“Whatever I say?” My voice cracks on the last word. Licking the fingers that were just inside her, I lock my gaze with hers. “Ride it.”
Her smile pulls to one side. “Funny, that’s what I wanted anyway.”
I shake my head once. “Don’t ruin my buzzkill and get on.”
Scrambling back to the headboard, her lips on mine, my dick literally a barrier preventing her body against mine, my breathing is ragged. The other barrier, a truth I have to keep keeps edging to the forefront of my mind, but I beat it back. I hook my arms behind my head to relinquish control.
I watch with wide eyes as she straddles me and lowers herself onto my dick slowly. Inch by inch, the tight heat envelops me. Resting her hands on my chest, she works her hips up and down, her back arching and flexing in an erotic dance. It only takes a minute of viewing and not touching for me to abandon that idea. When I put my hands on her hips and force her all the way down, the sigh she lets out almost makes me nut on the spot.
“Stay put for a second,” I say in between heavy, emotion-filled breaths. “I’m all for record-breaking times but not in the bedroom.”
Her lashes lower as she tilts her head to the side and fixes her grip from my chest to my abs. Aara tries to lift herself off my body to gain momentum, but I don’t let her. Not yet. “I thought you were going to do what I say,” I growl.
The dewy perspiration on her tits glistens in the low light streaming through the open curtains. “I’m almost there, though. Let me come.”
I can hardly deny her that. Fuck, if I can deny her anything. I roll her pink nipples between my fingers and watch as her tongue darts across her bottom lip. Her cunt tightens around me and I inhale sharply. Her mouth needs to be on mine right now. Holding her hips, I turn us so she’s pinned against the bed with me still seated between her hips, dick still touching her womb. Not only does she relish in the power exchange, she comes the first time I thrust into her. Arms wrapped around my neck and legs hooked behind my back, I continue hammering into her as her aggressive lips slide against mine. Her floral honey scent mingles with my sweat and that paired with her pussy clenching me tightly, sends me off.
A smart man would pull out right now. Even with a condom. Aara renders me stupefied and I sink into her as far as I can just at my release. I collapse on top of her, holding my weight on my elbows. Breaths cut the silence as we tread back to reality.
“I knew it would be good. I didn’t know it would be that good,” she says, dragging her lips across my chin.
Raising up, I look into her face and realize this is what it’s like. I kiss her lips without closing my eyes. “I love you, Aara.”
“Love you, Hart.” She wiggles out from underneath me and I get up to dispose of the condom in the bathroom. I catch sight of her naked body when I exit and lose my breath.
Things are expected of you when you’re born into the Teams. They might not say it outright, or maybe it’s a casual joke in passing, but I’ve always felt the nudge in the direction to serve. My dad, Maverick Hart, is a textbook definition of a Navy SEAL. He is honor-bound and faithful to his band of brothers. His personality is gregarious, jovial, and only marred by invisible scars that those closest can see.
Stone. The word tattooed across his back might seem innocuous to outsiders. Perhaps they think he’s calling himself tough. Rock hard, just like a stone. When in actuality the word represents his greatest weakness and the one, haunting memory that brings him to his knees. A lost friend. A lost best and lifelong friend. A man who died in the line of duty protecting my dad’s life. To this day, he never misses an opportunity to tell me a story about Stone, and for that, I’m grateful.
To have the opportunity to be a SEAL like Maverick and Stone is something I’ve been waiting for since I was old enough to understand what serving my country meant. To have a relationship as tight-knit as those two, isn’t anything I ever dreamed of. Yet, here I am, staring into the eyes of Aarabelle Dempsey, the first female Navy SEAL, wondering if it’s humanly possible to love another person this much. She’s my teammate first, but now she’s so much more.
I would die for her in a second.
I would live for her if I had to.
Our love is forbidden, yet neither of us care. Aarabelle isn’t a tattoo across my back, she’s forged by fire in my soul. Navy SEALs risk many things in their lifetime, but for this woman, and her heart, I will risk everything.
Chapter Seventeen
Aarabelle
Marissa told Dagger it was my birthday. I was distracted by the fact that my best friend was talking to Dagger without me knowing so, I overlooked what Dagger knowing my birthday might lead to.
“Come on, we have to be up early tomorrow to leave,” I complain, hugging the fluffy bath towel wrapped around my body.
When Luke and I aren’t at work, we’re busy in Luke’s bedroom not sleeping, or we’re busy in the gym not working out, or in the pool not swimming, or anywhere, really. It’s hard to think clearly with stars in my eyes and my stomach flip-flopping with the new relationship feeling. The thing between us has felt like a relationship for a while, but now that we have bodies at our disposal, and confessions made, there’s a whole new meaning to humping like rabbits.
“You know you have to at least show face at Mayton’s. Dagger doesn’t plan things and he, uh, planned this.” Luke can’t even look at me while he’s speaking.
I drop my towel and his head swivels my way. “One more time, Hart. Tell me you had nothing to do with this. You can’t even look at me.”
His throat works down a swallow. “I’m looking now and I’m a liking.”
I snap my fingers by my face. “Up here, Hart. You’re the one intent on bringing me to my own surprise party. I know what that look means, and we don’t have that many hours.”
“We could be a little late.”
I stomp one foot on the heated stone floor. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“And you know how much it turns me on when you’re naked.”
The way his eyes rove my body makes butterflies invade my stomach. “Answer me.”
“Maybe I told him I didn’t think you had plans.” Luke breathes out. “It’s not like I can tell him you’re under me. They don’t know about this.” He steps forward and takes my forearm in his hand. My skin prickles, and my core clenches—a reminder that it’s being a needy jerk these days. “When he asked it’s not like I could tell him I had other plans for you on your birthday. A Team guy party is a good thing. It means they give a shit.”
I lean into his bare chest and inhale. “It’s mostly a going away party because we ship out tomorrow and less of a birthday celebration. Let’s be realistic here. What I really want to know is why Marissa is talking to Dagger in a capacity I don’t know about. He’s…”
“Listen, he’s only a monster when you’re playing for the wrong team, Aara. There’s no reason to believe she’ll find out why he’s called Dagger. He, uh, separates work from…other stuff well.”
I push away from him to meet his eyes. When he sees how horrified I am, he laughs, and that damn dimple flashes. I clear my throat. “I don’t want this life for her.”
Luke’s lips pull into a firm line. “But you want it for yourself?”
“More than anything else. With you, it’s different. I just know.”
Hart drops his towel on the floor, and his dick springs up, hard and ready. Like it is anytime I want it lately. I’m already wet, my upper thighs slick as I turn out of his grasp, knowing I want him inside me as much as he wants to fuck me.
“What if your friend feels that with Dagger? I’m not saying they’re together, but if they were.” Oh, they totally are, and Dagger has told Luke things. I hear it in his voice. “It might not be the worst thing in the world.”
“I’m going to kill her,” I hiss, momentarily distracted by my friend’s life choices. Then I remember some of my choices.
Turning from Luke to clear my head, I pace. When I turn back
around he’s leaning against one of the monstrous marble columns in the center of his room. His tan skin shines and his grin is edible.
“You’re wasting time, Dempsey. If you want this before Mayton’s,” he says, making an X with his forearms, framing his cock. “You need to get on right now.” Then he raises his arms over his head and flexes like he’s in a show. Luke’s smile turns into a laugh, and I can’t keep a straight face any longer.
He lets out a noisy breath. “I’m glad you’re laughing, but you’re killing the vibe.”
I catch my breath and aim my pointer finger at him. “You killed the vibe with your naked posing, David.”
His smile widens. “You really think I look like the statue of David?”
“You’re a bit more endowed than David, and your hair is a little more Navy, and I think your muscles are bigger now that I think about it, but sure. You want to be David, you can be David.”
“It worked.” Luke pauses, holding his hands out for me. “We’re talking about my body instead of goddamn Dagger.”
His blue eyes are feral as I approach him, gaze licking up and down my body. We’re going to be late. “For someone with a body like a sculpture, you sure need a lot of reassurance.” I lick my lips.
He smirks. “Just yours.”
When I’m in the circle of his arms, I press my hand against his chest to feel his heartbeat. “You’ve had my seal of approval since I met you.”
His laugh rumbles. “Is that a SEAL joke?”
“Ew, no. You made it one.” Running my fingertips down his chest, I trace the sinewy curves and the hard edges of his real-life perfection. “You wanted me to get on right now?” I circle back to his order. “David?” I add, pinching his nipple.
When his chest rises and falls at this pace, I know we’ve reached the point of no return. This ends with orgasms and sweat. It has to. I’ll leave my hair wet for Mayton’s, I decide. Minimal makeup. My outfit is already picked out. There’s time. But even if there wasn’t, I’d be right here. For him. He grips my ass tightly and pulls my bottom half against his hard-on. Through hooded, darkened eyes, he peers down at me.
“Bend over the chair.”
Turning my head slightly, I see the chaise lounge. I remove his hands from my backside and approach the chair, dragging a finger along the back when I’m close enough. “Here?” I look at him over my shoulder. He’s followed behind stealthily, rolling on a condom, the foil wrapper on the ground behind him.
He lifts and lowers his chin. “Bend over.”
I comply and he uses his knee to spread my legs. With my face pressed against the fabric, his fingers stroke my clit. I hear him swallow.
“You’re so wet for me.”
I tell him to fill me. To complete the obscure puzzle of loneliness and non-belonging, but instead of his hard cock, I’m treated to his tongue swirling from my clit to dip inside me and farther up to no-man's-land. When I jolt with a squirm, his grip on my hips tightens as his aggression mounts—teetering on scary dominance. My pulse ricochets as my mind tries to calm my body’s jagged response to being in unfamiliar territory. Closing my eyes, I exhale, and force my limbs and muscles to relax. Luke dips a finger inside my core and rubs the spot that wrings an almost immediate orgasm from me. I quiver, my body shakes as he withdraws and slides his cock all the way into me just in time for the waves of my orgasm to grip him over and over.
He waits, fingers playing with my clit and ass until the trembling stops. Luke’s hot hands grasp my hipbones as he seats his steely shaft against my womb, and draws almost all the way out—a graceful, controlled pace, over and over. There’s a small pillow above my head that I grab to lean my forehead on.
“Aara.” His growl rips through the air. My name. “You’re mine. Do you fucking hear me?”
It’s his name now. I’ll give it to him because it means that he’s mine in return.
He stills when I don’t answer and flips me so I’m on my back. Like a predator trapping prey, he lumbers over me and slides back in. His lips are on mine, and his face is tortured. That place between bliss and agony. The aggression in our kiss matches his thrusts. Feeling the energy between us drives me closer to another orgasm. Tasting his neck when I pull away inches me closer. Matching him stroke for stroke, his jaw works as he loses all other senses. This masculinity is toxic in the only place where it’s acceptable. With me. Together.
When he comes, I come, clenching so tight he can barely pull out. My stomach gets that floating feeling, and my head swims with delirious love as I touch his warm skin and dewy back, clutching him to me as tightly as I can.
Our breathing slows, and he pulls out before he softens. I watch as he removes the condom and I pop up off the chaise and follow him into the bathroom.
“I’m on birth control,” I say as I clean myself up. I don’t meet his eyes. “I can’t afford to get my period during inopportune times, so my doctor put in the IUD that takes away your period altogether. It works really well. I thought you should know. Now that uh, yeah, we like to have sex with each other a lot.”
That gets his attention—his head swiveling to look at me while he turns on the shower. He hates the smell of latex and always showers it off after.
“You never bleed?” Luke washes himself with the bottle closest to him, which happens to be my lavender one. “Ever?”
I smirk at his surprise. “Never. Which didn’t bother me when I wasn’t having sex constantly, but I guess now that I am, it might be a relief if I got a period. If that makes sense.”
He clears his throat and looks away. An uncomfortable shift in demeanor. “We should still use a condom.”
Turning away, I grab the folded dress off the circular island and pull it over my head. My makeup bag is on the large counter in front of the mirror so I busy myself with minimal blush and mascara. Luke steps out of the shower area and walks past me into his closet which is the size of my entire apartment. I gloss my lips and pin my semi-wet hair into a low chignon. He’s watching me when I turn.
“You’re seriously not going to wear anything under that?”
“No one else will know,” I counter.
“I’m not worried about anyone else, Dempsey. I’m worried about me knowing you don’t have on anything under that scrap of fabric.”
I smooth my lips together. “It is my birthday.”
He raises his brows and shakes his head. “Hope I can keep my hands to myself. Everyone will be there.”
“You say it like that’s my problem.”
His neck works. “It kind of is.”
“It’s a dress, Luke. Have a little self-control. I know it’s hiding in there somewhere.” I tap the side of his head, but his eyes are locked on my chest.
His eyes widen. “It’s your body, Aara.”
“Wait,” I say, opening a large drawer to take out my small purse. I put a lip gloss into it and find my small wallet. “Didn’t I say it’s actually your body?” I wink when my words sink home.
“Great,” he exhales. “I’m hard again. Fuck being killed by a terrorist. I’m going to die by sex with you.”
I laugh. “And we haven’t even had sex without a condom. Imagine that.”
The uncomfortable tension rises again, and I don’t understand it.
“Are you ready?” he asks, looking at the watch he just put on. “We should go. I’ll drive. No one will question it because it’s your birthday. Maybe Marissa can drop you off at your place after? I’ll meet you there.”
I crinkle my brow in confusion. He doesn’t see it. He’s already brushed past me to head for the garage, the scent of his cologne and my soap lighting the air like a torrid reminder of what just took place. The uneasy feeling creeps in, and I can’t help but compare it to what Henry made me feel right before I caught him burning our relationship down to the ground.
Dagger and Marissa are carrying a black tiered cake with pink candles together. He’s on one side and she’s on the other, their eyes lock and I see the passion. I
pause that feeling because I am surrounded, quite literally, by everyone I love. My parents are here, my dad trying to hang back away from me because he is the big boss and I’m his daughter. Even on my birthday. I respect him for that even if it does seem strange.
We’re out on the patio at Mayton’s. They’ve rented it out because there are so many of us. The twinkling lights and ivy add to the ambiance of the Happy Birthday song being sung by fifty off-key voices. Some say Aara, others say Aarabelle and I hear several say Dempsey. Luke has kept his distance since we got here and I’d like to believe it’s because I’m not wearing panties and he doesn’t want to tempt himself, but there’s woman’s intuition niggling in to scream at me that it’s more than that. Mom has her hand on my shoulder as I blow out the candles.
“I love you, baby. Happy Birthday.” Natalie Dempsey, my beautiful mother, looks impeccable tonight and Marissa confessed she had a lot to do with everything coming together. The last time I was here it wasn’t a good memory. My first memory of Mayton’s. Tonight has proven special. Sucking in a breath to blow out my candles and make a wish, Luke Hart enters my line of vision. I make eye contact with him, thinking of quite literally the only thing I think I need to wish for. I can work for the rest. Then I blow out the candles. Luke whispers something under his breath and disappears behind Sanders.
Dad comes up behind me and presses a quick kiss on the side of my head. “You can tell me what you wished for,” he says. Like he does every single year.
I reply like I do every year. “You know I can’t tell you or it won’t come true!”
He smiles, takes a swig of his beer, kisses my mom on the mouth and announces he’s going to find more drinks. Like we’re in a desert or somewhere that might not have drinks readily available. My smile fades at the prospect of my wish not coming true. More than when I didn’t get a pony or a kiss from Frankie Meyers in eighth grade. This wish feels more important than anything else. A smiling waitress comes over to cut the cake and begins handing out black frosting blobs to everyone. I take a bite, but my stomach sours when I see Luke on his phone in the back of the patio, near the fence. I can’t see his face, but I can tell he’s upset by the way he’s holding his body. I can’t let a man ruin my birthday. Especially when I know I don’t have anything to worry about.
Legacy: A Salvation Society Novel Page 19