SEAL's Technique Box Set (A Navy SEAL Romance)

by Claire Adams

  “Here, let me,” he said softly, his hand closing over mine to take the keys from me.

  Damn, the man was controlling. But the way in which he took control was so gentle, so genuine, that instead of making me feel incapable, it made me feel taken care of. Protected.

  I barely suppressed a shiver from the chills that swept down my spine. With a quick, sure movement, he unlocked the door, then turned the handle, and I stepped inside my small entrance hall, flipping on a light.

  I looked back over my shoulder to find him standing in the doorway, bracing his hands on the doorframe. He waited there, radiating blatant sexual energy, his eyes a combination of lust and indecision.

  “What’re you waiting for? An invitation?”

  “Yes,” he answered, without hesitation. “You know that inviting me inside earlier doesn’t mean you have let me in now, right? Or that if you do, it doesn’t mean anything has to happen.”

  My lips curled into a half-smile, and I sighed in fake exasperation. “I don’t know how to do calligraphy, so I can’t make you a written invitation, but I meant it when I said I wanted you to come in. As for what happens then, we’ll never know if you keep standing at the threshold.”

  “Yeah, guess you’re right,” he said, as he pushed off the frame and stalked forward. My pulse quickened as he filled my vision, my thoughts jumping to what it’d felt like to have his skin under my fingers. In two strides, he was standing right there, his breath sweet as he leaned down, with his lips only inches away from mine.

  Pacey watched me expectantly, waiting for something with a hint of hunger in his eyes. His raw desire made me powerful and turned on, all the uncertainty faded into the background. I wanted this; I wanted him. I had since the first time I’d seen him, and he wanted me.

  Suddenly, I knew what he was waiting for. My voice was only just louder than a whisper when I said, “Yes. This is okay; I’m okay.”

  His mouth brushed over mine almost sweetly, our lips meeting for a soft caress that I pushed myself up on my toes to deepen. It was a different kind of kiss from those we’d had before, and it sent awareness rushing through my limbs, my nerve endings waking as the heat in my blood zapped at them.

  One of his hands came up to grip my waist while the other cupped my face. The kiss changed when he ran his tongue across my lower lip and slid inside my mouth, rubbing mine with that same expertise that had driven me out of my mind last time. Only this time, I had no intention of stopping him. No reservations that he was absolutely what I wanted.

  I knew that things were happening too fast with him, but I didn’t care anymore. Within seconds, I was pushing his leather jacket back over his shoulders, and his hands were on the knot that kept my dress in place.

  Deftly tugging on the knot, it came loose, and he hurriedly went to work on the inside knot on the dress with a soft groan falling from his lips when he discovered it. “Please tell me this is the last one.”

  “Nope,” I smiled, then it dawned on me that we were still in my entrance hall. “Bedroom?”

  “Where?” he asked, taking my earlobe between his teeth and sucking on it.

  Holy hell. That felt amazing. My thoughts spun, and I pushed up against him, trying to get closer to him when I remembered he had asked me a question.

  “Down the hall,” I whispered, jerking my head toward it. His hands fell to my ass, and he lifted me effortlessly, like I weighed nothing or belonged against him that way. I hooked my ankles behind him as his lips returned to mine.

  Carrying me down the hall, he kept kissing me, his tongue hot and insistent. I returned his kisses feverishly. The curtains in my bedroom were open, the one streetlight outside softening the angles of his body when he lay me down on my bed, the mattress dipping slightly from the weight of him when he climbed on after me.

  Then he was above me, sexier and more gorgeous than he’d ever been before. His mouth slid down my jaw to my neck, my breathing hitching with each one of his kisses, my fingers combing through his thick hair.

  I’d only had three cocktails, but I felt drunk. Intoxicated by him. His lips on my skin, his scent in my bedroom, his weight as he kept himself propped on his forearms with his lower body against mine. Being with Pacey like this made me feel a pure, primal need. I was burning up, writhing underneath him, tugging at the hem of his shirt. He lifted his head from my throat, the ghost of a smile on his lips as he reached behind his head and pulled it off seamlessly.

  My breath caught when I took in the absolute perfection that was Pacey’s torso. Without conscious thought I reached for him, my fingers skimming the deep indentations of his abs, almost reverently exploring the cords of muscle that I’d previously only felt through his shirt. He sighed and closed his eyes.

  When he opened them again, his eyes were darker than I’d ever seen as he raked them over my body in my half-opened dress. His fingers nimbly undid the last knot, and I lifted my shoulders so he could push it off, the fabric pooling underneath me.

  He sucked in a deep breath when he took me in, wearing nothing but the bra and panties that I’d sworn I’d worn for myself, but somewhere deep inside had hoped he would get to see. Even if I hadn’t wanted to admit it to myself or hope for it before.

  “You’re so damn gorgeous,” I whispered, my eyes hungrily sweeping every inch of his tanned, exposed skin.

  He smiled and ran his hand between my breasts, while my hands looped around his neck so that I could pull him back down to me. He came willingly, punctuating his words with kisses. “I was thinking the same thing, but mine was a little naughtier.”

  Laughing, he shook his head and lowered his weight over me again. “Okay, full disclosure, it wasn’t a little naughtier. It was lot naughtier.”

  I smiled against his mouth and ran my hands down the muscles in his back, my breathing picking up quickly. “Show me.”

  My hips rocked against his, and he let out a low hiss when we connected. I felt him against my core through the few layers of material we still had left between us. As his hands skimmed my ribs, I arched up, and he finally palmed one of my breasts.

  I whimpered as his thumb brushed over my nipple, tightening both of them to little peaks. Pacey kissed me again, long and deep. “You sure?”

  “No,” I snapped, frustrated that he was refusing to touch me properly. “I was asking you to show me constellations again.”

  His hand skirted down my side, smirking as he smacked his head with his hand and watched me writhe beneath him. “Yeah? Okay, let’s go, then.”

  “Pacey,” I practically growled at him. He leaned down and took my breast into his mouth, and I moaned out loud. The hand that wasn’t making its way to where I needed it most undid the front clasp of my bra, and then his mouth was on me properly.

  My hips rocked again, seeking out some sort of pressure to satiate the need spiraling tight within me. I found it in the form of a still-covered erection, and he let me grind against him for a second before he brought his fingers to rub over the lacy thong I was wearing.

  All thoughts rushed from my mind when he pushed the fabric aside and ran his fingers along my seam. His thumb dipped to brush my clit, and I saw fireworks explode behind my eyebrows. A gasp of pleasure burst through me.

  “God, Juliana. You’re killing me.” Pacey groaned when I bucked against his hand. Our gazes locked and the intensity in his was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. He covered my mouth with his, stroking me faster. “Slow later, yeah?”

  “Yes,” I hissed. I would’ve agreed to go to the moon with him if that was what he wanted, so long as he kept going. My hands flew to his shoulders when he increased the pressure on my clit, my nails biting into his skin.

  If he kept going, I was going to—“Pacey!”

  “Let go, baby. Come for me,” he whispered, changing up his angle and stroking me with expert precision that I didn’t care to know where he’d learned.

  The all-consuming need for him overtook me, and with a final brush of his fingers, an amaz
ing orgasm ripped through me. My muscles tightened and quivered as white-hot pleasure shot from my core to my extremities.

  Pacey kissed me as I started coming down, panting and trembling, and somehow still wanting him. Even more than before. If he could do that with only his fingers, I needed more.

  “I love watching you come,” he told me, his voice sounding like a revelation that stripped away my defenses and expended the connection that I felt with him.

  There was more than a physical need burning in his eyes when he looked at me, almost in wonder, though his muscles were locked tight and his posture betrayed that he needed me as much as I needed him—if not more.

  Our eyes locked and I felt such an intense connection with him that it felt almost tangible. “Make love to me, Pacey. And don’t ask me if I’m sure.”

  He groaned and shook his head again. “I—”

  Silencing him with a kiss, I let my thighs fall open as I unbuttoned his jeans. “I want you, Pacey. Now.”

  He kept his eyes on mine as he sat back and quickly discarded the remainder of his clothes, pulling a condom from his wallet before he dropped it on his jeans. The room was only lit with the soft light from the street outside, but he was still gloriously naked. His eyes were hot on mine as he sheathed himself.

  My stomach clenched in anticipation when he crawled over me again, tenting himself above me. He leaned his forehead against mine as his cock nudged at my entrance. We didn’t break eye contact as he slid into me, filling me perfectly and hitting spots inside me that had never been hit quite the way he did before.

  “Juliana,” he whispered my name like it was a prayer.

  Arching my hips, we both cried out when he hit home. He started moving after only a moment, starting with sure, slow strokes that carefully tended to the fire he was igniting in my very soul. It was too much. The way he was looking at me, the way our bodies fit together so perfectly, just as I thought they would. Too soon, I was climbing that ledge again.

  But this time when I went over, he flew right over with me. Our moans mingled in the air, though mine were more like screams.

  Afterwards, we lay together, breathing heavily, and with his chest as my pillow, I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 23

  Pacey

  I jolted awake when I realized there was someone in bed next to me. Waking up next to someone was a rarity for me since I made a point of leaving after random hookups. I usually stayed only the requisite amount of time to not be considered an asshole before I went home to pass out in exhaustion alone.

  Sunlight was streaming through the windows, though it was still early from the looks of things. It kissed her skin, making her look radiant and beautiful, and I felt myself relaxing as I admired how beautiful she was. The swell of her lithe body covered by a light sheet, with one toned leg hooked on the outside of it. The curve of her breast was begging for my hand, her blonde hair—

  I sat bolt upright when I realized it was Juliana’s skin that was enrapturing me, tempting me—not May’s. Dragging my palms over my next-day stubble, the consequences of what I’d done the night before came crashing into me, the slight sting of the blunt stubble doing nothing to distract me from the girl sleeping next to me.

  The sleeping girl who I knew full well wanted a relationship with me, the one I’d not only fucked, but slept next to. And it hadn’t even felt all that much like a one-time thing. Her whispered words came back to me, making me feel like an absolute, first-class douche.

  Make love to me, Pacey.

  I should’ve bolted right then and there, but I hadn’t. What the hell had I done? Shit. I’d done exactly that, hadn’t I? Looked deep into her eyes as I entered her.

  This was the kind of shit that happened when I put my dick in control. Though it’d never gotten me into a situation like this before. I’d known, standing there in her doorway, that I was about to get into trouble. But I wanted her so damn badly that I couldn’t help myself, not when she stood there and told me again that she wanted me to come inside.

  That word had gone on repeat in my brain. Inside. Inside. Inside. Getting inside of her became all that mattered, and now what was I going to do about it?

  You’re going to get the fuck out, that’s what.

  I hated myself for having had the thought, but I couldn’t have helped it any more than I could’ve shut down the insane desire for her the night before. Careful not to wake her, I slid from the bed and was pulling on my jeans when I heard her soft voice.

  “Pacey?”

  I looked at her over my shoulder, when the sexy, sleepy smile that had been spreading on her face froze, then dropped when she saw that I was getting dressed. “Where are you going?”

  Where indeed. “I’m sorry, babe. I’ve got plans with the guys to watch football today.”

  I didn’t. From the look of hurt that crossed her eyes, even if she shrugged and tried to put on a brave face, she knew it. It tore me up that I was the cause of that look, but I was confused, and if I stayed in bed with her, I would only end up getting in deeper.

  Which was entirely acceptable in my current state of mind. I gave her a smile that I hoped was at least a little reassuring and pulled my shirt over my head. When I was dressed, I walked over to her and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose.

  “I’ll text you, okay?” I promised, and fuck my life, because I’d only just managed to get her to forgive me for my last broken promise. Even as I said the words, I didn’t know if I was going to keep it this time.

  Juliana sighed, nodded and cleared her throat, with a look of resignation in her eyes that threatened to undo my resolve to get out of there. “Sure. Need me to give you a ride?”

  “Nah, I’ll be fine. Sleep in; it’s Sunday.” She shot me an incredulous look, then fell back on her bed, raising her hand in a small wave.

  A little less than an hour later, I was standing in my shower. The water had run cold, but I didn’t mind. Memories of Juliana’s moans and her pussy, hotter than the fucking sun and tighter than a fist, kept trying to derail my thoughts.

  But I needed to think, as hellish as thinking may have been. It was the reason I’d skipped out on her in the first place, and I couldn’t afford not to get things figured out. My already fragile sleeping patterns wouldn’t be able to take it, and I wasn’t going back on the prescription sleeping pills I’d been on when I’d first gotten back.

  The water droplets felt like shards of ice hitting my scalp and my back, but I stood there and took it. I wasn’t one of those stupid men who looked the obvious right in the eye and couldn’t see it. When I’d been with Juliana, I felt something growing between us. Something real.

  She was more than a hookup, a fling, a bag, or any of the other names I could’ve attributed to what we’d done. I could admit that to myself. I knew what real looked like and I found it with Juliana, as much as I wasn’t looking for it, and as far as it made me want to run in the opposite direction.

  The problem was that I wasn’t sure if I was ready for something real. I’d made a promise to May’s memory that I would remain single forever, and while I was on the verge of breaking my second promise to Juliana, I wasn’t usually in the business of breaking promises.

  I prided myself on being a pretty reliable, trustworthy guy, but Juliana had gotten under my skin and sparked a war between my heart and mind. Unfortunately, that meant that she was also getting caught in the crossfire. She’d taken a pretty big hit this morning, and I already felt like shit because of it.

  If I was going to see her again, and keep my promise to text her, I never wanted that to happen again. The whole situation was fucking with my head. Sighing, I turned off the tap, stepped out of the shower, and toweled off. Walking butt naked to my room, I thought of the lie I’d told Juliana to get out of there, and since I felt shitty enough about being the asshole who had ‘made love to her’ and ducked out a couple of hours later, I suddenly didn’t want to be a liar too.

  I threw on a pair of shorts and a tee
, then grabbed my phone and pulled up Tugger’s number while I headed to the kitchen to make some breakfast. He answered on the second ring.

  “What’s up?” he asked, curiously.

  I didn’t call him up over weekends too often anymore, usually preferring to keep my postcoital pity parties limited to me, myself, and I. “You busy today?”

  “If by busy you mean doing as little as possible, for as long as possible, then yes,” he said.

  “Wanna come over to watch the game later?” My voice was casual and steady, but I was silently urging him to say yes with everything I had.

  Tugger hesitated, and I heard a muffled voice on his side, then he was back. “Sure. See you in a couple minutes.”

  Victory! I hadn’t meant he had to come immediately, but his Spidey senses must have been tingling about how badly I needed to see my friend. I hated to admit it, but Tugger was my much-needed voice of reason more often than not.

  True to his word, I was finishing up with my breakfast of dry cereal when I heard him letting himself in. “Honey, I’m home!”

  “Kitchen,” I called out, walking over to my sink to drop the bowl and spoon I was using into it, then walked toward the fridge. It was probably too early in the day to start drinking, but what the hell. I grabbed two beers, uncapped them, and handed one to Tugger.

  He took it with a raised eyebrow. “At 10:30 in the morning?”

  I shrugged. “It’s Sunday, and there’s a game later. Men all over America are starting early.”

  Laughing, he nodded and followed me out onto the patio. “So, what’s this all about?”

  “What’s what about?” I should’ve known he would cut straight to the chase.

  Tugger lowered himself into his favored lounger by the pool, stretched out his legs, and rested his beer on his flat stomach. “I haven’t seen much of you over the weekends for years now, but you spent Friday night with us, and now you’re calling about the game on a Sunday morning? Much as I’d like to believe that you’ve simply realized how much you miss my sorry ass, I know that’s not what this is about.”