyed him with suspicion. “Are you trying to get rid of me or something? Is this revelation of yours going to cause a stink and you don’t want me caught in the crosshairs?”
Silence settled, all the while he kept his features free from emotion, and then, he grimaced. “You’re too fucking clever for your own good sometimes, and while I would like it if you took cover for a bit…” His voice rose when she snorted in derision at his words. “I’m actually thinking of you.
“Luke was the glue, Gia. I think we both knew that. Can’t you see how that’s changing now he is the way he is? Can’t you see how you’ve stepped up to the plate? It’s a lot of pressure for someone so young, and for someone unused to being the backbone of our family.”
Despite herself, and though she was pissed at him for trying to lie to her, she felt her cheeks pinken at his praise. Because it was praise. She could hear it in his tone, see it in the soft smile he shot her way.
The satisfaction she felt slowly burned away when realization struck, however. He was twisting things, trying to make her comply to his wishes.
The manipulative SOB.
<
br /> “You think my being here, my living here is going to do more harm than good, don’t you? If it hits the public’s attention, I mean.”
His only reaction was a slight flex of his jaw, but that was the only answer she needed.
“Don’t lie to me, Josh. Ever again. Do you hear me? Don’t try to bullshit me, don’t try to coax me or manipulate me with pretty words. Tell me the fucking truth. I’m an adult. I’m old enough to understand.”
“Old enough to understand what?” Luke’s voice broke into her diatribe and unable to help herself, she glared at him.
What was it with this house? No one could have a fucking conversation or a moment’s peace without someone popping in and being a goddamn nuisance.
“That when Josh raises certain facts at your appeal, it’s best if I’m not here to sully your public image.”
Luke surprised her by snorting. “What public image?”
Josh twisted around to glare at him. “I’ve busted my balls trying to save your reputation, and yeah, your ‘public image.’ Do me the courtesy of respecting what I’ve had to do and what I’m going to have to do to clear your name.”
“Whoa!” Luke held his palms up. “I never asked you to do anything.”
“Bullshit. You didn’t have to ask. You’re my husband, Luke. It’s my duty to help where I can.”
“As nice as that is, if it involves segregating the woman we adore, then that trumps your bullshit.”
Josh got to his feet and looked moodily at Luke before returning his attention to Gia. “I’m not ashamed of you, or our relationship, Gia. And I know, wholeheartedly, that Luke isn’t either. But look at Lexi. Look at what happened at her school. Look at what we’re going to have to keep on facing through our lives…
“It’s one thing when it causes dissension at a local private school, but when it involves the army? And a case that could go national if news is quiet the day all this info leaks?” He shook his head. “I’m thinking of you, and I’m thinking of Lexi. We need to contain this.”
She studied him, saw he believed every word he uttered, but still, she pointed a finger at him. “I don’t disagree with you. I will take Lexi, and we’ll go, well, I don’t know where we’ll go, but for a trip. Whatever. Wherever.
The Power of Love_Happily Ever Menage Page 13
