Shelter for Koren

by Susan Stoker

  Then his head came up—and her breath froze in her lungs.

  The look on his face was so intense, she didn’t know if he was about to break up with her, or throw her to the floor and fuck her until she couldn’t move.

  “I’m not letting you go,” he said in a low, rumbly voice. “You’re mine.”

  “Okay,” Koren said immediately.

  “And if it’s the last thing I do, I’m gonna make you see yourself how I see you. You’re fucking gorgeous, Koren.”

  “I’m not sure it’s possible for a woman to think she looks good,” she griped.

  Taco chuckled, and his warm breath wafted over her belly, making her shiver.

  “And this is why you are the way you are. If you knew how beautiful you were, you wouldn’t be you.”

  Koren frowned down at him, though he didn’t elaborate. His hands moved then, sliding under her panties, his palms hot against her hips. Then he slowly slid his hands down, taking her underwear with them, but his eyes didn’t leave hers.

  When the scrap of white cotton fell to her ankles, she stepped out of them.

  Taco’s thumbs brushed against the creases where her legs met her hips, and his hands seemed huge as they gripped her thighs. Then he dropped his head and nuzzled the small strip of hair she’d left the last time she’d shaved.

  Jerking in his grasp, she grabbed hold of his shoulders, digging her fingernails into his skin through his shirt and holding on for dear life. “Taco?”

  “Hmmm?” he mumbled, as he continued nuzzling her.

  “Maybe we should lie down.”

  “Good idea,” he said, standing suddenly.

  Koren took a step back and would’ve fallen if his hands weren’t right there to catch her.

  “Easy, Kor.” Then, instead of turning to help her onto the bed, he led her over to a patch of sunlight on the floor. “Stay right there for a second.”

  Bemused, Koren watched as he went back to the bed and took her comforter off the top. He came back over to where she was standing and spread it on the floor. Then he whipped his shirt over his head and kneeled down in front of her once more. He pulled her into him, and once again, Koren reached out to grab him for balance.

  But this time her fingers touched smooth, warm skin instead of his T-shirt. Taco was ripped. His muscles flexed in the light as he moved, and she was almost mesmerized by all of his skin bared to her gaze.

  He put his hands on her inner thighs and pressed outward. Shifting where she stood, Koren realized too late that with him on his knees, his face was directly in line with her pussy.

  “Taco, I’m not sure—”

  “Shhhh,” he soothed. “Please. I’ve been thinking about this for weeks.”

  She swallowed hard and moved one hand to the back of his head as it lowered.

  The first touch of his tongue against her folds made her jerk. But he didn’t give her time to protest or try to move away. His hands came up and he took hold of a butt cheek in each one. Then he pressed his mouth to the most intimate part of her and feasted.

  There was no other word for what he was doing. His tongue licked between her folds, then moved upward to flick over her clit. He kneaded her ass cheeks all the while, moving his head one way then the other as he explored her.

  “Jesus, Taco,” she managed.

  He didn’t respond, as his mouth was otherwise occupied. Before long, her hips were moving without conscious thought, trying to get his tongue where she needed it most. Koren also used her hands on his head to try to force him to pay more attention to her clit. She felt him smile against her, but he refused to give her what she wanted.

  “Taco,” she complained.

  “What are you supposed to call me?” he asked, before nuzzling her inner thighs with his rough beard.

  “Rob! God, please, Rob.”

  “Please what?” he asked, still smiling. “I’m not a mind reader.”

  “My clit. Please, harder on my clit.”

  “With pleasure,” he muttered before concentrating all his efforts on the little bundle of nerves between her legs.

  Almost shrieking with pleasure, Koren’s knees bent a little and she widened her stance. God, this was awkward and a little uncomfortable, but she couldn’t complain if her life depended on it. Within seconds, he’d worked her up until she was right on the edge of exploding.

  “I’m almost there,” she warned him. Her legs started to tremble and her fingers gripped his hair. Then Taco wrapped his lips around her clit, his tongue flicking as fast as he could, and he hummed.

  That was all it took.

  “Unghhhh!” was all Koren could moan as every muscle in her body seemed to seize up when she came.

  One second she was standing with Taco’s head between her legs, and the next she was lying on her floor on top of her comforter, looking up at him.

  His short beard glistened with her excitement but he didn’t bother to wipe his face before he reached for the button on his jeans. Before he shoved them off, he grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket. Without a word, he fished out a condom and ripped it open with his teeth. Then he shoved his pants and boxers down.

  Koren could only stare up at him. He was in the sunlight, and she’d never seen anything so perfect in all her life. His dick was standing straight out, and he quickly covered it with the condom. Then he stepped out of his clothes and dropped to his knees, straddling her thighs.

  She lay there, exhausted but somehow energized at the same time. The sun was warm on her naked body and it lent an extra sexy element to an already erotic situation. Taking her time, she took in Taco from head to toe. He had a six pack, and she couldn’t see an ounce of extra fat on him. He even had those v-muscles leading down to his cock.

  Reaching out to touch him, she was surprised when he caught her hand in his.

  “Uh-uh,” he said with a shake of his head.

  “I want to touch you,” she complained.

  “Not the first time. And not when you have that dazed look in your eye. You have a habit of latching on to any part of me you can reach,” he said with a smile. “The last thing I want you digging your fingernails into is my cock.”

  Koren couldn’t help it, she laughed. She tugged on her hand, he let go, and she put it above her head with the other. Then she stretched languorously. “Maybe I’ll just take a nap then,” she said with a smirk.

  “You look like a kitten stretching in the sun,” he said. Then shook his head. “No, that’s not right at all. You’re too sexy to be a kitten. More like a sex goddess.”

  She grinned and spread her legs as far as she could, which wasn’t far at all with him straddling her like he was. “Yeah? Well, this sex goddess would like to request her slave get busy doing more than just staring at her.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Taco said, then he shifted to lie between her thighs and brace his arms next to her shoulders. Koren could feel him from her hips to her boobs. She took a deep breath and her nipples brushed against his chest.

  They both moaned.

  “I’m going to take my time and worship your tits…after.”

  “After?”

  “After I make love to you. After you come again. After I come. And after we take a nap.”

  “Oh. Okay,” she said, feeling the tip of his dick brush against her folds.

  “Hold on,” Taco ordered.

  “To what?” she asked.

  “Me.”

  One of his hands moved between them, brushing against her clit as he gripped his cock and pressed it inside her.

  Without thought, Koren’s hands whipped down and grabbed his biceps. They flexed and moved as Taco did. She felt every inch of his dick ease into her body, and she held her breath until he was seated as far inside her as he could go.

  She felt his pubic hairs mesh with hers, felt his balls press up against her ass. Spreading her legs farther apart, she wrapped them around him, hooking her ankles together at his butt.

  “You ready?” he asked.

/>   Meeting his gaze, Koren nodded.

  Then without another word, Taco began to make love to her. It was as sensual as it was carnal. He alternated between hammering her body and gently easing in and out. Just when she had his rhythm down, he changed it. It was frustrating, but also exciting.

  Neither said a word as he pumped into her. Her eyes closed, and Koren could feel the sunlight, warm against her eyelids. She smiled. This wasn’t like her. Making love in the middle of the day in the bright sunlight. It wasn’t her, but it felt amazing. Taco made her feel amazing.

  She opened her eyes and stared up at him. He was clenching his teeth, making the muscles in his neck stand out in stark relief. Every time he bottomed out inside her, she felt herself shift upward a little bit. She loved that he wasn’t treating her as if she were made of glass. His roughness totally did it for her. Turned her on more.

  He shifted, balancing himself over her on one hand, and the other snaking between their bodies. He took one of her boobs in his hand and squeezed. She arched into his touch. Then he pinched her nipple before moving lower. His thrusts got shallow as his fingers found her clit.

  “Come for me,” he ordered. “I want to feel you come on my cock.”

  His words were carnal, as much for what he’d said as for the fact they were the first words he’d spoken since he’d entered her.

  “Faster and harder,” she told him breathlessly. “If you want me to come, I need it faster and harder.”

  He did as she asked, strumming his fingers against her in a perfect combination. It wasn’t long before she felt her orgasm looming. Taco stopped thrusting in and out of her, his entire concentration on her clit.

  “Oh my God, yes. There…Rob!” And she exploded. Pressing up into him, Koren felt his cock still deep inside her, and it made her orgasm all the more intense.

  Taco kept the pressure on her clit for a second, then he removed his hand, braced himself with it once more, and fucked her. Hard.

  This wasn’t making love, and she was more than okay with that. Every time he entered her, she felt the reverberations in her still sensitive clit.

  She’d never come without direct stimulation to her clit before, but she knew without a doubt, she was about to.

  She shoved her hips up with every thrust and felt the contractions move through her body yet again, just as Taco pressed himself inside her as far as he could go and held still.

  “Fucking hell,” he muttered as he held himself over her.

  When Koren came back to herself, she realized that Taco was still propped on his hands. Opening her eyes, she looked up and blinked at the intense expression in his hazel gaze. His hair was in complete disarray, probably from her fingers running through it, and his beard still glistened with what had to be her juices. His jaw was set and he didn’t speak for a long moment.

  Just when she was getting worried, he blew out a long breath. “You can take your claws out of me now.”

  Shocked, Koren looked at his biceps, where she was holding on for dear life. She gasped and let go, seeing the half-moon marks where her fingernails had bit into his skin.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  Taco didn’t say a word, merely lowered himself down until he was plastered next to her side. One arm went across her chest and the other went under her neck. He rolled her until she was more on top of him than he was on her.

  The floor was hard beneath them, and the sun was now almost too bright and warm, but Koren didn’t complain. How could she?

  “I love that,” Taco said after a while.

  “What?”

  “You grabbing me as if I’m the only thing holding you together. You do it all the time, and it never fails to make me feel ten feet tall.”

  Koren wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t think she needed to apologize, but she did it anyway. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. If you ever stop doing that, you’re going to be in big trouble,” he mumbled.

  “Okay.”

  She shifted against him, feeling the floor digging into her hip bone. As if realizing what the issue was, Taco shifted out from under her and rolled to a sitting position. He stood, seemingly not embarrassed in the least that he was butt naked. He removed the condom and reached for a tissue on a nearby dresser.

  Koren knew she was blushing. She’d never seen a man deal with the aftermath of a condom before. It seemed very intimate.

  Then Taco held out a hand. “Come on, the floor’s too hard. I love seeing you in the sun, but you’ll be more comfortable in bed.”

  Holding on to the comforter, she let him help her off the floor. He chuckled, as if he knew she was self-conscious, but didn’t protest her holding the blanket to her like a shield. He got her settled under the covers, then draped the blanket over the bed once more. He crawled under the sheet with her and pulled her into his arms.

  Sighing, Koren melted into him. One hand gripped his shoulder, and the other curled up against his chest.

  “That was perfect,” she said after a minute.

  “Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Taco said. “Now hush.”

  “I should get up and work some more,” she said sleepily.

  “Shhhh. Take a nap. I’ll get you up in a bit.”

  “Okay.” Koren trusted him to keep his word. Yeah, he’d said he wanted to make love some more after a nap, but she knew without a doubt that if she said she had to work, he wouldn’t get in the way of that. Just as she would never get in the way of his job.

  Feeling more comfortable and sated than she had in forever, Koren closed her eyes and was asleep almost immediately.

  Taco didn’t sleep. He was too wired. Not only from making love with Koren for the first time, but because of the words that tumbled through his brain over and over.

  I love you.

  He wanted to say them.

  But didn’t want to freak her out.

  And for some reason, he knew telling her how much she meant to him would freak her out.

  He needed to be smart.

  Patient.

  But it was hard.

  The most difficult thing he’d ever done.

  He’d move at her pace if it killed him.

  He’d realized earlier, when she’d said she wasn’t pretty, exactly how unsure of her appeal she was. If he had to guess, social media or society’s insistence that only skinny people were attractive were responsible for her warped thinking. Koren Garner was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Sure, she carried a little more weight on her frame than was acceptable to some, but from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, she was fucking gorgeous.

  And she was his.

  He’d move heaven and earth to make her realize it too.

  Shifting, he lifted his head and kissed her temple. She smiled in her sleep, and the fingers that were wrapped around his shoulder tightened.

  Yeah, it was safe to say he was a goner.

  And he couldn’t be happier.

  Chapter Thirteen

  A week later, Taco was sitting in the fire station shooting the shit with his friends. Things had been quiet since Crash’s car had gone up in flames. Everyone was being careful. Making sure to keep an ever-watchful eye on what was going on around them.

  The fire investigator had said the car fire was definitely arson, but the police weren’t any closer to figuring out who had started it than they’d been the night it happened. Whoever had done it was either extremely smart or very lucky.

  “How’s Pen doing?” Squirrel asked Moose, keeping his voice down. She was in one of the back rooms napping, and he didn’t want to wake her up.

  He sighed. “Not good. She won’t talk to me at all. Has she said anything to you, Sledge?”

  “No. I’ve tried everything I can think of to get her to open up…even going so far as to remind her of when we were little, when she idolized me and told me everything,” Sledge said.

  “Has she opened up to any of the women?” Driftwood asked. “They
all seem to be close.”

  Moose shook his head. “Not that I know of.”

  “Maybe the Delta guys up at Fort Hood?” Chief asked.

  “No. No one. She comes over to see Smokey and hangs outside in the barn with him for hours. She won’t come inside unless I pretty much make her,” Moose said.

  “Is this normal?” Squirrel asked. “I mean, I know soldiers get PTSD all the time, but it’s been quite a while since she was rescued. Why does she seem to be getting worse?”

  “PTSD manifests itself differently in everyone,” Moose said. “I’ve been reading up on it so I can try to help her. Sometimes it rears its head right away, and in other cases it can take years.”

  “Something’s got to change,” Sledge said. “I love my sister more than anything, but it’s starting to affect her work.”

  Taco nodded. “Did you guys notice at that fire call this morning, she volunteered to stay with the truck and manage the hoses rather than go inside?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “And at that MVA yesterday, she didn’t immediately rush over to the car to help. She farted around getting out of the truck until all the vics were covered. Then she just ran back and forth relaying information,” Driftwood added.

  “She also no longer hangs out with us in here,” Moose said softly.

  “I’ll talk to her again,” Sledge said. “She’s gonna end up hesitating at the wrong time and the wrong place and put someone’s life in serious danger. She needs to get professional help.”

  “This sucks,” Crash said softly. “She’s always been so strong.”

  “I think it’s not that she’s not strong. Maybe she feels like she can’t be weak at all anymore. Because of what happened to her and what she survived. Everyone is always telling her how amazing she is, and sometimes that much praise can be detrimental.”

  Taco thought about Moose’s words. He was right. They were always telling Pen how awesome she was, how unique. And she was. She worked her ass off at the station and they’d never worried that she wouldn’t be able to hold her weight. Not to mention, how great of a soldier she’d been and how she’d handled what had happened to her when she’d been a POW. But that would be a ton of pressure to carry around all the time.