He could barely breathe. Every last ounce of desire flew to his balls. His cock jerked, wanting to plunge inside her as she kept up the taunting motion, sweeping him between her slit. There was something mind numbingly erotic about her beautiful hips, the way her legs parted, and her sex massaging against his.
Time to take control or he’d be spilling all over her stomach in a second.
He laid Sloane on her back, hovering over her. “I want to make love to you, not fuck you.”
“Is there a difference?” Her words breathy as he lazily circled her nipple with his tongue, its firmness a rigid demand to suck between his lips.
“Oh, yes.” Damon raised his gaze to hers. “It’s slower, deeper and hungrier.” He couldn’t burn the satisfied grin on his lips when she trembled with anticipation in his arms.
“Don’t tease me, SEAL,” she said with a hiss, and pulled him down on top of her.
With a gentle upward sweep, his cock slid against the moist entrance to her channel. Rolling his hips, her liquid silk covered the length of his hard shaft and he stroked her folds with gentle thrusts, learning her sweet spots. He’d never wanted to lock gazes with other women because it meant something far deeper than lust, but he couldn’t look away from Sloane.
Heat boiled his blood as her legs twined around his hips, opening her to him.
A split second of sensible thought invaded his overheated mind. “We don’t have protection.”
His resolve clung to the last inch of a dangling rope, his balls coiled up, his need to be buried in her overwhelming. With a slow, sensual sway, he pressed his erection against her sensitive clit.
“I want to feel all of you,” Sloane whispered against his lips.
And he wanted that too, more than anything he’d wanted in his entire fucking life. Damon groaned with pleasure, filling her, stretching her with his hardness, then he stilled. He caught the moan escaping her mouth with his own.
Another slow plunge, deep inside, drove him to the brink of crazy, and then they were licking and biting each other like two wild animals. His balls tightened, his cock pulsed and jerked, feeling the muscles inside her milking him with every stroke.
Thrusting her hips upward, he snared her ass in his palms and seated himself deep in her warm, velvet channel.
He’d lied. He wanted to fuck her like he’d never fucked a woman before.
Her body arched and whimpers of pleasure shot from her mouth.
“Slower,” Sloane breathed. “Deeper.”
“Fuck, I want to come inside you.” The need to possess her completely choked off every other thought.
He stroked her with a slow rhythm, building the fire inside them both, pulling his length all the way out. He held back the fierce desire to hammer himself to oblivion inside her silky core. Holding her wrists above her head, he sucked the small, hard buds of her nipples into his mouth, lingering, nipping at them.
A massive storm raged inside him. “Holy hell, you feel good.” When he reached the center he was going to blow into a million bits.
Damon rose to his knees and ran his hand under one of her thighs. Lifting her leg in the air, he powered in and out of her, firing them both into a writhing ecstasy. He wanted to consume her like she was consuming him. Insane pleasure ratcheted him so hard he wanted to howl.
“Sloane, I’m going to come.”
Her fingernails dug into his upper arm. She reached for his hand, drawing it to her sex. He circled the moist lips and stroked her fleshy peak.
“Damon, oh God, oh God—” Her gaze latched onto his.
The sweet pleasure of Sloane wrapped tightly around him, yanked him away from sanity. She arched hard, holding him inside, flexing her muscles, massaging his cock, rocking her hips.
“Jesus, ah, sweet Jesus!” he yelled.
Darkness and then light burned through him. He came, and kept coming. Filled her with his seed until he shuddered hard.
Damon opened his eyes to see Sloane come apart in front of him. A cry escaped her throat as her head thrust back and her breasts thrust into the air. Her inner muscles involuntarily clenched and unclenched around him, sucking at his thickness.
He gripped her hips and drove hard inside her. When she cried out with pleasure, his mouth was there to receive it.
She kept him deep, sending more shudders through him. When her body relaxed, he rolled her on top of him and she collapsed.
They caught their breath as reality gently placed them back on the ground. Running a slow finger up and down her spine, still inside her, it didn’t take long for Damon to regenerate.
Sloane sat up, straddling him, and swept her brown locks across her shoulder. The silky strands covered one breast. “Now that we’ve got that out of our systems, we’re going to move forward.”
Damon’s hands had a mind of their own as one slid up and cupped her full breast. His thumb slowly circled her nipple and it stood out, wanting more attention. More attention he most definitely wanted to give.
He grinned. “You can say that again, Seaman Austen. We have a lot of exploring to do.” He raised a brow. “Want to join me?”
A huge grin brightened her face. “We’re still partners.”
He nodded and stretched his neck up for a slow, delicious kiss, swiping his tongue into her mouth, the erection between his legs hardening as she teased him.
“You’re a no-good SEAL.”
Trailing wet kisses past her neck, he stopped at her tawny nipple and flicked his tongue around its delicious peak, then sucked.
As he slid down her flat stomach and positioned his shoulders between her thighs, wanting to see her body ripple with the pleasure he was about to give her, he said, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
And then put his attention on her perfect bundle of nerves, wanting to taste her sweetest place.
During the night they napped, then made love and napped again twined in each other’s arms. At some point, thoughts flickered into his mind about Randeen and Winston. He hoped like hell they were more responsible than him and got off the mountain.
Exhausted, he closed his eyes, but it wasn’t the sun peeking from the edges of the window shade that woke him. Instead, it was the eye-rolling feeling of Sloane’s moist, soft mouth.
His body trembled with every swipe of her tongue. Her breasts brushed against his thighs, and her long hair lay curled across his stomach, but when she looked up at him, she had him. Fuck, she had him good. When his body released in ecstasy, he roared with the mind-blowing eruption, and then he laughed.
She didn’t really understand, but Damon did. He’d fallen head-over-fucking-heels-in-love with Sloane Austen, and no amount of medals would save his ass when he had to face her father and admit that the admiral’s daughter was his now.
Chapter Twenty
Kayla Austen marched past the swimming pool and across the lawn in her backyard under the blistering hot July afternoon. She didn’t bother knocking on the SEAL Cave door, but instead gripped the metal dolphin-shaped handle and pushed it open.
Five men sat on a set of couch and chairs with camo covered fabric with stains and frayed corners. The teak bar Thane built with his own hands after he retired, rivaled the bars in town. Photographs of SEALs in combat hung on the wall beside a portrait of the Budweiser pin beneath an oversized refrigerator that never ran out of ice or beer. Mementos of Thane’s long career in combat decorated the floor to ceiling bookcase behind the couch. Dead center in the collage of photos was his favorite. Geared up and ready for action, he and Patrick Cobbs stood in the middle of a FOB with nothing but sand and canvas tents behind them. In the prime of their lives, wearing big grins, the two swim buddies had the world by the tail.
Many SEALs, active and retired, had graced the furniture, telling tall tales or speaking with her husband, trying to find their way back to civilian life.
Beers in hand, every pair of eyes in the room looked up at her.
“Sweetheart, I know that expression. What’s going on?�
� Thane asked while Mace, Tinman, Fox and Greg waited for her answer.
“Where is our daughter?”
Thane’s brows arched. “Enjoying her day off would be my guess. Why? You look like a mother who’s lost one of her chicks.”
“Four days, Thane. I haven’t spoken to Sloane in four days. She’s not answering her cell. Or her home phone.”
“Kayla, it’s Sunday. Maybe she took off with her girlfriends for the weekend.”
“No,” she said sharply. “Something is wrong.”
“Kayla,” Greg tilted his head. “Thane’s right. She’s a big girl now. She’s not going to tell you her every move.”
She slapped the air as if cuffing each of the men in the room across the head. “Adam just dropped by her place and she wasn’t there. Kels doesn’t know where she is either. I need to contact someone at the administration’s office on the base.”
Her husband settled his beer on the table and strode toward her. Before she could get another word out, he wrapped his arms around her waist. “You really feel like something’s wrong?”
“I do, Thane. I don’t know what it is, but I’m fidgety. Restless. This isn’t like Sloane. She calls me at least once a day, without fail. Something has happened to our daughter.”
Greg joined them and his brow creased with concern. “I’ll head over to the base and locate someone in her department. Don’t get yourself riled up. We’ll find her.”
“Thanks, man,” Thane said and nodded.
The door opened and Adam stepped into the Cave. “Hey, folks.” With one look at her, he shook his head. “Mom, don’t go freakin’ out.”
“I’m heading to the base to see if I can find her Lieutenant in Charge,” Greg said.
“I’ll go with you,” Adam offered.
“No, I’ve got it covered. Think you’re needed here.” Greg headed for the door. “I’ll call when I know something.”
“Son, did you actually check the condo?” Thane asked.
Adam’s brow creased. “Yeah, right, Dad. I breached her condo, kicked in the door only to find my sister naked in bed with some guy like Randy Washington. If I did that, I’d never hear the end of it. No, I didn’t search the condo.”
Thane’s expression, the one based on a flaring temper, erupted. “She’s not seeing him anymore. I’ll check the condo.”
“Honey.” She stopped her husband from storming out the door with one hand to his chest. “Adam might be right.”
“He’s not! That fucking asshole will keep his dick in his pants and a fifty mile perimeter from my daughter. I made myself clear the other night.”
Kayla knew her husband meant every word, but her daughter had her own mind. “Knock first. Enter carefully,” she said, emphasizing each word. “As much as I’m not happy with Randy’s choices in life, maybe she’s with him. If so, we have to keep calm.”
Thane leaned over to meet her eye to eye. “I will rip the skin from his hide if he’s at her place,” he said, emphasizing his words.
“Actually, it might not be Randy she’s with,” Adam said, standing by the door.
“Who, then?” Thane turned to glare at his son.
He shrugged. “Lieutenant Stone seemed kinda interested in Sloane at the BBQ. Maybe he convinced her to drive to Vegas for the weekend.”
Thane cleared his throat. “Your sister doesn’t do weekends. And Stone is years older than her. I’ll terminate the son-of-a-bitch if he’s trying to seduce my daughter.”
The rest of the men in the room cast their eyes anywhere but at Thane. All but Adam.
He chuckled. “Dad, when are you gonna face the facts? She’s not in diapers anymore. My team guys think she’s the hottest fucking thing they’ve seen. If it wasn’t for me telling them ‘hands off’ they’d be chasing her skirt.”
Thane’s entire body ratcheted tight. “Sloane is intelligent, independent and isn’t a goddamn Frog Hog.”
Adam shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, and there are guys out there that would love to get close to her so they can suck up to the infamous Ghost. Others just want in her pants.”
Kayla watched as her husband held back his normal response of exploding from his son’s revelation.
“To be blunt,” Adam continued, “the lieutenant’s got it bad for Sloane. From what I hear, he’s a good guy. If she’s with him, I wouldn’t go barging in. She’d freak.”
Glaring at his son, Thane ordered, “Fox, find Stone.”
“Yes, sir.” Fox tipped his beer and emptied the bottle before getting to his feet.
Her husband followed Greg and Adam out the door, leaving Mace and Tinman with a what-the-hell look on their faces. “Well, just don’t sit there. My daughter is missing. Find her,” she growled.
“Yes, ma’am.” Mace moved first, but stopped to give her a warm hug. “Adam’s right. Your little girl is grown up. She’s gonna make mistakes, but you and Ghost raised a beautiful young woman with a good head on her shoulders.”
Kayla nodded. She knew Sloane could take care of herself in most situations. “But what if she’s in trouble and can’t call us for help?”
Mace wound his muscular arm around her shoulders and drew her tight to his chest. “Snow White, there’s no serial killer on the loose. No one has Sloane in their sights. She’s probably out with friends having a good time, and as an adult the apron strings are going to be cut more and more. History doesn’t always repeat itself. No one is going to hurt Sloane.”
“Come on, Bud.” Tony gripped Mace’s shoulder. “We’ll check in soon, Snow White.”
Fox pulled a smooch and dash. “Don’t worry, Kayla-girl. We’ll bring her home.”
Kayla stood alone in the SEAL Cave and let out an enormous sigh. The guys’ quick action and optimism helped a little, but in her heart there lingered a cold bite of fear. Sloane was her baby, and she’d protected her fiercely from a world that teetered on a seesaw of good and evil.
When Sloane was a teenager she started asking questions, like why didn’t Kayla have any relatives. Kayla, Thane and Greg sat down one night and had a long conversation about what they should or shouldn’t share with the children. She wanted to bury it all, but Greg convinced her that if Sloane would know the truth, it needed to come from Kayla. All of it.
When Sloane was seventeen and could understand relationships a little better, she told her the truth. Who her Uncle Greg and Aunt Mattie really were. How Kayla had been married to Greg’s brother. Her ancestry. Where she grew up. Every detail from the beginning. She vowed when Sloane was born, that the trauma she endured as a child would never touch her daughter.
The unexpected happened after Kayla finished explaining how she’d come to America and what had happened during that time: Sloane threw herself into her mother’s arms and cried.
Thane had remained silent while she’d explained her past. When she was done, he nodded with tears in his eyes and left them alone.
Now that Sloane was twenty-three and becoming an independent woman, Kayla knew she had to trust that even if she couldn’t be with Sloane to protect her from the dark things in this world, that someone out there, someone who saw how special she was, would protect their daughter if she were in danger.
* * * *
Sloane sat up and Damon wrapped his strong, rough fingers around her waist. “Going somewhere?” He drew her down and covered her lips with a warm, heated kiss.
“Guess not.” When he gave her a moment to breathe, she shimmied away. “But shouldn’t we focus on getting off this mountain?” Sloane swiveled and propped one hand on the mattress, gazing upon Damon Stone from head to toe. She’d teased, touched and tasted just about every inch of him last night.
He sighed and lay back on the bed, resting the back of his hand on his forehead. “We’re holed up with good cover, Seaman Austen. Besides, if you keep looking at me like that, we’re gonna flatten the tires on this trailer.”
She chuckled. “You’re quite an eye spectacle. I’m forgetting the prime objective, Lieu
tenant, and it’s not you.”
He grinned, his gaze warm. “Making that incredible body of yours come one more time might be.”
“Stop.” He flicked his head as if he wasn’t to blame for the multiple orgasms he’d given her, or hide the shit-eating grin that he was fucking proud of himself. “Give it a few minutes and you’ll be angry with yourself for seducing me.”
He bolted upright. “Me? Seduce you?” He barked with a laugh. “Think it was the other way around, little lady.”
“Wrong again, Oh Lofty One. You were prancing around bare-chested. What’s a girl supposed to do?”
His head rolled back as he laughed. “And you expect me to be the Rock of Gibraltar while you spent two days bare-ass naked and not a blink of embarrassment.”
“Do I need to be embarrassed of my body?”
He vaulted forward and hauled her on top of him like a bag of potatoes. “You don’t need to be embarrassed. As long as it’s just me who sees all your amazing assets,” he whispered with a low timbre against her ear.
Acting coquettish she said, “And now you’re getting all possessive. You told me yourself this is simply a result of being pushed to instinctual levels. We’re just releasing steam.”
His eyes narrowed. “It’s more than that, Sloane. I broke my vow to protect you but not lure you into my bed. The truth is, that’s the only thing I want.”
“To protect me?”
He nodded. “And you in my bed.”
“So it’s all about sex.”
He brushed her nose with his. “I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to your father. He’s gonna want to cut my nuts off.”
“You and anyone else who’s tried to date me. Just out of curiosity, how fast can you run a five-hundred-yard dash?”
“Sweetheart, you got it all wrong. I’m not scared of your dad, but I understand how much he loves you and wants the best for you.” He shrugged a shoulder. “I need to prove to him—that’s me.”
Time for her to shed the pillow talk and get back on track. “And what are you going to do if our little sexcapade turns into a bundle of joy?”
Damon pressed her closer and tucked a finger under her chin, using the pad of his thumb, he traced her lips. With a challenging look in his eyes, he said, “First, avoid being exterminated by your father and second, raise our first bundle of joy together.”
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