She perched on the stone. Like it or not, the tears finally came, and there was nothing she could do to stop them. She missed her folks so much, especially now. Always able to talk to her father as well as her mother about the personal issues in her life, she knew she would have gotten a solid, well-considered response from either or both parental units.
A chuckle fought through the tears. The only thing she hadn’t discussed with her folks had been her last-minute decision to enlist in the Marines, instead of heading off to the FBI Academy in Quantico—which had been her original plan. Jack Cannon had also been surprised, but he didn’t bust her too badly about her choice. She knew that door was always opened to her.
As furious as she was with the fates or the gods or whoever the hell was responsible for the loss of two such brilliant, loving parents, Kacey admitted that some of that fury was for strictly selfish reasons. She needed them.
Her dad, having lived through tough times as a Naval aviator—which included being shot down and bailing out into a cold, wave-swept sea—would have been able to tell her what to do. Her mom would have offered hot chamomile tea laced with honey and brandy, her clever fingers stitching old-fashioned embroidery while she listened to Kacey whine and bitch and complain until the problem was teased out into the open, where they’d finally be able to sort out the situation.
Guys, I could really use your cool, calm, loving advice right now. She sniffled, realized she didn’t have a hanky, not even a sleeve. She finally used the back of her hand, which she then wiped on her shorts. Well, that was charming. Sorry, Mom, I know you raised me better.
When Dr. Jonah determined Jeffrey was ready for company, Kacey had stopped by for a visit while Nathan had gone to see Big Bob, and she’d been able to spend some quiet alone-time with the young SEAL. He’d transformed from the emotional cripple who nearly took his own life to a quiet, introspective man, in such a short time.
She realized Jeffrey still had a long path of healing ahead of him, but the change in the guy was remarkable. He said that anti-depressants helped him relax enough to sleep without killer nightmares, but his goal was to eventually live without mood-altering medications. Jonah thought Jeffrey was strong enough, had gotten help soon enough, to accomplish that goal. She’d kissed him on the cheek as she was leaving, promised to return.
Kacey flicked repeatedly at a gnat-type insect that wouldn’t stop buzzing her. Hmm. Damn, the little sucker was persistent. As persistent as Nathan.
That comparison hammered her right between the eyes. With sudden clarity, she realized her observation was right on the money—okay, maybe Nathan wasn’t a bloodsucking insect, but he would never give up on her.
So, what was the issue? Even though she wouldn’t admit her evil side to him, he obviously already knew about the insomnia. The night terrors. The panic attacks during which she’d been convinced her body would shake apart. Although she tried to hide it, he knew when she just pushed her food around the plate and didn’t actually eat more than a mouthful.
The crack he’d made about her hipbones being sharp enough to slice him open had hit home. She’d always worked to keep herself fit, but even she had to admit that in a full-length mirror, the reflection showed a gaunt woman teetering on the sharp edge of anorexia. Smudgy circles under her eyes had never been an issue before—even at the height of craziness in her Marine Corps career—until recently.
If she started a pro-con list, Nathan’s pro side proved lengthy. From a purely physical standpoint, he was a total hotty. That was a given. Unbelievably handsome, dressed as well as undressed, with his tall, muscled, chiseled body, dark honey hair with matching dark honey eyes. He was impressively hung and amazingly talented in the sack—sex with him teetered at the top edge of the Richter scale.
The pro list continued to the next page. He was intelligent, well-read, well-spoken. A twenty-year Navy SEAL, with all the persistence, courage, strength, determination, and endurance that kept him alive for all those years. His kitchen skills as a chef were awesome, plus, he knew how to wash up afterward. He closed the toilet lid. Except for today, he hadn’t left his underwear strewn around.
Even if she’d missed an item or two on Nathan’s list of super powers, he was still the all-over package that any woman would be lucky enough to have in a man.
So, what did that leave on the con side? Since honesty was paramount regarding the list, she had to admit his only fault: his fucking persistence. The same tenacity and determination that kept him at the top of his game also wore her down. He wasn’t willing to give up on her, yet she was so ready to give up on herself. To her, giving in to the exhaustion of keeping up a brave front seemed like a workable solution.
Since her ass was falling asleep, Kacey shifted her position on the boulder. Hadn’t she already done that? Hadn’t she already given up? The image of Jeffrey holding a loaded weapon to his head was front and center, and never far away. No, forget it, that wasn’t going to be her.
Reconsidering, maybe she’d been foolish to bail out of the Marines without really thinking it through. Maybe opting out had just been a knee-jerk reaction to loss upon loss. That would be understandable, right? Anyone in such circumstances could be allowed a misstep. She had invested years of her life in the Marine Corps. The government had invested a huge amount of dollars in her specialized training. She’d been good at what she did. Hell, she’d been great at what she did. She wasn’t over the hill, not yet.
What made her choose the Marines rather than the FBI? Rather than being a LEO in her hometown? Rather than choosing a career that kept her close to the home and family she’d loved so dearly?
Admit it. I felt as if I were always on the verge of choking to death. As she’d seated herself across the desk from the buzz-cut, square-jawed Marine recruiter, not sure why she’d stepped into the office instead of passing on by, she realized that no one in the Marine Corps would care about her upbringing, no one would care who she was. Did she fit the Poor Little Rich Girl persona? Hell, no. Nothing like that. From birth, her life had been perfect. No secrets, no skeletons in the closet.
Her parents had made a conscious choice to let her grow up like a normal, small town kid, at least until she graduated high school. Of course, in public school, everyone knew who she was—no way around that. On one hand, it kept her popular, on the other hand, it also kept classmates at a distance. In the private college, even with other students of wealth and privilege, the same feeling of distance applied.
From the first, she had a strong sex drive, and she knew what she wanted—an equal. Boyfriends were either intimidated or tried to dominate. As one guy muttered, walking away with his hands jammed into his pockets after their third—and final—date, “You’re kinda scary in bed, didja know? Good luck with that. No one’s ever gonna measure up.” That knowledge effectively brought an end to her dating life, and Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero became her private theme song.
Even dressed in combat fatigues as were scores of other guys delivered to the forward operating base from hell, Nathan had caught her attention from the get-go. Something about his body language, his walk—a loose-hipped type of swagger, confident rather than arrogant—drew her like iron filings to a magnet, forced her attention to coalesce. That his immediate squad consisted of other devilishly handsome, rugged, over-the-top, sexy, cocksure men didn’t matter. He was still the über–alpha of the alphas, and the focus of her interest traveled no further than Captain Weatherly.
When their eyes first met across the sandy, dusty compound, Kacey was sucked into his golden gaze at the precise instant his eyes zeroed in on hers. A spark had immediately fired up, charged along her neural pathways, targeted her sexual epicenter. Her nipples had perked, pressed against her T-shirt. Suddenly the seam of her fatigue trousers felt too snug, and the pull of the fabric of her panties against her sex as she walked was nearly enough to have her creaming in uniform. Look ma, no hands!
As a natural red-head, it had been tough to hide the bl
ush, and she’d felt the flush rising from her pelvis to the top of her ears at Mach two.
They’d danced around each other long enough, for weeks, until he finally tracked her down in the mess hall late one evening. The anticipation had zip-lined to reality when they finally touched, when they finally kissed. The sensory factor had been off the charts. In that first kiss, she’d been sure she’d met her match.
Kacey shifted again on the rock, pulled her knees up, wrapped her arms around her legs.
With all that money and time invested, with her exemplary service record, and with pilots always in demand, she didn’t think the Marines would turn down her request to re-up. In the meantime, she would look into hiring an estate manager, which would give her time to decide what to do with Timberwyck. Then, with the estate managed and the staff continuing to collect paychecks, she’d have time to sort it all out while she was deployed. The lumber business didn’t need her on-site to continue to run as efficiently as usual. She’d met the executives on more than one occasion, assured herself that her parents had left the best of the best administrators in charge. Plus, she’d be absent in attendance only. Note to self: have a will drawn up.
With a deep sigh, Kacey leaned back, supported herself on locked elbows, turned her face into the sun. She hadn’t bothered to apply sun screen before she bolted from the house, but after the torture of the Afghani sun, she knew she could survive a few minutes in the New Hampshire rays without burning like chicken on the spit.
Making decisions about her future, however tentative, immediately relieved some of the tension. At least she had a direction again, and everyone would remain employed. Da and Mum would be pleased with that, at least, that their little Kacey was at least being responsible. She’d been brought up to regard employees as extended family, and business decisions should be made with their well-being in mind.
Not looking forward to explaining her decision to Big Bob, Jonah, and Jeffrey, Kacey knew it needed to be done. She wasn’t heartless enough to bail out without notice, and cause them more anguish than she already had. Jeffrey might understand her choice, maybe even Jonah. The sheriff would argue, and she could already picture Jack Cannon shaking his head.
What to do about Nathan.
If he’d truly left her room—their rooms—by the time she returned to the house, she could manage. She wasn’t sure how to avoid him in town while she said her good-byes, but the police department and the medical clinic should be neutral ground. She could do it.
Sliding down from the boulder, she bent and twisted from the waist, then stretched, let the blood flow return to her limbs before she continued down the trail.
In the midst of stretching, Kacey spun around at the sound of footsteps, soft as they were, and knew Nathan would probably survive only because she wasn’t armed. She might have pulled the trigger out of sheer frustration. Doesn’t the man fucking listen? Jeez, what do I need to do, bash him over the head with a two-by-four?
“Nathan, damn it all to hell—”
Before she could finish verbalizing the thought, the aggravating man swept her into his arms, pulled her close to his big, warm body.
Trying to break away didn’t prove successful. She was strong, but he was stronger. “This is not helping…”
“Hush, woman.”
That brought the fire up her spine, and not in a good way. And this bozo thought acting all macho was the way to go? He should know better by—
“Damn you, Weatherly!”
His hot mouth on hers prevented any further bitching on her part. When his soft lips and piercing tongue delivered, the fight vanished like burned off fog. She leaned into him.
Forced to take a breath, she pulled back. “Nathan, really?”
He moved his lips to the side of her neck—which he knew was a major twitch switch on her body—then worked his way to the underside of her chin, down to the soft spot at the base of her throat.
The groan of unadulterated pleasure escaped before she could stop it. How did he do that?
With an arm around her to keep her close, Nathan’s free hand caressed its way up her torso, until he could cup her aching breast—and it did ache, ached for that very touch. She pushed forward until he paid attention to the second needy breast as well. His fingers fondled her through the stretchy fabric of her running top, which sent the zing from her nipples along a direct path to her pussy.
Kacey responded with another moan she couldn’t prevent. Self-respect demanded she pull away, but that proved useless. Damn him for knowing how to command my body to effect a complete revolt from my brain. Okay, then, two can play this game.
She thrust her pelvis at him. “What’s your plan, sailor, to take me up against the trunk of a tree? Bend me over a boulder? Now, wouldn’t that be cozy and romantic.”
He grinned, and the sex appeal oozed from his pores. “It wasn’t, but I like the idea. Both of them, actually.”
She sucked in the aroma of his maleness, sweat mixed with soap that smelled like summer after a rain. Okay, so maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, trying to out-play him at his own game.
He slid a hand beneath the waistband of her running shorts, his fingers finding the wet heat she would have hidden from him. Hidden the immediate and inescapable reaction that his closeness always triggered. It was fucking embarrassing.
The stiff rod pushing from inside the front of his shorts announced his interest, and, unlike her, he wasn’t trying to hide his obvious state of stimulation.
He nuzzled her. “Baby, this is what you do to me. You rock my world. Every time. All the time. I can’t get enough of you.”
Before she could react, he slid her shorts down. “C’mon, off with ’em.” He helped her free them from her sneakered feet. The coarse ground prohibited unshod maneuvers. He stripped out of his T-shirt and running shorts.
Her breath caught. Dear God, he hadn’t been joking—he was so ready. Talk about man-stallion proportions!
With splayed fingers, he reached around and covered the roundness of her bottom, lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Following her suggestion, wiseass though it had been intended, he stepped off the trail and backed her against a tree trunk.
With a groan of hot passion, he lifted her higher, then lowered her enough to bring the cleft of her womanhood tight against his cock’s crown. “Is this what you want, baby?”
Fuck the pro and con list. “Yes. Dear God, yes!” She twisted against him, forced his hardness to breech her creamy, willing center. “Yes, inside me, now.”
His smile melted whatever resolve had been left. “Mistress, I hear and obey.” He kissed her hard, the deed bordering on rough, then he shoved into her, hot and straight and rigid, until he hit the end of the trail. The primal action blew her mind, emptied her brain of everything except the feel of his heavy cock stretching her, filling her to the max. She forgot her wrath, her confusion, her anger toward everyone and everything. Forgot the Marines. Her only connection with reality was his flesh satisfying hers. Instead of pumping into her, he stayed tightly buried and very still, his eyes closed.
“Hell, baby, I could stay tucked inside of you, just like this, forever. You’re hot and wet and snug and perfect—and I don’t want this feeling to end. Not ever.”
Leaving one hand anchored around the straining column of his corded neck, she slipped her free hand to his chest, running her fingers through his golden hair. When he still didn’t move, she took his flat nipple between thumb and index finger, then tweaked it. She quickly moved to the other nipple, did the same.
“Goddammit, woman!” As he cried out, he jammed up into her, pumping in earnest.
“Yes, yes, yes, Nathan baby, that’s it. Fuck me like you mean it.”
He must have meant it, as he slammed hard in response. The coarse tree bark scraped against her butt, but the pleasure caused by his flesh-stretching cock cancelled out any discomfort.
“Kace, baby, please tell me you’re close—you’re so slick and so
tight, I’m not gonna last very long. Touch yourself, baby, play with that clit, help me out here.”
Brazen, never losing eye contact, she slid two fingers between their sweat-soaked bodies and captured her hard little sex bud.
He groaned. “That’s my girl—now, rub it for me, show me how much you want to come. C’mon, baby, do it. I’m right there. Come for me, take me with you.”
That was all the encouragement she needed. At his plea, her fingertips circled her clit, then tweaked it. The tingle had only just begun, when she suddenly exploded with hard, tight spasms. As the solid pulses grabbed him, he burst deep inside her as he roared his release into the forest.
Their heavy, ragged breathing continued to silence the creatures of the wood, until the pair of humans regained control.
“Kace, baby, I hate to break up the bacchanal, but my thighs and calves are on fire. Do you think you’re able to stand?”
Speech was not yet possible, so she opted for a simple nod. He backed away from the tree trunk, pulled his semi-soft member free, then let her gently slide down his body.
He spread his T-shirt on the boulder, sat her down, moved close enough to force her thighs apart. His sex was soft, but not lifeless, and the expression on his face was intense for a man who’d just come as hard as he had.
“Lean back.”
Not sure what he was about to do, Kacey rested on her elbows, which was about all the room there was on the flat ledge of the boulder.
He leaned over her hips, his upper body supported by a stiff arm. Before she could query his intentions, he palmed her wet sex, then dipped his fingers into her velvety center. After he drew them out, he reached forward and slid one of those fingers into her mouth.
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