by Heather Long
She traced a finger over his lips. “You aren’t hurting me. I just don’t know how much I can take when I want all of you.”
The words pulled a groan out of him and nipped her fingertip. “Then we go slow…test what you can handle, and what you can’t.”
If she said no, he and his hand would need a date and soon. For now, he waited. When she eased away, he released her. Then she gripped the hem of her shirt and met his gaze.
“Fair warning…this isn’t that pretty.”
“Shh, don’t badmouth my hot as hell Marine.” The possessive slipped out but he wasn’t going to shy away from it. He wanted her.
All of her.
Not just to save her, or help her get her life where she wanted it. He wanted the woman he’d gotten to know. The fiery spirit, determined independence, and relentless need to serve. He wanted her. Scars and all.
She tugged the shirt off, and his gaze went to the supple curves of her breasts. They weren’t large, but they were perfectly crowned by a dusky nipples already pebbled to points. His mouth watered and he extended a hand, slowly cupping one and tracing his thumb over the tense point.
At her swift indraw of breath, he checked her expression. “If anything hurts…anything, you tell me.”
“Yes sir,” she exhaled the words on another shudder of breath as he rolled the nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Fisting his control, he took his time, teasing one breast, then the other. When she closed the distance, he took over the kiss thrusting his tongue against hers in a move to mimic what his body wanted to do to hers.
She twisted, returning to his lap and straddling him. Dropping his hands to her hips, he steadied her and waited until she sank down. The brush of her heat over his groin, even separated by clothing threatened his sanity.
But he was a SEAL, he could handle it.
This wasn’t about his needs, but hers. Then she was kissing him again and her breasts pressed against his chest. He slid his hands over her ass, cupping and squeeze. When he teased a finger along the inseam, a delightful dampness greeted him and she shuddered. Then she kissed along his jaw and bit his earlobe, the sting chased away by the lave of her tongue.
“I want you, Oddjob.” The words an affirmation, and declaration. “I don’t know if I can do slow.”
“Tell me what you want,” he ordered, as he pressed his finger farther. The lack of panties beneath her shorts let him ease a finger right against her slick channel, he dipped in a knuckle length then out. Swirling the finger over her clit, he reveled in her sudden gasp and grip on his shoulders.
“You,” she admitted, shaking. “I want to feel you.”
Another press of his finger elicited another wild gasp and he checked her expression. The dilated pupils, the flush to her skin coupled with the short shallow breaths and he stroked her clit until she released a soft cry. Savoring her every reaction, he caught her when her muscles trembled and threatened collapsed. Shifting, he rolled her onto her back and with care, he peeled her shorts away.
“Still with me?” He whispered, pressing a kiss to a puckered scar at her side, the remnants of bullet wound. Just below it was another ripple of ribbed skin, a pink slash against tan skin. A flesh wound, perhaps?
“Yes,” she breathed, holding a hand out to him. “All clear for insertion.”
That should really not sound as dirty as it did, but he laughed and teased her lips with a brief kiss before he took a long, leisurely trip down her torso. He wanted a taste—needed one. Another pebbled, grated spot on her right thigh. It looked like a burn, perhaps. Or some other wound.
“I told you, not pretty.” She’d twisted slightly to gaze at him.
Pressing a kiss to that scar, then traced it with his tongue. “Life isn’t always pretty, but I love these…each one is a testament to your continued survival, and that you lived long enough for me to find you.”
When she didn’t respond immediately, he glanced up to find she’d pushed up on her elbows even though her right arm trembled violently.
“Easy,” he said, reaching for a couple of pillows to slide behind her. He didn’t want her hurting. He’d been clear on that.
“You—take my breath away.”
Grinning slowly, he rubbed a hand along her thigh. “Then I should make sure you can catch it before I give you another kiss.”
“You don’t have to,” she assured him, eyes shining. Then she sucked her lower lip between her teeth as if holding back what else she had to say. Never looking away from her, he pressed her thighs apart then dipped his face to press a carnal kiss against the clit he’d already tormented.
This time when she sighed, it echoed in his soul.
Chapter 7
Shayna’s new normal hadn’t included sex, no matter how attractive the men around her. She hadn’t been kidding about how even air hurt her when she first woke up in recovery, nor how badly she hurt in the intervening months. Every sliver of progress she made came at an intense cost of pain. With Oddjob’s hands on her, all she experienced was pleasure. When his lips locked on her clit, she forgot to think and just let the pleasure thread through her system.
The orgasm his tongue elicited from her stormed through her system. Even as she trembled from the ride, he was climbing along her body. His mouth closed over hers and she wrapped her arms around him. Somewhere along the way he lost his clothes and she savored running her hands over his muscled chest, and back. Like her, he had his share of scars.
She rode the eddying waves of her orgasm down as he casually began to drive her mad all over again. When he finally slid a condom on and he eased into her, her bliss shattered on another wild wave. Every thrust grew in with intensity and force as if he measured how much she could take.
A part of her wanted to scream at him to make it rough, but she wasn’t sure if she could take that and so she gave him the lead, clinging to him as he filled her over and over. The weight of his body pressing into hers offered more than pleasure. It was security, comfort, desire, and strength all wrapped in one sexy as hell package.
A second orgasm so close to the first left her body buzzing, and the pins and needles rioting through her system only emphasized the wildness unfolding within her. He stiffened against her and she opened her eyes in time to see his expression go taut as he came.
The storm carried them both, and when he finally collapsed, she arced a leg over his hips and press kisses to his head. His body seemed fused to her, and she couldn’t believe she touched him everywhere and so intimately and all she felt was good.
“Am I too heavy?” He asked, his breath warm on her ear.
“Don’t move,” she ordered. “Stay right where you are.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The ease of agreement offered another boon to her existence.
“I love this,” she whispered, stroking her fingers through his hair. “I can feel you, the heat—the pressure…it’s glorious.”
Her inner walls spasmed as little waves of after pleasure washed through her. He let out a grunt, and then chuckled. “You’re so damn hot, woman. I never want to leave.”
Forever was a long time, so all she said was, “I’m not kicking you out of bed.”
“Thank God.” Then he nuzzled her throat, and cradled her. They lingered like that for minutes or maybe it was hours. She lost count, drifting on the lazy haze of warmth surrounding her. When he did move, it was only long enough to dispose of the condom, then he pulled her back to him, and cradled her in the bed. Normally she slept on a half dozen pillows to keep herself and her shoulders propped. This time, he propped her back against his chest and provided all the support she could want.
Hand in hers, he threaded their fingers together. “I have a confession,” he told her in the dark.
“If you’re married, I don’t want to know.” Maybe it was selfish, but she couldn’t handle that at the moment.
“Fuck no,” he said, his tone harsh. “I’m not a cheater. When I commit to someone, I’m all in. You have me right now, an
d for as long as you’ll keep me. Got it?”
She didn’t quite cheer, but she squeezed his hand. “Good. Be careful, I might keep you.”
A kiss to her temple, his breath teasing her scalp. “That’s what I’m hoping—but first, I have to tell you something.”
“Well, I already know about your love of MREs, it can’t be anything worse than that.”
Silence. Then warm masculine laughter flooded the room and his chest shook against her back. The vibration was almost as good as sex, but she’d keep that part to herself. “No more comments from you, ma’am. Not until I’m done.”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
“Smartass.” But he cupped her breast as he spoke, and squeezed her nipple. The sharp pleasure a spear through her sensuous fog. “Beautiful, sexy, hot smartass. And the woman who saved my life.”
“What?” She blinked, and wished they weren’t spooning in the dark so she could see his face.
“About a decade ago, I was assigned to a medic team—this was a few months before I went to BUD/S.” The calmness in his voice twined around her. “We were backup ops, support. Moving through cleared areas, tending to the wounded both military and civilian. I was on guard duty.”
He used a thumb to tease a circle against her hand. “Boring, or so I thought at the time. We were far from the action. What was going to happen?”
Lots of things could happen, but she kept quiet.
“Arrogance is the province of the untrained. A small contingent of insurgents came out of nowhere, they opened fire, pinning me and the medic closest to me down. I couldn’t get him out and our cover was taking a beating. I had to get my guy out, and I was willing to take the hit for him. Somehow, one of them got behind me and I turned to find myself face to face with a guy who couldn’t have been much older than me. He had the drop though, and I had just enough time to say a prayer…when a sniper took him out.”
This sounded vaguely familiar.
“One by one, the sniper took most of this group, saving my life and everyone with us.” He chuckled. “By the time I got a chance to ask, the only thing I could find out was a Marine attachment close to our location heard the fire and came to help. No one knew who the sniper was—just a jarhead.”
Shayna bit her lip. “I remember that day…”
“Yeah,” he told her, then kissed the shell of her ear. “So do I. I remember thinking I owed that Marine everything, I owed them to be better at what I did, to be the one who swooped into the middle of the firefight to help out people whose names I didn’t know.”
“How did you find out it was me?” The fact he’d told her at all left her a little in awe.
“A friend of a friend of a friend, pulled the names. It had been classified at the time, and no one listed the Marine in their duty reports—not the specific one acting as sniper.”
No, they wouldn’t. She wasn’t supposed to even be in that location. They’d been running a classified op, and she was the only translator available. “Most of us look the same in our gear. Hard to pick out the girls.”
“You saved my life Shayna, you didn’t know it was me or who I was or anything. You saved my life and you changed it.”
Tears burned in her eyes and all at once she was grateful for the darkness.
“I’ve waited over a decade to say…thank you.”
Sniffing once, she squeezed his hand. “You’re welcome.”
Then he nuzzled her head and she sank into him. She hadn’t thought he could be more perfect.
She was wrong.
The next few days fell into an almost blissful routine if one discounted the fact that they’d had to put out two fires, still didn’t know the identity of the saboteur, and existed on edge most days. Oddjob’s friends arrived to help alleviate the pressure on the Brotherhood Protectors and split up the patrol work. They moved into the apartment over the barn while Oddjob stayed with her.
Everyday, they went over the property and she continued building plans and estimates for the suggested changes. Every night, she went to sleep in Oddjob’s arms. He also seemed to pick up on the cues she was hurting before she did, and he helped her stretch when she needed it, and carried a small container with her pills in case she forgot them.
The latest lead they had was on a potential buyer for ranches in the valley. Paul Dryden had been visiting a number of the ranchers and making offers. Though she hadn’t seen him, they had a call into Jacob Dalton to see if he’d received an offer. Dryden wasn’t a local and maybe he didn’t know about the donation.
“I don’t get it,” she said, leaning away from the laptop. Numbers sucked, and she embraced the distraction even if it was about the person causing Celebrate issues. “Why would someone interested in real estate set these fires? How would they do it?”
“Don’t know, don’t really care why. If it is him, then we find him and we stop him.” The longer this dragged on, the fiercer Oddjob became. It was a personal affront to nearly all of them that they hadn’t figured it out yet. “All I know is whoever it is, doesn’t seem to be acting in a predictable pattern. We thought maybe it was a personal ax to grind with you.”
“Except the cabin fire next door doesn’t link up.” She’d thought about it, but to her knowledge she hadn’t offended someone enough to come after her so viciously. At least, she didn’t think she had.
“Unless they didn’t realize where the property line was.” The cabin that had gone up was an old hunting cabin just on the other side of the lines between the ranches. No one had used it in years, and it had a well for water, but no electricity. They’d still gotten lucky.
“We can’t borrow trouble, we have enough as it is…” She trailed off when his phone rang.
“I gotta take this.” He pressed the key to answer it, then lifted it to his ear. “Jacko, tell me you have something.” Whatever the man had to say, it was lengthy. Oddjob frowned then said, “Hey I’m putting you on speaker, run that down again.”
Then he put the phone on her desk.
“Copper mining. I’ve been pulling assay reports, but that name you sent me—Paul Dryden, he’s all over them. The location you’re sitting on is listed as being over one of those copper deposits or whatever. Don’t ask me how this shit works, but if I were a betting man—which by the way I’m not—then I’d hazard this is why Dryden is trying to buy up ranches. Has he made an offer on that place?”
“No,” Shayna answered. “As far as we know. We’re still waiting to hear back from Mr. Dalton. This was his ranch, he donated it to the project.”
“We can get into that…here’s the thing, depending on how they are doing the mining, they could have come up at those cabins or pumped gas up below them. They could have detonated them and boom, bang, Bob’s your uncle, blam.” That was a colorful way of describing it. “According to online encyclopedia, copper mining requires a tunnel or open pit. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t miss an open pit, so I’d be looking for a tunnel.”
“If you were a betting man.” Oddjob’s tone was dry, but thoughtful.
“Exactly.”
Silence blanketed them.
A copper mine? “Copper is not that rare…would someone really go to that much trouble over one mine?”
“It’s a 1.3 billion dollar industry,” Jacko replied. “People will kill for a jug of milk. You do the math.”
“Hey,” Oddjob snapped. “Watch your tone.”
“Ma’am,” Jacko tacked on as if an afterthought. “No offense intended.”
“None taken. Thank you, Jacko.”
“You’re welcome, see how that works, Oddjob. You ask me for a favor you say thanks. Gotta go. Let me know if I can do more.” Then he was off the line and Oddjob scratched at the underside of his chin. Since she’d mentioned she’d liked his beard, he’d been letting it grow in again.
He was the perfect level of scruffiness.
“We’re going to track down this tunnel and Dryden. I’ll get the guys.” He leaned forward and studied her. “I hat
e to ask this…”
He didn’t have to ask. “You want me to stay here, and not join in the search. Not because you fault my skills or for some he-man need to protect your woman, but because I will actually slow everyone down and split your focus.” Like Jacko had said earlier, no offense taken. She was slower these days, and not up to punishing hikes and searches—yet. She’d get there.
“No, it’s totally a he-man thing. I want to do this for you, and I want to protect you.” Oddjob grinned, absolutely unabashed at his declaration. “I need to do this. To know these bastards aren’t going to hurt you again directly or indirectly.”
“Not going to make you fight me over it,” she told him. “I’ve got work here, I can put myself in lockdown in the house.” She was slow, not helpless or stupid.
“Woman, you rock my world. I’ll call the guys and get started on a grid search.” He rose, then circled the desk. Turning, she met his kiss with one of her own.
“One condition,” she told him, gripping his shirt.
“Name it.”
“You come back in one piece.” She’d just found him.
“I just found you,” he said, echoing her thought. “You aren’t rid of me that easily.”
“Good.” Another kiss, and then he was gone, a man on a mission. She almost felt sorry for the people responsible.
Almost.
Chapter 8
Once Oddjob alert Hank, the Brotherhood lead made a call. Two hours later, Oddjob joined the guys as they dropped in on an open tunnel mine north of Celebrate. It was on public land, tucked behind trees into a hillside. A helicopter pilot friend of Hank’s tracked the location for them. A well-used road through the trees allowed access to the roads, via a state highway.
“We’re waiting for the sheriff,” Hank said over comms as they took their positions. “This is public land, which means we can’t nail them for trespassing but it’s also up to the state and the local officials to deal with it.”