Men of courage

by Lori Foster

  “That’s it.” Ethan grabbed up their bowls and put them in the sink. “Go home. Go away. Just go.”

  Harris made no effort to hide his laughter. Buck had to quickly grab for a napkin as Ethan shoved him toward the doorway.

  Riley hung back, grinning like a fool. “One thing, Ethan.”

  “What?” Ethan could barely breathe and seriously doubted he could manage a chat with Riley.

  Somber now, Riley crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Ethan. “Don’t do anything to hurt her. Remember that she is my friend and I care about her.”

  Ethan struggled for control. More than anything he wanted to knock Riley on his ass. How dare he act territorial now when seconds before he’d been all but throwing Rosie at him? He looked at Harris and Buck and they nodded, too, equally protective, equally serious about it.

  Riley wasn’t done. “She’s a real nice woman, Ethan, with a huge heart. Don’t use what her brother did against her. She had no part in that.”

  “Goddamn it,” Ethan exploded, infuriated that Riley thought such a warning was necessary. He would never hurt Rosie and Riley should have damn well known it. “How dare you bring that up?”

  Rosie stepped around the corner, the disconnected phone held loosely in her hand. She frowned in worry, her gaze darting back and forth between the men. “Bring what up? What’s going on?”

  Refusing to back down, Riley continued to watch Ethan. Harris and Buck moved to flank Rosie—as if she needed protection.

  From him.

  “Leave,” Ethan said to all three of them. “Or I will.”

  Rosie bit her bottom lip. “Ethan? What’s going on?”

  Riley stepped away from Ethan. His expression changed when he tugged Rosie up against his chest for a long hug. “Just guy stuff. Nothing important.”

  “Don’t give me that.” She shoved back, her eyes filled with annoyance. “You guys are—”

  “Drop it, Rosie.” Ethan waited, his temper growing more fractured by the second as each of them took a turn embracing Rosie. Harris even sighed. Buck touched her cheek with poignant regret.

  You’d think she was a virgin they’d decided to sacrifice to some evil spirit! Hell, he cared about Rosie, too, always had. Even during his engagement, she’d remained one of his closest friends. The night his fiancee had jilted him, it was Rosie he’d gone to because he’d been too shamed to face anyone else. He could talk with her, just be with her, easier than he could anyone.

  Looking back on it now, he realized there was significance in their complete and total trust of one another. There’d always been a special bond between him and Rosie. She liked all of them, hung with all of them, but only he shared that extra closeness with her.

  He was the only one she wanted in the sack.

  Oh, hell.

  Ethan strode to the door and jerked it open. “Enough, all ready. Violins are going to start playing if you guys don’t stop being so melodramatic.”

  As they filed past Ethan, they all grinned and winked and bobbed their eyebrows suggestively. Riley clutched his heart and pretended to swoon. Now these were the guys he knew and loved. He even laughed a little at their antics. “Idiots.”

  He closed the door behind them, leaned back on it and surveyed Rosie with new eyes—and undiluted male interest.

  She looked worried. “Uh… what’s going on?”

  Ethan pushed away from the door. Just thinking about getting her into bed now, about doing everything he hadn’t done last night, made him hot. Holding her gaze, his hunger growing, he murmured, “God, I’ve been dense.”

  She took a step back, her eyes wide, locked on his. “Yeah, so what’s new?”

  Her sarcasm couldn’t quite hide her nervousness. Ethan felt like a superior male, ready to gentle the little woman, ready to give her what she evidently wanted, what he now knew he wanted.

  “No more games, Rosie.”

  Her chest rose and fell with deep breaths and she planted her feet, done with backing up. “Okay.”

  “Do you want me?”

  She blinked hard, twice. “You mean… sexually?”

  Just hearing her say it nearly tipped him over the edge. His voice turned husky. His chest constricted. “Yeah.”

  Silky brown hair shimmered around her shoulders with her nod. “I have for a long time now.”

  “Is that right?” Ethan didn’t want to know how long—it might kill him. He stopped two inches from her. “Nothing happened last night, did it?”

  “No.”

  “Not even a kiss?” He wanted it confirmed that if he’d kissed her, she’d damn well know it.

  “No.” She stared down at her feet. “Your redhead accidentally dumped her drink on me, so I had to leave. You were too drunk to drive and so you asked me to call you a cab.” She looked up, determination darkening her gaze. “I decided to take you home myself to be sure you made it safely, and well… I didn’t want to leave.”

  “I see.”

  She rushed to add, “I did refrain from taking your pants off you.” She made it sound like a huge concession on her part.

  Ethan smiled. “I appreciate that.”

  “You do?” She started wringing her hands and frowning at him in confusion.

  “Oh, yeah.” Her uncertainty in the face of the bizarre circumstance was rather endearing, Ethan decided. It was rare indeed to see Rosie suffer such a human emotion as selfconsciousness. “I damn well want to be sober when I lie down with you, so I can remember every little detail.”

  Her eyes widened like saucers. “I was going to seduce you,” she blurted.

  “What?”

  She nodded hard. “I was. But it’s your fault”

  “My fault you were going to seduce me?” Following Rosie’s train of thought proved impossible, especially when he was already so horny.

  “Yes. You were being so stubborn about it, refusing to see me as a female and—”

  “I’ve always known you were a female, Rosie.” He wouldn’t lie to either of them. “Not once did I ever confuse you with Riley or Harris or, God forbid, Buck.”

  Her mouth fell open, then snapped shut. “Really?”

  She sounded so hopeful, Ethan’s heart turned over in his chest. He’d always considered Rosie a very special friend. Now he realized she was very special—in all ways. Especially as a woman. “Hell, yeah.” Then he scowled. “So have the other guys.”

  “What other guys?”

  The way she asked that made his worries disappear. She wasn’t aware of their interest. And she’d made it clear she wanted him. It was enough. “Nevermind.”

  “But…”

  “Shh.” He took hold of her shoulders and gently caressed her, hoping to calm her and himself. She felt so soft, so warm. He’d touched her shoulders before, for crying out loud, but this was the first time he’d done so with sexual intent. It was different. How he felt was different.

  Rosie deserved the best he could bring to her, and that meant not jumping her bones and dragging her down to the carpet, even when that was what he most wanted to do. He needed to be gentle and considerate. And slow.

  Ethan closed his eyes. It was going to be a close call, but he thought, all things considered, he’d manage. “Being that we’re both here, alone, and finally in agreement about what we want to do, maybe we should—”

  She didn’t give him a chance to finish. With an exclamation of delight, Rosie launched herself at him.

  Taken off guard, Ethan staggered under her weight, but quickly righted himself. He was already half hard with expectation and now, feeling Rosie hugged up tight to him, her breasts against his chest, her belly against his groin, he lost what little control he’d been hanging on to. “Damn.”

  “Ethan.” She caught his face and kissed him, awkwardly at first but with so much enthusiasm, he groaned. “Ethan,” she said again, his name almost a wail.

  “Easy,” he tried to tell her even as he stroked his hands down her back to that perfect heart-shaped bottom.
Her shorts were very short and it was nothing for him to slip his fingers under the frayed edges to tease her firm, rounded cheeks. Her skin was so silky, he felt sure his blood would boil.

  Rosie bit his bottom lip. She wasn’t overly gentle, either. He jerked, but she knotted her hands in his hair and brought his mouth back to hers so she could suck his lip into her mouth, tease it with her tongue.

  “Jesus, Rosie, slow down.”

  “No.” She sealed their mouths together and Ethan tilted his head so he could take over, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, swallowing her moan. It was the first deep kiss they’d ever shared, and boy, it was good.

  “Wait.” She shoved him back and reached for the hem of her shirt. “I want you to touch me. I’ve been thinking about you touching me for days.”

  Oh, no. Hell, no. In very Rosie-like fashion, she was running the show. Ethan couldn’t let her do that. She probably had no idea that she drove him wild, that he might lose control at any moment. She’d never driven him wild before, so how could she know?

  He caught her wrists and held her still, even when she struggled against him. “Damn it, Rosie. Give me a second.” He panted, trembled, while she continued to fight him. He should have expected as much; Rosie wouldn’t accept any man’s control easily, not even a man she wanted.

  Above the lust, that struck Ethan as funny, and he laughed roughly.

  Rosie glared at him. “What?” she demanded, still pulling against his hold.

  “Let’s go into your bedroom.” Maybe if he could get her pinned beneath him on the mattress, he could slow her down a little.

  “The bedroom? Oh, okay.” She tried to turn and hurry in that direction.

  Ethan pulled her up short, a little desperate. “Honey, this isn’t a race.”

  She turned around and yelled right into his face, “You’ll change your mind!”

  She looked so vulnerable, so unsure of herself. He’d been a pig, not seeing what was right in front of his face. “No,” he told her very softly, smiling to reassure her. “Not a chance.”

  “Then why—?”

  “Ever since I woke up with you this morning, my imagination has been in overdrive.” He touched her slightly parted mouth with trembling fingertips. “Hell, Rosie, thinking about you, wanting you all day, has been like indulging in foreplay for hours and the result is that I’m working with a hair trigger here.”

  Her eyes darkened to a deep gray. “You’ve been thinking about me?”

  “About getting you naked and under me, yeah.” Saying it made him see it, and his stomach cramped with need. But she deserved to hear everything. “I’ve also been jealous as hell.”

  “Jealous? Of who?”

  Ethan released her and rubbed his face. The need to laugh struck him again, lightening the urgency—at least for him—just a little. Rosie could be so single-minded in her determination she noticed nothing beyond her objective. Of course, he’d been the same, blind to the fact of his friends’ interest.

  But no more.

  Ethan caught her hand and led her toward the bedroom. “Everyone. Any guy who looks at you.”

  “Really?”

  “Especially that damned Riley.” They entered her bedroom and Ethan pushed the door shut. “He knew it, too, and kept egging me on.”

  Disbelief had her wrinkling her nose. “Riley?”

  Ethan stared down at her, so overwhelmed with tenderness—with newfound love—he could have choked on it. “And Harris and Buck.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “No.” His smile came naturally. So did the love he felt for her, until it filled him up, making him feel whole for the first time in ages. Loosely looping his arms around her, Ethan kissed her temple. “I knew all along that I thought you were hot, but they think it, too.”

  She snorted. “They do not.”

  “They do.” He smoothed her cheek, her silky-soft brown hair. Rosie. He couldn’t get over the shock, or the rightness of it. “But you only want me, right?”

  She stared at him a long minute before squeezing him tight. “I’m not her, Ethan. Of course, I only want you. Michelle was the biggest fool alive to walk out on you. And as much as I hurt for you when it happened, I was so glad you didn’t marry her.”

  Ethan closed his eyes, cut by her words. He hadn’t meant to bring that up, hadn’t even been thinking in that direction. Hell, the humiliation Michelle had inflicted couldn’t possibly invade his thoughts, not now, not with Rosie in front of him, ready to take him to her bed. He took one breath, then another, but it didn’t help.

  Leaning back, Rosie saw his pained expression and flattened one hand on his chest. “You didn’t love her, Ethan. I know you didn’t.”

  “Rosie…”

  Her small hand smoothed over his chest then down his abdomen, and lower. He caught his breath.

  Still staring up at him, she touched his fly, gently, curiously. He was fully erect, straining his jeans, and Rosie traced her fingertips up and down his length. “I’m not a fool,” she said. “How could I want any other man but you?”

  “Yeah,” Ethan murmured, barely able to think much less discuss the past. “Right now.”

  Her smile affected him as much as her touch. “I’m ready.”

  She stepped back and this time when she reached for the hem of her shirt, Ethan didn’t stop her. He stood there, every muscle in his body tense, as Rosie disrobed as naturally as if she’d been baring herself to him for a lifetime. She threw the shirt aside, unhooked her bra, and still he stood there, just watching—and catching on fire.

  With slow precision, playing the tease naturally, she unsnapped her shorts, slid down the zipper, and bent to push them off, taking her panties with her. When she straightened, she was beautifully naked.

  A slight blush colored her cheeks when she lifted her face and looked at him. Shaking, Ethan closed his hands on her waist and brought her up against him.

  “Rosie,” he whispered, and he took her mouth as he lowered her down to lie flat on the mattress. He’d waited long enough.

  He couldn’t wait a second more.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Rosee felt his mouth on her throat, open, damp, hot. One big hand rested on her ribs, just beneath her right breast. He laid half-atop her, heat pouring off him, and he wanted her.

  She closed her eyes and luxuriated in the moment. She loved him so much she hurt with it, and now finally she could tell him.

  His long rough fingers slid gently over and around her breast, teasing, making her skin prickle, before he cupped her fully. She could feel his hot breath against her shoulder, near her ear, disturbing the fine hairs at her nape. His breathing was rough, uneven, sounding so sexy, so male. He continued to place openmouthed kisses here and there, until Rosie couldn’t catch and hold a thought.

  She was already squirming, unable to stay still, when his thumb brushed over her stiffened nipple once then returned again and again. The effect was startling, wonderful. Her heart raced and everything she felt intensified to an acute ache.

  Rosie looked at him, and all she could think was that this was Ethan, finally. He was hers. “Ethan…”

  He groaned, lowered his head and took her nipple into the wet heat of his mouth.

  An overwhelming wave of sensation made her thighs stiffen, her toes curl. “Oh, Ethan…”

  She arched hard, but Ethan held her steady. “Look at you,” he murmured, and his breath drifted over her wet nipple. “So pink and soft. So sweet.”

  He switched to the other breast and Rosie thought it was almost too much. She’d wanted this, wanted him, for as long as she could remember.

  “Take your shirt off, too, Ethan. Please.” She barely recognized her own voice, but Ethan understood. He came up to his knees, straddling her hips, and yanked his shirt up and over his head. He started to return to her breasts but she flattened her hands on his shoulders and held him back.

  “Let me touch you,” she whispered with wonder. She’d seen Ethan witho
ut his shirt before. They’d played softball, gone swimming, and he’d helped her move in. Each time he’d pulled off his shirt, as most of the guys had. It had been so hard not to stare, not to let her love for him show through. All of them were impressive, but they all weren’t Ethan.

  Now he was here, with her, and she intended to get her fill.

  Slowly, savoring the moment, she smoothed her palms over him. He felt perfect to her, hard and sleek and hot, with soft, crisp hair lightly scattered from pectoral to pectoral. His body hair was shades darker than his blond head, a rich brown, matching his brows and lashes. A very sexy line of silky hair teased down the middle of his abdomen and disappeared into his low-riding jeans. Awed, Rosie shoved him onto his back.

  He smiled up at her, eyes twinkling with amusement. “You are so pushy, Rosie.”

  This time she straddled his hips—and he shut up as she settled atop his erection. “I can feel you beneath me.” Her eyes closed, her breath caught. “I can’t wait until you’re inside me, Ethan. Until I can feel all of you.”

  Heat flared in his eyes and he growled, “Come here.”

  She evaded his hands and moved to the side of him. “You need to take off your jeans.” She flipped the snap loose and grabbed for his zipper.

  “Rosie, wait.” His long fingers curled around her wrist. She looked at his face and saw that his pupils were dilated, his nostrils flared. Arousal colored his high cheekbones.

  He wanted her, and she loved him. It was more than enough.

  She bent and kissed his navel.

  Ethan stiffened, but Rosie continued to kiss him, each rib, across to a hipbone—the hard ridge of his erection through his jeans. His stomach tautened until each muscle was defined. “Rosie, honey…” He gasped and his hands fell to his sides.

  Satisfied, she licked the hot, taut flesh of his abdomen as she carefully lowered his zipper. “Raise your hips,” she murmured, so anxious to have all of him that she couldn’t stop trembling.

  He did as she asked and she worked his jeans down his muscled legs, then his underwear. It took her a moment to work off his shoes and socks, and then finally he was completely, wonderfully naked. Like a feast laid out in front of her, Ethan was irresistible and she couldn’t stop devouring him with her gaze. She heard a rough, rumbling purr and realized the carnal sound was her own.