by KB Winters
“Got that with some buddies a few years ago, after getting home from a tour overseas,” he explained, watching me finger the smooth skin.
“Why a koi fish?” I asked, meeting his eyes again.
“Wild koi swim against the tide, the meaning we chose to take from that was that we’d fight on, against all odds. It represents strength under hardship, not backing away from a challenge, character. That’s what my boys and I stand for. That’s what we fight for.”
I kissed him, the simple poetic words washing over me. It was impossible to listen to Jack talk about serving in the Navy and not get swept away with the passion he held for his job. His service. He was more deserving of the words honor and valor, than anyone I’d ever met before. I twinged with guilt as I remembered my first impression of him after he’d told me he was in the service. I’d painted him with the same unflattering labels that my ex had taught me, and I knew I would always regret that. Jack was head and shoulders above my ex. They weren’t even in the same category.
Jack lifted me up and I squealed, completely caught off guard. Hunter barked in my defense, and I laughed. “Oh, look who’s the hero now!”
“Not cool, dude,” Jack said, shuffling around the frantic puppy. “Killin’ my game here.”
I laughed harder, throwing my head back. “Hunter, baby, stop. It’s okay!”
Jack bolted for the stairs, and I grabbed a hold of his neck to keep from falling out of his arms as I bounced along. He carried me up the stairs, only setting me down when he’d stepped into the bedroom and shut the door to lock Hunter outside in the hall.
“Poor baby,” I said, frowning at the closed door. “He’s going to start howling, you know.”
Jack grinned at me. “I guess we’ll just have to drown him out.”
I shivered with anticipation as he gathered me back to him. My hands roved up his smooth back, loving the feel of his muscles moving under my fingertips as he set to work with removing my top. I let him pull the light sweater over my head. Even though I wasn’t showing more than I would in a bikini top, I blushed and shook my hair forward to cover as much skin as possible. Jack smiled and pushed it all aside, staring at every exposed inch with ever growing mischief in his eyes. “You’re a beautiful woman, Holly.”
I kissed him again and things ignited as our skin met. I pressed in as close as I could, loving the mix of hard and soft between us. Jack tongued the edge of my ear with expert strokes that had me panting and reaching for his belt buckle instantly. I wanted more of his skin against mine. I wanted him bare. Naked.
He continued to tease my ear while he unhooked the back of my bra. When the last hook was freed, I stepped back and slid the straps down my arms slowly, smiling up at Jack to watch his reaction when the cups fell from my breasts. His eyes went wide and dark. I bit my bottom lip and tossed the bra to the floor before crashing against him again.
Jack lifted me up and lay me on the bed. His hands ran down the outside of my legs, as he lowered himself to the bed. I arched against the soft mattress when his mouth moved down to my hard nipples. He sucked and licked at each one while I squirmed below, pressing my thighs together, getting more and more desperate for release. He kissed down my stomach, swirled my navel with the tip of his tongue and looked up at me, his eyes full of warmth, and desire and lust. Then he went to work on the button of my jean shorts.
He paused before stripping the shorts away to kiss along the sensitive skin below my navel, above the top of my low cut panties. I inhaled sharply at the heat of his lips and fisted the covers, more eager and nervous than ever. It had been so long since I’d been in bed with a man, and while it came naturally, an explosion of nerves went off as he slid the shorts down my legs. I heard them hit the floor and I closed my eyes against the sudden urge to pull a blanket over myself.
Jack’s lips pressed against the inside of my thigh, and I jolted upright, eyes wide open. The sight of him between my thighs made me moan and he looked up from where he was kissing dangerously closer to my soaking wet panties. “Trust me, Holly.”
I sucked in my bottom lip and nodded. He shifted his attention back to my leg and moved up another inch, before parting his lips to suck and nibble at the indent where my leg met my hip. “You smell so good, Holly. Lay back, baby girl, let me take care of you.”
I released the breath I’d been holding and lay back on the bed. Jack’s finger traced the edge of my cotton panties and I shuddered. “Jack…” He didn’t answer with words. Instead, he slipped his fingertip underneath and slid down the center, sliding easily over my pussy lips.
“Oh, baby, you’re so wet,” he groaned, pressing his mouth over me, the heat of his breath tingling through the thin fabric.
“Oh my God!” I groaned, and pressed my eyes closed. It was like I couldn’t even remember what it was like to have a man’s lips on my most delicate parts. My body was more than ready, every cell screaming for him to touch me. I swiveled my hips, hungry for more, and he chuckled.
Jack stripped the panties off just as slowly as he’d removed my shorts. “Baby, you’re so beautiful. Let me see that sweet pussy.” My eyes flew to his, wide with panic. “Come on, show me.”
He rested a hand on each of my thighs and I spread them at his prompting. He watched me intently and groaned when my legs were splayed open, showing him everything. He stood up and stripped his shorts and underwear, all the while looking down at me. His body was like a statue, every inch perfect and honed. I licked my lips at the size of him, and couldn’t wait to get my hands on him—around him.
Jack had other plans though. He lowered himself down to the bed, kneeling between my spread legs, and dropped his face down to taste me. Starlight burst behind my eyes as he sucked my clit, his tongue running over the bundle of nerves with slow, tantalizing strokes. Every muscle in my body clenched as he teased me with his tongue. My hands went from the covers to his bare shoulders, digging into the hard muscles as he kept my legs apart no matter how hard I bucked. He slipped his tongue down my lips, lapping up all the wetness, and then dipped the tip inside me, tasting and exploring further.
He groaned and the sound vibrated through my body, setting off sparks in every cell, making me even wilder and frantic. I was so close to coming, and when he brought his tongue back to my clit I saw stars again. He plunged a finger inside of me and stroked the velvet smooth walls. My nails dug into his shoulders and I cried out. He slipped the finger out of me just before I went over the edge, and I spiraled down from the heights, spiking up again when it circled a little lower, teasing my ass with the tip of his soaked finger.
“Jack!” I screamed, just about to pull away, but he slipped the tip inside. I lit up like a fireworks show, a series of explosives as I crashed into an outer space. My eyes rolled back as I fell back against the bed, riding out the height of it, before coming down again, shuddering as warm electrified pulses spread over every inch of my body.
Jack paused to slip on a condom before rejoining me, and I was still shivering after the massive earth shaking orgasm he’d delivered. He teased me with the tip of his rock hard cock, and I opened my eyes, smiling up at him. “God. That was insane,” I said, panting for breath. “You’re insane.”
“We’re not done yet,” he growled, sliding inside me slowly. “I haven’t shown you what this fly boy can do.”
I sighed with pleasure as he began to move inside me, gentle and slow, until I relaxed. Only then did he pull out and thrust inside with force. I groaned against his shoulder as he hovered above me and rocked my hips to keep pace with him, wanting him deeper, harder, faster. I moaned louder with each thrust as he took me to a higher level of pleasure.
He flipped to his back, rolling me over with him, and I didn’t hesitate to straddle him. I lowered myself onto him, taking in every inch of his thick shaft before beginning to grind my hips. Jack grabbed my hips and directed my movements, faster and harder, thrusting me against him, deeper with each pulse. I moaned and dropped my head back, feeling the w
ay my breasts bounced, as a new orgasm built quickly as I rubbed against him. “Jack, oh my…”
“Come on, baby, stay with me.”
He thickened inside of me and the way he expanded that last little bit, sent me over the edge. He kept my hips rocking with his hands, fucking me harder and harder, until moments later, he shuddered and went still. His fingers dug into my hips and I rocked out the last little bit of my own release, before crashing down against his chest.
Our shallow breaths mixed with the sound of the ocean that poured in through the open bedroom windows. Jack’s heart was racing just as fast as mine. I put my chin on his chest and looked up into his eyes that were still sparkling. “All right, fly boy” I panted. “It’s been a while for me, so you just let me know when you’re ready to go again,” I said, teasing him with a flirtatious grin.
“How about now?” He replied, grinning even wider.
Before I could answer, he rolled back on top of me and my eyes popped open wide at the feel of him stiffening against my leg.
“Yeah. Now works,” I answered, crushing his lips into mine.
Chapter Seventeen
Holly
Jack’s arm was draped over my waist, one palm splayed open on my stomach. I sighed, breathing in the quiet peace of the moment, before my mind fully woke up and started to panic. The last time I’d woken up next to a man had been years ago, and it had been with my ex-husband. I pressed my eyes closed, shoving those dark memories aside as fast as possible. I lifted Jack’s hand off my waist and slowly started to inch my way to the edge of the bed. I swung my legs over the edge and looked around the dimly lit room for the nearest article of clothing. My long robe was draped over the side of the dresser, so I darted from the bed to grab it, and was shrugging into it, when a sleepy voice called over to me. “Good morning, beautiful.”
I pulled the robe closed and whipped around. Jack had moved into a half sitting position, his bare chest visible over the edge of the sheet that had fallen away. The image of what lay under the thin covering was still etched in my mind, and I got hot all over again, remembering how good he felt. My cheeks flushed and I turned away again, looking into the mirror over the dresser and fluffing my hair, finger combing it back into some type of order. “Morning.”
“What’s the hurry?” Jack asked, watching me fuss with my hair, and wipe away the smudges of makeup that had gathered under my eyes.
My heart flew into a frantic pace, scraping around my still foggy head for a reason to get away from him as fast as possible. I turned and spotted a short brown tail peeking out from under the bed. “Hunter needs to go out.”
Jack moved the covers aside, and stood up, revealing his glorious body. My eyes ran down the hard lines of his chest, flat stomach, and…before darting back up to his. He grinned at me and I blushed even more, not needing the mirror to know I was verging in on tomato red.
“I’ll take the dogs out,” he said, finding his jeans and slipping into them without bothering to find his boxer briefs. “You relax. I’ll make some coffee and bring it up.”
“No, no. I’ll do it.” Hunter woke up and backed out of his place under the bed. He looked up at me with sleepy, half open eyes, and wagged his tail. “You wanna go outside, boy?”
At the word outside, Princess came trotting into the room from wherever she’d been sleeping, and wagged her tail up at Jack. He patted her on the head before pulling on his shirt from the day before. “Okay, looks like we’re both on deck.”
My stomach twisted, but I sighed and nodded. I needed a minute to come up with an excuse to get him to leave anyway.
Downstairs, I clipped Hunter’s leash on him and we took the dogs out the back door. Jack came up from behind me and wrapped his arms around me, gently pulling me back against his chest, while the dogs roamed around the small yard to do their business. I stiffened at his touch, unable to relax fully. “What’s wrong?” Jack asked.
I pulled free of him and put a few paces between us. “I’m sorry, I just…can’t think, when you’re…like that.”
Jack’s face creased into a mix of confusion and disappointment. “All right, we don’t have to do anything, but Holly, tell me what’s going on. Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” I said, sighing.
The crease between his brows deepened. “Well, then, what’s up?”
I stared off the deck, watching the rolling tide while I gathered my thoughts. “I just don’t know about this. Last night surprised me. I guess. It shouldn’t have. But it did.”
“Are you saying you regret it?” Jack asked.
My eyes flew back to him at his blunt question. His eyes were dark and intense as he waited for my answer, the confusion melting away. “I don’t know.”
“Wow.”
“I’m sorry, Jack. I know this isn’t fair. But, I was serious when we talked about this the other day at the coffee shop. This whole situation is too complicated, and I already know it’s not going to work out for the long term.”
“Oh, you know that, do you?” Jack’s question was fast as a whip, snapping me in the face. “How could you possible know that? You haven’t even given it a chance.”
“That’s because it doesn’t have a chance!” I threw my hands up and lost hold of Hunter’s leash. I scrambled to snatch it from the ground before he realized he had a shot at freedom. “Jack, listen, I’m sorry if this seems harsh, but I’m not looking for a relationship. I feel like I was pretty upfront about that.”
Jack’s hard expression softened and he held up his hands. “All right, let’s back this down a minute, here. I didn’t force you into anything last night.”
“I’m not saying you did! God, is that really what you’re worried about here? That I’m accusing you of something?”
“No! Not at all. I’m saying that because everything last night was well past the friend zone, and you were completely fine with it. So, from my point of view, it goes like this, you said you wanted to be friends, you don’t want to get involved with a military man, and I backed off. Then, on the lifeguard tower you changed the game a little. Which, obviously, led to last night. So, we wake up this morning and I’m supposed to know that somewhere between falling asleep and waking up, you’d changed your mind about the entire trajectory of the relationship?”
I sputtered for a moment, unsure of what I was agreeing to if I said yes. The way he’d put it made me sound like some kind of indecisive bitch who changed her mind on the spin of a dime, just for kicks, which wasn’t true at all.
There was nothing fun about the suddenly sticky situation.
Jack crossed his arms. “Well?”
“No! I just…” I paused to take a deep breath, letting the moment of calm give me strength, “…I wanted to see what it would be like.”
Jack’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.
“I don’t mean it to sound like you were some kind of toy, or conquest.”
“Well, then what do you mean? Cause from what I’m hearing, that’s sure what it sounds like. Somewhere along the way, you decided a fling would add some flavor to your vacation and I was just the guy who happened to be nearby. If that’s all I had wanted, you would have known it, Holly. Trust me. If you were some kind of hookup, I wouldn’t have taken you to Joe’s, or spent an entire day out shopping with you, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have bothered to take you up on a flight. Don’t you get that? I did all that because I like you, and wanted to share your world, and show you mine. I thought…” His voice carried off as he looked past me, his eyes fixed on the ocean. After a moment, he shook his head slowly to himself.
“You know what,” his eyes flashed to mine again, “it doesn’t matter what I thought, because obviously I was wrong. And you’re right, that’s on me.”
He snapped his fingers, one loud click, and Princess jumped to attention. She raced after him as he started towards the gate that led to a small path between the house and the one next door, a short little gravel lined shortcut out to the parkin
g lot. He stopped short, his hand resting on the latch, and turned back towards me. “For what it’s worth, Holly, regardless of how disappointed I am right now, you need to know that you’re worthy of whatever it is you want from life. The way I see it, your head is the biggest obstacle between you and the life you want.”
His words hit me right in the chest, and I sucked in a breath as though the wind had been knocked out of my lungs. Before I could think of a response, he disappeared from view, letting the gate swing shut behind him. I stood there, frozen in place for a long time, staring at the gate, my mind flying through everything he’d said, and all the things I should have said in return.
When warmth finally came back into my body, I called for Hunter and went back inside the house. I kicked the French door closed behind us and it slammed with a solid thud, and the silence that was left in the aftermath was deafening. The hot tears I’d been holding back came rushing to the surface and there was no way to slow them down. They ran down my cheeks faster than I could wipe them away. I folded in half on the couch, curling my legs into my chest, and sobbed, gasping for each breath.
I cried about the end of my marriage, the pain of being cheated on and abandoned. I cried over the cruel things I’d said to Jack, and for causing him so much pain, when he’d done nothing to deserve it. I cried at the realization that I was broken in ways I hadn’t even realized until he came into my life, and most of all…I cried over the fact that I didn’t have a clue on where to start the mending process.
Hunter jumped up on the edge of the couch, putting his paws near my hands. He whined and nudged at my arm with his cold nose. I reached over and stroked his head, which made him more eager to get all the way on the couch. I pat the place beside me, and he jumped up to join me.
“Mommy messed everything up, baby,” I whispered against his soft furry ears.