Uniformly Hot! Volume 1 from Harlequin: Letters from HomeBreaking the RulesComing Up for Air

by Rhonda Nelson

  “My turn,” she breathed against his lips, gratified when he reached behind his head and grasped a fistful of the shirt, dragging it off. Jenna knew her eyes went a little hazy, but honestly, the sight of his lean, supremely muscled torso took her breath away. She couldn’t prevent her hands from drifting over his chest to explore the ridges of his abdomen, before sliding her arms around him and pressing her bare breasts against his warm skin.

  She planted damp kisses along his neck before letting her lips follow the angle of his jaw until she encountered his ear. Taking his lobe between her teeth, she bit down gently and then soothed the area with her tongue until he turned his face, seeking her lips with his own. The kiss was hot and potent and so deep that their teeth scraped briefly. She heard a soft moaning sound and was shocked when she realized it came from her.

  “Darlin’,” he rasped, pulling slightly away to search her face, “I need to touch you.”

  Jenna sank back in the troop seat, her breasts heaving. There was no embarrassment now, only an urgent need that demanded fulfillment. Chance knelt on the hard floor between her knees, his hands at the waistband of her shorts. His face was taut, his attention riveted on her. In answer to his silent question, Jenna raised her hips and allowed him to tug both her shorts and her panties down over her hips and thighs. He pulled her sneakers off, too, until she sprawled completely naked on the small seat.

  “Oh, man, you are so gorgeous,” he breathed, his eyes searing her as he took in every inch of her exposed body. Jenna could feel the heat rising on her skin like a sunburn wherever his gaze touched her.

  “You act like you’ve never seen me before.” Her voice sounded breathless.

  “I’ve never seen you like this before,” he countered. “Besides, it was pretty damned dark that night by the flight line. But this—” he glanced at the windows “—this is like high noon by comparison. I feel like I’m seeing you for the first time.”

  Despite the haziness of the sandstorm, weak morning light filtered through the windows of the Black Hawk, outlining Chance’s features and casting intriguing shadows across his toned body. Jenna felt as if she was seeing him for the first time, too, and only part of that was the result of discovering his true identity.

  Now he eased her knees apart and slid a hand between her thighs to cup her. Jenna’s sex throbbed with need, and she knew if he explored farther, he would find her slick with moisture. She was so aroused that part of her feared she would orgasm immediately.

  With exquisite care, Chance slid a finger along her cleft. Jenna shivered with sensation and forced herself to remain still. But when he swirled his thumb through her wetness and then found the small rise of her clitoris, she nearly came out of the chair.

  “Easy,” he murmured. “How’s this?”

  The things that he was doing with his fingers defied description, and Jenna could only gasp in pleasure and let her head fall helplessly back against the seat. He was relentless, bringing her close to the brink of orgasm several times, but each time pulling back and denying her relief. The fact that she was completely nude and open to him while he was still partially clothed only heightened her excitement and lent a dark thrill of the forbidden to what they were doing.

  “I want to eat you,” he muttered, his attention fixed on the swollen flesh he stroked with his fingers.

  His words caused her to clench her sex hard, and then he was dragging her hips to the very edge of the chair and pushing her thighs wide. He bent his head and kissed the inside of one knee, before skating up her leg. His fingers massaged her mons, arousing her but denying her any direct contact. When he reached the juncture of her thighs, he breathed deeply and then glanced up at her, his eyes dark with arousal.

  “Christ, you smell good,” he growled softly.

  Before Jenna could prepare herself, he put his mouth on her, using his fingers to separate her slick folds and expose her to his greedy tongue. She groaned deeply, feeling herself swell even more at the sensation of his hot mouth on her sensitized flesh. But when he eased a finger into her and began to flick her clitoris with his tongue, she writhed helplessly in pleasure, feeling the irresistible build of an orgasm.

  “Come for me,” he rasped, and slid a second finger inside her.

  His sexy demand, combined with the erotic things he was doing, was too much for Jenna, and with a strangled cry, she fragmented around him, her body shuddering with the intensity of her release. Even then, he didn’t stop, laving her softly with his tongue until he’d drawn every last shiver from her spent body.

  She pushed weakly at his head. “Stop, please,” she gasped. “You’re killing me.”

  He made a sound of regret and pulled away, wiping his hand across his mouth as he smiled at her with masculine pride. “That was unbelievable. I could do that all day.”

  Satiated as she was, his words caused a tight coiling in her abdomen and the inner muscles of her channel tightened.

  “I want you inside me,” she whispered.

  His eyes grew languorous. “Oh, darlin’,” he groaned. “Trust me, I want the same thing, but I didn’t exactly come prepared.” He rocked back on his heels and pulled his pockets inside out, showing her that they were empty. Beneath the soft fabric of his shorts, Jenna could see the evidence of his own arousal, and her mouth grew dry at the thought of releasing his stiff flesh.

  “I’m on the Pill,” she ventured. “So if that’s what’s worrying you…”

  His expression grew taut. “I just had my military physical,” he replied, his voice roughened with need, “and I can promise you that I’m completely clean.”

  “Then come inside me,” she invited, and leaned back in the chair, allowing her legs to fall open. She watched, entranced, as Chance’s breathing hitched and every muscle in his body seemed to tighten. He glanced around the stark interior of the Black Hawk, and Jenna could see that he was trying to figure out a way to make this work. Every surrounding surface was unforgiving metal, except for the troop seats.

  “Come here,” she said, shifting forward to the edge of the seat. Reaching out, she caught his hips and drew him toward her. She knew the precise moment when he understood her intent, and she watched in fascination as a dark flush of arousal stained his neck.

  “You don’t have to do this,” he growled softly, watching her with eyes that glittered.

  “Oh, I know.” She smiled. “But I want to.”

  Slowly, she pulled him closer until he stood bracketed between her bare knees. Hooking her thumbs into the elastic waistband of his shorts, she drew them slowly downward, her breath catching as his erection sprang into view. He was full and heavy, as thick around as her wrist, and her mouth watered at the sight of him.

  Jenna curled one hand around the base of his cock, feeling how he jumped against her palm, and smoothed the tip of one finger across the blunted head, where a bead of moisture beckoned her. He was hot and hard, and she could feel the blood churning beneath her fingers, causing him to swell even more.

  “Oh, wow,” she murmured, stroking the velvety skin. “You are really something.” Glancing up at his face, she saw his expression was rigid, evidence of how tightly he controlled himself. “I wonder how you taste?”

  Leaning forward, she ran her tongue over him, reveling in his sweet-salty taste. She heard him suck in a sharp breath, and then she slid her mouth over him, licking the length of him and drawing on him as if he was her favorite flavored Popsicle. Chance gave a deep grunt of pleasure and, reaching down, scooped her hair to one side so that he could watch. Peeking up the length of his body, Jenna saw he was holding on to an overhead grip with his free hand, as if he didn’t quite trust his knees to support him. The expression on his face as he watched her was so incredibly sexy that she felt a rush of liquid heat pool at her center. Stroking him in concert with the movement of her lips, she us
ed her free hand to cup and fondle his balls, feeling an intense satisfaction as they tightened in her palm.

  “Oh, man,” he groaned, “I’m not going to last much longer.”

  Jenna would have been happy for him to lose control right then, but he clearly had other ideas. Pulling free, he bent down and kissed her, before tugging her to her feet and taking her place on the troop seat.

  “Here,” he said, guiding her onto his lap, “let’s try this.”

  Jenna straddled his hard thighs, bracing her hands on his shoulders as she levered herself over his straining cock. He helped her, lifting her up and using a hand to position himself at the entrance to her body. Slowly, Jenna lowered herself down, sighing in pleasure as he eased into her, inch by exquisite inch, until he completely stretched and filled her. When she was sitting flush against his thighs, his hard length buried inside her, she raised her gaze to his. What she saw in his eyes nearly took her breath away. His face was so rapt, so intent, that for a moment she could only stare helplessly back at him.

  “Kiss me,” she demanded softly.

  He did, sliding his hands over her bare back and beneath the heavy fall of her hair to cradle her scalp as he fastened his mouth to hers. Their lips fused together in a moist, hungry mating that made her toes curl. He smelled like soap and clean sweat, and he tasted faintly of coffee and mint.

  She wanted to eat him.

  When he moved his hands to her rear and cupped her buttocks, she helped him by slowly moving up and down, feeling the hot, thick slide of his penis inside her. The inner muscles of her sex tightened around him, and when he squeezed her cheeks, she could feel the beginning of another orgasm.

  “Oh, man,” he groaned into her mouth, “you feel too good.”

  In answer, Jenna raised herself up until he was almost free of her body, and wound her arms around Chance’s head, threading her fingers through his velvet-rough hair as she kissed him deeply. Then she lowered herself back onto his shaft. Her breasts were flattened against his chest, and as his fingers squeezed and massaged her bottom, she quickened the rhythm of her hips, meeting his upward thrusts with increasing urgency. The combination of his tongue in her mouth and his rigid length filling her was almost more than she could bear. But when he made a deep groaning noise of pleasure and tightened his grip on her cheeks, she knew he was close to climaxing.

  Breaking the kiss, Jenna pulled slightly back to watch his face, entranced by his stark expression of pleasure-pain. His breathing came in harsh gasps, and when he looked into her eyes, Jenna felt something shift in her chest at the knowledge that she had done this to him.

  “I’m coming,” he managed to say through gritted teeth, and surged upward. At the same time, he slid a hand between their straining bodies to press a finger against her clitoris. Jenna actually felt him pulse strongly inside her, and she heard herself cry out in pleasure as her body fisted helplessly around his hard length. He kept his fingers on her until she stopped shuddering, and then she collapsed, boneless, against his chest. He held her tightly, one hand smoothing her hair as he murmured words of endearment.

  Beneath her ear, she could hear the heavy, swift beat of his heart. He was still hard inside her, and she experienced a moment of panic when she wished—just for a second—that they could remain like this forever. She didn’t want to return to reality, where romance was nothing more than an illusion—a few stolen moments inside a military helicopter. She wanted to pretend, at least for a little bit, that this meant something to both of them.

  “Hey,” Chance murmured against her hair. “You okay?”

  She nodded, wanting to curl closer, but he was already disengaging himself from her arms. Reluctantly, Jenna stood, allowing him to withdraw from her. He searched the floor until he found her discarded handkerchief and gave it a couple of hard shakes before he silently handed it to her. Turning away from him, she quickly cleaned herself up while he found his shorts and began pulling them on.

  Jenna didn’t know what to say to him. The sex had been incredible, as she’d known it would be. But the man who had brought her such pleasure with so little effort was gone, and she hardly recognized the hard-eyed soldier who stood watching her moodily. She could almost guess what was coming, and she dressed swiftly, as if her clothing could offer her some kind of protection.

  “We need to talk,” he said bluntly, and Jenna knew there wasn’t anything that could protect her from the truth.

  8

  CHANCE SCRUBBED A HAND over his face and lowered himself into one of the troop seats. Jenna watched him warily, and her gaze flicked once to the locked sliding doors. Given the right provocation, he realized she’d bolt again. He chose his words carefully.

  “Look, I want you to know that I didn’t plan for that to happen.”

  She nodded. “I do.”

  “But I’m not going to say I’m sorry, because it wouldn’t be true.”

  Jenna looked away, silent. He knew she wasn’t sorry, either. Hell, she’d all but initiated the encounter, but he was beginning to know enough about her to realize that she wouldn’t welcome a reminder. Despite the fact the sex had been great, she probably considered it a huge mistake. He couldn’t help wondering if she’d have felt differently had it been his brother who had come after her, and not him.

  “I know you have this thing against pilots,” he began, and put up a hand to forestall her when she would have protested. “I get it, I really do. But we’re in completely separate units, and I think that if you’d just give it a chance, we could make this work.”

  Her gaze snapped back to his, and he could see the dismay in their hazel depths. “Make what work? A booty call every time I pass through Kabul?”

  Chance kept his voice patient. “This doesn’t have to be about sex, Jenna. Could we at least try to get to know each other before you completely scrap any chance at a relationship?”

  She hesitated, her inner conflict written on her face so clearly that he almost took pity on her. Almost.

  “You think you know all there is to know about me because I’m a pilot, and therefore I must be like all the other pilots you’ve met,” Chance replied tightly, struggling to control his patience. “But the truth is, you don’t know me at all.” Stepping toward her, he cupped her cheek in one hand, gratified when she didn’t pull away. “I know what it’s like to have something to prove, darlin’.”

  She half turned her face into his hand. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I think you do,” he said. He could almost feel her softening. “Why didn’t you tell me your father is Erik Larson?”

  “That has nothing to do with anything.”

  Chance wasn’t convinced. “Doesn’t it? Your dad happens to be one of the most heroic helicopter pilots of all time, and you end up following in his footsteps. It’s natural that people are going to compare you, and that you’re going to feel you need to live up to his expectations. Or his reputation.”

  She gave a soft laugh. “And what would you know about it? Look at you. You’re practically perfect.”

  “Plenty,” he assured her. “Did you happen to notice my bigger-than-life brother? He’s always been the best at whatever he puts his mind to, and I’m not going to lie and tell you it’s easy to be his twin. People have always compared us, and no matter how much I tried to be like him, I always came up short. Even now, you should see how people react when they hear he’s a special ops commando, while I’m a helicopter pilot. It’s like I’m fifteen years old all over again.”

  Chance recalled those competitive years in high school, when he’d struggled to best his brother in everything. But Chase had been a superlative athlete and student, and it had seemed, no matter how well Chance did, he inevitably ended up in his brother’s shadow. So he’d chosen a different path. He’d become an adrenaline junkie, an
d where Chase had garnered attention for the way he tackled and overcame every challenge with deliberate precision, Chance had become notorious as a risk taker. He’d liked fast cars and easy girls, and if his family had disapproved of his choices, at least they were taking notice of him.

  But the need to compete with Chase had become so ingrained in him that when his brother had announced his plans to join the military, Chance was right there beside him. It had been the best choice he’d ever made, and had enabled him to finally step out of his brother’s shadow and excel at something in his own right.

  Was the need to compete with Chase still there? Oh, yeah. But now the rivalry was friendly, and Chance no longer worried about living up to his family’s expectations. He was living up to his own, and that’s what mattered.

  Jenna looked at him, speculation gleaming in her eyes. “I would have thought just the opposite was true—that your brother would have come up short when compared to you.”

  Chance grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment. But I guess what I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to be perfect. Your father was an exception, and it would be unrealistic to expect to be just like him.”

  Jenna gave a derisive snort. “Trust me, I do not aspire to be like my father.”

  There was an underlying issue there, but Chance knew better than to pursue it. He recalled something she’d said during their first night together; that her negative opinion of pilots was based on a lifetime of observation. Had she been referring to her father? He knew plenty of guys in the military who were exceptional soldiers but lousy husbands and fathers. Had Erik Larson fallen into that category? If so, it explained a lot about her attitude.