Jenna’s hands stilled. His features were all hard angles in the dim light and she silently berated herself for having moved too fast. When would she learn that not all men appreciated women who took the initiative? “What is it?”
“I want you to know that I didn’t bring you out here for this. I mean, I’d hoped, of course—” He gave her a lopsided grin. “But it wasn’t something I’d planned on. I just wanted you to know.”
Jenna felt a smile tug at her mouth. She hadn’t expected him to be so considerate, although she should have guessed. After all, she’d seen him dance. “Okay…so does this mean you want me to stop?”
“Hell, no!” He released her wrists. “But it’s only fair I tell you that we might not see each other again after tonight. So if that bothers you…”
“It doesn’t,” she assured him. “Like I said before, I’m only here for a few days, and then I’ll be gone.” She paused meaningfully. “So, unless you’re married or something…”
He laughed softly and raised his ringless hands for her inspection. “No wife. No fiancée. No girlfriend.”
“Then no worries, because I’m not looking for any promises. Your job is dangerous, and you can never be sure where you’re going to be from one day to the next. Trust me, I get it. Not exactly conducive to a relationship, right?”
“Right…”
She heard the cautious agreement in his voice, and wondered if she’d made another faux pas. Maybe he didn’t want her to know that he was with special ops. Some of those guys were funny about revealing their connection to the black world of covert operations. But she really did get it, because her own career made it difficult for her to establish any romantic ties.
“All I’m trying to say is that I’m okay with keeping this casual,” she clarified. “No strings. No commitments.” Leaning down, she put her mouth next to his ear and lowered her voice to a sultry whisper. “No problem.”
3
CHANCE COULDN’T THINK of one damn reason to argue with her, not when her heat scorched him through his jeans and her hands were at his belt, finishing the task he’d interrupted just moments earlier. He’d been honest with her. He’d told her that whatever they shared wouldn’t extend beyond tonight, and she’d been okay with it. More than okay, really. He should feel a little insulted that she was so okay with not seeing him again, but suddenly he couldn’t think about much beyond the feel of her fingers unzipping his jeans and tentatively stroking him beneath the fabric of his boxers.
“You’re so hard,” she breathed.
Oh, yeah.
“You’re sure—”
“Shh.” She lay her fingers over his mouth. “You talk too much.”
As if to emphasize her point, she leaned down and covered his lips with her own, sliding her tongue against his. Chance wanted to groan with pleasure. He buried his fingers in her hair and angled her face for better access, luxuriating in the damp silk of her mouth. She made a small noise in her throat and shifted so that she could reach between their bodies and cover his straining erection with her hand. The heat of her palm through the thin cotton had him pushing upward, instinctively seeking more of the erotic contact.
“Mmm,” she murmured approvingly. “You like that?”
Chance managed to grunt a reply, and then ceased to think altogether when she slipped a hand inside the waistband of his boxers and curled her fingers around him. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d been so aroused so quickly. Of course, he hadn’t been with anyone in more than six months, and that kind of deprivation had a way of ratcheting up your libido. But Chance suspected that even if he hadn’t gone through a recent dry spell, he’d have a tough time resisting Jenna Larson. Everything about her turned him on. When she began to rhythmically slide her hand along his length, he groaned loudly and reached down to wrap a restraining hand around her wrist.
“Darlin’,” he panted, “you need to slow down, or this is going to be over a whole lot quicker than either of us wants.”
To both his regret and relief, Jenna released him.
“Sorry,” she whispered against his lips, “but I really want to touch you.”
She raised herself to a sitting position and ran her palms over the planes of his chest, her expression so sexy that Chance knew if she touched him again the way she just had, he’d be a goner. He didn’t protest when she began unfastening the buttons on his shirt and then tugged the fabric free from his waistband until he was exposed to her greedy gaze.
“Holy shit,” she muttered, and stroked a fingertip down the shallow groove that bisected his torso until she encountered the tip of his erection where it protruded above the waistband of his boxers. “It’s like you’ve been…airbrushed. Only, better.”
Chance gave a huff of laughter, grateful for the long hours he’d spent in physical training. He kept his body in prime condition, not just because the army required it, but because he and his brother had an ongoing rivalry over which of them was in better shape. With his rigorous special ops training, Chase usually kicked his ass in that department, but Chance suddenly didn’t care. If Jenna Larson liked what she saw, that was more than good enough for him.
She still straddled his hips, and when she swirled the tip of her finger over the head of his penis, Chance groaned and strained upward.
“Okay, that’s enough,” he growled softly. “My turn.”
Without giving her time to protest, he slid her to one side of the blanket and sat up, bending forward to yank his boots off and toss them aside. Her eyes never left him as he peeled his shirt away and spread it out on the blanket behind him, before he stood and swiftly shed his jeans. Finally, when all he wore were his boxers, he dropped back onto the blanket and turned to Jenna.
“That’s better,” he murmured, and scooted closer until mere inches separated them. Bracing himself on his forearm, he undid the first button of her blouse, and then the second. In the dim light, he could just make out the lacy edge of her bra. His fingers paused over the third button, and he slanted her a questioning look.
“Don’t stop now,” she murmured, and a hint of a smile curved her lips. Beneath his hand, Chance could feel the frantic, unsteady beat of her heart.
He slid a hand beneath the fall of her hair and dipped his head to cover her lips once more. She sighed into his mouth and her hand forged a molten trail along his rib cage and over his hip to boldly cup his butt and urge him closer.
Chance resisted the urge to grind against her, and instead focused on slowly unbuttoning her blouse as he explored her mouth with his tongue. When the fabric fell open beneath his fingers, he raised his head to admire the exposed swell of soft flesh beneath the lacy bra and the long, slender length of her waist.
“Gorgeous,” he muttered, and stroked the back of his fingers across the satiny skin, watching in fascination as her stomach muscles contracted beneath his touch. When he reached the waistband of her jeans, he didn’t wait for her permission, but flicked the button open and drew the zipper down in one easy movement. In the splayed vee of denim, he could just make out the top edge of her panties, and was helpless to prevent himself from laying his palm against her smooth abdomen. He wanted to plant his mouth there. Christ, he wanted to kiss her everywhere. He wanted to lick her skin, breathe in her scent and feel her softness against his palms. He dragged in a deep breath and forced himself to slow down.
Jenna made a small sound of frustration, and then her hands were there, pushing her jeans over her hips, even as she kicked her sandals free from her feet. Chance watched, mesmerized, as her long legs were exposed, and then she was gloriously bare except for the scrap of lace at her crotch, gleaming white in the darkness.
She rolled toward him, hitching one slim thigh over his leg, and running her hand along his bare skin. With a muffled groan, he gathered her fully against him, his han
ds smoothing over her back to survey the dips and curves of her shoulder blades and spine. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled her fragrance. She was slim and supple, and when he drew a hand along the back of her thigh and angled her leg higher over his hip, she made an inarticulate sound of pleasure in her throat and pressed her center against his aching cock. She planted hot, moist kisses against his neck and jaw, and her hands were everywhere, exploring his body with an urgency that told him just how aroused she was. Sliding a hand between their bodies, he cupped her through the scrap of silk.
Heat. Moisture. Incredible softness.
Easing the fabric to one side, he stroked a finger along her slick cleft. She gave a strangled cry of pleasure and her hips bucked sharply.
Lust slammed into him with the force of a freight train.
Jenna moaned softly and pushed herself against his fingers, drenching them with the evidence of her arousal. Chance’s cock grew even stiffer, and with a rough sound of need, he rolled her onto her back and settled himself between her splayed thighs, rocking hard against her core. Jenna groaned loudly and grabbed the back of his head, slanting her mouth over his in a deep, openmouthed kiss that sent bolts of white-hot flame straight to his balls. He had a hard time focusing on anything except how bad he wanted to be inside her. He needed to slow down.
Breaking the kiss, he pushed her bra down beneath her breasts, and then covered one plump mound with his hand and rubbed his thumb across the distended tip.
“Oh, God. That feels so good,” she gasped, and arched upward, rubbing herself along the length of his erection. “Help me take these off.”
Chance turned his face to watch as she pushed her panties down and used her feet to kick them free. In the dim light, he could just make out the dark triangle of curls at the apex of her thighs, and then she was pulling him back on top of her, settling him into the cradle of her hips so that his heavy erection rested against her mons.
“Where were we?” she asked in a sultry whisper.
“Right here,” he muttered.
Dipping his head, Chance wrapped his lips around one nipple, drawing it into his mouth as he suckled it. Jenna speared her fingers through his hair and held his head to her breast, her breathing coming in uneven pants. He laved her breast with his tongue while he continued to cup and stroke her other breast with his free hand. He was acutely conscious of her nudity as she squirmed desperately beneath him, bracing one heel on the back of his thigh and rubbing herself against his rigid arousal. But when she reached between their bodies and gripped him in her hand, he nearly came apart.
“Jesus!” He dragged his mouth from her breast and looked down to see her stroking the smooth head of his penis against her slippery clitoris. He was breathing hard, just barely keeping himself in check, but when he looked back at Jenna’s face, he saw she’d already lost it. Her eyes were half-closed, her expression one of pleasure-pain as she rotated her hips against his swollen flesh. As Chance watched, enthralled, she shuddered lightly and cried out, bucking against him as her orgasm washed over her. But when she would have pushed him inside herself, a small vestige of sanity made him grasp her wrist, and he drew marginally away from her.
Her eyes opened and she looked up at him, dazed. “What’s wrong?” Her words were thick. “Don’t you want to?”
Her fingers were still wrapped around his shaft, squeezing him at the base, and it took all his restraint not to spill himself in her hand. She looked like every erotic fantasy he’d ever had, sprawled beneath him with her breasts pushed up, her expression one of pure sexual desire as she held his throbbing dick in her hand.
“I’m not wearing a condom,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Oh, shit.” She abruptly released him.
Chance sucked in a lungful of air as he struggled for control, using the opportunity to shuck his boxers completely. Propping herself on one elbow, Jenna grabbed her discarded jeans and began fishing through the pockets until, with a frustrated growl, she gave the pants a vigorous shake. Chance heard the tinkle of something metallic hit the blanket, and then two small foil squares plopped onto her stomach.
He looked at her in disbelief. “You carry condoms in your pocket?”
Even in the darkness, he saw the color that washed into her face. “Not me—my friend,” she explained. “She gave them to me earlier.”
“Give her a kiss for me when you see her,” he said, and tore one of the wrappers open with his teeth.
When he would have rolled the sheath over himself, Jenna’s hands were there to do it for him. Then he was easing himself into her, inch by exquisite inch, while she made small, feminine sounds of pleasure and rocked her hips to meet him. When he was fully seated in her tightness, he paused and struggled for control. She was hot and wet and unbelievably snug, and he could feel the walls of her inner muscles clenching him. The condom had thankfully dulled his sensitized nerve endings, but only enough that he was able to push inside her without coming. He was completely jacked for her. Slowly, he withdrew and then sank back into her, feeling her muscles squeezing him. He groaned as pressure gathered at the base of his spine.
“Christ, you feel good,” he muttered, and thrust again. “I want you to come again, this time with me in you.”
“Oh, God,” she panted as he increased his pace, pulling out until he was almost free from her body, and then plunging back in. “Oh, yeah…”
Reaching down, he caught her leg behind the knee and pushed it back, bracing himself on one hand so that he could watch the spot where they were joined. The sight of his cock disappearing into her body was incredibly arousing, and he knew he wasn’t far from his own orgasm.
“Come for me,” he demanded softly, and releasing her leg, he reached between their bodies to stroke her with his thumb, sliding his finger over the small, slick nub of flesh. She gave a sharp cry of pleasure and lifted her head to watch. Her entire body trembled. Chance quickened his thrusts as he stroked her, feeling his balls tighten painfully with the need for release.
He was only vaguely aware of the distant thwap-thwap of helicopter rotors approaching, signaling the return of the Black Hawks from their night mission. At that moment, an entire squadron of attack choppers could have landed beside them and he would have been helpless to react. Nothing existed but the woman beneath him and the sharp, hot arousal that spiraled through him.
Jenna’s expression was taut, her eyes hazy and unfocused as she raised her gaze to his, and he knew the precise instant when she teetered on the brink of climax and then plummeted over the edge. At the same time, the roar of helicopter engines became deafening as the battalion of Black Hawks flew directly overhead, churning up wind and grass, and causing Chance’s entire body to thrum with vibration. He heard himself give a hoarse shout as he came in a blinding, white-hot rush of pleasure that caused his spine to bow and his molars to ache. Several long moments later, when all he could hear were the surrounding crickets and his own harsh breathing, he became aware of Jenna’s fingers tracing lazy patterns across his lower back, and he raised his head to peer at her.
“You okay?” His voice sounded raspy.
She turned her face and planted a damp kiss against his mouth. Her breath was warm and came in soft pants against his skin. “Better than okay.” She gave a soft laugh. “That was freaking amazing. In fact, I think that may have qualified as the best sex of my life. Two orgasms… Who would have thought?”
Chance smiled against her neck, absurdly pleased by her words and knowing that sex with Jenna Larson had definitely been the best he’d ever had. The only problem was he wanted more.
“Do you think they saw us?”
“Who?” He was having trouble getting his head together, and it took a minute for her words to register. The sound of rotors had dimmed to a distant whir, and then they stopped altogether. “You mean, the helos?
No way. They didn’t have their spotlights on, and their attention would have been focused on the landing pad, and not on the field. Besides, it’s too dark.”
“What if the pilots were wearing night-vision goggles?”
Withdrawing from the warmth of her body, Chance neatly disposed of the condom before reclining back on the blanket and pulling Jenna snugly against his side. “If the pilots were wearing night-vision goggles, and if they spotted us, then all they saw was my backside.” He pressed a kiss against her temple. “Don’t worry.”
Jenna made an incoherent sound that told him she wasn’t completely reassured, but before Chance could soothe her further, something hard and sharp dug into his hip. Reaching beneath him, he retrieved the offending object. He held it up, staring at it in bemusement. A set of military dog tags dangled from the end of his fingers, and since his own tags were fastened securely around his neck, he knew they didn’t belong to him. He turned to Jenna in disbelief.
“Are these yours?”
“What if they are?” Her voice sounded defensive.
“Jesus. Why didn’t you tell me you were active duty?”
“Does it matter?” Pulling her bra into place, she snatched the necklace from his hand and dropped the chain over her head so that the tags nestled between her breasts. Pulling away from Chance, she sat up and fished around on the blanket until she found her panties.
“Goddamn right, it matters,” Chance retorted, watching as she stood up to pull them on. Even as his thoughts raced through the various—and unpleasant—implications of what this could mean, he couldn’t help but admire her lithe form as she quickly got dressed. Unless she was a commissioned officer, he could get into serious trouble for fraternization, since contact with enlisted members was strictly prohibited. “Please tell me you’re not enlisted.”
She paused long enough to give him a tolerant look, and then balled up his discarded boxers and threw them at his chest. “Don’t worry. I may be a sucker for a handsome face, but I’m not completely brainless. I’m an army captain.”
Uniformly Hot! Volume 1 from Harlequin: Letters from HomeBreaking the RulesComing Up for Air Page 37