She was in an impossible situation, but was making decisions with an eerie calm he didn’t trust.
She tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’ll ask my mom again about the day David came to the house, but I don’t think she’ll remember anything I don’t. David was high. I remember arguing with him and telling him to leave or I was going to call the cops. Lorenzo fought with him and threw him out of the house. Then Armando showed up, and they almost came to blows. Benito and Lorenzo had to hold Armando back. I think the story about the money was a lie to pay me back for threatening him.”
“The temper tantrum of a spoiled rich kid.”
“Yes, and it cost my father his life.”
“That’s on Henderlight and Acosta, Piper. Not you. You’ve carried enough guilt, enough responsibility for what happened. Your family should be a source of support.”
“I can’t risk Lester harassing them. Teresa and Tom have enough to worry about with Teresa’s cancer treatments and the kids. Alana, my brother Armando’s wife, is due to have their second child any time now. My mom’s been through enough.”
But hadn’t she been through enough, too? He thought it through for a moment. “We’ll have to wait for Lester to make the first move.” He couldn’t count Lester’s watching his house as the first volley…if it had been Lester.
Anxiety tightened her expression and he motioned to the water. “We’re out here in the fresh air and sunshine, completely alone, with no one to bother us, so let’s enjoy the silence and solitude and forget about things for a while.”
A brief smile flitted across her features. “You were supposed to think things through.”
“I did.”
“You’ve only known me for a few days. What if I’m conning you?”
“You just poured everything out to a police detective who’s probably going to dissect every part of your life again. I don’t think you’re conning me or him.”
Her brown gaze locked onto his.
He cupped her face and brushed a kiss over her lips. “I believe you, Piper.” Though he kept the pressure light, he hardened as soon as he touched and tasted her lips. When he broke the kiss, Piper leaned forward to press her mouth to his to continue it.
“I didn’t bring you aboard to do the lonely sailor seduction dance, Piper.”
A half smile crossed her face. “I didn’t come aboard to do the lonely vet seduction dance, either. I need you to hold me, touch me. I need to be close.”
An iron man couldn’t resist an invitation like that. He tilted Piper’s face up to him. Took his time when he kissed her, building the simple brush of her lips to something more. He molded her slender frame against him with hands hungry for the feel of her.
Their tongues tangled until he drew hers into his mouth and sucked.
Piper’s groan sent an answering rush of need straight to his groin.
Piper’s voice was soft. “Can we go below?”
The narrow bunk across from the dining area folded out to make a twin-size mattress. He reached into the overhead for clean sheets and some pillows. “We’d be more comfortable at my apartment, Piper.”
She shook her head. “You love your boat. It’s a special place to you, and you’re sharing it with me because you know I need it.”
She was right. He and Bowie’d brought women on board before, but he never made love with one here. It hadn’t felt right, because it was his private space. He wasn’t going to think about why this time it did feel right.
*
Piper kicked her shoes off and slipped free of her blouse and jeans, but left her bra and panties on.
“You can get undressed and dressed faster than anybody else I know,” Zach said, his gaze trailing down her body with open appreciation, from her face to her bare feet. “Not that I’m complaining.” He toed off his deck shoes.
She sauntered up to him. “Do you need a hand taking off your clothes?”
A slow grin spread across his face. “Yeah, I could use a hand.”
She paused to rest her palms against the powerful width of his T-shirt-covered chest and looked up at him. “I didn’t know what it meant to truly want a man until I met you.”
Zach’s smile died. Her stomach tumbled at his expression of single-minded focus. A blossoming heat took root deep inside her.
He caught her waist in his hands and brushed his lips against her temple, her cheek. His voice was husky when he murmured against her ear, “You’re killing me here, Piper.”
He felt so solid, so strong. She slipped her hands up under his T-shirt and over the sparse patch of rust-colored hair on his chest. She dragged the shirt up, and he raised his arms to help her. She tossed it on the table. Then she leaned into him, aligning her body with his. She wanted to revel in the feel of his skin against hers, the way his body fit against hers.
Zach unhooked her bra, guided it down her arms and tossed it atop his shirt. He trailed his hands down her back and cupped her buttocks to pull her in close.
“I can feel how much you want me.” The anxiety that had plagued her at such a response in the past never raised its head. She sighed with a sense of relief and release. He had given her more than he knew. So much more. She loved him for his generosity, his humor, his giving nature, his trust. How could she not love him? He deserved so much more than she could ever give him.
When he left to go to places like Afghanistan or God knew where, he’d be taking part of her with him. Because he mattered to her, more and more each day.
She unfastened the top of his shorts and unzipped his fly with an exaggerated slowness. When she slipped his shorts and boxer briefs down over his hips, he bent his head and took her lips. He cupped her breasts and ran his thumbs with a feather-light touch over her nipples until they peaked.
She trailed a hand down over the muscular tautness of his belly, then lower. Her fingers closed around his erection and stroked him.
He hummed against her mouth and broke the kiss to nip her shoulder then hooked his fingers in the elastic of her panties and peeled them down until they dropped to her feet.
He guided her to the mattress and they lay down together.
She pressed an open-mouthed kiss to his chest, right over his heart, then slid lower to his stomach. She gripped the base of his distended cock and looked up at him to find him watching her, his cheeks ruddy with desire. She ran her tongue over the head of his penis, then took him into her mouth.
*
Zach’s heart labored like an engine stuck in full throttle while Piper’s mouth closed around him. Pleasure raced through him and he groaned aloud.
Her enthusiasm, while she licked and sucked more than made up for her inexperience. He pulled away when the need for release became too intense. “I want to be inside you when I come, Piper.”
He rolled above her and positioned himself between her legs. Her arms went around him to pull him down. She rose to meet him as he thrust inside her. It was then he realized he’d forgotten the condom. The intimate sensation of her gripping him like a glove, taking him in, nearly drove him over the edge. He groaned as he beat back his need and withdrew from her. He grappled to reach his shorts, jerked his billfold free and hooked a finger in to remove the condom he’d tucked there only days ago, right after meeting Piper.
He covered himself and came back to her. Her sherry brown eyes, dark with desire, settled on his face, her hands following the curve of his spine. He eased back into her. “I got a little crazy there for a minute,” he murmured and nuzzled her neck.
“I feel the same way. You feel so good inside me.”
“Darlin’, you don’t need to remind me of that right now. Not if you want me to be any use to you at all.”
“I think you’ve more than proven how useful you can be in bed and out, Zach.” She looped an arm around his neck to pull him down for a kiss.
Need rode him hard, and there was no finesse in the way he plunged into her again and again.
Piper’s breathing sounded as ragged a
s his, her breath hot against his neck. Her fingers found his nipples, and she ran her fingertip over them. His control went to hell, and his release crashed over him like a runaway locomotive.
He was still breathing heavily when he lifted his head to look down at her.
A smile crooked up the corners of her mouth while she smoothed his hair.
Zach rolled onto his side to lie beside her.
She curled into him and laid her head upon the pillow close to his. The scent of her shampoo and the jasmine body wash she used wafted from her heated skin. “I’ve discovered something.”
“What is it?”
“I really like making love with you.”
Zach laughed. “I’m really glad you like making love with me. I guess it’s kind of obvious I feel the same way.”
“I thought you might.” She ran the backs of her fingers back and forth along his jaw. “You’re right about me putting my life on hold. I’ve let the past become a prison, and I’m not going to do it anymore. I’m breaking out.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“I’m not going to let Lester put me back in the box again. What do you think I should do to keep it from happening?”
“I have some ideas, but it will require some help from friends and maybe your family.”
“I won’t be able to depend on them, Zach. I made excuses for them earlier, but the truth is…they blame me for what happened to my father. They won’t get involved.”
Jesus what was wrong with these people? “We’ll think of something, Piper.” Without her family’s help, it would be just the two of them.
“I think you’re more like your maimeó than you realize. You told me she had enough love to go around for everyone in the family and your SEAL team, too. I think you have to guard against going down that path.” She stroked his cheek. “I guarded against it, too. But the way you are with me. The way you talk about your sister, your grandmother, so caring, so tender. I needed you. So now it’s too late for me. You’ve taught me how to be generous, too. I haven’t been able to be generous for a long time, because I’ve been afraid of to let anyone get close. I didn’t want to have to watch them walk away after I shared everything.”
“Don’t, Piper.” Zach placed a finger over her lips.
He was through with listening to her absolve everyone else of their actions. “You can’t take the blame for everything. I saw how you cared for Gracie, and read the empathy in your face when you saw Master Chief Flynn’s injuries. That’s the person you are. If they couldn’t see that person and want to get closer, it’s on them, not on you. If your family can’t see that person, it’s their loss, not yours.”
She remained silent for a long moment. “Are you going to call me when you deploy, Zach?”
She was asking if he was going to walk away, too. He didn’t want to. But he’d learned the hard way to ask someone to wait for him wasn’t a realistic expectation. She was just coming into her own. Just learning she could enjoy sex.
The idea of her being with someone else almost made him ill. If he found out about it through an email while he was in the thick of things… “It would be better for us both if I didn’t. You wouldn’t be waiting for a call that might never come. I wouldn’t be thinking about hearing your voice, seeing your face, wanting to be here with you instead of there.”
“I’ll be wishing those things whether you call or not. Won’t you be, too?”
If he said no, he’d be just another asshole, walking away. If he said no he’d be lying. The pain lanced deep, he breathed his way through it. He rolled onto his back, uncertain of his composure. “Yeah, I’ll be wishing I was here with you, Piper.”
Silence stretched between them, making the two or three inches of space between their bodies seem as wide as the Grand Canyon. When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he rolled on his side to face her again and draw her close.
With her head tucked under his chin, her body pressed close to his, her thigh wedged between his, the distance shrank again.
“I think you need to break out, too, Zach,” Piper murmured softly, her breath hot against his chest.
“Yeah, honey. You’re probably right.”
Chapter 28
‡
Zach guided the boat back to the marina. The distant row of vessels grew larger and larger. Small clusters of people were packing up for the day. Many of the boats’ sail-barren masts looked forlorn, even from afar.
The pressure of Zach’s arm around her waist was protective, but she wondered if now there wasn’t just a little possessiveness to it as well. Piper stepped away to give him room to maneuver while he wove the vessel through the opening into the marina area.
Zach eased the boat back into its berth as though he’d done it a million times before. She climbed down the ladder, hoping she could be helpful.
A security guard stood on the dock, a little overweight, but young, with sandy blond hair. “Toss the rope and I’ll tie it off for you, miss.”
Piper rolled the nylon rope into a loop and threw it to him. He tied it down with the ease of long practice.
Zach climbed down the ladder and swung around onto the narrow ledge along the port side of the boat, and reaching the bow, tossed the bow line to the man. As soon as the boat was secure, two policemen and a dog wandered down the dock toward them. “What’s going on, Charlie?”
“Someone phoned in a tip saying you have drugs aboard. I told them they were crazy, but they want to board you. You can tell them they have to get a warrant.”
“No need. We don’t have anything but Dramamine on board. Tell them to come ahead.”
Hearing their conversation, Piper’s legs threatened to fold and she leaned against the starboard side of the boat, and she gasped for breath like she’d been gut-punched. After all he’d done for her, she’d brought trouble to Zach’s door.
*
“I’d prefer to have Charlie accompany you while you search,” Zach said his gaze on the K-9 officer. He wouldn’t put it past Lester to make more trouble by trying to plant something.
The officer shrugged. “The dog will be doing the searching. But he’s welcome to watch.”
Zach nodded to Charlie.
“Are there any weapons on board, sir?” the K-9 officer asked.
“A couple of spear guns mounted high on the bulkhead above the table in the galley.”
As Charlie and the dog’s handler disappeared downstairs, Zach turned his attention to the other policeman.
“Have either of you been drinking, sir?” he asked.
The question set off Zach’s temper and his face flared hot. “No. We haven’t. There isn’t any alcohol on board. You can check for that, too if you’d like.”
He glanced at Piper. Since the police had come on board, she had tucked herself in against the starboard railing and turned her back to them. He limped to stand next to her at the railing. “It’s going to be fine, Piper.”
Ten minutes later Charlie, the K-9 officer, and his dog appeared from below.
The two officers conversed for a moment, then approached the two of them.
“Your boat was clean, sir.”
Zach raised a brow. “I’m an active-duty SEAL. I don’t do drugs. We’re tested for drugs on a regular basis. Who sent you out here?”
“Dispatch sent us out here on an anonymous tip.”
“Did you do a background check on Ms. Bertinelli and me before you came out?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And?”
“You’re clean.”
“And Ms. Bertinelli?”
“The report said she was a known associate of two drug dealers, both in prison. One for murder and one for possession with intent to sale.”
“Associate?” Piper’s outburst had them turning toward her. “Duardo Acosta walked into our restaurant and murdered my father in cold blood. He tried to shoot me and missed. I’d never seen him before in my life. I was never his associate. My father, family, and I were his victims.
The other man I dated for five weeks and dumped, specifically because I found out he was dealing and taking drugs. His name is David Henderlight. I wasn’t his associate. I was stupid for believing his lies, but I was never his associate. When you get back to your cruiser, I suggest you look up the files.”
Zach laid a hand on Piper’s arm to sooth her.
“How do I find out who called the request into dispatch?” he asked.
“You can write a formal request for the information from the dispatch supervisor, but unless it’s linked to a criminal file, it’s doubtful they will release it. Since your boat was clean and no arrests were made, it’s not an open investigation.”
“I’d like the dispatch number.”
The policeman wrote the number down on a slip of paper and tore it off his notepad. “I’d also like your names and badge numbers added to it.”
The two police officers exchanged a glance. The one with the pad wrote them both down and extended it to him.
Zach drew a breath to rein in his temper. The two officers climbed off boat and the dog led the way while they returned to their car. Zach gripped Piper’s arm. “I have to go up on the dock and talk to Charlie for a moment.”
Charlie stood by the stern waiting for him.
“I’m real sorry this happened, Zach,” Charlie said. “I told them it was bogus. That you’re a SEAL and straighter than straight. They said they still had to check it out.”
“It’s okay.” He lowered his voice to keep Piper from hearing their conversation. “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep a close eye out for anyone hanging around my boat. Someone’s trying to cause me some trouble.”
“I’ll do it. And I’ll pass the word to Jordan and Hank as well.”
“Thanks.”
“Are any of your security cameras pointed toward the road leading in to the parking area?”
“No, they’re all directed back here at the boats.”
“Okay. What about the parking lot?” Maybe Lester had pulled in and waited for them to return.
“Yeah. We have them on the parking lot.”
Zach pulled out his phone and showed him the picture he’d taken. “Can you look through the digital footage from the past couple of hours and see if a car this make and model came in and parked. The man in it is muscular, medium height, with a short neck. Really bulked in his upper body. About forty-five.”
Breaking Out (Military Romantic Suspense) (SEAL Team Heartbreakers Book 6) Page 25