by Dawson, Zoe
“You did. Now let me and Willow help you. Get counseling, get cleaned up and get sober.” He threw down the money to pay for Will’s drinks.
The old man’s eyes flashed. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Yeah, I do. I’ve owed you a drink for a while. Let me take you home.”
For a moment there was reluctance in his eyes. Then it was as if Hollywood’s words sank in, and he nodded. “All right, candy-ass.”
Hollywood walked with Will out of the bar, catching him when he stumbled. This man was part of the brotherhood, and he would not let him turn away from the community. Will needed it as much as he needed air. It’s what was missing in his life, and Hollywood was forming a plan that he thought would help. Give him something to look forward to each day and get back into the camaraderie of the brotherhood where he belonged. He had a wealth of experience and wisdom that young SEALs needed. He shouldn’t squander that.
He drove back to Willow’s and helped Will into the house, up the stairs to his room. Will sat on the edge of the bed.
“The student becomes the master,” he murmured softly.
“Get some sleep, Will. You’re going to need it for tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Hollywood said as Will drifted off to sleep. He pulled the covers over the man’s broad shoulders. Then he left the room and got completely ambushed for the second time that day. Like her dad, she had him in a sensual headlock he couldn’t seem to break.
Willow had wrapped her arms around his waist from behind as he was closing the door. He turned toward her, finding her mouth in the shadowed hallway.
You are so fucking gone, he told himself, even as he tightened his hold on the soft silk shirt and pulled her closer. It was crazy to kiss her when he hadn’t had a moment to talk to her. But her mouth was so hot and sweet just like he remembered, and she was doing things to him no one had ever done.
She pushed on his chest and back-walked him toward her bedroom. He tried to protest when he cleared the doorframe, but she kissed him harder, her hand cupping his dick and balls until every thought he’d ever had went out of his head, centered on the one that was going to get him into trouble.
Willow kept pushing him toward the bed and toward a colossal mistake. He had to talk to her. She was already pulling the shirt out of his jeans, her hands going underneath. They hit a pool of moonlight, the bed bumping up against the back of his knees. He broke the kiss, and she opened his shirt and started to kiss his chest. The moonlight fell on her face, illuminating her features until his heart ached.
She was more beautiful than he could imagine, the angles of her face delicately carved, her body lush. He let his gaze drive over her face, memorizing every curve.
When his attention settled on her mouth, she knew it. He felt her soften, heard the slight intake of breath. Whatever else was going on between them, she wanted his kiss as much as he wanted hers.
She wanted to get inside him too.
Hollywood wanted to give her full access to him, and if she couldn’t think of anything, he had plenty of ideas.
Pulling her even closer, tighter to him, he lowered his head and took her mouth, slanting his lips across hers and seeking entrance with his tongue. Her response was immediate, a soft gasp of pleasure, and he took the kiss home, slipping inside and finding his own piece of heaven. God, she was so sweet.
Her hands came up around his neck, her fingers tangling through his hair, and he opened his mouth wider, taking more of her—knew a single kiss wasn’t going to be enough.
Her mouth was made for love, for kissing and making love, so soft and lush and enticingly erotic. She moved against him, her breasts pressing against his chest, her mouth angling over his and creating a brief moment of suction, and as quickly as that, heat shot to his groin. His control slipped, a quick jerk of it out from under him.
God, her kiss was enough to unravel him. He had been primed for her from the moment he’d met her. She made a sound in the back of her throat, the kind of sound that guaranteed to focus a man’s attention and get him harder, and his body couldn’t fight it. She felt so good.
Instinct slid his hands up under the scrap of lace she was wearing, and for a second, she stopped breathing. He’d gotten plenty of glimpses of the outline of her breasts, the soft pink nipples, today with the wet white top she was wearing. He rubbed his thumbs across her nipples, making them hard and feeling the wonderful, soft weight of her breasts in his hands and the amazing texture of lace over silken skin. She groaned into his mouth.
The sound shot through him like wildfire. Fuck. It couldn’t be this easy. This had to be more complicated. But it was easy, and nothing had ever felt so right.
He knew all about lust. He’d let it rule him for a long time. He had the urge; he sated it. No fuss, no muss.
But there was something more. Something beyond the burning ache he felt for her. Something fiercer, with an edge of desperation he was trying to ignore and could barely comprehend. If it was love, he didn’t want it. He’d given up on love a long time ago. The emotion had been demoralizing, too defeating, too god-awful naïve, and it had made him a little crazy.
Kissing her was making him crazy. Her mouth was hot and wet and had gone from sweet to demanding. She wanted more, and he couldn’t believe he was going to do this.
Hollywood pulled away and stared down into her sweet face. “We can’t do this.”
“What?” she asked her eyes glazed and her face soft in her need. “Why?”
“We need to talk. I need to talk.”
“Talk? Oh, God, you are chivalrous.”
“I mean it, slugger. We’re talking.”
“Oh, for the love of God,” she murmured.
“No, to get things straight between us. I need to be honest and open about this.” He persisted because it was too important not to lay everything out.
“Jude, it’s simple. I want you, and you want me. What else do we need to know?”
“It’s not simple and easy, Willow. And we’re talking, tough girl. Right now.” He turned on her bedside lamp, and she groaned.
9
Willow stared up at this big, beautiful man and wanted to devour him on the spot, but he was putting on the brakes. She hadn’t expected that.
He wanted to talk? About what?
Could he be any freaking cuter or more desirable? His exterior screwed with her head. He was so gorgeous, but Hollywood wasn’t the simplistic male she’d first thought when she met him. The fact that he had layers didn’t really surprise her after how he’d treated her yesterday.
She sighed and plopped down on the bed. He stood there staring at her, and she wondered if something was showing. She looked down, but there was nothing but delicate pink lace, hugging her ribcage and the revealing boy shorts out of the same lace.
“Could you…put on something…more?”
“More? You want me to put on more clothes?”
“Could you? I don’t think I could put two sentences together…unless…you do.”
“Oh…” She got it, and something new rushed through her. He thought she was sexy, so sexy that she was a distraction. How nice was that? “You think I’m sexy? In this outfit?”
Her voice sounded sultry to her. He brought out the vixen in her that was for sure.
“Is this a trick question?” he asked setting his hands on his hips.
“No. I just haven’t ever been this distracting to a man before.”
“Then you’ve dated morons,” he said, dead serious.
“Put something on,” she muttered, walking to her closet. Then she stopped and turned, her eyes narrowing. “Is this also about my dad being across the hall? Because like I told him, it’s none of his business. Don’t let him intimidate you with his SEAL-tricks-of-the-trade. He’s really a big teddy bear when you get to know him.”
“Uh-huh,” Hollywood’s dry skeptical tone made her giggle.
“I bet you’re a big teddy bear too,” she sa
id with a grin and grabbed a gauzy pink wrap out of her closet and slipped into it.
He breathed a heavy sigh of exasperation and rubbed at his temple, giving her a sidelong glance. “I’m not a teddy bear. Unless kids are involved. Then I am.” He looked away and back, his voice getting desperate. “Willow, that’s not helping. Don’t you have like a sweat suit, a burlap sack, a house coat?”
“Sure, just let me run to the farmer’s market and buy a huge ugly sack of potatoes,” she responded, getting mildly agitated. She just wanted him to have sex with her. It wasn’t the Magna Carta or a strategic strike into enemy territory. “I’ve got all the time in the world.”
“Now you’re just being silly.”
“I’m being silly?” She went back into her closet and rummaged around until she found some old frumpy painting clothes complete with an array of colors. She pulled off the wrap, then the top and shorts, donning the ugly garments with quick, jerky pulls. She even found an old-style dirt brown hat and stuffed her hair up into it haphazardly. “Okay,” she said as she emerged. “It’s not a burlap sack, but does this meet with your approval?”
Hollywood sighed hard again. “Now you look like a totally cute homeless waif.”
She slapped her forehead. “Maybe if you turned your back and spoke. Would that work? Geez, Hollywood, I’m not getting any younger here.”
“Okay, okay. I get it. Your fuse is short, and you’re cranky.”
“Cranky?” She frowned, and heat started in her gut and radiated to all of her limbs. The hat was making her even hotter. She took the three steps across the room that brought her in front of him. Her voice rising on each word, she shouted, “I wasn’t cranky when I attacked you in the hall because you are being so damn amazing to my dad and to me. You’re so freaking gorgeous that women on the street want to jump your bones and boff you.” She slapped her thighs. “Some of them walk into telephone poles and trip off curbs. You’re sexy-tough, all muscles and testosterone. I feel my estrogen surging. Your sense of humor is off the charts, and you’re charming and witty. I want you. I want to have sex with you. Excuse me for trying to be enticing in my beautiful lace outfit. Why didn’t you just tell me I looked fat and bolt out of here! Hurt my feelings and kick me when I’m down!” She flung her hands up wildly. “But no, you won’t do that because you have principles and rules.” She poked him in the chest with her finger, and it was hard as a rock. It only made her even more frustrated. “Before I completely lose my sanity, talk!”
“What in the blue blazes is going on in here?” Her dad’s sleepy, irritated voice broke into her harangue, and she whirled around to stare at him.
She turned back to Hollywood. “Now look what you did! You woke up my dad.”
His expression went all cute confused male. “I woke up your dad—”
“Yes, you woke him up.” She poked him in the chest for good measure. She turned around, marched toward her dad and grabbed him by the arm.
“Is everything okay, Alice?”
“Yes, Dad, it’s fine. We’re talking.”
He looked her up and down then looked at Hollywood like he couldn’t quite figure out what was going on.
“Why do you look like a homeless waif?” He narrowed his eyes at Hollywood. “Is this some kind of My Fair Lady scenario? Never mind. I don’t want to know.” He pointed at his eyes then at Hollywood’s. “I’m watching you, boy.”
Hollywood dropped his head and swore under his breath.
Mortified, her face heating, she pulled him away from her door and made a straight line right into his room. “Look, it’s complicated. Hollywood is complicated, and asking questions right now makes me a little ballistic so could you just crawl back into bed and go back to sleep? I’m a grown-ass woman, and I don’t need my dad to step in with a man I’m interested in.”
“Should I stop intimidating him?” he asked gruffly.
She thought about it and said, “No, that’s okay. It’ll keep him on his toes.”
Will chuckled. “That’s my girl.” His voice was soft and raspy. “All right,” he said, holding up his hands. “Just keep the shouting down. It sets off my PTSD.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll stop shouting.”
“I was kidding about the PTSD,” he said with a chuckle, and her heart turned over. It was the first time in a long while he’d made a joke. “Besides, what do I usually say?”
Willow thought back to all his statements full of wisdom. As a young girl, she didn’t get it. Then she realized which one he was talking about. “Don’t raise your voice. Improve your argument.”
“That’s the one, kiddo.”
“Thanks for caring, Dad.”
“You bet. Don’t hurt him too much.”
She pulled the covers over him and murmured, “I’ll try not to.”
Will grumped a bit then started snoring. She left the room and closed the door quietly.
Taking a fortified breath, she headed back to her bedroom. She closed the door and climbed on the bed then said softly, “Come here, Jude. Just talk to me.”
He moved onto the bed but stayed just out of her reach. “I’m not a one woman type of man—”
“Shocker.”
“Willow, could you just let me finish?”
“Sorry.”
“I have a rule that all women I fuck know that it’s a one-time deal.”
“Okay.” She reached out for him, thinking there wasn’t enough fucking going on, but he grabbed her wrists and held her immobile. “I don’t want to keep that rule with you.”
Willow sat there for a moment, at first thinking he didn’t want to have sex with her as a one-night stand. Disappointment rushed through her, her shoulders sagging. Then it dawned on her. He wasn’t saying he was holding back because of that rule; he was saying he wanted to break it.
Hollywood brought her hands to his mouth and kissed the backs of her fingers. “I’m interested in you, and honestly that scares the crap out of me.” He dragged her across the mattress and pulled her against him, right into the crook of his arms and against his hard chest. His shirt was still open, and she slid her palm over all his heated, satiny contours. He pulled off her hat and kissed the top of her head, her temple. “I could be a typical asshole and tell you none of this and sleep with you, all the while hoping I was man enough to tell you the truth. I’m not typical. I am man enough. Because you’re worth it and deserving of my honesty.”
She was struck speechless. Another assumption went right out the window. She totally expected him to screw her and then move on. But as she was still discovering, he had some deep layers that she, and maybe even he, was just scratching the surface.
“I’m sorry I shouted,” she finally said.
“Never apologize for being a fucking powerful woman.”
Willow got up on her knees, cupped his face in both her palms and kissed him on the mouth. She rubbed her thumbs against his cheekbones. “My dad reminded me of something that he used to tell me, but it only seems to have meaning right now,” she murmured.
He looked up at her, his eyes so blue they were a one-shot kill. “What’s that?”
She brushed her mouth over his, and he closed his eyes, his thick, black lashes lush against his skin. “Don’t raise your voice. Improve your argument.”
“Yeah, I remember him saying that.”
Willow leaned her head back, feeling so protected and languid in his arms. “So, if I get a burlap bag, can we play The Stranger and the Farmer’s Daughter?”
Hollywood threw back his head and laughed. “What would the potatoes say?”
“I have my eyes on you?”
He rolled her beneath him, still laughing, and she tried to shush him but then got all caught up in brushing her fingers over his mouth, his cheekbones, his brows and temples.
“I’ve never thought much of my looks, Willow. I was just born with them, and they are part of who I am. I’ve used them to my advantage. I’ve honed my body for missions. Staying in shape is mandatory
when you’re a SEAL.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“But I’m glad you find me attractive. I feel I do need that edge with you.”
“Who said anything about you being attractive?” she asked in mock confusion.
He tickled her, and she shrieked then pushed his hand off. “Stop that. You’ll wake my dad again.”
“I didn’t wake up your dad, you little witch. You did.”
“You’re the one who was making me change my clothes, and I was sexually frustrated, hence the shouting.”
“Oh,” his eyes turned a hot shade of blue, like the ocean with the sun heating it from below. “Were you?” He shifted and pressed his hips and groin between her legs, shoving his hard, hot erection against her core. The feel of him was incredible. “How about you put that hat back on and we can see about this dirty My Fair Lady scenario?”
She giggled, but it died in her throat when he pushed up her shirt and clamped his mouth over her nipple, turning it into a groan.
He asked, “Are you going to let me make love to you, Princess Slugger?”
“Nope.”
Hollywood huffed out a laugh then got sensually intent with a SEAL edge that was so damn sexy, she felt like she could orgasm right then. “I’m aching to go down on you, Willow.”
“I’ve changed my mind,” she said breathless.
“There may be shouting,” he said, licking her nipple and running his lips and tip of his tongue down her rib cage to her belly, nipping at her waist, his gentle teeth sending ripples of pleasure across her stomach and into her core.
“We’ll chance it.”
“Damn, I’m a complete idiot.”
“What?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you have condoms?”
She stared at him then laughed softly. Ooh, condoms. She liked the sound of that. “The playboy charmer didn’t come loaded for bear?”
“I’m freaking loaded, lady. Give me a straight answer.”
“You won’t need them.”
“Why?”
“I’m on the pill, and I don’t want anything between us.”
“Get naked, woman,” he ordered, and the thrill of his command sparkled through her, heating her blood.