by Caisey Quinn
Vivien gaped at his disheveled form. He would be handsome no matter what just because God and DNA had been overly generous when it came to him. But he looked like hell. Vivien told him so.
“You look like hell, Corporal. And here I was coming to—”
“Strangle me with jumper cables?”
“Something like that.” Vivien pushed past him into the small but comfortably quaint living area. With its well-worn brown leather furniture and lack of decor on the walls—the place screamed bachelor pad. But it was clean at least, minus a pizza box and a bottle of bourbon on the kitchen table.
“You’re here because you’re mad,” Chase mumbled as he shut the door with a soft click. “At me.”
“Damn straight I am.” She held up her phone. “Who says that shit to someone? To anyone, much less someone they’re . . .”
Chase had looked notably apologetic until she trailed off. Anger with a sharpness that matched her own ire glinted in his gaze. “Someone they’re what, Viv? Fucking? Or wait, that’s past tense, right? Because you dis-a-fucking-peared on me. Who does that kind of shit to someone?”
She fisted her hands at her sides, wanting desperately to strike another human being for the first time in her life.
“I was trying to protect you, you arrogant, stubborn ass. Your career, Chase, everything you’ve worked for, could be taken from you because of me. So excuse the fuck out of me for trying not to get your ass kicked out of the United States Army.”
“Did I ask you to protect me, Private? I sure as hell don’t recall asking for you to watch my six. I told you if anything happened, I’d handle it.”
“And I told you that I didn’t want to do anything to hurt you. Though now I am seriously considering chucking this bottle of bourbon at your head.”
Chase smirked at her. “Go for it. If it will make you feel better.”
She lifted the bottle by the neck, glared hard at him, and took a long, deep pull of liquid. Despite the burn at the back of her throat, it was smooth and not unwelcome.
Chase stepped closer until he was within reaching distance. “I was going to offer you a drink, but sure, help yourself.”
She wiped her mouth in the most unladylike way possible. “Thank you. I will.”
“So you came here to yell at me and drink my booze. What else can I do for you, Private?”
Vivien narrowed her eyes, keeping them level with his bare chest. She stepped forward, placing both hands on his heated skin.
“First, you can apologize for sending me rude, drunken text messages.”
“I’m sorry,” he offered without hesitation. “I missed you. I was angry and intoxicated. Still no excuse, but I am sorry.”
She reached up and ran her thumb slowly across his full bottom lip. She’d missed that bottom lip, missed sucking it, licking it, and feeling it move sensually against her own mouth.
“Second, you can accept my apology in return. I’m sorry I dipped out on you like what we had didn’t matter. I panicked. It was a dick move and I regret it.”
Chase’s eyes darkened, lust swirling in them as they met hers. “I accept.”
When she said nothing else, he arched an eyebrow as if to say “is that all?”
Vivien swallowed hard. “Third, sober up so I don’t feel like I’m taking advantage of you in your inebriated state.”
Chase balked. “Taking advantage of me?”
“Makeup sex, Corporal. Surely you’re familiar with it.”
Chase lifted her off the ground, gripping her ass hard with both hands as she wrapped her legs around his waist. “I think I need a refresher course.”
Vivien giggled against his mouth. “Well, well. Guess I get to be your instructor for a change.”
17
Chase had spent the entire weekend on lockdown in his house.
And he wasn’t complaining in the least.
Vivien rolled over in his arms and groaned. “We have to get out of bed today, Chase. We have no food. More important, we have no coffee.”
Chase groaned. “Who needs coffee?”
“I do. Without it, I have no energy for showering and without showering I have no more energy for sex.”
“Coffee, it is then,” he said, pulling her against him and kissing her deeply. Morning breath be damned. Vivien tasted amazing all hours of the day and night.
She broke the kiss and pinned him with a pointed look. “And you’re taking me on a date tonight. A real, bona fide buy-me-dinner, pull-out-my-chair date.”
Chase grinned. He was already way ahead of her when it came to that but if she wanted to think she was calling the shots, he was happy to indulge her. “Is that right?”
Vivien nodded as she buttoned his shirt over her bare breasts. “It is. Can’t have you thinking I’m easy.” She leaned forward and kissed him sweetly on the lips. “Now. Coffee. Then we go for a run because I feel like a slug. Then . . .”
Chase wrapped his arms around her waist and touched his forehead to hers. “Then I take you on that real date.”
***
After insisting that they run by her place to grab her some clothes so she wouldn’t have to leave his bed, Chase texted Luke to make sure everything was set for the next few days. While she was inside packing a bag, he was in the truck covertly texting.
You’re sure it’s empty?
Luke’s reply was quick, which was good because he wasn’t sure how much time he had before Vivien returned.
I’m positive. No one will be there until Labor Day. You’re good. Key is under the third rock on the path at the back door.
Chase texted him another thank-you, grateful that Luke had come through for him.
When Vivien returned, they took the long way to the grocery store on the other side of town. Once they were inside the large, well-lit market, they browsed, discussed recipes she wanted to try, and picked up the basics. Milk, bread, butter, cheese, turkey from the deli—shaved because that’s how she liked it— sugar, snacks, cereal, all the necessary paper products and plenty of coffee. Chase grabbed a frozen pizza because he wasn’t sure there would be delivery where they were going.
As they reached the checkout aisle, Vivien grabbed a pack of peanut M&Ms and tossed them on the conveyor belt.
“My weakness,” she said with a sheepish grin. “A girl’s got to have a vice or two.”
Chase nodded, making a mental note of her favorite candy while paying the cashier. “So what’s your other one?”
“You,” she whispered, tucking her hands into the back pockets of his jeans and lifting on her tiptoes to place a warm kiss on the back of his neck.
It was a simple thing really, grocery shopping. But there was something special about doing it with her. Hearing her order the meat how she liked it, watching her pick Little Debbie snack cakes from the back of the shelf because she swore that’s where the freshest ones were. She bit her lip as if she were considering life-or-death military maneuvers during wartime when deciding which brand of breakfast blend coffee beans to buy.
She made him smile. He was grinning like an idiot by the time they reached his truck.
“I didn’t expect you to enjoy grocery shopping so much,” Vivien said, nudging his shoulder as she helped load the purchases into the backseat.
“Only with you, sweetheart.” He patted her ass as he reached for the next item from the cart. “Only with you.”
18
“Um, babe . . . Are we lost?” Vivien glanced out the window as the blurred scenery. They’d been driving for nearly two hours. She’d meant like dinner and a movie when she’d told Chase she wanted to go on a date. But she hadn’t seen a restaurant or any signs of civilization, really, in over an hour. All Chase would tell her was that it was a surprise.
He checked the GPS app on his phone. “Nope. Not lost. Should be there in the next thirty minutes or so.”
It was the or so she was worried about.
He’d had her pack a bag, and she’d seen him putting the refrigerated items they’d picked up at the supermarket in a large cooler.
“Are you taking me out in the woods to murder me? Because I gotta say, I did not see that coming, and I’m usually an excellent judge of character.”
Chase laughed openly. “Not this week. But if you ever disappear on me again, I might consider purchasing a cabin in the woods to keep you captive in. Fair warning.”
Vivien nodded. “Noted.”
She closed her eyes and rested her head against the window. The weekend of sex and sleep deprivation was catching up to her. Thirty minutes or so was the perfect time for a quick power nap.
When she came to, it seemed to be only moments later, but a glance at the clock said it was nearly an hour later. The sun was low in the sky, indicative of dinnertime, as was the growl rumbling in her belly.
“We’re here,” Chase informed her before hopping out quickly to retrieve their things.
Vivien surveyed their surroundings. They were at a beach house. The only beach nearby was Myrtle, but this appeared to be private property somewhere she couldn’t easily identify.
“And where is here, exactly?” she asked when she’d unfolded herself from the car and stretched her sleepy limbs.
“Luke’s family’s beach house. It was empty. You and I needed somewhere where we could go on a real date away from prying eyes that might report us to our superiors.”
Vivien gaped openly at the gorgeous house beside where he’d parked. “Wow. Great house.”
Chase shrugged. “I’m probably going to keep you tied up in the bedroom the entire time we’re here, so if you want to see the whole place, now is the time.”
Vivien slapped him playfully on the chest. “What am I going to do with you?”
Chase gave her a wicked grin. “We have several days to find out.”
19
Despite his dirty promise, Chase did not, in fact, keep her in the bedroom—tied up or otherwise. So far, they’d yet to make it to the bedroom. But they had made love on the living room floor in front of the fireplace before they’d even unpacked because Vivien told him that was a fantasy of hers.
Afterward, they’d headed to dinner at a cozy Italian place down the coast. Candlelight flickered against her face as she leaned in close over plates of pasta that smelled amazing.
“You give a good date, Corporal Fisk.”
Chase smiled at her approval. “I try, Private.”
She twirled her pasta in the white cream sauce before placing it in her mouth. “This is insanely good,” she said when she’d swallowed. “Like, every other Italian place is pretty much ruined for me now.”
LaVoy’s was a family-owned place Luke had recommended. Chase was planning to buy Luke a steak and a case of his favorite beer as a thank-you. He wasn’t sure he was ruined for other Italian places, but watching Vivien enjoy her food with reckless abandon—while it became clear that he’d rather watch her eat than eat his own food—definitely indicated that he was ruined for all other women.
You got off on watching her grocery shop, dipshit. Of course you’re ruined.
His subconscious had caught onto the severity of his feelings for this woman long before he had.
After dinner, Vivien demanded they share a dessert. It was a homemade tiramisu that blew his mind. Not necessarily because of the ingredients, but because Vivien sat on his lap and fed some to him. He licked espresso-flavored cream from her fingertip before kissing some off the side of her mouth.
“It’s so, so good,” she practically moaned, “it should be illegal.”
Chase gripped her thighs. “If we don’t leave soon I’m going to do something that’s probably illegal to do in public.”
Vivien filled the spoon with the last of the dessert. “In that case, eat faster.”
Chase laughed through the mouthful she’d forced on him. “You’re a handful, Private Brooks.”
He nuzzled her neck, but she pulled back. “Well then it’s a good thing you have two hands.”
That it was.
He could barely keep them off her the entire drive back to the beach house.
The ocean waves could be heard through the open windows once they were inside, and Chase felt disoriented as if he were drowning. In a way, he was. Drowning in his need for this woman. Falling deeper with every touch, kiss, and slide inside her warm, welcoming heat.
Without a word, he tossed their leftovers onto the counter and backed her into the bedroom. She remained silent as he removed every stitch of clothing from her body.
He explored her erogenous zones in stages. First with his hands, skimming his fingertips over her flesh in her most sensitive spots. Then his lips, kissing and caressing her breasts, stomach, hips, and thighs, before he allowed his tongue to delve into her pulsating center.
The sounds she made became a song, a chant of sorts, propelling him onward, setting the pace for the way their bodies would respond to each touch.
“Chase,” she breathed, and he knew. Knew it was time to take her as high as he could get her to go. The fuse had been lit with them the night they met. Each time she’d come around his cock had been a detonation more satisfying than any other.
Her turned her away from him, admiring the hourglass shape of her full, feminine backside, thankful that she wasn’t a skinny twig of a woman he’d have to be careful not to break. Vivien was strong and sturdy and could handle him as if she were made for him.
He positioned the tip of his dick at her entrance.
She arched against him. Ready. Willing to go where he was taking her.
The deeper he drove into her, the more their sweat-slicked bodies slid against each other in an erotic rhythm, the more he felt connected to her in a way that surpassed anything he’d ever felt before.
Before reaching around to slide his fingers along her clit while he worked himself in and out from behind, he paused to turn her head and kiss her mouth. She kissed him back hard, aggressively and recklessly. Her teeth slammed against his as her tongue took no prisoners.
The only thing his brain could conjure was the repeating thought that, God, this woman was perfect.
When the swelling wave of her orgasm approached, he slowed his motion, grinding harder into her pussy and slamming her G-spot with everything he had. She screamed, for him to stop, to not stop, to go harder, and several ohmygods, but Chase was gone. He’d left his humanity behind and now existed in an animalistic state in which his sole purpose was to please her, to wring every ounce of pleasure from her body. Still impaling her on his shaft, he growled a possessive command in her ear.
“Come again for me, sweetheart. Show me how good I make you feel.”
“Chase.” There was both panic and peace in the way she moaned his name.
“Let go, Vivien. I’m here. I’m right here with you. Come for me, baby.”
His entire body felt in serious danger of bursting apart at the seams. He wouldn’t give in to his own release until she was completely spent.
“Oh God, Chase.”
“I’ve got you. It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
His arms wrapped around her waist as she came so hard he had to hold her up. He surrendered to his own release right along with her, continuing to whisper the promise that he had her in her ear as he helped her limp body into bed.
He had her all right.
But as he lay there with her naked, sated body curled around his, feeling himself dropping into a free fall akin to jumping out of a plane with no parachute, he couldn’t help but wonder who the hell had him.
Her steady, even breathing soothed his concerns. Maybe, just maybe, for the first time in his life the universe was smiling on him. Maybe they would have each other’s backs.
20
“I want to know about you,” Vivien told him as he laid their spread out on the blanket she was sitting on.
It was their last day at the beach and she was sad to see their time end. She’d seen both sides of Chase here. The caveman that fucked her into a coma and a softer, tenderer side that made love instead of fucked hard, that opened up and let his secrets slip out in the quiet stillness after lovemaking. And apparently, that side planned seaside picnics for two.
Chase eyed her skeptically. “Pretty sure you know me pretty well by now, sweetheart.”
She gave him a half smile. “I’m serious. I mean beyond what we do in the bedroom.”
“We did it in the kitchen and the bathroom and the living room too,” he pointed out. When she frowned, he lowered himself onto the blanket beside her. “What do you want to know?”
Vivien pulled her lower lip between her teeth while trying to prioritize the list of things she wanted to know about him.
“You already told me about your dad. That he was kind of a . . .”
“Dick,” Chase supplied for her. “There’s not much else to say about him.”
“And your mom? Was she around?”
She watched the knot in his throat work to swallow before he answered. “She died. I was little, only a few years old. Aneurysm in her brain burst one day when she was taking a nap. I don’t remember her but I grew up pretty certain that my dad blamed me for what happened.”
Vivien’s heart ached. “I’m so sorry.”
Chase didn’t look at her. “It’s fine. I survived. Strawberry?”
She nodded, kissing his fingertips gently when he fed her a ripe red berry.
“What about you?” he asked, expertly shifting the focus from him to her. “What’s your family like?”
Vivien nearly choked on the seeds. She wasn’t prepared to discuss this with him, and technically she wasn’t supposed to discuss it with anyone, which she supposed she should’ve considered before she opened the let’s-talk-about-our-families door.