“This is us, baby. How do we taste?”
There was nothing to say, since her mouth was busy.
“We taste great together, don’t we?”
She nodded, still busy sucking the combined nectar from his finger. The smell of hot sex mingled with the earthy odor of the forest and the heavy scent of wild honeysuckle. The combination was heady in the extreme.
When she finished, he returned his fingers to her pussy. Using a slow, twisting motion, he worked his way deeply into her, then just used the tips of four fingers to gently massage her.
“Oh my fucking god, Nathan, what are you doing?”
He responded by diving against her sex with his mouth, sucking and pulling at her clitoris as he spread her labia wide to expose the clitoral hood, the slight summer breeze kissing her wetness.
The feeling was weird, indescribable—as soon as he pulled his fingers quickly away, his mouth took over and another orgasm catapulted her into orbit.
The man had whipped up some sort of magic spell, surely. He made her feel things she’d never, in her life, felt before. What if she lost him? What if she never again had his mouth on hers, his body against her body? Could she survive the loss? The heat, the torn and twisted metal, the harsh odor of explosives, the blood, the shredded bodies…no-no-no!
It could have been the after effects of orgasm on top of orgasm, baking on a boulder in the summer heat, but suddenly breathing was at a premium, and she couldn’t suck in enough air. Her heart rate bounced out of control, and her vision darkened at the edges. She knew she was losing it, but couldn’t pull out of the tailspin.
She reached for him. “Omigod, omigod, omigod, Nathan, help me! Need to sit up!”
Looking confused at her reaction, he seemed slow on the uptake.
“Can’t…breathe!”
Grabbing her hands, he pulled her to a sitting position as her lungs fought for air.
The man who never lost his cool had a look of panic on his face. “Kace, baby, are you all right? Talk to me!”
The only reaction she could manage was to point her finger toward the sky, indicating her need for time.
Pulling her forward against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her. “Damn, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have hammered you like that, so soon after. Jeez, I’m such a bonehead.”
Still gasping, she shook her head. “Not…your…fault.”
He took a step back, gave her room, brushed the hair from her sweat-soaked forehead. “We’re in the middle of the woods, you’re laid out across a flat rock like a sacrifice on an altar, and we’re both naked except for our trainers. Unless this is something you usually do when you go out for a run, I would probably say that I’m at fault here.”
There was no response possible. Taking slow, deep breaths, Kacey prayed the immediate crisis was over. Prayed he didn’t ask any more questions.
Chapter Nineteen
Nate didn’t know what had happened, but he was fairly sure her panicked reaction wasn’t the result of his sexual prowess, as good as the thought would be for his ego. He perched at the edge of the flat rock, placed his arm around her, but refrained from pulling her close. Taking a page from Jeffrey’s book, he wanted to impart just enough of him being there, but not enough to strangle her, just to keep her grounded.
Kacey wouldn’t turn her head to meet his eyes, but she didn’t bolt, punch, or curse, so he took those as positives.
“Babe, are you okay?”
“Tired.”
“I bet.”
With a sigh deep enough to have come from her toes, she leaned into him just a bit. He maintained his cool, and didn’t tighten like a torque wrench.
Even though he didn’t do the octopus tentacle thing, he did kiss her sweaty hair, just over her ear.
“Better?”
She nodded, but still didn’t look at him. Silence dragged on, but it didn’t seem like a tense silence. More like just plain quiet time.
After a few minutes, he tried the gentlemanly approach. “Want your clothes?”
“Not yet.”
The elephant in the room had abandoned its civilized habitat, and followed them into the trees. It just stood there, watching them, ears flapping, trunk swinging, tail flicking. Nate knew they needed to talk this out, but he was hesitant to break the silence, which was at least more companionable then Kacey kicking him out again, or searching for a loaded weapon.
He didn’t want to ask the question, and his gut immediately clenched at the prospect—but the elephant wouldn’t disappear until he did.
“Kace?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you really want me to leave?”
“No.”
That seemed like a good place to stop, while he considered his options.
Apparently, she wasn’t finished. “You still piss me off.”
At least the elephant had walked off a few paces.
“Kace….”
Her finger touched his lips. “Don’t talk, okay?”
“Okay.”
She leaned her head against his shoulder, ran her fingers along his forearm. “Did I ever tell you that your muscles are a total turn on?”
He wondered where the hell the conversation was going. “No, I don’t believe so.”
Her fingernail traced the heavy cords and veins of his arm.
“Well, they are. Your arms and your shoulders, wow. I love to run my hands over your arms while you’re fucking me.”
Okay, that part he’d noticed. But the conversation pointed toward weird, and her voice was light, conversational, like she was trading recipes or something.
She slid her hand down his thigh, squeezed the heavy quadriceps. “Oh, yeah, I’m definitely into your strong muscles.”
Weird conversation or not, his cock took it as a plus and firmed up, crept toward her fingers. Its right-handed trajectory caused it to be in the perfect location for her hand to slip over it, around it. She held him.
Nate couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. He’d just fucked and sucked her brains out, still wasn’t one-hundred percent sure whether she wanted to kiss him or kill him, but she was fondling him, now jacking him, like a wet dream come true. What the fuck?
Kacey stood and wiggled off the boulder. She collected their clothes, except for the T-shirt still under his butt, tossed them onto the rock.
“Kace?”
“Shh.”
She leveraged herself between his legs, ran her hands up his torso to his chest. Leaning forward, she licked one nipple, then the other—which didn’t help his breathing at all. She slowly moved her hands to his thighs, then curled her fingers around his totally-aroused member while her other hand cupped his balls.
“Sweet Jesus in heaven, what—?”
She stroked him, slow and easy, even though he was still sticky with her cream and his cum. “Can’t you just hush?” Then she bent forward, lowered her mouth to his cockhead.
Okay, now she was really freakin’ him out. Yeah, he was the big bad SEAL, yet his underweight, overstressed lover was freaking him the fuck out.
“Uh, Kace, honey….”
She lifted her head. “You didn’t come before.”
“Sweetheart, I did. Really. Shouldn’t we get back to the house? Take a nice, cool shower, grab something to eat?”
“You didn’t come enough. And I am grabbing something to eat.” She dove back onto his cock like she was starving for him, and her fingers tightened on his testicles, rolling them, pressing against the sensitive nerve bundle below them with a knuckle.
His breathing was still iffy, but he managed a groan as he fisted his hands into her hair, pulling her ponytail loose. “Oh god, baby, your mouth feels so damned good.”
“Lean back.”
“What?”
“Lean back on your elbows, so you can watch me.”
Ahh, hell.
He did as she asked, and spread his legs wider. Her mouth left his cock and moved to his balls, taking each one in her mouth in turn, r
olling the heavy orbs with her wet tongue. As hot as it was to watch her, he finally threw his head back and groaned.
With finger and thumb, she kneaded the seam between his balls and his puckered hole, and he thought he’d lose it. He picked up his head again, watched as she moved her finger to the tip of his cock, anointing the digit with his pearly dew and her saliva. Before he knew what she was doing, she pressed her fingertip into his ass as she took his cock into her mouth as far as she could. She released his cockhead, used more saliva on her finger, worked it into him as she fingered his balls. There was no doubt—heaven was just around the corner.
Her other hand suddenly made a tight collar around his shaft, jacking him into her mouth as she forced her finger into his hole until it could go no deeper.
He roared, his release blowing him apart. She didn’t stop—her fingers and mouth continued to milk him, fuck him, tease him, torment him, until she finally allowed him to finish. He knew, without a doubt, that there was not one drop of sperm left in his body.
Collapsing onto the rock, he was so intent on breathing that it took a moment to realize that she was pulling his running shoes through the leg holes of his briefs and shorts. She stopped when the waist bands reached his knees.
“C’mon, sailor. Pull up your britches.”
He sat up, saw she was dressed, even had her hair back in its pony tail.
“Damn, woman. I’m totally wrecked, but now you’re in a hurry?”
“I’m hungry. I want a shower, then I really need a nap. I feel like I can sleep now, maybe.”
Well, fuck.
He finished dressing, then they headed back down the trail toward the house, her hand attached to his wrist. She stumbled, lost her grip.
“Baby, are you all right?”
She nodded. “Just tired.”
She looked worse than tired; with no reserves left, she looked as if the fight had finally drained away.
He presented his back to her, held his arms out to the sides. “Hop on.”
“Yeah, right. It’s over two miles to the house.”
Really? He turned to give her a look. “Darlin’, what do you weigh these days, maybe one-ten? Maybe? My sea bag is heavier than you. Now, take the offer, stop arguing with the nice SEAL, and just enjoy the ride.”
She honestly didn’t look like she had the strength left to debate the issue. Whatever continued to wipe her out was doing a damned good job of it. A fluffy kitten could probably knock her to the ground with the swipe of a tiny paw.
He placed a gentle kiss in the middle of her forehead. “C’mon, baby, let me do this.”
He’d hoped, but he was still surprised when she nodded. He turned so she could hop up to straddle his hips, her arms around his shoulders so she didn’t cut off his air supply.
“Nathan, take me home.”
Chapter Twenty
Kacey shot upright, clutching the sheet to her nakedness as the woman’s screams filled her ears. It was impossible to focus on the direction of the cries. Only then did she realize that the horrible, cracked sounds were coming from her own painfully raw throat. What the fuck?
She finally became aware of Nathan’s presence. He’d pulled her close, her body against his, skin warming skin, his fingers brushing the hair off her brow. He didn’t say anything, just held her. Held her and rocked her, soothed her as she’d held and soothed Jeffrey, a million years ago.
The screeches finally choked off, but she couldn’t get the sobs under control. “Can’t …breath…can’t…breathe.”
Nathan scuttled backward against the bank of pillows, pulled her with him, then settled her onto his lap. Naked against naked, his sex plumped at first, then relaxed. Even his cock must have realized it was serious time, not play time.
The sobbing finally eased off. Kacey’s fingers wrapped around his shoulder, anchoring herself to his strength.
He nestled the back of her head against his shoulder, continued to caress her hair. “Tell me, baby. Tell me what happened.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Can’t.”
“Can. Kace, if you don’t face it, you’re never going to be able to crush the monster into oblivion. Tell me, and we’ll both deal with whatever it is.”
“Nathan, you don’t understand. I don’t want to pull you into the fucking nightmare that’s stuck in my brain.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You still don’t get it, do you? We’re in this together, and I’m not leaving you to deal with it alone. I’m here for you. That’s what love is, and I do love you, with everything I have to give. I’m yours. Use me.”
A huge sigh helped her regain control of her breathing. “But that’s the problem. I don’t want to use you.”
“Ahh, sweet baby. Not to use and abuse, rather, use to reinforce your own strength. Think of me like a steel beam that supports the framework of a building. Your framework is stronger than you think—I’m just here to help. Let me be your anchor.”
He continued to stroke her hair. The thought that she should pull away lasted only half a second, then she settled against his chest.
She pulled herself together, took deep breaths, inhaled the wonderful, heady aroma of manly soap and manly, sexy musk. Might as well deal with this shit and get it over with, once and for all. My bunk buddy here won’t give it up. Maybe this will convince him that he needs to leave the disaster zone that my life has become as fast as he can.
Another deep breath. “I turned him down.”
“Who, baby? Whom did you turn down? Marcus? Did he hit on you?” The stiffness in Nathan’s body was obvious.
“Of course not. Marcus would never do that—he respects boundaries.” She had no control over the shiver that took over her limbs. Nathan wrapped the sheet closer around her. “Thomas Edward Gunn, the Third.”
“Tommy? As in Tommy Gun, your for-real copilot and gunner?”
A nod sufficed.
He kissed the top of her head. “All right. Tell me.”
“As careful as you and I were about not being found out, the sneaky little shit discovered we’d been seeing each other. For whatever weird reason, knowing I was with you really torqued him. Said Marines should only fraternize with Marines, not some hot-shot Navy squid, SEAL or no SEAL. He’d been spying, skulking around like a human cockroach. Any time he found me alone, he’d try to trap me. Empty rooms, hallways. Once he even followed me into the women’s showers. I had to draw my sidearm to convince him to leave.”
Nathan’s body tensed. “For fuck sake, why didn’t you tell me? Did you at least report him to your CO?”
She shrugged. “Oversexed bullies were nothing new in my life, came with the territory. I was a female in a man’s world—I knew I could handle the egotistical asshole. Then, one night, he finally pushed me too far.”
“What happened?”
“He just didn’t get it, or didn’t believe it, totally refused to take no for an answer. Couldn’t accept the fact that I chose you over him. He finally cornered me, but he’d kicked his bullshit up a notch. Grabbed my breasts, tore a button off my uniform trying to get into my shirt, stuck his knee between my legs, then jammed his hand down the front of my pants.”
Nathan nearly dislodged her as he tried to jump up. “Shit, Kace! What the fuck—”
A hand to his chest kept him in place. “Never street fight with an Irish kid, and a Marine, at that. I made sure he’d never father children. Left him lying on the ground in the fetal position, holding his crushed family jewels, whimpering like a little girl with knots in her hair.”
“Jesus H. Christ in a sidecar. When did all that happen?”
“Just before you and I left for R and R. We’d come in late from a night raid, I went to the mess hall for something to drink. He ambushed me when I left the building.”
“Damn, baby, I wish you’d told me.”
She shrugged. “Why? It was handled.” That wasn’t going to satisfy Nathan, and she knew it. But it was all she had.
“It wasn’t until much later, after the…helo…incident…that a couple of guys took me aside and said ol’ Tommy had come unglued when he found out that you and I had left the base, gone off together. He and some of his buddies got totally pissy-ass rip-roaring skunked that night. Most of them were off duty, so it shouldn’t have been a big deal. If they wanted to be assholes, more power to them.”
“Kace, baby, I’m so sorry. We heard about the crash when we got back, but not any of the details. You made it out alive—that was the important part. We knew Tommy didn’t survive the wreck, but nothing else.”
“Yeah, well, besides trying to climb into my panties, Tommy was too much of a cowboy, a loose cannon, for my taste. Mouthy, always clowning around. Pretended to play video games while he was at the controls, kept up a totally annoying monologue the whole time. I didn’t trust him to have my back. Didn’t trust him to have anyone’s back, to tell you the truth.”
The warm and strength pouring off Nathan’s solid body began to relax her.
“Did you request a replacement?”
“Yeah, I did. More than once. We were too short staffed. Requests denied until such time as new personnel arrived. That was the party line.”
Tommy. The memories shot back, hit her broad side. The blood, goddammit to hell, so much freakin’ blood. She tried to wriggle off his lap, but Nathan held her, wouldn’t let her go. He rubbed his chin against her hair, and she finally gave up the struggle.
“Baby, if you don’t stop wiggling, I’m going to be inside of you in a New York minute, and everything else will just need to wait.”
“Are you bloody well serious? You already came. Twice.”
He pushed against her bottom, which led her to arch a brow and quirk her mouth. There was no doubt about his level of arousal. She poked him in the chest. “I can’t think when you’re like that.”
“Never mind. Tell me the rest of it.”
She almost didn’t continue, considered dissuading him with more sex—but knew she might never be as brave again.
“Remember how crazy it was when we returned to base? Everyone on alert, everyone rushing around like ants when something breaks into their nest? Your squad disappeared into the dust before you and I could say good-bye. All I wanted to do was reach my rack and go to sleep, but my CO grabbed me before I made it back to my bunk. We’d been called out to provide cover for a Marine ground force being held down by enemy fire. Mine was the last bird up.
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