by Susan Stoker
She had no idea what time he’d left. She looked at the clock; it was currently eleven in the morning. She leaped up, as gracefully as she could with the stiches in her side, and fumbled through her suitcase for something appropriate to wear. She wanted to look casual, but at the same time neat and put together. Caroline finally decided on a pair of jeans and a fitted top. She usually wore T-shirts when she was at home, but she didn’t want to see Matthew again in one.
She put her hair up with a barrette and went over to the kitchenette. There was a little refrigerator as well as a microwave and a little coffee pot. She checked, and yup, Matthew had filled it up with fresh grounds and water. She turned it on and set about tidying up the room.
She opened the refrigerator and saw that Matthew had made sure there was some food in there, it wasn’t a lot, but it should take the edge off her hunger. She grabbed a yogurt and a pre-packaged strip of cheese. She ate those while she waited for the coffee to be done.
Caroline sat on the bed and sipped the coffee once it had filled the little cup. God, it tasted good. She wasn’t sure what to do with herself. She generally was a very “busy” person. She didn’t have a lot of down time, but since her job didn’t start for a week or so and she had nowhere to go and nothing to do at the moment, she found herself actually enjoying the coffee she was drinking for once.
Done with her drink, she got up and put it on the table. She then lay back on the bed and relaxed.
Just as she was about to fall back asleep she heard the click of the door lock being disengaged. She sat up carefully to see Matthew entering the other room of the suite. She could tell he was trying to be quiet.
“Hello,” She greeted him softly.
Wolf turned around and smiled at her. Woah. His smile was lethal. His teeth were straight and when he smiled she could see the wrinkles crinkle up by his eyes. And if Caroline thought he was good looking in jeans and a shirt, he was positively deadly in his uniform.
“Hey, how do you feel?” Wolf asked with a happy glint in his eyes.
Wolf was glad to see Caroline was awake. As he’d told her in his note, he’d been worried about her. Mozart had assured him she was fine, but until he’d actually seen her awake he wasn’t sure he believed him. She’d been completely knocked out when they’d arrived at the hotel.
“Pretty good, all things considered,” Caroline told him. “How’d this morning go at the base?”
“Good. We wanted to keep your name out of it, but we had to tell the commander here in Norfolk your part in the whole thing.”
Caroline nodded. “I figured you’d have to. It’s fine. I’ll talk to whomever I have to in order to help. If they think I can help prevent this from happening again, I’m happy to do it.”
Somehow Wolf knew she’d say that. He smiled broadly at her. “Everyone is really interested in who those guys were and what they wanted to accomplish. We didn’t give them time to tell us where they were going. You said two of them were talking about coordinates right?”
At her nod he continued. “We don’t know if they were planning on crashing into something like the terrorists did on 9/11, or if they were planning on landing the plane somewhere.”
Wolf went over and sat next to Caroline on the bed. Just the fact they were both sitting on a bed together seemed very intimate. Caroline couldn’t stop the blush that crept up her face.
Wolf took one finger and ran it lightly over her cheek. When she blushed further and bit her lip with her teeth, but didn’t pull away, he leaned in closer. He watched her lips and when her tongue darted out to moisten them he nearly groaned. God, how could he ever have missed seeing her? Really seeing her before he got to know her.
He ran his index finger lightly over her bottom lip where she’d been biting it and had just licked. He could feel the hot wetness on his fingertip.
“I’m going to kiss you Caroline,” he informed her somewhat gruffly. When she didn’t say anything he growled out a warning. “If you don’t want this, now’s your last chance to say something.”
Wolf could see the pulse in her neck beating hard. She swallowed, but didn’t stop him. He leaned toward her and used the same index finger that had just been caressing her lip to lift her chin. He wanted to look into her eyes to ascertain if she really wanted this, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her delectable mouth. Finally his lips met hers.
Her lips parted immediately to let him in. He didn’t plunge into her mouth right away; instead he ran his tongue over her top lip, stopping to tease the same lip with a quick nip of his teeth. He pulled back a fraction of an inch to look at Caroline. She had her eyes shut and was clutching the front of his uniform with both hands.
He decided to stop messing around and went in again. This time when their lips met, Wolf thrust his tongue into her mouth and rejoiced when she met it with her own. They caressed each other over and over. Wolf retreated and she followed, then he pushed her tongue back and explored her mouth with his.
Finally, when Wolf knew he had to stop, not risk pushing them further than they were ready to go, he pulled back. One of his hands had made its way behind her neck and he’d been holding her against him. His other hand was low on her back. If they’d been standing or lying down he would’ve been pushing her pelvis into his own. Wolf took a deep breath, but didn’t move his hands.
Caroline slowly opened her eyes. Holy Hell. Matthew was delicious. She’d been kissed before, but she’d never been kissed like that. Like Matthew needed her to breathe. Like she was precious. She didn’t know what was different about that kiss from every other kiss she’d had in her life, but deep down she knew it was different.
Caroline loved the feel of Matthew’s hands on her body—the hand behind her neck held her still and she could feel the heat of his hand on her back. She laid her forehead against his shoulder. Matthew didn’t remove his hand from her neck, just followed her in and held her against him.
“Wow,” was all Wolf could say at the moment.
“Wow indeed,” he heard Caroline’s muffled voice against his shoulder.
He chuckled. He felt great. Better than he had in a long time. Strangely, knowing she was just as affected as he was went a long way toward calming him down.
“What do you say we take today to sightsee?”
Caroline lifted her head from where it was resting against Matthew’s chest and looked at him. “Sightsee?”
“Yeah, sightsee. You know the thing people do when they aren’t working and are on vacation?”
Caroline chuckled. “Yeah, okay.” If he wasn’t going to talk about their kiss that was fine with her. “What is there to do around here?”
Wolf could tell she was relieved he wasn’t rehashing their kiss. He’d give her time to digest it and come to terms with what happened, but he knew they’d have to discuss it sooner or later. He wanted more, a lot more.
“Well, I could give you a tour of the Naval Station, or we could go to the Norfolk Zoo, or the Botanical Gardens. If you like museums, there are several here. What are you in the mood to do and what can you physically do? I don’t want you hurting yourself further.”
Caroline went to sit up straighter and couldn’t help but flinch as the move stretched her side and pulled at her stiches.
Of course Wolf saw. “All right, before we go, I want to check your side. Then how about I show you the base then we grab something to eat. We can then come back here and watch a movie. That way I don’t have to keep asking you how you’re feeling and you won’t feel the need to lie to me.”
Caroline laughed out loud. Crap. How could he know her that well so soon? “Sounds good.”
When Matthew made no move to get up Caroline smiled and pointed out, “You’ll have to let go of me if we’re going to go anywhere.”
Matthew leaned down and whispered, “What if I don’t want to?”
Caroline didn’t have anything to say, but the goose bumps that rose on her arms were answer enough. Matthew smiled at her, took his arm
from the back of her neck and ran it down her arm, kissed her hard, then stood up. He held out his hand to help Caroline up.
He didn’t let go of her hand once she was standing but merely turned and led her to the bathroom. He helped her sit up on the counter, and had her hold up her shirt so he could see her side.
Wolf tried to keep his hands from wandering all over her creamy flesh, but it was difficult. She wasn’t skinny, but she wasn’t fat. She was…soft, and squishy, and Matthew loved it. He’d had all sorts of women, but this woman made him lose his legendary control faster than anyone ever had before.
Not able to resist, he ran the back of his hand up her side to just below her breast. At her sharp intake of breath he smiled and let his fingers trail back down to her side and her stiches. They looked good. Mozart had said to leave the wound unbandaged, as long as it wasn’t bothering her.
“Does it hurt? Do we need to cover it up?”
Caroline shook her head. “It doesn’t hurt. Sometimes the stiches catch on my shirt, but it doesn’t hurt.”
Wolf nodded, then ran his finger around the stiches one more time. He loved seeing her shiver in reaction. He reluctantly smoothed her shirt down and said, “Let’s go before I decide we’re better off staying here and getting to know each other better.”
Wolf watched as Caroline gathered her stuff she needed for the day and they finally headed out the door.
Caroline couldn’t remember a nicer day. The weather was behaving and it was beautiful outside. They’d spend the early afternoon strolling slowly around the base. Matthew pointed out important buildings and historical plaques. They’d even been able to get a guided tour of one of the huge ships. She couldn’t remember what kind it was, but Caroline was fascinated at how everything worked on board. They had their own post office and kitchen and even jail on the ship.
After the tour Caroline was feeling tired. She’d had a tough forty eight hours and was still feeling the effects of the sedative. Matthew noticed, of course, and insisted they stop and grab take-out instead of eating in a restaurant.
When Caroline didn’t complain about eating in, Wolf knew she was probably hurting more than she was letting on. The more time he spent with her, the more he got to know her. She’d probably fall flat on her face before admitting she was tired or hurting.
They’d come back to the hotel and spread their dinner out on the coffee table. She’d snuggled into Mathew’s side after eating and they found an action adventure movie on the television to watch.
Wolf smiled down at the woman in his arms. Caroline fit perfectly against him. He couldn’t remember having a date where he’d had a better time, especially when sex hadn’t even been on the table. He knew they’d have to wait. She physically wasn’t up for it for one, and Wolf didn’t want to rush it. He loved just sitting and talking to her and getting to know her. Perhaps that was what was missing on his other dates—the connection, the getting to know each other outside the bedroom.
“Why the nickname Wolf?” Caroline murmured softly from beside him, asking the question out of the blue.
Wolf looked down. It actually sounded strange to hear his nickname coming from her mouth. He was so used to her always calling him “Matthew,” in fact he preferred it.
“I’d love to tell you it came about because I’m stealthy or that I have the patience of a wolf, but alas it’s nothing so manly as that.”
Caroline picked her head up so she could see Matthew better. “Now I’m really interested. Go on.”
“Many times in the military nicknames come from a soldier’s name. Like, if my last name was Wolfgang or Wolfowitz, drill sergeants and the other guys would start calling me Wolf.”
“But your last name isn’t Wolfgang or Wolfowitz.” Caroline said giggling, stating the obvious.
Wolf chucked Caroline under her chin. “Yeah, well my nickname came from boot camp. It was a completely new experience for me and I was worked harder than I’ve ever been worked in my life. I was always hungry. Apparently every time we went in for chow I ate my food so fast I finished way before everyone else. I’d also be happy to eat anything the other guys didn’t want.”
Caroline sat all the way up, fully awake now. “Oh my God, don’t tell me. You were Hungry Like a Wolf?”
Wolf laughed and grabbed Caroline so she fell back against him. He loved how she snuggled back down into him, shifting around until she was comfortable, like an animal burrowing down into their bed for the night. “I haven’t thought about that old song in forever. Jesus. And actually, yes, I was always “wolfing” down my food. The name stuck.”
He loved hearing Caroline giggle. He knew she hadn’t had a lot of reasons to laugh recently.
They both settled back down into watching the movie. When Wolf shifted about twenty minutes later, Caroline murmured under her breath and snuggled deeper into him. The fact she was asleep, but still turned toward him made his heart clench. Wolf was amazed she was such a heavy sleeper. In his line of work it didn’t pay to sleep as heavily as she apparently did, so it’d been a long time since he’d seen it.
For the second night in a row Wolf picked Caroline up and brought her to bed. He laid her down and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. He didn’t dare remove her clothes. It was bad enough seeing as much of her as he had that morning while checking her stiches and the night before. He hadn’t wanted her to be uncomfortable by sleeping in her pants. He’d reached under her shirt and had unbuttoned her pants. The warmth of her skin was heavenly next to his fingers. He thought about removing her shirt and pants now to help her into something more comfortable but knew if he started, he wasn’t convinced he’d be able to stop, and he wasn’t going to take advantage of her.
She’d just have to sleep in her jeans tonight. He wasn’t strong enough to remove them again and leave her alone in the bed.
Wolf sat by the edge of the bed and simply watched Caroline sleeping. He studied her and tried to figure out what made her different from all the other women that had come before her. After a while he gave up. It was what it was and he wasn’t going to analyze it anymore. He just wanted to enjoy it.
He still had a lot of time left before he had to leave for the next mission. While he wanted to visit with his friend, Tex, he wanted to spend most of his vacation time with Caroline. His priorities had shifted in a blink of an eye. Wolf didn’t fight it.
He leaned down and kissed Caroline on the forehead. Wolf closed the hotel door softly and headed down the hall to the elevator. He’d meet back up with Mozart and Abe at Tex’s house then come back early the next morning. He couldn’t wait to spend another day with Caroline.
Chapter Eleven
Caroline rolled over the next morning and groaned. Shit. She’d done it again—fallen asleep—and Matthew had to put her to bed. She yawned and stretched, thinking she was such a lame date.
She got out of bed and instead of heading straight for the bathroom, Caroline checked the coffee pot…and smiled. It was set and ready to go. Matthew had obviously set it all up before he’d left last night. Caroline liked knowing he thought about her comfort that way. It had been so long since someone had done something so simple for her. She liked being taken care of. Caroline turned the switch to on and went back to the bedroom to get ready for the day.
After showering and checking her stiches—which were healing nicely—Caroline poured herself a cup of coffee and settled on the couch to watch TV. She was enjoying the free time to be lazy and not have to rush off to work. That time would come soon enough, so for now she was happy to lounge around.
Glancing around the room, Caroline did have to see about checking out of the hotel though. She figured Matthew had to be paying for it, as she certainly didn’t give the front desk her credit card. She’d ask the hotel to switch to her card when she checked out; it wasn’t fair for Matthew to pay for her room.
Since she rented an apartment before she left California, Caroline had planned on staying in a hotel for a few nights anyway until
her stuff arrived. This hotel was just as good as any other. Figuring she had another couple of days before her furniture arrived from California, she relaxed against the couch again. Ahhhh, it felt so good to lounge around and be a bum. She didn’t get to do it very much and it was a luxury now.
The phone ringing next to her startled her so badly she spilled her coffee. Crud. She rubbed at the coffee that had fallen on her jeans at the same time she leaned over to answer the phone. It had to be Matthew, she didn’t know anyone else in the area.
“Hello?”
“Good morning, Caroline. How are you feeling today?”
God, if Caroline thought his voice was sexy in person, over the phone, rumbling in her ear? Panty melting. “I’m good. I’m sorry I conked out on you again last night. You’re always taking me to bed.” She blushed as soon as she said it. It sounded much dirtier out loud than it had in her head.
Wolf laughed. “Believe me, Ice, I love putting you to bed. I’m hoping sometime in the near future I can join you there.”
Caroline was stunned into silence. Hell, she’d been thinking about how much she wanted him to join her in bed, but she didn’t think he’d come right out and say it. She didn’t know what to say.
“Caroline? You still there? Too soon?”
“Yes…er…no…” Shit. She was beyond flustered. She heard Matthew chuckle and tried to clarify. “Yeah, I’m still here, and…a bit…but I think I want that too.” She still couldn’t get over that Matthew, looking like he did, tall, dark and handsome, a man who could get any woman in his bed, seemed to want her.
She must have said that bit out loud because Matthew retorted, “Hell yeah I want you, Ice. You’re smart, you’re level headed, and I’ve wanted you since I shook your hand on the damn plane.”