by Cat Johnson
“Move back to Hawaii. My parents have a beautiful house with plenty of space for me. It shouldn’t make me feel so bad.”
“But it does,” he said.
“Yeah. It does.”
“If there’s anything I can do to help . . .”
Since he’d offered, she said, “Any chance I can keep this shirt? You know, as a memento of our night in Tijuana.”
He laughed. “Yeah, sure.”
“Thanks.” God, she was going to miss her life in California. And Amanda. And Zach.
Didn’t it figure? After over a decade of him hating her, when they finally reached a truce and he seemed to actually like her, she’d have to leave.
“Jesus, girl. You’re breaking my heart looking so sad,” he said, still watching her.
“I’m fine.” She blinked back the mist in her eyes. Why did he have to be so sweet now?
He moved around the island and pulled her into his arms, surprising her.
It was a perfectly chaste hug. One between friends, which is what they seemed to have become, against all odds.
But then something changed. When she looked up at him, their faces were close. Oh so close.
It might have been him, or it might have been her, or maybe both of them at the same time, but that distance closed and his lips touched hers. So soft. So brief.
He pulled back just a fraction, watching her face. The unspoken question in his gaze asked did she want this?
Hell yeah, she wanted it.
Reaching up, she smashed her mouth against his.
NINETEEN
It was only about eight hours ago that he’d sworn this was a bad idea. That he should not kiss Gabrielle Lee. That his being with his sister’s best friend made things too complicated.
What a difference a day made because he was sure kissing the fuck out of her now. It might be his worst decision ever, but he wasn’t done with her yet. He was going in for more.
Angling his head, he thrust his tongue between her lips and dove into the hot wet heat of her mouth. She tasted of coffee and toothpaste.
At least her mouth did.
His mind went to bad places and he imagined tasting the rest of her. Running his tongue over her nipples before diving in between her legs.
A groan escaped him as his cock made its wishes known by stretching the too thin cotton of his shorts.
He hauled her tighter against him with one palm flattened at the small of her back. She pressed close, causing sweet agony as she trapped his erection between them.
Winding her massive length of hair around his other hand, he tugged her head back so he could possess her mouth more fully. All while knowing kissing her wasn’t going to be enough.
This had been a long time coming. He knew that.
It was just the first time he’d let himself admit it.
Was it eleven years ago he’d been at that frat party? Back when she’d been too young and too drunk, he’d managed to keep his hands off her and his thoughts about her in those short shorts mostly clean.
Eight or so years ago at his parents’ pool, his body had gotten away from him, but he’d dealt with things on his own and put her out of his mind—mostly.
Until now.
Now she wasn’t a kid anymore. They were both consenting adults.
He’d spent so many years trying to avoid her. Now he couldn’t get close enough. The clothing between them, what little of it there was, seemed like too much.
She was still in his T-shirt and fuck did it look good on her. The easy access it afforded proved too tempting, so he didn’t resist. He slid his hand down and then back up beneath the fabric.
Underwear covered her beneath the shirt. That was easily remedied. He slid his hand around to her stomach, then slipped a finger down beneath the elastic waistband.
He kissed her harder as his breath came faster.
Her skin was smooth and warm—and getting warmer the lower he went. When he slipped his finger between her folds, she felt downright hot.
She gasped at his touch. The sound was nearly his undoing.
When she moved her feet farther apart, it was all the invitation he needed. He hoisted her up with two hands on her waist and set her on the counter, narrowly missing their coffee mugs.
She pushed the breakables away then focused heavily-lidded eyes on his.
Those eyes widened as he bent low while pushing the shirt up to her waist. She fisted the fabric in one hand to hold it out of the way as she watched him.
With one hand braced on the countertop, she lifted up when he struggled to tug her underwear down her hips.
Then it was smooth sailing. He dropped her underwear to the floor and pushed her bare thighs wide.
Yup. Long time coming.
He’d imagined doing this when he’d been trying to fall asleep next to her last night.
And if he were honest with himself, he’d have to admit he’d pictured this years ago while jerking off in the bathroom during the pool party.
Dipping his head low, he held her wide with his thumbs and plunged his tongue between them.
She cried out at first contact, which only encouraged him to work harder.
He wanted to hear her come.
More than that, he wanted to hear her cry out his name. To know, to remember forever, that it was him who made her come so hard she couldn’t control herself.
And where was all this coming from? This possessiveness. This need to claim her. Mark her. Sear memories of them into her mind so she’d be ruined for all other men even if there could soon be an ocean between them.
He had to be feeling like this because she said she was thinking of leaving.
Irony was a bitch.
When she was around all the time, all he wanted was for her to go away.
Now, she hadn’t even left yet and he was already anticipating the enormous suck of being thousands of miles from her.
He attacked his mission with renewed vigor until she started to shake.
He’d make her come, then make her his. At least his for the day. He hoped she had no other plans today because he might not be satisfied with one time.
It might take until lunch to satisfy this craving—possibly through dinner.
Gabby gasped. He felt as she crested, peaking loud and hard as she thrust against his mouth.
After feeling that, his sole goal was to get inside her.
The counter was definitely too high for fucking. The sofa was an option but the bed was preferable by far. Nice and big with plenty of room to get creative.
“Bedroom?” he asked, incapable of more than the single word.
“Good idea,” she whispered.
He liked Gabby when she was soft spoken and agreeable. But then again, he was starting to not mind when she was rambling.
Somehow she had gone from annoying to amusing the more he got to know her.
And Christ, she was too frigging tempting to resist for a second longer.
Zach hoisted her off the counter. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and he carried her the short distance to the bedroom.
He tumbled her onto the bed, and had to resist the temptation to crawl on top of her. There was the matter of protection he had to deal with first.
Luckily he’d stocked up on all the necessities after getting back—milk, eggs, condoms.
Maybe this happening between them wasn’t such a surprise after all. Given he’d prepared for it when he’d been at the store, could he subconsciously have been anticipating this happening between them from the moment he found her in his shower?
He certainly hadn’t known she’d be so tempting in his T-shirt—or that she’d have opportunity to be wearing it at all—but the tension between them had been there all along.
Possibly since that first night of the frat party.
Resigned this had for sure been a long time coming and pocketing any residual guilt he still felt for wanting his little sister’s best friend so badly, he pulled open the drawer and reached inside for
the brand new box of condoms.
“You’re using the table I got you.” She smiled.
If that he was using her table was what she was most happy about right now, he’d better up his sexual game.
He intended to make her forget all about the table, and all the other stuff in here she’d fished out of the trash and put in his bedroom.
This woman . . . He shook his head at how she could drive him mad, and then the time for thinking was done.
“Yeah, I’m using it,” he said as he dropped his drawers.
That did it. Her focus went immediately to the cock bobbing between them as he sheathed himself.
As he moved toward the bed, she raised her gaze from his dick to his eyes.
He saw her kaleidoscope of emotions as her face cycled through a full repertoire of expressions. Trepidation, disbelief . . . desire.
He was feeling a few of those same things himself. Maybe they weren’t so different.
As he crawled onto the mattress she moved over to make space for him. He didn’t want space. He wanted her.
With both hands, he spread her legs and moved between them, and then he took her. He plunged inside Gabby like he’d been made to fit inside this woman.
His spine bowed as he thrust deep. The arms he’d braced on either side of her shook with the sensation of being squeezed inside her tight wet heat and he bit out a curse filled with amazement.
The feel of her hands clutching at his ass and urging him to move brought him out of his own head. He opened the eyes he hadn’t realized he’d slammed shut and glanced down at Gabby.
Lips parted, breath shallow, she was breathtaking as her gaze met his and he couldn’t resist leaning low and taking her lips.
He made love to her mouth as he set a slow steady rhythm with his hips. The cadence sped and soon turned frantic, through no fault of his own.
As Gabby lifted her hips and started to cry out Zach couldn’t maintain any semblance of control.
His new goal was to drive her over the edge into a body rocking orgasm while he was inside her.
When it started to happen, he thought he’d lose his mind.
Her body locked down around his, squeezing him.
He held on as long as he could, which wasn’t long. The pleasure ran down his spine and right through his balls as he exploded inside her.
The pulses of his climax matched hers as she wrung him dry, body and soul.
He collapsed over her, panting and calculating how soon they could do it again as, semi-hard, he twitched inside her with aftershocks. He pressed closer against her and she drew in a sharp breath, letting it out on a sigh.
That did it. He was growing, nearly hard again, like he was a teenager. He pulled out, snapped off the used condom and tore into a new one, thinking he probably should have gotten the economy-sized box rather than the small one.
He rolled it on and plunged back inside as Gabby, looking boneless beneath him, pressed her head back against the pillow.
She opened her eyes and the pools of chocolate brown captured him—until he surged inside again and those eyes squeezed shut.
Pulling out, he watched and waited, and she didn’t disappoint him. She opened those eyes again and caught his gaze.
A tip of his hips forward as his hands held her off the bed and he hit the spot he sought. Her eyes rolled back. He tried the move again, pulling out, catching her gaze, then plunging back inside to hit her G-spot.
As he’d hoped, her eyes rolled back again and he let out a laugh of pure glee.
Sex was always satisfying. After all, coming was coming. But sex with Gabby was—fun. There was no other way to put it, and he liked it.
“I’m not sure I like you laughing at me during this.” Her eyes were open now, and narrowed as she glared at him while he smiled.
“I can’t help it. Every time I bump right there.” He nudged the spot in question to demonstrate. “Your eyes roll back in your head. Just like that.” He grinned wider.
“Oh, yeah?” She slid her hands across the globes of his ass and yanked his hips forward, pulling him deeper inside her. “Later, I’m going to make your eyes roll back in your head and laugh at you.”
If she wanted to punish him, promising to torture him sexually wasn’t the way to do it.
“If that is a threat, it’s not working because that sounds pretty damn good to me.” He started to imagine all the many ways she could torture him and his balls began to tingle.
No more games. No more laughing. He couldn’t resist the urge to pump into her until he drove himself to a second climax.
This time when he collapsed, he wasn’t sure he could get up. He had patrolled sixty-miles in mountainous enemy territory in full kit and not felt as drained as he did now. Certainly not this satisfied.
A nice nap with Gabby’s breasts as his pillow while her heartbeat lulled him to sleep might be in order.
And then her stomach growled.
A smile twitched on his lips. “Hungry?”
“Yes. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” Rest time was over.
He needed to feed his woman—so he could work up her appetite again later.
Zach pushed off the mattress. “Want to stay here and I’ll grab us something quick?”
“Sure.” She was pink-cheeked and adorable in his bed and he didn’t want to leave. But he was hungry too.
One thing he was sure of was it was going to be a quick meal, because he wasn’t going to spend his morning in the kitchen while Gabby was in his bed.
Two minutes later, he came back with bowls of cereal and a couple of spoons.
He paused next to the bed where she lay making his shirt look good. “There’s not much in the house. I didn’t stock up on a lot food because I wasn’t planning on hanging around here.”
“Why not?” she asked. “It’s not a bad place to hang out.”
“I was afraid I’d be bored.” He raised his gaze to hers. “Then you showed up.”
She lifted her brows. “Is that a compliment? I can’t tell.”
“It’s a fact. Now sit up and eat before your flakes get soggy.”
“Yes, sir.” After a comically messy salute, she did as told, hoisting herself up against the pillows and folding her legs in front of her.
“Don’t call me sir. I’m enlisted, not an officer.” He thrust one bowl at her, then set his down on the table so he could get situated himself.
“And I have no idea what the difference is so . . .” She lifted a shoulder and slurped milk and flakes off her spoon.
Grabbing his own bowl, he laughed. “At least I know you’re not a frog hog . . .” At her blank expression he added, “That’s a woman who actively tries to sleep with Navy SEALs.”
“I don’t know about that. I might be one. You had me at your US NAVY T-shirt.”
“The one you’re wearing?” he asked.
If as a recruit years ago he’d known giving a girl a NAVY T-shirt was the sure way to get her into bed, he probably would have blown his whole month’s pay at the base exchange buying them by the case.
“No.” She shook her head. “The shirt you were wearing when you came to visit Amanda our freshman year. Remember?” she asked.
He let out a laugh. “Yeah, I remember.” He’d never forget.
He’d stayed to chaperone that damn frat party to protect his sister from her wild roommate. But looking back, he had to wonder who was leading who when it came to the college party life—Amanda or Gabby.
Knowing Gabby better now, and having known his rebellious-minded sister Amanda’s whole life, Zach had a feeling he’d misinterpreted that whole situation.
They sat on the bed, legs folded beneath them, knees touching between them as they both slurped milk and flakes off soup spoons. Her face scrubbed clean of makeup. Her hair loose and messy from sleep—and sex. His T-shirt swallowing her curves. She was nothing like he’d imagined she would be.
He liked Gabby and he wasn’t quite sure what
to do with that feeling.
His opinion of her might have changed, but their situation hadn’t. Amanda was still her friend and his sister.
Just doing what they’d already done would make things awkward going forward.
And if they tried to take this to the next level and failed, it would put Amanda in the middle between them. In the impossible position of having to take sides and choose either her best friend or her brother.
Next level. What the hell was he thinking?
His leave would end and he’d go back to being one hundred percent focused on the team. And she’d already mentioned moving back to Hawaii.
There might be a tomorrow for the two of them—and another night or even a few together—but after next week there was no time left for them. No next month. No next level.
Maybe that was a good thing. Right now, he couldn’t decide.
Either way, the situation was what it was and he didn’t have the power to change any of it.
TWENTY
“I know you two talk about everything but please, for both of our sakes, not a word to Amanda about what happened between you and me.” There was pleading in Zach’s tone.
“I won’t tell. I promise.”
He cocked up one brow, looking skeptical as they walked from his truck in the driveway toward Amanda’s door.
They’d been summoned there this morning because Amanda demanded an explanation of everything that had happened last night in detail and in person.
Luckily she wasn’t an early riser so her texts to both Zach and Gabby’s phones, followed by a call when they didn’t reply right away, had come after their insane sex.
Insanely good. Insanely unexpected.
She might have dreamed about Zach like that for years but to have it really happen—she was still pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
Maybe she had died at the hands of the drug lords last night and this was her life now in heaven.
Not so bad if that was the deal. Sex like she’d had this morning with Zach for all of eternity? She could live with that—so to speak.
But no, this was no dream or heaven, because Zach was scowling at her.
She shot him a glare. “I’m not going to tell her.”