Ripped!

by Jennifer Labrecque

  “Oh…”

  He was…in short order…ripped. Shoulders, arms, chest, belly—all muscle and taut dark skin with hair scattered over his chest and down the ridged plane of his belly. A man in prime condition. Her Mercury.

  An arrogant smile curved his mouth. He had every right to be arrogant. He obviously worked damn hard to be in that shape. Any man who passed the rigorous training he had, and maintained that training on a regular basis should be proud of what he had. Which was why he could pick her up and carry her across the room as if her 150 pounds was of no consequence.

  “And I thought you were beautiful before…” she said.

  He shook his head, as if she constantly confounded him. “Men aren’t beautiful.”

  Eden hooked her finger in the edge of his jeans and tugged him toward her. “Honey, that is all a matter of perspective.”

  He lowered himself to lie beside her and brushed his hand over her forehead, along the curve and hollow of her cheekbone. His touch, sensuous, reverent had her shivering inside. “You are beautiful. I wasn’t quite sure what hit me this morning and then I looked down and…” He outlined her lips with this finger. “I’m supposed to be prepared for anything. I wasn’t, however, prepared for a woman with midnight-blue eyes, an irresistible mouth, gorgeous legs and sexy red heels.”

  “Soldier, you know exactly what to say,” she said, exploring the texture of his skin with her hand, testing the springiness of his chest hair with her fingers.

  “I’ve wanted to do this all day.” He pushed her back against the mattress and licked her bottom lip. It was quite possibly one of the most erotic things she’d ever had done to her. “And this…” He brushed his mouth over hers in a butterfly kiss, stealing her breath. All thought vanished. Only the sensation of his lips, his breath, his scent, his body heat remained. Then he caught her lower lip in between his teeth and nipped at it. A gentle, insistent tugging. Her nipples hardened even further against her bra as if each nibble, each caress was wired through to the very core of her.

  “If—” he took another lick along her lip “I do anything—” he scraped his teeth against the sensitive flesh he’d just licked “—you don’t like, tell me.”

  “So far, you’ve got a one-hundred percent approval rating.”

  And she figured if he liked doing that to her, chances were he’d like it done to him. She pushed him to his back—which he allowed because she obviously couldn’t push him anywhere he didn’t want to go. Good thing they both wanted to go to the same place.

  “Baby…”

  “Hmm?” she murmured, plying her tongue along his gorgeously chiseled lip. And then she couldn’t resist. She teased the tip of her tongue along the faint cleft in his chin. She wasn’t quite sure why that was so sexy, but it was. The faint scrape of whiskers, the slight taste of salt against the tip of her tongue.

  “Take your shirt off,” he said, in a husky tone. “Please,” he tacked on.

  And there was something very arousing about that please. She was certain Lieutenant Colonel Mitch Dugan didn’t ask for things. He ordered and expected his directive to be carried out. But she knew with a certainty that he didn’t ask. If she hadn’t been thoroughly enchanted with him already, his please would have sealed the deal. He could get pretty much anything out of her with that entreaty. Well, he could pretty much get anything out of her anyway, but…

  “Since you said please,” she said with a teasing smile.

  “Is that all it takes?” He raised his arms, pillowing his head on his hands.

  Eden swallowed hard. Trip another trigger for her. That thatch of dark hair in his armpits, the swell and bulge of bicep and tricep…Dear God, she was in imminent danger of just melting into a puddle of desire right beside him. Discovering his dry sense of humor had been a nice surprise today. It was an even nicer surprise to have it turn up in the bedroom. Is that all it takes?

  “There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?” She edged her shirt up her waist, then suffered an attack of cold feet. He was rock-solid and ripped. He was sculpted and perfect. She wasn’t. She was rounded and the ugly truth was she looked a whole lot better with her clothes on than without, considering that she had a midriff roll going and her thighs could be a whole lot tighter.

  His hiss of indrawn breath broke the room’s silence. It wasn’t a horrified gasp. It was the sound of a man who liked what he saw. Obviously he appreciated curves and softness. All her insecurities vanished beneath the appreciation glittering in his green eyes.

  So she continued—slowly, deliberately edging her shirt up, her skin sensitized to the slide of material over her, past her shoulders and over her head. Cool air settled on her skin, making her even more aroused, if that was possible.

  “Red—” his voice rasped and it had the same effect on her as his calloused fingers against her skin “—is a good color on you. I should’ve known this morning when I saw those shoes. Are your panties red, too?”

  From the bulge in the front of his jeans, he liked the color. A lot.

  She edged off of the bed and slipped off the flats she’d worn earlier, then slowly slid the zipper of her jeans down.

  She worked the jeans over her hips with a little more wiggle than was necessary but he seemed to enjoy the show. Then she stepped out of her pants and into the red heels she’d tossed over by the dresser earlier.

  Eden strolled over to the side of the bed. “A matching set.”

  He unfolded his hands from beneath his head and reached for her. “Come here. Please.”

  HE COULDN’T THINK. HE COULD barely breathe. It was as if everything in him, about him, was focused on her. It had been this way all day long, from the very moment she’d bounced off of him and onto her lovely ass in that hallway. How he could want her, feel this way about a woman he’d just met less than eighteen hours earlier was…confounding. But then again, everything about her was confounding.

  “You wanted me here. I’m here.”

  He wrapped his hands around her hips and lifted her onto the bed next to him. “No. I wanted you here.” Her skin was warm, soft silk beneath his hands. “And if—no, when—everything else comes off, please keep the red heels on.”

  “Is that an order?”

  “It’s whatever you want it to be—an order, a request, a desperate man’s plea.”

  “You don’t look desperate to me. Take off your pants, Lieutenant Colonel.”

  “That sounded suspiciously like a direct order.”

  “It’s whatever you want it to be.”

  He stood and unbuttoned his jeans. “It doesn’t really matter, does it?”

  “Not really.” She settled back on her elbows, half sitting, half reclining, her eyelids lowering to a sexy half-mast, watching him. Waiting. “Take your time.”

  He slowly slid his zipper down. She’d given him a show, so he’d return the favor. He knew, without being arrogant, that he was in good shape. And he knew from the look in her eyes that she appreciated what good shape he was in. He couldn’t quite manage the hip wiggle she did, and he had to admit he felt moderately ridiculous even thinking about giving it a try. “I’m a soldier, not a stripper.”

  From her vantage point on the bed, Eden grinned. “I think you might have a second career in your future.”

  “I think not.” Nevertheless he turned his back to her and gave it a shot. He imagined being inside her and instead of an in-out thrust, he’d grind against her.

  Behind him, the sharp hiss of her indrawn breath filled the room’s silence. “Oh, my,” she said.

  He pivoted on one foot, turning to face her in his briefs. Her eyes skimmed over his chest, down his belly, to his erection. Her eyes widened. “Oh. My.”

  He hooked his thumbs in the elastic waistband and paused, giving her the opportunity to tell him to slow down. Instead a smile that could only be considered an invitation to keep going blossomed over her face and lit her eyes.

  He slid his underwear down, stepped out of them, and strai
ghtened. “Don’t move,” she ordered, a rich, husky note in her voice. “I’m taking a mental picture of you.” Her gaze slid over him as if she was studying his contours and planes. It was the next best thing to feeling her fingers against his skin. His penis lengthened, hardened even more at the heat in her eyes.

  “Are you through looking?”

  “No. But I’m a multitasker. I’d like to taste and touch at the same time.”

  He braced one knee on the bed and paused before joining her on the mattress. He traced his index finger along the delicate blue vein running along the top of her foot, past the indention of her ankle to the curve of her calf. Beneath his fingertip, she shivered and his entire body tightened in response.

  She reached for him at the same time he lowered himself beside her, flesh against flesh except for the scraps of her panties and bra. As much as he wanted her, he wanted all of her. It wouldn’t be enough to thrust between her thighs and be done. He wanted to know the soft skin behind her knees, the taste of the indent of her back. He wanted to explore and capture and know her sparkle, her joy.

  So he set about doing just that.

  EVERYTHING CAME DOWN TO HER, to him. Eden gave herself over to the feel of his hands on her shoulders, her belly, her thighs. The texture of his skin against hers. The hair of his chest, the heaviness of his erection against her hip, his mouth teasing, taunting, nuzzling, nibbling down her neck, her chest. She sucked in a heated breath when he slid her bra straps over and down her shoulders.

  She arched her back, offering herself to him. His breath was warm against the tops of her breasts. The ache inside her intensified to a steady thrum. She wanted his hands and beautiful mouth on her. She wanted this man so like the god in her garden to feast on her, to make her a part of him.

  Mitch lowered his head until his mouth hovered just above her nipple and she ached for the feel of him against her flesh. He teased his tongue against her tip and sure, swift heat coursed from her breast to her core, intensifying the moisture gathered between her thighs.

  He laved, nipped and suckled one breast and then the other. Eden wrapped her leg around his bare hip and buttocks, pulling him closer until his penis nudged against her wet satin panties. Her hips lifted, bringing her mound into exquisite contact with his erection.

  Skin on skin, the ripple of muscles beneath her hands mesmerized her as she stroked and kneaded his back. And then, suddenly, her bra was gone and he was tearing open and donning a condom. Her heart pounded and her breath came in sharp, quick gasps. She reached up and pulled his mouth back down to hers, bring his hard hair-roughened chest into contact with her breasts.

  He raised his head and broke their kiss long enough to ask, “Panties on and pushed aside or off?”

  “On and pushed aside.”

  She gasped into his mouth as he slowly nudged into her, filling her with male heat, stretching her. He set up a slow, steady rhythm and with each thrust she climbed a little further, until she felt herself beginning to shatter inside. Amazingly, he pushed her to climb a little higher, to hold on a little tighter. And when she finally came, it was the most incredible sexual experience she’d ever had.

  8

  MITCH MENTALLY STEADIED himself as he excused himself to the bathroom to clean up. Once that was out of the way, he splashed bracing cold water onto his face. He considered himself a thoughtful lover. He never jumped right in unless that’s what the woman of the hour wanted. He didn’t finish first. He was a man who knew supreme self-control and discipline. All his training had invariably touched every aspect of his life, including his sex life. With Eden Walters, however, his discipline and self-control had gone AWOL. They’d had a rhythm together, as if the two of them were in some kind of silent, weird sync. And it was a damn good thing. Mitch wasn’t altogether sure that he could have waited had her orgasm not been on pace with his own. And that had never, ever happened before.

  He should walk back out there, thank her, pull on his clothes and head on home. He’d come. She’d come. All was well on the let’s-hook-up front. That’s what he should do. But it sure as hell wasn’t what he wanted to do. And it wasn’t what he was going to do.

  Because, damn it all to hell and back, he’d just had her…and he wanted her again. It was like going on a recon mission and gathering good intel, but knowing if you went back in, there was still a lot left to discover. And since he’d never been one to bullshit himself, he wanted to prove that he could have sex with her and still keep control. So, she’d screwed with his self-discipline once. It wouldn’t happen again. He needed to know it couldn’t happen again. And he’d prove it, although the thought occurred to him that he might screw himself to do just that. At least it’d be a hell of a way to go.

  He opened the bathroom door and flipped the light switch off. Eden had turned on one of the bedside lamps and stood in front of the window wearing those red heels and a short cream-colored robe knotted at her waist. The faint red of her panties showed through the robe’s light color. She looked over her shoulder, an almost-shy smile on her face as if she were suffering from a case of the awkward morning-afters. Just when he thought he had her figured out, she surprised him.

  Instinctively, automatically he returned her smile, crossing the room to stand behind her. He lightly bracketed her shoulders in his hands and God help him, a shiver ran through him at the hint of heat and sweet supple skin beneath the silky fabric. “Hey.”

  Damn. That was it? That was all he could come up with? Yep. Because her body heat seemed to shimmer all around him, drawing him like a light in a dark tunnel. And her scent that now carried his scent, as well…. Yep, hey was all he could come up with. Control, Dugan, control.

  “Hey, yourself.”

  Did she want him to go? Stay? He couldn’t read her. He rubbed slow circles against her shoulders with his palms. “What are you looking at?”

  She leaned back into him. Signal received. He could stay. “Fayetteville. Do you like it here?”

  He encircled her waist with his arms, pulling her into closer contact, her satin-covered curves fitting against him just right. He bent his head, her hair teasing against his face, and nuzzled her neck, inhaling her scent, hungry for another taste of her. “I like it here, and here, and here.”

  An unsteady note colored her low, husky laugh. “That wasn’t what I meant.” She raised one arm and brushed her fingers over his head, curling them around his neck. “But I think I prefer your conversational thread.”

  He used his teeth to tug her robe off her shoulder, exposing the top half of her breast. “How do you like it here?” he asked, nibbling his way over her skin.

  She pressed her ass more firmly against his crotch, a small gasp hissing from between her lips. “I like it.”

  He parted her robe slightly and slid his hands over the smooth soft skin of her belly while he continued to make love to her shoulder with his mouth. Damn but she felt good against him, beneath his hands. He lightly skimmed the line of her panties, tracing the outline of the scrap of red satin and lace, then moved past to grasp her thighs in his hands. He squeezed, careful not to be too hard. She moaned and wiggled against him. Continuing to squeeze her thighs, he pulled them slightly as if to open her up. Her breath came in short pants. Then he ran his thumb along the damp crotch of her panties and she jerked against him. She definitely liked that and he was all about pleasing her, all about driving her over the edge. As long as he stayed in control this time.

  Neither one of them said a word. This was all about body language. He moved his thumb against her again and her soft moan told him all he needed to know. He slid his finger beneath the edge of her panties. He rimmed her, carefully avoiding her clit and her slick wet opening. Teasing her, toying with her. Dammit she felt good. And his fully erect dick was now happily nestled against her robe between the cheeks of her ass. She rocked, as if torn between wanting his dick or his fingers. He teased his fingertip through the soft curls between her thighs, touching her, but not where she wanted. She
arched against him, like a heat-seeking missile tracking its target. He deftly avoided giving her what she wanted. Not yet. Only this was turning into an equally sweet torture for him, as well.

  He slid his left hand up and cupped her breast, toying with her erect nipple, notching both of them higher and higher. Finally, he skated his other finger along her slick wet folds until he found her swollen nubbin. He eased a finger into her, his thumb teasing against her clit and she mewled in the back of her throat, a wanton sound that sent him skating dangerously close to his own edge.

  “Mitch.” It was more a gasp than an actual enunciation of his name. She grasped his wrist and pulled his finger out of her. She turned to face him, her nipples hard. She drew his hand to her mouth and licked his finger that had been inside her and then took it in her mouth and sucked on it.

  He felt as if he’d just had a grenade go off beside him. With a sweet smile she turned, her hand still on his wrist, taking him with her. Two steps and she was at the armchair next to the window. Moments later, her panties fell to the floor. Another second passed and she was on the chair, her back to him, her legs on the arms, showing him the gate to Paradise. She leaned forward, resting her arms on the chair back and looked over her shoulder.

  “I think we’re both ready to complete this mission, Lieutenant Colonel.”

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Eden was ready and waiting in the hotel lobby at precisely 6:00 a.m. Mitch had gone home around four to shower and change. He was swinging by to pick her up and drive her into the base. They’d get there just as the first round of early morning physical training ended. She hoped to finish up her candidate list and start preliminary shooting that afternoon, which should work out well from a lighting standpoint. She’d like to fire off several shots at the ropes section of the obstacle course….

  “Ready?”

  Eden jumped. She’d been so lost in mentally planning her day, she hadn’t seen him enter the lobby. But he was certainly here now. Every inch of her was aware of all six plus feet of him. Too bad every inch of her had to be content with merely looking. While the nights might be their own, during the days, they both had to do their jobs and maintain some measure of circumspection. No looks, no touches, no nothing.