by Susan Stoker
She reached for his jacket. Slowly and carefully, she pushed it off his shoulders, ignoring the way it landed on the floor with a thump. He had on a short-sleeve shirt, and the bandage was clearly visible under the left sleeve.
Without a word, she grabbed his right hand and dragged him through her apartment, down the hall, and into her bedroom. Eagle hadn’t been inside her personal space before, and he inhaled deeply, loving how everything smelled like vanilla.
She didn’t give him time to examine her room before pulling him into the bathroom. It wasn’t anything special, just a bath/shower combo and one sink, with a surprising amount of counter space to the left of it. The toilet sat to the right of the sink.
She turned him so his back was to the mirror and pressed a hand to his chest. “Stay,” she ordered.
Eagle smirked at her bossiness.
She crouched to look in the cabinet under the sink, and Eagle did his best to ignore the way she was kneeling at his feet and how, if she came up on her knees, she’d be at the perfect height to remove his pants and . . .
Shaking his head, he repeated, “I’m okay, Taylor. I promise.”
“Whatever,” she mumbled. “You were probably in the wilds of some random country with more germs than people. And I’m sure you didn’t stop to get proper medical care.” She stood up with a commercial first aid kit in her hand. “I want to see it,” she said, eyeing him sternly.
“It’s not necessary,” he said. “Gramps is worse than a mother hen. And Smoke is more capable than most doctors I’ve met. They cleaned me up and made me swallow a million antibiotics.”
“Good. I still want to see it.”
“It’s ugly,” Eagle warned, touched that she was so worried about him. Her concern felt different than that of his team.
“What happened?”
“Bullet grazed me,” Eagle said bluntly.
All the color instantly leached out of Taylor’s face.
Eagle swore and moved quickly before she passed out on him. He grabbed her by the waist, turned, and lifted her so she was sitting on the counter, ignoring the pain in his arm as he did so. He pushed between her legs and speared his hands into the hair on either side of her head. “Breathe, Flower. Grazed. It went right on by. Didn’t hit any bones or anything important.”
“You were shot,” she whispered, her brown eyes huge in her face.
“Grazed,” he repeated.
“Did you kill him?” she asked.
Eagle’s lips twitched. “Yeah.”
“Good!” she said fiercely.
He couldn’t help but stare at her lips when she licked them.
“Eagle?” she asked.
Knowing he was probably making a mistake, but not able to help himself, Eagle lowered his head.
He gave her enough time to understand what he was going to do, and when she didn’t pull back or ask him what the hell he thought he was doing—and instead reached up and put one hand behind his neck—Eagle closed his eyes and did what he’d been longing to do for weeks.
He kissed her.
Hard.
He’d wanted to go slow. To convince her that he could be more than a friend. Reassure her that they’d be good together. But Taylor ruined any chance he had of controlling himself when she all but devoured him. Her hand tightened on his nape, and she tilted her head to take him more easily. The moan in the back of her throat had his cock immediately ready for action.
As far as first kisses went, it wasn’t perfect. Their teeth clicked together, and they had more enthusiasm than finesse, both of them desperate. But he’d never felt anything more perfect than Taylor’s lips on his.
He pulled her to the edge of the counter, until his dick was pressing insistently between her thighs. Taylor moaned again and wrapped her legs around his ass, then hooked her ankles together, as if she was never going to let him go.
Their tongues dueled, tasting and learning each other’s mouths. God, Eagle had never been turned on so fast before. Taylor lit up in his arms, acting as if she wanted to fuse her body with his.
Not even thinking about his arm, Eagle lifted her with his good arm under her ass and the other wrapped around her back.
She wrenched her mouth from his and gasped, “Eagle! Your arm!”
“It’s fine,” he breathed, then put his lips over hers once more. He couldn’t stop kissing her. Didn’t want to stop kissing her. Now that they’d crossed this line, he didn’t ever want to go back to just being friends.
It didn’t take too many steps to be at her bed. Knowing his arm wasn’t going to allow him to prop himself above her, Eagle turned and sat. Taylor straddled him, and when he scooted backward and lay down, she was right there with him, kissing him the entire way.
She finally pulled back slightly and looked down at him. Her lips were swollen, and her cheeks were flushed. He wanted nothing more than to ravage her completely.
“Are we being stupid?” she asked uncertainly.
“No,” he said immediately. “I can honestly say I’ve never wanted anything more than to be deep inside you.”
“I don’t want to lose you,” she said.
“You aren’t going to lose me,” he said firmly.
Her nipples were tight under her tank top, and Eagle longed to strip off the top and look his fill. He’d fantasized about what she’d look like—but he wouldn’t do anything if she wasn’t one hundred percent on board.
He brought his hands back up to her face and ran his thumbs over her cheeks. “The first thing I thought of when that asshole’s bullet grazed me was you. I worried about what would happen to you if I didn’t come home. The pain was so intense—not from my wound, but from what I thought you’d be feeling. I knew right then I needed to stop fucking around and tell you how I feel about you.”
He paused.
“And?” she whispered.
“I’m crazy about you. Have been for a very long time. I like everything about you, Taylor.”
“I’m not going to get better, Eagle. I’m never going to recognize you.”
“I don’t need you to pick me out of a crowd, Flower. I’ll always come to you. You’ll know it’s me by the way I look at you. You’ll know it’s me by the way I smell—don’t think I haven’t noticed you smelling me any chance you get,” he teased. “You’ll know it’s me because I’ll tell you it’s me. I won’t get tired of it, and I won’t make you feel bad for something you have no control over.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “Are you even real?”
“I’m real. And I’m yours . . . if you want me.”
“I want you,” Taylor said gently. “I have for a long time, but I figured you’d decided to just be friends.”
“I didn’t want to rush you,” Eagle admitted.
“I missed you,” Taylor said. “So many times I wanted to pick up the phone and talk to you.”
“I missed you too. But now I’m back, and we can catch up . . . tomorrow.”
She grinned. “Oh, because you’re tired and want to sleep now, huh?”
Eagle snorted. “I’m not tired. And I don’t want to sleep. But with my bum arm . . . this is gonna have to go differently than I’d like.”
And just like that, the concern was back in her gaze. “Oh! I never got to look at your arm. Maybe we should—”
“You can look at it later. Right now, I need you to take what you want,” Eagle told her bluntly. “I can’t hold myself above you and fuck you, so you’re going to have to be in control our first time.”
He could tell Taylor was unsure . . . but he also saw the excited gleam in her eye. “You like that,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah,” she admitted.
“How about you start by taking off your tank so I can see what I’ve thought about more nights than I can count?” he suggested.
Taylor laughed. “I thought I was in charge,” she replied, reaching for the hem of her tank.
Eagle wanted to respond, but it felt as if he’d swallowed
his tongue.
Because she’d been in her pajamas when he’d knocked on her door, she wasn’t wearing a bra, and the second the material cleared her head, his hands were there, cupping and squeezing her beautiful tits.
She had small areolas and nipples, but the fleshy globes were more than a handful. “Damn,” he said softly.
In response, Taylor arched her back and pressed herself into his hands. Eagle’s fingers went to her nipples and pinched them lightly. He was rewarded by a louder moan from between her lips. Taylor sat up straighter atop him and arched her back even farther. “Eagle,” she whispered. He wasn’t sure if it was a protest or an encouragement to continue.
“So fucking perfect,” he said. Then he wrapped his right hand around her back and pulled her back down. He ducked his head, took one of her nipples into his mouth, and sucked hard.
“Oh shit!” Taylor said, throwing a hand out to catch herself. She leaned over him, her gorgeous breasts hanging down as he sucked on one nipple, then the other.
When Eagle felt her begin to squirm, he realized neither of them was going to last through much foreplay. He licked her once more before tilting his chin back to look up into her face. “Take off your pants,” he ordered.
He’d meant to let her set the pace, to take control, but it literally wasn’t in his DNA to lie there and let someone else dictate all their moves. He needed more of her. Needed to feel her naked body against his own. He simply needed her.
She scooted off him and stood on wobbly legs as she pushed her cotton pants and underwear down her legs. Eagle undid his jeans and shoved them off while she stood next to her bed, staring as he revealed himself to her. He wanted to rip his shirt off, but had to take the time to ease his left arm carefully out of the sleeve before removing the garment over his head.
They both stayed where they were, taking each other in for a long moment.
Taylor was perfect in every way. Perfect for him. Eagle knew, according to society’s standards of beautiful, she wouldn’t make the cut, but he didn’t care. Her thighs were a little thick, and her stomach wasn’t flat. She’d trimmed her pubic hair, which was sexy as hell. Her breasts moved with each excited breath, and he couldn’t wait to feel her against him. To taste her. To feel her swallowing his cock in her hot, wet folds.
Eagle wasn’t a vain man, but he was aware of his good looks. He worked hard to keep his body in top physical shape. He had to; his life, and the lives of his friends, depended on him being able to run, jump, fight, and simply be stronger than others.
And he loved the look of desire in Taylor’s face as she slowly took him in. At the moment, her eyes were glued to his cock, and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching down and caressing it, excited about what the night would bring for them both.
“Come here,” he said after a moment, holding out his right hand to her.
Taylor licked her lips again and slowly crawled back onto the bed. She shuffled up to his left side, and he grinned. Using the strength of his good arm, he hauled her back over him until she was straddling his stomach once again. He felt the tip of his cock brush against her backside, and they both moaned.
“You’re beautiful,” she whispered.
Eagle knew he was smiling like a loon, but he didn’t care. “I think that’s my line.”
She shrugged. “I like doughnuts too much.”
“As far as I’m concerned, you can keep eating them. I like the way you look, and I love the way you feel against me.”
She shifted, and the most delicious scent wafted up to his nose. Eagle inhaled deeply and smiled when she blushed again. “You smell fucking awesome,” he told her. Then, without warning her, he scooted her body up, toward his face, his hand on her ass.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, shuffling forward on her knees so she wouldn’t fall on top of him.
“That’s right. Come up here,” he said, his gaze focused between her legs. He could feel her wetness against his chest as she moved up his body.
Eagle settled his left arm carefully and gripped the back of her thigh. With his right, he grabbed hold of an ass cheek and pulled her right up to where he wanted her. Over his mouth.
Her smell was stronger now, and he couldn’t wait to eat her out. To see if he could make her orgasm all over his face. He’d never done this before, not in this position, and he was so excited he could feel precome leaking from his hard-as-nails cock.
“I . . . I don’t know about this,” she said.
Eagle would back off if she really wanted him to, but he didn’t think she did. She was just nervous. He played the sympathy card. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt my arm if I do this any other way,” he told her.
It was a fucking lie. He couldn’t even feel his arm at the moment, but his words did the trick, because Taylor nodded.
But he truly wanted to make sure she was all in. He’d never forgive himself if she let him do this when she didn’t actually want to. “I’ll stop if you want me to,” Eagle said quietly.
Her eyes got big. “You will?”
Eagle clenched his teeth and forced himself to look up into her eyes, rather than at the soft pink folds just waiting for him to dive into. “Yes.”
“I’d have to hurt you if you stopped,” Taylor finally said with a small smile. “But don’t blame me if you suffocate down there.”
He laughed. “What a way to go,” he quipped, then pulled her down and licked her once.
Her taste exploded on his tongue. “Shit,” he mumbled, feeling overwhelmed with how much he wanted her. Then he closed his eyes and got to work, making sure his woman enjoyed this as much as he did.
Chapter Twelve
Taylor’s experience with a man going down on her wasn’t vast. One man. One time. And they’d both been nervous about it. The guy she’d been dating clearly hadn’t enjoyed her taste or anything about the experience, which had made her very self-conscious.
But from the second Eagle put his mouth between her legs, it was more than obvious he liked everything about what he was doing. He wasn’t tentative, didn’t start out easy. After the first lick, he acted as if he were a starving man, and she was the only thing giving him the sustenance to survive. He licked between her folds, pushed his tongue inside her, then slurped up the juices she knew were leaking all over his face.
Then he covered her clit with his lips and sucked.
Taylor jolted, and she felt his hand on her ass tighten, steadying her. She threw her hands up and propped herself against the wall, moaning. She stopped thinking that anything about this was weird and simply enjoyed herself. He alternated between licking her clit and fucking her with his tongue. Just as she thought she was going to orgasm, he’d change up what he was doing. It was maddening, and Taylor felt as if she was going to fly out of her skin.
Her hips began moving unconsciously, trying to follow his tongue, to get more pressure on her clit.
“You like this?” Eagle asked, and Taylor could feel the warmth of his breath against her. Practically panting, she nodded.
“Good. Because I fucking love it,” Eagle muttered. “Could do this all night.”
“Please,” she said on a long sigh.
“You want to come?”
“God, yes! Please!”
“Love hearing you beg, Flower, but you don’t ever have to beg for anything from me.”
Then he lifted his head and latched on to her clit once more. Taylor realized that he’d been teasing her the entire time. His tongue felt like a vibrator against her sensitive flesh, and she wanted him to both stop and press tighter against her.
“Eagle . . . ,” she moaned.
In response, he sucked harder.
That was all it took for Taylor to orgasm like she never had before. It felt as if every muscle in her body locked up. She quivered and shook, and she thought for sure that she blacked out for a second.
When she came back to herself, she was sitting on Eagle’s chest. She didn’t remember moving, but then again, maybe he’d pulled h
er down so she wouldn’t actually suffocate him. For a moment, she was embarrassed, until Eagle spoke.
“So fucking beautiful,” he said, licking his lips.
Taylor saw that his chin and cheeks were shiny with her juices—and she felt embarrassed all over again. But then Eagle grabbed her hip in his hand and began to shift her down his body.
“I need you,” he said softly.
Yes. She needed him too. Reaching between her legs, Taylor took hold of his cock, loving how he inhaled sharply at her touch.
“Condom,” he breathed.
“Where?” Taylor asked.
“In my wallet, in my pants.”
It was ridiculous that she was disheartened to find he was so prepared. She should be thrilled he wanted to protect her. She wasn’t on the pill, and they hadn’t had a conversation about sexually transmitted diseases.
She leaned over and grabbed his pants, which hadn’t quite landed on the floor when he’d taken them off earlier, leaving them within easy reach. She was glad for something to do so she could hide her feelings from him.
At least, she thought she had.
She opened his wallet and found the condom inside. She studied the wrapper, trying to reclaim the feeling of euphoria she’d had just a moment ago, after she’d climaxed.
But Eagle took the condom out of her hand and pulled her toward him. Taylor put her hands on the mattress on either side of his shoulders to balance herself.
“Look at me, Tay,” he ordered.
Reluctantly, she did.
“That condom’s been in my wallet for two weeks. That’s it. I don’t usually carry them around with me like a horny college kid. But I know myself. I’ve wanted you for a hell of a long time, and while I had no idea this was going to happen tonight, I know that I wanted it to happen. I haven’t been with anyone in years. Didn’t want to be. Until I met you.”
Taylor closed her eyes in relief.
“Taylor,” he said.
She opened her eyes once more.
“I can’t promise not to be a dick. I’ll probably piss you off a lot. I tend to spend too much time thinking about work, and I forget to do little shit like take the trash out and pick up my mail. But I can promise that I’ll never purposely do anything to hurt you. Nothing that will put you in danger. And making love to you bareback before we talk about birth control or kids could be damaging. Not to mention, I want to get myself tested so you can see proof that I’m clean.”