by Bianca D’Arc
She moved away from him, and this time, he let her go. She stood from the boulder where they’d been sitting and walked a short distance away, toward the lapping waves of the ocean.
“Will I ever see you again, after I leave this island?” she asked, not daring to turn around and look at him. She needed to know the truth, and she had a sad feeling inside that she already knew what he would say.
“No. Not if all goes as planned,” he told her. She thought she heard regret in his voice, but maybe that was just her own wishful thinking. “I wish it could be different, but it’s safest for you if you forget all about everything you’ve seen here.”
She turned to face him and was touched by the pained expression on his face. “I can’t forget this,” she whispered. Then, she smiled and lifted her foot off the ground, showcasing her healed ankle. “And I certainly can’t ever forget this.”
Carter shook his head ruefully and joined her in a slight grin. “Yeah, I guess that would be hard to do.”
She was saved from making further conversation by the appearance of a platoon of men jogging down the beach from the other side of the base. These weren’t the men of Carter’s unit. No, these were other men from another command. They were led by the commander she’d seen in the hospital. Navy guys. Each one built like a brute, with sleek muscles and chiseled features.
If her head hadn’t already been turned by Carter, she would have appreciated the physiques on display as they made their way in a fast jog past her and Carter. They were wearing only swim shorts, and they were wet and sandy. And holy bulging biceps, Batman. Each and every one of them—including the commander, who was an older fellow—was rock solid with a six- or eight-pack abdomen and tight buttocks. The wet swim shorts left little to the imagination.
“Eyes front, Sergeant,” Carter growled in her ear, clearly amused by her reaction. She jumped a bit and had to chuckle.
“Hey, you can’t blame a gal for looking,” she quipped, startled when a few of the men in the running formation laughed. A couple looked back and her and winked. Even the commander sent her a wave and a grin as they ran past. “Is that a SEAL team or something?” she asked as they began walking back toward the barracks building in the distance.
“Or something,” Carter agreed noncommittally. “We’re not encouraged to ask too much about the others who are stationed here. We’re sort of the interlopers. This is a Navy base, but the brass needed a place to stash us when we got back, and this was the most convenient place, apparently.”
“That commander came to see me in the hospital. Read me the riot act about keeping my mouth shut,” she observed as they walked. “He’s pretty fit for an older fellow,” she couldn’t help but observe.
Carter just shook his head. “You should probably keep anything you observed pertaining to him and his people under your hat as well, when you get back home. Like I said, we were told not to ask too many questions. This whole place is very hush-hush.”
“Understood.” She sighed. There was going to be a lot she would never be able to talk about when she went back to her regular life.
This whole adventure was like something out of a dream. Her foot was healed, and she could walk without pain. She would have to fake that for a while until she could reasonably have been healed from a lesser wound. It would be a bit of a drag, but well worth the miracle that she had received.
Her heart was heavy with the notion that she’d never see Carter again. He’d kissed like a dream. Like they’d always been meant to meet…and kiss…and perhaps a whole lot more. Only, they weren’t going to get the chance.
Fate was a bitch, sometimes.
Carter was subdued as he walked Hannah back to the barracks. She’d fit in his arms like she’d always been meant to be there. Something about the two of them together just clicked.
He hadn’t expected to meet a woman like her—a woman who could change his outlook on relationships and forever. Yet, he had met her. At the worst possible time in his life.
He kept up a façade of civility all through dinner, letting his friends entertain Hannah while he remained a mostly silent observer. The women took to her quickly. Rose seemed like she’d always known Hannah, and they certainly hit it off like old friends. Casey was slower to warm up to Hannah, but she did, too.
He realized Hannah would fit in with these people, if he dared bring her even more fully into his world. It was a big risk, though. For one thing, if he asked her to stay, she’d have to give up her normal life for who-knew-how-long. It would be way too dangerous for her if it was known that she was involved with him. Like Rose and Casey, Hannah would become even more of a target than she was already, for their enemies.
He couldn’t do that to her. No way. It was bad enough someone had already broken into her home and placed cameras within. He’d disrupted her life enough.
He wouldn’t let it go any further. He didn’t want to ruin her life. Oh, he’d make sure she was safe. Once she returned to her home, he’d watch over her. He wouldn’t let any harm come to her, if he could help it, but he also wouldn’t see her. Wouldn’t let her get any more involved with him than she already was. He just had to let her go… For now. Maybe, he consoled himself, sometime in the future, when things had settled down for them all, he’d look her up and see if she was still interested.
Yeah, he could do that. When the time was right and he wouldn’t be putting her in danger.
If that miraculous time ever happened.
It was much later that night when Carter heard the click of his door opening. He was instantly alert. He hadn’t been asleep. How could he sleep when he knew Hannah was just a few doors down the hall?
But she wasn’t a few doors down anymore. No. She was here. In his room. He saw her tempting outline in the faint light from the hallway a moment before she slipped into his room and closed the door behind her with a soft click.
Hannah knew she was taking a chance. She had consciously decided to throw all propriety out the window and seek out Carter in his bedroom. She’d made note of the location of his room earlier, when he’d said goodnight and left her. She’d followed him into the dormitory hallway on the pretext of using the ladies’ room that was located on that same corridor and noted which door was his before he went in and shut it tight behind himself.
She knew she might be rejected, but she had to try. She had this one night out of time. This one fascinating span of hours on this special island. She was going to take full advantage of it, even though pouncing on near-strangers in their bedrooms wasn’t behavior she normally engaged in. Far from it.
“Hannah?” Carter’s voice came to her out of the dark.
She followed the sound of his voice to his bed, finding him sitting up, watching her. She could see him better as her eyes adjusted to the dim light coming in the window. It was a dark, cloudless night, but the moon was up and was giving off faint illumination.
His chest was bare, and the sheet had dipped low. She wasn’t sure if he was wearing anything beneath the covers, and her imagination fired. Would he welcome her into his bed? Or would he turn her away? Only one way to find out.
“What are you doing here?” His voice was deep but quiet in the stillness of the dark room.
“Isn’t it obvious?” she asked, moving a step closer, so she could sit on the side of his bed.
“You have to leave tomorrow, no matter what,” he told her, his eyes searching hers.
“That’s why,” she told him. “I want to know. Before this dream ends. I want to be with you.”
“Hannah…” His tone deepened. “You don’t owe me anything for what Rick did.”
She shook her head. “That’s not it. Carter, I really like you.” She more than liked him. She knew she could easily love the man, but she couldn’t say that. Not on so short an acquaintance. Especially not when he had every intention of ending their relationship with finality once she was home again.
“But this can’t go anywhere,” he reminded her.
“Does it have to?” She tried really hard to sound nonchalant. Just a girl, out for a good time, with no thought of the future or of the broken heart she was going to find at the end of this road.
Hannah had already thought about that. She figured the pain she would feel from missing him would be less if she at least had the memory of what it was like to be with him. The not knowing would drive her crazy if he sent her away now.
Carter sat up more, so he could get closer. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered, and she sensed his capitulation with a bit of triumph.
“I know that,” she whispered back as his face neared hers. “I don’t want to be hurt, but at this point, not being with you tonight would hurt more, I think. This is my time out of time. My stolen moment. I want to share it with you.”
That did it. His lips touched hers, and words were forgotten. Time and space ceased to exist. There was just the two of them. Together.
His kiss was just as devastating as it had been on the beach. Fires ignited in her body, her soul. He took her mouth with an edge of desperation. He seemed to be feeling the same rough desire she was experiencing. As if they were on the same page of a very naughty, very exciting book.
She crawled over him, onto his bed, as he kicked the covers away. She was glad of the full-sized bed he had in his room. She’d been half afraid he would have a much smaller bed, but she’d have found a way to make do with it. She’d have jumped his bones on the floor, if she’d had to. Being with him was quickly becoming an imperative in her blood.
He was wearing only boxers under the covers, she was pleased to find. His body was every bit as muscular and fit as the men she’d been shamelessly ogling on the beach earlier. She was more than a bit out of shape since her injury, but Carter didn’t seem to find any fault with her appearance, though she wasn’t happy with her own state of fitness, at the moment. She would have a chance to remedy that, now, thanks to Rick and Carter and the chance this unit had given her to reclaim her life.
But it wasn’t thankfulness that had driven her to seek out Carter’s bed. No, it was need. A need which only escalated as he touched her, kissed her.
His hands were under her tank top, stretching the fabric and seeking her bare skin. She helped him lift the tank top over her head and chucked it to the floor by the side of the bed. She was bare under it, and Carter wasted no time, cupping her breasts and learning their shape.
Her skin cried out for his touch, loving the gentleness in his caresses and the slight trembling of his fingers as he traced them over her body. She leaned into his touch as their kisses resumed. He was both gentle and strong, leading her places she’d never been to before. None of her prior experiences—not that there had been all that many—had prepared her for the exquisite combination of power and tenderness that was Carter’s lovemaking.
He was so in control. She felt tempted to see how far she could push him to make him lose that careful control. She wanted to see him wild with desire, if such a thing was possible.
Hannah’s fingers went to the waistband of his boxers. With a cunning grin, she tugged them down, over his lean hips, and away. His cock sprang free of the confining fabric, and he was as hard as she’d hoped. Excited. Ready.
Daring greatly, she took him in hand and moved to lick him. She heard the stifled groan that told her she was on the right track, and rejoiced in the feeling of power it gave her to know she had him at her mercy for this small moment out of time. She wouldn’t abuse the power. No, she was all for trading the honor back and forth with him. Right now, she would show him a thing or two and look forward to when he took control back from her and did the same—a true partnership in passion.
She licked him then took him deep in her mouth. The growl that came from his chest was exciting.
He let her play for a few moments, but then, he turned the tables on her. He simply lifted her and reversed their positions so that he was on top. He licked his way down her throat and then over her breasts, pausing to pay homage to each excited point. But he didn’t stop there. He worked his way down her torso, his big fingers going under the waistband of her sweat pants, tugging and pulling on the fabric until she lifted her hips to help.
The pants and panties beneath came off in one long slide and were deposited on the floor with the rest of the discarded clothing. When he kept kissing his way down her body, her breath caught. Was he going to…?
Oh, yes. He was. His talented tongue licked over her clit, making flutters of excitement course down her spine. And, when he gave her the most intimate kiss of all, he drove her absolutely wild with need. A climax hit her, rolling over her like a rogue wave of the most delicious kind. She went with it, allowing it to pull her under, but Carter was there, holding her throughout, her lifeline in a tumultuous world of need and desire.
Dimly, she heard the bedside drawer open and the crinkle of plastic. In one foggy corner of her mind, she realized he was protecting them. Carter was such a good, kind and thoughtful man.
He was smiling when she met his gaze. He rose over her and wordlessly joined them together, even before her climax had fully dissipated. There was a method to the madness, she soon discovered, as another wave built upon the one before. He rode her, watching her reactions and seeming to gauge her desire. Carter played her body like a fine instrument, altering his tempo as her passions rose in concert with his desires.
He plunged into her as the tension rose, and she felt her body respond to his more aggressive motion with answering need. She was with him as he took her over the edge, into the sweetest oblivion she’d ever known. He followed, going with her all the way, taking them to the brink of sanity…and beyond.
Chapter Seven
Hannah was gone when Carter woke the next morning. Only the disarray of his bed was left as evidence of their passionate time together. He wasn’t sure how he was going to let her go, but he knew he had to do so. It wouldn’t be fair to her to ask her to live under these conditions. To put her life in danger, just so he could be selfish and have her all to himself. That would be asking just too much.
He showered and dressed in his workout gear with a heavy heart. He’d have to let her go today. There was no use putting it off. The longer she stayed away from her home, the more suspicious the enemy would become. One night, she could probably explain away easily. Any more, and they’d have to come up with some viable reason for her absence and create evidence of whatever backstory they devised. It would get complicated, and the more complicated, the more likely it was for something to go wrong.
Carter didn’t talk to anyone as he assembled on the beach at dawn with the rest of the guys. He wasn’t in the mood to chat. He just wanted to get this mandatory exercise period over with—something he usually looked forward to each morning—then find Hannah and bask in her presence while he still could.
“Mind if I join you guys?”
Carter whirled around, and there she was. Hannah. In the flesh. Smiling at him…and the other guys.
She was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, with athletic socks and sneakers on her feet. The ladies had kitted her out for Physical Training. Damn. She looked good.
“Not at all, Sergeant,” Hal answered for the group. “Just keep up as best you can.”
Carter recognized the gleam in her eye, even if Hal didn’t realize he’d just issued a challenge with his casual words. Hannah wasn’t a quitter. She would keep up with them or damn near kill herself trying. Carter resolved at that moment to stay next to her and try to keep her from re-injuring herself in an effort to prove something to Hal and the rest of the unit.
He moved next to her as the group moved off in a lazy jog. They were all just waking up. The pace would increase as the session progressed, but they usually started off a bit slower—especially now that they were back Stateside. He fell into step beside her, and they kept to the back of the line of joggers for the moment.
“Good morning,” he told her, uncertain where to begin. He’d missed seeing her in
his bed earlier, and that was an unaccustomed feeling for a single guy like himself.
“Morning,” she replied. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking from her tone. Was she mad at him? Happy? Sleepy? Annoyed? Pleased? He had no clue.
“How’s the foot feeling?” he ventured. He was looking for clues as to her mood but decided to tread carefully.
“That’s what I’m about to find out. So far, so good,” she told him as they loped along at an easy pace.
Ah. So, that’s why she was up at the crack of dawn. She wanted more data on how good her ankle was now.
“Guess you won’t be able to exercise like this at home for a while,” he said, thinking of the surveillance on her home with a frown.
“Even if I still have to play the cripple for a bit, it’ll be easier on me mentally if I know for sure how good or bad my ankle and overall fitness is at this point. I’m used to a certain level of performance, and I used to keep to a somewhat strict regimen of exercise. Everything’s been different since my injury, of course,” she told him.
He thought about that for a moment. He hadn’t realized she’d been an athlete. “Do you think you’ll change anything now that you’ve been through this experience?” he asked finally, curious about the way she thought and viewed the world.
She shot him a look, her eyes narrowed. “To be brutally honest, I used to be very much a no pain, no gain kinda gal. I think this experience has taught me to be a little nicer to my body. I’ll still work out, I’m sure, but I probably won’t do the things I hated doing. Life is too short to torture yourself every day, you know? But I like running. I was competitive in track and field in school.”
“Oh, yeah?” He felt an imp of mischief take hold of him. “Want to show these bozos how it’s done?”
Hannah grinned back at him. “Most definitely!”
They put on the speed and easily outpaced the rest of the guys. The unit cheered Hannah on, shouting compliments on her footwork. Doc even jokingly took part of the credit for her return to running.