“How have you been handling it this whole time? It weighs a ton.”
“This isn’t even half the weight of the two SCBAs you dragged through all that crap at the courthouse.”
She shrugged and bit her lip. “Maybe. I barely noticed.” Adrenaline and the fear of losing Chloe had carried her through the ordeal. She’d marched into the debris, her mind empty of all thought except reaching Chloe and Dani. Her eyes welled as she remembered once again the soul-wrenching terror she’d felt when she’d thought she’d lost Jamie. His incredible strength and skill had saved them all.
“That’s because you’re incredibly brave.” Tucking a strand of hair under her cap, he brushed her mouth with his. “Come. Let me show you what you worked so hard for.”
They entered a cave, about thirty feet deep. It was large and impressive and had a great view of the ocean. But it was also dark, with who knew what crawling along its walls. She angled her head toward the back of the cave. “There?”
“From the look on your face, it’s clear that cave sex is out.”
She peered inside again and shuddered. “It might even be a hard limit.”
He laughed. “I have a much better place in mind.”
They walked on the rocks, along the water, pausing every now and then to let a big wave retreat. Soon, they arrived at another series of tide pools. But this time, they were alone. She turned to check if anyone could observe them from above. They couldn’t.
Behind, she heard a splash. She whipped around and stood gaping at Jamie, who’d launched himself into the clear turquoise water. Stark-naked.
When he surfaced, drops of water gleamed in his dark hair. He looked like a veritable water god, and she felt like his virgin offering. Okay, she wasn’t a virgin, but the rest of the imagery held. “Join me.” His husky voice made her nipples harden and her belly quiver with desire.
She tugged off her shirt, capris, and shoes. Wearing only her bra and panties, she approached the edge and dipped her toe into the surprisingly warm water.
“Uh-uh. All of it,” Jamie said.
“But—”
“No one can see us, Rickie.”
After undressing faster than she ever had in her life, she tossed her underthings on top of her clothes and jumped into the tide pool. It would be harder for anyone watching to make out her nakedness in the water.
When she surfaced, Jamie was sputtering and wiping water from his face, an evil glint in his eyes. “Jamie. I didn’t mean—” She stopped talking when he began stalking toward her, the water god transformed into a water dragon. Oh no! Was he in Dom-mode? Was he about to punish her? Her eyes stinging from the saltwater, she folded her arms over her breasts and stared down at her reflection. “Mr. Caldwell, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have splashed you. Please. I won’t do it again.”
“Rickie.” Jamie’s expression held a confusing mix of concern and exasperation. “Babe, I was just teasing you.” He stroked the back of his fingers along her cheek. “Relax.”
She caught his shoulders and used the buoyancy of the water to hoist herself up and wrap her legs around his waist. Clasping him to her chest, she nuzzled his neck. The warmth of his body and the saltiness of his skin comforted her. “I love you so much, Jamie. I want to make you happy, but I don’t always know how.”
“You do, babe. You do make me happy. I don’t want you worrying about this D/s thing. We do it when we want to. When it feels right. Besides, I’d never punish you for something you did when we weren’t in a scene. I don’t expect—or want—you to be submissive outside of those times.”
All the fear and anxiety about the future she’d kept bottled up inside her evaporated in the heat of his gaze. Jamie was giving her everything she’d ever wanted in a man, everything she’d ever wanted in a husband. “I need you, Jamie,” she whispered against his lips. Making her intent clear, she shifted over his erection and lowered herself onto it. Inch by inch she sank down. The sensations of being filled, of being stroked deep inside where she needed it most, were so exquisite, tears filled her eyes.
Jamie groaned. The sound rumbled in his chest and she felt it against her heart. With his hands cupping her butt, he lifted her up and down in a slow teasing rhythm. When she moaned in pleasure, his mouth closed over hers, swallowing the sounds. He sucked her tongue into his mouth, uniting them in a never-ending circle.
Leaning her backward so she floated on the water, he flicked his tongue over a distended nipple. The gentle lashing sent shivers coursing through her body. As though she had the attention of a hundred lovers, the warm sun caressed her face, the gentle waves lapped at her body, and the light breeze kissed her wet skin. Making love had never felt so foreign and exotic, and she was loving it.
When Jamie closed his lips over one nipple, grazing it with his teeth and sucking hard, she arched her back and almost earned a mouthful of water for her efforts. Laughing, Jamie supported her while she caught her breath. “You up for a little experiment?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Her insides clenched and she felt a new slickness where they were joined. Jamie could induce an orgasm with that sexy smile. She bit back a moan. “As long as it doesn’t involve swallowing copious amounts of water.”
“No worries. Hold onto my hand and leave your legs loose on either side of my hips.”
Where was he going with this? Frowning, she did as he asked. He supported her with a strong grip on her hip and clasped both her hands in one of his. “Keep your head up,” he said as he began to rock her back and forth. With each swing, he impaled her deeper and deeper until he was embedded to the hilt. As he increased the speed of the movements, he pulled her harder against him while he flexed his hips to heighten the impact and depth of penetration. He stretched her, filled her completely, bumping against her needy clitoris with each thrust.
“This is… my variation… on suspension sex,” he gasped between pants. “Like it?”
She loved it. She’d never experienced anything so liberating in her entire life. With his grip on her hands, he kept her elevated so the water skimmed her lower back in a sexy, thrilling massage. The rapid movement kept her breasts bouncing and swaying, never letting her forget their aching, puckered peaks. She was so on fire, she could almost hear the sizzle as drops of cool water splashed on her hot skin. Every sensation, every touch, every sound built up the delicious pressure until she could take it no more.
Shivering and shuddering, she threw her head back and screamed Jamie’s name. Her orgasm hit in wave after wave of blissful contractions. In the recesses of her mind, she heard Jamie call her name as he pumped into her one last time, his fingers tightening on her as he achieved his own climax.
After a moment, he lifted her out of the water, holding her tightly against his chest. With heavy arms, she hung onto his neck and slumped against him, replete and happy. “Jamie, that was so…” At a loss for a word to encompass it all, she let the sentence hang.
“Incredible?” His warm breath made goose bumps ripple over her skin, and she trembled with small aftershocks. Still inside her, Jamie groaned and kissed her throat.
She tugged on his ears until he lifted his head. Letting herself fall into his warm loving eyes, she said, “You’re what made it incredible, Jamie. You make every time incredible.”
“Does that mean you want to go back to having only vanilla sex now?” he asked, arching a dark arrogant brow.
“God, no. This was magical and perfect. But I want to taste all thirty-one flavors.”
He grinned and cupped her face. “Rocky road coming right up, ma’am.” Laughing, they sank into the water, wrapped around each other.
Chapter 8
After spending the remainder of the day visiting Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, Jamie and Rickie headed back to Turtle Beach. Jamie chose to drive up the western side of the island so they could catch the sunset over the ocean.
Rickie patted his thigh. “You’ve been quiet since we visited the Arizona Memorial.”
He
shot her a small smile and covered her hand with one of his own. He didn’t want to put a damper on their day, but their sightseeing had affected him more than he’d have thought it would. “I was just thinking about my grandfather’s brother, Great Uncle Joe, and his wife Charlie. Did I ever tell you she was here, at Hickam Field, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor?”
Her expression somber, Rickie shook her head. “No. Your father told me Joe lost his eye in the Doolittle Raid, but I didn’t realize that Joe’s wife had been military too.”
“She wasn’t. Not exactly. She was a flight instructor, and her first husband an officer on the Arizona. She was in the air when the attack began.”
“Oh my God.”
“It wasn’t until it was all over that she found out her husband wasn’t one of the survivors.” At Rickie’s harsh inhale, he shot her a reassuring glance and squeezed her hand.
“Charlie must have been devastated,” she said, emotion thickening her voice.
“She was, but a year later, she met Joe in Texas where she was working with the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron.” He shrugged. “Life goes on, you know?”
Rickie’s only response was to turn away and stare out the window.
Smooth move, asshole. Jamie wanted to kick himself. Of course, she’d feel a kinship with Charlie. She was probably seeing herself in Charlie’s shoes right now—a young widow, trying to move on and make a life for herself. Shit. Just the thought of Rickie loving another man, of his daughter calling that man “Daddy” made him want to puke.
They drove in silence up Veterans Memorial Freeway until they reached Kamehameha Highway. They hit the coast as the sky was beginning to darken. Needing to salvage the day, Jamie pulled the Mustang off the road and parked.
“What are we doing here?” Rickie asked.
“Let’s go watch the sunset on the beach.”
A smile played on her lips. “End the day like we began it?”
“Seems fitting.” He grabbed a blanket from the backseat and stepped out of the car, waiting for her to join him. They dashed across the two-lane highway and the deserted beach to the water’s edge, laughing like children. Jamie took a moment to lay the blanket out in a dry area, shielded from the road by an outcropping of rocks. Chasing each other, they ran in the wet sand, jumping the waves as they rolled in. Rickie squealed when a bigger wave bore down on her.
Jamie lifted her against his chest and carried her up the beach. Kissing her, he twirled them around until they grew dizzy and tumbled onto the blanket in a giggling, squirming heap.
Tugging the blanket, he rolled Rickie underneath him, wrapping them in a cozy cocoon. As he stared into his wife’s eyes, a deep yearning took root in his heart. He’d do anything to keep her, to keep from losing her again. She was everything to him. He just hoped she’d learn to accept that being a firefighter wasn’t a job to him, it was who he was. If she asked him to quit, he’d do it. It might kill him, but for her, he’d do it.
Love shone in her eyes as she traced the line of his jaw. She bobbed her head up and clamped his bottom lip between her own, sucking gently. His cock hardened and he groaned, nudging against her thigh.
Nipping at his chin, she snaked her hand between their bodies and undid his shorts. He dropped his head down to her neck and suckled the slender column. “You’re playing with fire, Rickie.”
“Good thing I found this long hose, then,” she quipped. Her fingers wrapped around his engorged cock, sliding from the base to the tip, around, and back down. He shuddered and closed his eyes as the world around him blurred. Her hands felt like heaven on him.
Rising up on his elbows, he brushed strands of wind-blown hair off her face. “I love you, Rickie. I’d do anything for you. I hope you know that.”
“I love you too, Jamie.”
Their mouths met in a tangle of lips, teeth and heat-seeking tongues. Jamie poured all his wants, needs, and desires into the kiss, wishing he could make her understand how completely she’d captured him. How completely she owned him. He played the dominant, but she held all the power. She literally had him by the balls.
“Take your pants off,” he whispered, almost feral with his soul-deep need to possess her.
Her wiggling as she struggled to get out of her pants cranked up his appetite. Using her toes, she shoved his shorts and boxers to his ankles, and he kicked them off impatiently. Together they removed her shirt then his. He wanted to feel her against him, skin to skin. With nothing, not even air between them.
Before he could get his arms around her, she set her hands on his chest and closed her teeth over one of his nipples, increasing the pressure until he groaned and arched into her mouth. With her fingers, she traced patterns over his chest, his ribs, his abs. She moved quickly as though she wanted to touch him everywhere at once. Then, in a move worthy of Jackie Chan, she flipped him onto his back and rose above him, intense determination on her face. “My turn,” she said, moving down his body. Her nails trailed fire as she disappeared under the blanket.
Her lips closed over his cock, wet heat enveloping him as she sucked. When the head hit the back of her throat, he went rigid. She’d never taken him this deep before. He burned with the impulse to thrust his hips and fuck her perfect mouth.
Her tongue swirled around the head of his cock, rimming the sensitive underside before dipping into his slit. Losing the tight rein he’d had on his control, he groaned and flexed his hips.
She stopped moving.
Shit. Had he hurt her? Reaching under the blanket, he gripped her shoulders and pulled her up. When her head popped out, she licked her swollen lips and frowned. “Why’d you stop me?”
“You’re making me crazy and I don’t want to hurt you. Ever.”
She tapped his chin. “I was just giving you time to enjoy the moment.”
Pulling her up so she straddled him, he pushed on her ass, impaling her with one powerful swing of his hips. “I’ll enjoy this moment instead,” he said, groaning when her muscles tightened around him.
The pink and orange glow from the setting sun burnished her skin as she moved above him, meeting each push with one of her own. But it wasn’t enough. “Ride me, Rickie. Drive me wild.”
“Yee-haw,” she said, sitting up and setting an increasingly frenzied pace. Hips pumping, breasts swaying, she was more beautiful than ever. She came with her eyes closed, her breasts pushed out and her mouth open on a gasp. The sight of her lost in the ecstasy they’d found together sent him over the edge. With a final hard thrust, he filled her, giving her all that he had.
The world spun by him in a chaotic swirl of colors, sounds, and smells until he stilled, emptied of everything but his love for her.
They lay panting on the beach as the sun sank into the endless ocean. Jamie ran his hand down Rickie’s back and over the curve of her ass, enjoying the way she shivered under his touch. “We should get going,” he said, finally, reluctant to let her go. But with the sun gone, the wind off the water felt cool, and he didn’t want her catching a cold.
After getting dressed and folding the blanket, Rickie grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him to her. Laughing, he went willingly. She hugged him tightly, surprising him. “Hey. Everything okay?” he asked.
“You’ve made me the happiest woman in the world. This is the best honeymoon I could have ever asked for.”
“Worth waiting five years?”
“Oh yes.” She gave him a quick heated kiss. “We weren’t ready for this five years ago. But we’re ready now. I can be the wife you always hoped I’d be.”
He shook his head. “You already are, sweetheart.”
Taking her hand, he led her back to the highway.
The air filled with the screech of tires and the terrified squeals of animals. A sickening thud and deadly silence followed. A cold, empty silence that sent adrenaline coursing through his body. Scenting smoke, he stopped under the lone street lamp and handed Rickie his phone. “Call 911. Ask for the fire department.”
Shock on her face, Rickie took his phone and nodded. Knowing she’d follow his orders, he took off in the direction of the accident. In the dark, he couldn’t see it yet, but he could smell it. A few yards away, the odor intensified and he knew he was close. The road turned a little and just around the bend on the eastern side, he saw the red glow of fire. Jogging across the highway, he recognized the remains of two wild pigs. The driver had probably swerved to avoid them but was too late, and the car had rolled on impact. Hitting the two large animals, weighing around two to three hundred pounds each, would have been like hitting a barrier.
He approached the old overturned sedan, assessing the situation. Two passengers. Male driver. Child in the back. At least the boy was in a car seat. Jamie opened the driver’s door. “Hello.”
The man’s eyes opened and stared at him blankly. “Sir,” Jamie said, filling his voice with authority.
The man blinked and understanding flashed in his eyes. “My son. Please help my son.”
Looking up, Jamie noted the man’s legs were trapped between the dashboard and the seat. Smoke was filling the interior of the car and he could smell gasoline. He didn’t have much time. He unbuckled the belt holding the car seat. If the kid had any injuries, he’d be better off remaining in it.
With the car seat clasped against his chest, Jamie jogged back to where he’d left Rickie. Her eyes grew round as she spotted the bundle in his arms. “Is he—”
“He’s alive. I don’t know what his injuries are, so leave him strapped in. I have to go back for the father.”
When he turned to leave, she grabbed his arm. “The fire department said they’d be here in ten minutes.”
“Fuck.” He blew out a breath. “I can’t wait that long. The car’s about to explode.”
She gasped and her fingernails dug into his arm. Tears filled her eyes and her bottom lip trembled. “No! Jamie, it’s too dangerous.”
Cupping her face, he swiped his thumb through the wetness on her cheeks. “Sweetheart, if it were me trapped in the car, you’d want someone to help me, wouldn’t you?”
Under His Command (Six-Alarm Sexy) Page 14