by Shara Azod
The sexual tension between them was unreal; but there was a deeper connection too. Whatever it was about her that had his nose wide open, he knew it was not a passing thing. For a man not into anything beyond physical gratification, she had rewritten his view on things. He wanted a long-term relationship. He wanted to be a permanent fixture in her life.
Why that little fact didn’t freak Grayson out, he didn’t know. Never one to run from the facts, he embraced it and settled down for the long siege. He doubted he had the patience for it but he was fighting to hold on. He wanted her now, or he was going to go crazy. The deeper he got to know her, the more he wanted her. Everything about Bobbi turned him on. All things ranging from her commitment to her job and the Navy, to her quirky, dry, sometimes sarcastic sense of humor made him hotter than hell. Usually, the more he got to know a woman, the further he wanted to get away from her. Not so with CTO2 Bobbi Nelson. The more he got to know about her, the more he wanted her. And this was the weekend he had decided to do something about it.
Grayson had plans to spend the weekend with Bobbi. The picnic would give him the perfect excuse to ease her into being around SEALs and their families. Even if they were a family of two, Gray wanted that with Bobbi. He could see himself walking up next to her, coming home to her. Not that he expected her to be the perfect little stay behind wife so many of his fellow SEALs had. There was no way in hell she was going to give up her career. That, too, gave him a hard on. Knowing no matter what, his woman could stand on her own two feet was an enormous relief.
“Yeah, I’ll be there,” he finally answered, a hint of wry amusement twisting his lips.
Taggard’s eyes narrowed at his friend, Grayson knew it probably had to do with how distracted he had been lately. A good woman would do that to a man, he was finding. One day, Taggard would undoubtedly discover this all on his own.
“What’s up with you lately?” Taggard worked up the nerve to ask.
Grayson was not known for being very forthcoming about his life. He tended to be closed-mouthed about all things personal. Even with the guys he hung out with, guys like Taggard, whom he had trusted with his life on more than one occasion, he just didn’t seem able to open up. Mainly, because there wasn’t much to be open about. Both of his parents had died a while back, he had no other family to speak of. He had never really had a serious relationship. He was kind of a loner; hell, he even maintained two places of residence. One, he used for hanging out with the guys, beer bashes and the like. The place on Coronado everyone believed to be his primary residence was also where he took most of his dates. This would not be the place he would be taking Bobbi this weekend.
His real home, the place where he found peace and solitude, was his place in Shelter Island right on the bay. He could walk out on his deck and get into his boat and take it out for a spin or set off for some quality fishing. Although it was listed in his official paperwork, no one knew about it. His parents had really good life insurance, leaving him a healthy little nest egg. Years spent on assignment or living in the barracks had allowed him to save up enough for his little slice of heaven. He couldn’t wait to share it with Bobbi. She would be the only other person to walk through the doors since he bought the place a year ago.
“Nothing is up with me,” Grayson lied smoothly, closing the files and locking them in the filing cabinet. “I will be at the picnic…with a date.”
Grayson smiled again at Taggard’s open mouthed gape, but didn’t pause on his way out the door to comment.
It took longer than he expected to go home, shower, and change, so it was near eight at night before he got to Bobbi’s apartment in North Park. Since she didn’t own her own car, he parked in her parking spot in front of the building. North Park was a typical working class neighborhood; not really bad, but not really good either. He really didn’t like the fact Bobbi lived here alone, especially since her apartment complex didn’t even offer a security gate in the front. There was one in the back that led to the alley, but it was so easy to get into if one was determined, there might as well be nothing there at all.
Admittedly, he had canvassed the neighborhood one night after dropping her off. He was more than a little concerned about the guy living in the apartment complex next to hers. Her bedroom window faced his, and the telescope in the guy’s window was aimed directly at Bobbi’s. Grayson knew for a fact she kept the curtains drawn most of the time, but the complex had a history of losing their central air, and on those nights, she cracked the window and left her curtains cracked open.
He had mentioned the situation to Bobbi, but she seemed unconcerned. She seemed to be convinced the guy couldn’t see in, so there was no problem. Grayson hadn’t stayed alive this long ignoring the nagging sensation something wasn’t right, so he made a note of it and promised himself he would look into this person very soon.
Although he was later than he intended, he was early for his date. They had agreed he would pick her up at nine. His reasons for wanting to be at her apartment early were twofold. One, he wasn’t planning on either of them coming back here after dinner, so he needed to make sure Bobbi packed a bag. But the larger reason was he wanted to catch her before she got dressed. Being on time or even a few minutes early meant she was fully dressed and ready to go. He wanted to catch her a little off balance just once. Bobbi was far too balanced as it was.
He wasn’t disappointed. Bobbi answered the door fresh from the shower; her shoulder length dark brown hair was swept up on the top of her head, she was wearing nothing more than an oversized t-shirt, wet splotches causing the thinning cotton to cling to her skin in the most interesting places.
“You’re really early,” she smiled in welcome, opening the door wide for him to enter.
Grayson wanted to smile back, he really did, but there were several little problems screaming on the inside of his skull. He knew she was sexy as hell, but he hadn’t really been prepared for Bobbi raw, without any artifice. Though she used make-up sparingly and her clothes had a tenacious tendency to cling to that heavenly figure, like this she was jaw dropping. Dressed in just a t-shirt, a wet one at that, made her look so damn fuckable he was hard pressed not to do it right here and now. Just the sight made it hard to concentrate, but there were a couple of things they needed to get straight.
“Nice shirt,” he managed to croak out without sounding quite as hard up as he felt. Damn, how long had it been since he had been with a woman? Had there really ever been a woman before Bobbi?
Bobbi, at least looked sheepish about her choice of clothing. It was definitely a man’s shirt, and it damn sure wasn’t his. That was not going to do at all. From the moment he saw her in that damned bar, there were no other men for Bobbi. Maybe he was going to have to explain it to her real slow and easy like. Oh, the possible punishments to be had.
“I have a thing for men’s shirts,” Bobbi shrugged and made to turn away.
Grayson wondered idly if he had not been clear enough about his certain predilections. He had tried, in little ways, to let Bobbi become aware slowly, like a gradual awakening to the kind of man he really was. If he had thought for a second she wasn’t predisposed to his distinctly dominant nature, he would have eased off. Not backed away, but gone even more slowly, though it would have killed him. But she hadn’t. With each gradual claim of dominance over the smallest of things, she gave in gracefully, and in most cases, gratefully.
He wasn’t the type of asshole who had to have a woman do exactly what he said when he said how he said it, but he was dominant to the extreme, and his woman would never wear another man’s shirt.
He could have asked who the former owner of the shirt was, but he didn’t really want to know. Besides, he had already established, at least in his mind, there was no other man in Bobbi’s life as of right now. Not past, damn sure not present, and never, ever in the future.
It took little to turn her around to face him. She lifted a raised brow in question, but didn’t stop him as he lifted the garment from her body, realizing too l
ate the effect it was going to have on him.
Bobbi in clothes was sexy and intriguing, Bobbi all wet in a t-shirt was enough to steal a man’s breath from his lungs, but Bobbi bare could start a war. Grayson stood there for a full minute, unable to look away, unaware he had the shirt clinched in his fist like he was holding on to a lifeline, and uncaring that his mouth was hanging wide open.
He had heard about hourglass figures, seen pictures of some, but had never really witnessed such a perfect sample in real life. Her breasts were every bit as high, full and perky as they hinted underneath clothing, each black cherry tinted nipple tilting up ever so slightly. Her waist curved inwards only to flair out again giving her hips that “dare you to hold onto them” look. But what really knocked him for a loop was the perfectly shaved mound, with the slightest short-cropped airstrip pointing straight to paradise.
Well, damn.
He watched his fingers reach out, shaking in anticipation, to stroke the smooth contours of her flesh. No, not shaved – waxed.
“Holy hell,” Grayson whispered, just before dropping to his knees.
Chapter 6
Bobbi knew Grayson had been getting more and more possessive lately. Not in a bad way, that made a woman move to a different city, cut her hair and change her name. He was possessive in a way that made a woman feel special, appreciated. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected much more than a quick roll and a thank you when she had agreed to go with him that night at the SEAL bar.
Man, was he ever proving her wrong. He called every day, once in the morning right around the time she should be waking up, and once at night right as she was going to bed. She saw more of him than she did her friends, which was a major bone of contention with the jealous heifers right about now. When he found out she didn’t have a car, he showed up every morning to drive her to the base. It showed his sweet, sensitive side, the one he didn’t really like to show. She secretly smiled at the way he seemed to be shocked to find himself doing these things, or holding her hand as they walked along the Waterfront, or Downtown after a dinner. There were times when he would stop dead in his tracks and stare down at where their hands connected, as if he was at a loss show how they got to be entwined like that.
The first time he had done it, was a few days after they had met. He came over, unannounced, the next day to take her to lunch, which morphed into spending the entire afternoon and half of the night together. After walking around the Downtown area for a while, they settled for an Indian restaurant for dinner. Just before they had made it to the restaurant, Grayson stopped at the corner and looked down at their hands. Bobbi tried pulling her own hand free, not wanting to lead him to think she thought there was something more going on than there actually was, but his grip had tightened on hers, refusing to let her go.
“Don’t” he had commanded. “Don’t pull away from me.”
He had been staring down while he said it, but the authoritative command barked in that rich bass melted her insides. He hadn’t been an ass about it, just way alpha. After a few seconds, he had turned and kept walking as if it never even happened, but she would never forget it.
There had been a million little things Grayson did that thrilled her. Like scowling and pulling her into his arms if he ever noticed a man looking a little too long in their direction. It was cute, the little claiming thing. Yet, he never once stepped on her toes. They often talked about work, about being in the Navy. A lot of guys might accept females doing jobs that had not that long ago been all male rates, but Grayson gave no sign he was like that. In fact, he encouraged her interest in her goal as a lifer. Most guys really didn’t like the idea a woman might choose to stay in for a full twenty year stint. Although rarely expressed out loud, a lot of guys thought of female sailors as just marking time until they met some poor sap and married him.
Grayson had never come off like that. They talked about college courses they were taking through CHAMPUS, the Navy’s college program. Gray had recently graduated from college with a degree in Foreign Intelligence; he was insightful and thoughtful, a perfect balance of caveman and modern man. He even helped her study from time to time, encouraging her to finish her own degree.
She hadn’t thought about the t-shirt before she threw it on to answer the door. Perhaps she should have; there had been tiny little signs about Grayson’s nature throughout the last two weeks. When she was with him, she could feel his complete attention focused solely on her, but she knew he was always watching everything that went on around them. Nature of the beast – he was Special Forces; it was their job to notice everything. But when he had mentioned the guy whose apartment faced hers, she had realized just how deep that observation went. The apartment complexes were separated by nothing but a chain linked fence, but she had never seen the dude that lived there. The apartment had always been dark, so she assumed it was empty. How Grayson had noticed the telescope in the window she would never know. She had tried to look for it herself and had yet to see it. As much as she tried to blow it off to Grayson, it bothered her. That Grayson had noticed and warned her about it filled her with something she tried to tamp down, but couldn’t. He was bringing out a desire to be protected, and that was not something she was prepared for.
She hoped like hell Grayson wasn’t like most guys she knew, in it to hit it. She hoped like hell he wanted something more than a “girlfriend.” Sometimes with Navy guys, active duty women were little more than reliable pussy they could call, whenever they wanted. Rarely were these kinds of relationships exclusive on the male’s part. It was kind of like marking time until they found someone they wanted to marry, or take more seriously. Gray didn’t seem like that at all. He was the kind of guy a girl could fall hard for, and heaven help her, she had fallen.
She knew he liked her, she knew he desired her, even if he had never acted on it. What she didn’t know was how interested he really was, and she wasn’t about to ask.
So, when he got all macho because she was wearing her ex-boyfriend’s shirt, she was thrilled. She stood stock still as he stripped it from her, afraid to even breathe for fear he would stop. Then he stilled. Bobbi had to fight the urge not to bring her arms up to cover herself as he just stood there staring. She didn’t look at his eyes; she couldn’t, anxious about what she might see. The last thing she had expected was for him to drop down right in front of her.
He didn’t move forward as she fervently wished he might. Instead he held on to her hips, hot wisps of breath bathing her bare, trembling flesh. She could have sworn she heard him inhale deeply, moaning softly as he exhaled. Her flesh quivered in tortuous anticipation, but he wouldn’t move. His death grip on her hips kept her from nudging forward, so she was forced to stay put, her pussy becoming increasingly wet with every second that ticked by.
Then he pulled away, slowly rising to his feet. Bobbi wanted to cry out in protest, but the fierce fire in his eyes stilled her tongue.
He wanted her all right. She had begun to wonder, seeing as how he always pulled away whenever their kisses got a little heated. She was beginning to think it was her. Maybe he liked hanging out with her, but wasn’t particularly interested in taking it any further. The burning hunger radiating in his azure gaze left her no doubt.
So why didn’t he just take it? It was beyond obvious she was willing. She didn’t understand what the holdup was.
“Oh, I am going to make you mine, baby. Never doubt that.”
Damn, his voice all husky and gravelly like that just made her wetter. He even reached out to cup her cheek as he spoke, caressing her skin lazily with his thumb.
“I need your complete trust first, sweetheart. I need to know that you know I would never hurt you.”
Bobbi whimpered involuntarily at the implication. She had suspected; she had fantasized; he was all but saying it now. He was indeed forceful, one hundred percent dominant male. The question of just how dominant was yet to be seen, but she hoped like hell she was game. She wanted him to master her, needed him to take
control of her pleasure. Grayson inspired wicked fantasies she had only read about, never believing she would trust a man enough to do those things with her – to her. Crazy it may be, but she trusted Grayson.
“I trust you, Gray.”
It was surrender, they both knew it. He awarded the declaration with the merest caress of his lips against hers before stepping back.
“Let’s go pack you a bag. You won’t be coming home tonight.” The corner of his mouth quirked in a semblance of a smile, but Bobbi could feel the intense wave of sexual hunger emanating from him. “Then we’re going to dinner. You are going to need your protein, baby.”
Chapter 7
Grayson was walking the edge. He hadn’t considered what he would find underneath Bobbi’s shirt when he had taken off. He had known she was a damn fine woman, but the reality had thrown him. When he saw her in another man’s shirt, all he could think of was taking it off. He had no idea where the possessiveness coursing through him had come from, or even that he was able to foster that kind of jealousy. He just could not take the sight of anything belonging to any male other than himself, anywhere near her. Now he was paying the price.
He couldn’t get the sight of her bare flesh out of his mind. His mouth was still watering as he watched her pick at her food. All he wanted to do was to take her home and make her his in every way. His so-called patience and control was damn near non-existent at this point. He had even gone so far as to slide into the booth right next to her instead of across from her. He had to touch her. Twirl her hair around his fingers; trail his fingers over her cheek. He was so damn hard right now he had a headache from the constant throbbing of his dick.
“You’re not hungry?”
He glanced down at the fast cooling steak on his plate. He hadn’t taken more than a couple of bites. How the hell could he eat when the vision of her standing bare ass naked was emblazoned on his brain?