“How about a nice soak instead?” he said, but didn’t wait for her reply to open the faucets.
“That might take a little time to fill,” she said as she eyeballed the large tub and snatched up her hair to twist it into a knot at the top of her head. Despite that, the steam from the hot water was transforming any stray hairs into feathery curls all over her head.
He brushed the back of his hand against the softness of them and said, “What do you suppose we can do while we wait?”
With a wickedly sexy smile, she placed her hands on his shoulders and urged him to sit on the platform surrounding the immense tub. Stepping up to him, she straddled his legs and with a shrug of her shoulders, let the robe fall to the ground.
His gaze skimmed across her body, full of heat, want and dare she think it, love.
Love, Maggie thought as he cupped her breasts, leaned forward and kissed them.
She ran her fingers through the short strands of his sandy blond hair and urged him on, her body trembling from the mix of emotions and passion swirling together in her core. They were so strong that they overwhelmed logic as the words slipped from her.
“I think I’m falling in love with you.”
He stopped dead and slowly eased back to meet her gaze, his features as empty as a blackboard on the first day of school.
She worried her bottom lip, afraid she’d just wrecked it all, but then one side of his mouth tilted up and the other quickly followed. His gaze lit up with what she thought was happiness and a second later, he kind of confirmed it.
“I am so glad because I think I’m falling in love with you, too.”
“Thank, God,” she said and hugged him hard, joy erupting inside her.
He returned the embrace enthusiastically, his hold tight as he rocked her from side to side, a broad smile on his face.
She kissed that smile, wanting to savor that shared joy. As the kiss went on and on, happiness gave way to desire and they went into it comfortably, already in sync to each other’s needs and wants.
Trevor stepped into the half-full tub and helped her in. They sank down into the hot water and let it surround them as they touched and kissed. Stroked and built passion until they were both shaking and he guided her over his cock and she slowly sank down onto him.
He filled her physically and emotionally and she never wanted to leave his arms, but knew that she had to. For now, she held onto him and he cradled her close. Kissed the side of her face and said, “I’ll always be a part of you.”
She wouldn’t cry and she wouldn’t beg him to stay. Neither of those things would do either of them any good. Instead, she put on a brave smile and said, “I’ll be waiting for you, Trevor.”
He kissed her again and she finally moved on him, shifting her hips and riding him. The hot water sloshing all around their bodies from the gentle rock of her body that grew ever faster, ever rougher, as they both pushed toward a release.
When it came, it washed over them together, tossing them together in a tangle of urgent kisses and murmured promises.
Her body trembling and breath rough, Maggie laid her head against his shoulder and just let herself feel every nuance of being with him. Forced herself to remember the sensations and store them away for the long months before they could be together again.
As the water reached mid-body, he shifted forward to shut it off and then they sank down into the welcoming heat, still joined physically. United emotionally.
He caressed her back with long languid strokes of his big hand. She leaned back a little to gaze at his face and found peace there. Contentment as well in the warm smile he shot her.
“This is really nice, Maggie.”
It was and she wasn’t going to waste a moment of it. She laid her head back against his and just savored the moment until the water started getting lukewarm and a quick look at her watch warned she had to go soon.
He must have sensed it as well. “I know you have to go, but I wish you didn’t have to.”
She shifted back and cradled his face in her hands. “I do have to go. I’m sorry, Trevor. I wish I didn’t have to either.”
Trevor wouldn’t beg or ask her if she’d come back before it was time for him to leave. He had to keep some dignity after all and she had already promised she’d be waiting for him. Something told him that Maggie wasn’t the kind to make such promises lightly.
He dropped a quick kiss on her lips and said, “Let’s get moving. I have stuff to do before I leave, too.”
Slowly and reluctantly, they untangled themselves and rose from the tub. Maggie jerked her head in the direction of the shower and said, “Do you mind if I take a quick shower?”
“Go right ahead,” he said and left her alone, needing a bit of separation to prepare himself for the moment she’d leave.
He’d expected that the trip to his father’s office would be a difficult one, but he had never expected that it would lead him to Maggie or that meeting her, making love to her, would open him up to an even greater world of hurt.
In his bedroom he dressed quickly and headed to the kitchen to make coffee. He needed the jolt and he needed to keep busy to avoid thinking and feeling.
When she stepped into the kitchen barely ten minutes later, she was dressed in her clothes from the day before, but her damp hair was a wild mess of curls like in some of the earlier photos he had seen of her.
He walked to her and dragged his fingers into those curls. “I like your hair like this.”
She offered a watery smile. “I’m glad. I hate straightening it.”
He stroked the curls and they twined around his fingers as it to keep him there. “You should get going and I should, too.”
“Yeah . . . well . . . sure,” she said and rose up on tiptoes to brush a quick kiss across his lips, but it wasn’t enough for him.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her close. Kissed her so there would be no doubt about how much he wanted her and how much he wished she didn’t have to go. They were both breathless when they broke apart and the sheen of tears in her eyes had grown.
“I gotta go,” she said, her voice husky and all he could do was nod, his own throat tight with emotion.
At the door to the apartment, she turned and skimmed another quick kiss across his lips before she hurried out the door.
He closed it behind her, leaned on it and sank down onto his haunches, fighting the urge to go after her.
What would it accomplish? he asked himself.
Nothing and everything, the little voice in his head replied.
Chapter 11
Maggie told herself not to go back as much as she wanted to do so.
She had something much more important to do instead, but first, she needed some liquid courage.
Trevor’s apartment wasn’t far from the Mason Industries’ office building and her favorite local coffee shop.
She walked in and the owner of the place smiled as she entered. “Working on a Saturday again? Don’t you have a life?” the young woman said with a teasing smile.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Ariel,” she replied and after Ariel served her up her usual double latte mocha, Maggie grabbed her mug and took a seat on a stool by the window counter. The coffee shop was on one of the side streets in a part of town that was mostly for businesses, but even with that there was a regular flow of tourists and native New Yorkers heading to and from the main avenues.
She cradled the warm mug in her hands took a long sip of the coffee. The heat of it stung, but she needed the sugar and caffeine rush to help clear her brain. With each sip she laid out her battle plan until she felt confident enough to execute it.
Finishing off the mug, she returned it to the service counter and hurried out onto the street. A short half block away, she entered the office building on Sixth Avenue and swiped herself through security with her badge. On the floor for Mason Industries, she once again cleared her way past the locked doors and marched straight to Samuel Mason’
s office.
As she had expected, he was at his desk and as she approached, he examined her from head-to-toe. The hairy eyebrow he gave her made it clear he had noticed her clothing and the state of her hair.
Before he could say a word, she unclipped her security badge from her skirt and laid it on the desk in front of him. Both of his eyebrows went up at that and he said, “What’s the meaning of this, Ms. Sullivan?”
Ms. Sullivan. Before yesterday afternoon, she had been Maggie. Not a good sign.
“I value what you’ve done for me by providing me with a scholarship and this internship,” she said and Samuel Mason leaned back, dug his elbows into the arms of the chair, and steepled his fingers before his face.
“Go on,” he said from behind that barrier.
“But I value family more. Mine and yours and because of that, I can’t stay silent when I think you are making a big mistake.”
As it had the day before, bright color erupted all along the open collar of his shirt and worked its way upward to his face. Before he could say or do anything else, she plowed on.
“Your son loves you and misses you, although why, I don’t know. He was wounded and you didn’t do anything to even find out how he was. He’s a hero, did you know that? They gave him the Silver Star. They don’t give that out easily. But he would never tell you that, because he doesn’t care about being a hero. All he wants is for his father to care whether or not he’s alive.”
He shot out of his chair and slammed his hands on the desk so loudly, the sound echoed against the walls of his office. “Of course I care if he’s alive! He’s my son! It’s why I didn’t want him to go into the service.”
The explosion of emotions and words seemed to have drained him and he plopped into his chair and said more softly, “I didn’t want to lose him the way I lost my wife.”
“You weren’t responsible for what happened to her,” she said, although they were probably words he’d heard way too often over the many years since 9-11. She could understand his guilt as wrong as it was.
“She wouldn’t have been there if I hadn’t asked her to go,” he said, sadness staining his every word.
“And if it had been you that had gone, would you want your wife to be suffering from this guilt?”
“No!” he shouted out and then added more softly, “No, I wouldn’t.”
She waited for a long moment as that message seemed to finally sink in. In cautious tones, she said, “Trevor wanted to join for her, but that’s not the only reason. I know the family history, Samuel. Every Mason has served except you. You wanted a different path in your life and so does Trevor.”
“I just want him to be safe, Maggie. Isn’t that what every parent wants,” he said, hands spread wide in pleading.
She reached out, took hold of his hands, and gave a reassuring squeeze. “Of course, it is, Samuel. But Trevor needs to know that. He needs you so that he has someone to come home to.”
“I think he already does,” Samuel said.
With an embarrassed smile, she nodded. “Yeah, I think he does. I think I’m falling in love with him.”
“So what are we going to do now?” Samuel asked.
Chapter 12
Trevor finished the last of the chores in his apartment.
The dishes were put away and the fridge checked for any perishable items. He’d given up on house plants or pets because he had no one to take care of them while he was gone. The monthly cleaning service that came to keep the place from gathering too many dust bunnies would deal with anything else he might have missed.
He snuck a peek at his watch. He still had about two hours to go before the car service would pick him up for the drive to the airport.
Two hours with nothing to do and for like the millionth time that day he wished Maggie hadn’t had to go into work.
He grabbed one of the two books he’d bought for the long flights he had to endure before reaching Afghanistan and lay down on the couch. Might as well get one started, he thought.
He had just cracked the spine on the thriller when a knock came at the door.
Maggie, he thought instantly and joy raced through him.
He tossed the book onto the coffee table, rushed through the door and flung it open, a broad smile on his face.
Surprise slammed into him.
“Dad?” he almost croaked as his chest tightened with fragile happiness. He glanced from his dad to Maggie, who stood beside his father.
“Don’t just stand there, Trevor. Invite us in,” she said in her no nonsense determined way.
Awkwardly, he stepped aside and gestured for them to enter. “Come on in.”
As his dad marched past, he shot him a half glance and muttered beneath his breath, “Damn girl is just like your mother. Stubborn.”
The comment jerked a small laugh from him and as Maggie entered, she rose on tiptoes and whispered a quick kiss across his lips before following his father into the living room.
“The place looks the same, Trevor. You should change it up and make it your own,” his father said as he jammed his hands on his hips and glanced around the apartment.
Trevor tracked his father’s gaze and couldn’t argue with him. It was almost like living in a museum display, his life trapped in the past while the rest of the world moved on.
“Yeah, you’re right, Dad. I haven’t had much time to work on it.”
Maggie walked to his side and slipped her hand into his. He looked at her and offered her a smile. “Maybe Maggie can help me with it next time I’m home. That is, if you’d like that.”
She grinned and squeezed his hand. “I’d like that. We could even get started before, so it’s all ready when you get here.”
“She’s great at organizing, although she’s a little bossy,” his father said, but with a hint of teasing in his tones.
“Thank you, Samuel. I’ll take the bossy as a compliment,” she said.
His father raised his hand and wagged an index finger at her. “Just remember that in the office it’s Mr. Mason,” he said.
“Of course, Samuel,” she replied and then squeezed his hand again. “Why don’t the two of you sit and talk. I’ll go make some coffee.”
She dashed out of the room and into the kitchen.
He stood there, a little awkward with her gone, much like his father, who stood a few feet away from him. He was dressed casually in a navy polo shirt and khaki pants, but there was a very formal rigidness about him that said to stay away.
Maggie’s words from last night flitted through his brain. Take a chance.
He took the first step toward his dad and a second later, they were both moving toward each other until they came together in a rough embrace. He was too choked up to talk, so he just held his dad, remembering the many times in the past that his father had been there for him, from lost Little League games to the awful days after his mother’s death.
“I’m sorry, son. I’m so so sorry,” his father said, his voice cracking with emotion.
“I’m just glad you’re here,” he said and held him for several minutes more, needing that connection after being without it for so long.
It was a long time before they finally broke apart and sat down, Trevor on one end of the couch and his father on the chair beside it. The smell of brewing coffee soon wafted into the room followed by the sounds of cabinets opening.
“Give me a second,” he said, rose and headed into the kitchen where as he had suspected, Maggie was searching through the cabinets for mugs. As he walked in, she turned and leaned her hands back on the counter.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to disturb you,” she said.
He strolled to stand in front of her and bracketed his arms on either side of her. “You didn’t. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“No thanks are necessary. I did what I thought was right,” she said.
“At great risk to yourself.”
“It’s far less risky than what you do.” The hint of tears glimme
red in her eyes again and he wrapped his arms around her and drew her tight to his chest.
“Please don’t worry. I’ll be okay.”
She sniffled and poked him in the chest. “Damn straight because otherwise both your dad and I will kick your ass.”
He chuckled as she had likely intended and rocked her back and forth. “I’d rather find something more fun for you to do to me.”
She lifted her gaze and he was glad to see she was smiling. She smoothed a hand across the white t-shirt he wore and said, “I’m game for that fun.”
He bent his head and kissed that smile, glad for it and for her promise that she would be there for him when he came home.
As passion rose, Maggie regretfully pulled away. “You need to get back to your dad. Let me get you your coffee.”
She slipped from his arms and he snagged three mugs from a cabinet and handed them to her. She poured coffee into them, added the cream and sugar both father and son seemed to prefer, and passed them to him.
“Go,” she urged.
“You’re not coming in?”
She shook her head. “I’ll wait in here. You two need some private time.”
“Thank you. I think I love you, you know.”
She grinned and rose up on tiptoes to kiss him. “I know. I think I love you, too.”
He once again wrapped an arm around her waist, hauled her close and deepened the kiss until they had to pull themselves apart again, aware that time was too short for more.
With another quick hard kiss, he pulled away from her, grabbed the mugs and walked back into the living room, the khaki of his uniform pants straining against his sweet ass and the rock hard muscles of his thighs.
Desire rose up in her again, but she tamped it down.
Sadly it wasn’t the place or the time. She’d be counting down the days until Trevor was home again.
She made herself a mug of coffee and sat down at the table, her mind whirling with thoughts of what the two men might be discussing and of how she and Trevor could take one night together and make it into something much more lasting.
Take a Chance Erotic Romance Box Set Page 20