Bound by Trust (2 page)

“Hello,
Jill,” he greeted her, stepping sideways around her and heading for the bar.
“What are you drinking?”

“You
know what I drink,” she whined and slapped his shoulder.

How
in the hell had he not seen how damn shallow this one was sooner? Too smitten
with what was between her legs, he’d failed to take notice of what was between
her ears.

“Vodka
martini, dirty.”

“You
know it, baby.”

With
her drink secured, and carrying a bottle of Corona with a wedge of lime stuffed
down the neck for himself, he followed her off in the direction of one of the
clusters of women huddling near the dance floor. A few other Marines and
soldiers had joined their group and waved at him as he and Jill approached.
Disgusted with the whole scene, he realized that retirement looked like a
pretty good option right now. Get out and go back to Montana, take his father
up on the offer of the north pastures, and raise cutting horses for a living
like he’d wanted to before joining the Corps.

“Gunny!”
Staff Sergeant Aiden Matthews raised his glass of whiskey in salute. “Nice to
see you finally made it out. These ladies were beginning to fret over your
absence.”

“Really.
I’m sure the world wouldn’t quit turning from lack of my presence.” Rafe’s
usual jovial demeanor was lacking in expression.

“Wow,
Rafe. Did someone marry your favorite groupie?” Aiden grinned. Everyone knew
Rafe was infamous for his following of hot women and his inability to commit to
any of them.

Rafe
shot him a glare and turned to survey the growing crowd. It was then that he
saw someone he didn’t recognize across the room. He hesitated, enthralled by
the woman’s frosty green eyes. Eyes he was sure he knew, but couldn’t quite
place. She was petite, only standing a few inches over five feet, and that included
the heels she was wearing. She was a good foot shorter than he was. But he
noted her small stature didn’t leave her lacking in curves. Her dark hair lay
in big curls around her peaches-and-cream face and was a stark contrast to her
blackberry-colored minidress. Its intense color only served to make her bronzed
skin look all the more exotic, and he found himself wondering if she had
anything on underneath it. It fit snuggly to her body and he couldn’t detect a
single line from a garment that might be lying between the dress and her skin.
Surrounded by a swarm of other females, she laughed, smiled, and accepted hugs
from all of them.

As
if sensing she was being watched, she looked up and caught him staring at her.
For a few seconds their eyes locked and her smile faded. It seemed that the whole
place was quiet in that moment. Then she smiled directly at him, turned her
head, and went back to whispering in the ear of one of the women standing near
her.

He
continued to watch her and her entourage float across the room to take up
residence at a series of tables along the wall. Why he was even vaguely
interested in her was beyond his comprehension. She was the complete opposite
of his archetype. He normally gravitated toward the tall blondes with acrylic
nails and make-up, like Jill, who was now shaking his arm.

“Are
you paying attention to me?” she whined. “I said I love this song, I want to
dance.”

Without
any great amount of interest, he led her out on the floor and took her in his
arms. All the while he watched the short, dark-haired beauty sitting on the
edge of one of the tables chatting with a very attentive young Marine with
dirty blond hair. When she threw her head back, fully laughing at something
he’d said, her throat became elongated as if offered up as a sacrifice to some
demonic being. He would have loved to oblige her by running his teeth the
length of it. Her legs were crossed and the already short hemline of that dress
was riding up so high on her thigh, he knew if she moved just right, he would
definitely know if she was wearing anything under it. But before that happened,
she hopped down and the lucky suitor soon had her in his arms just a couple of
feet from where Rafe was swaying with Jill’s head on his shoulder.

He
could still see them over Jill’s head and when the man she was dancing with
turned her, he discovered the dress was also backless. It revealed more bronzed
skin, the only mar a series of black music notes gracing one shoulder. He found
her choice of tattoo odd, yet intriguing, and he wondered if there were any
more etched on her. Her partner dipped her and Rafe’s chest constricted at the
sight of her taut nipples straining against the richly colored fabric. How easy
it would be to slip his hand under it and feel what he could so easily see.
Feeling Jill smile into his shoulder, he knew she was unknowingly misplacing
her amusement at his growing hard-on thinking it was her own body making him
that way. If she knew the truth, she’d probably slap him and leave. Although,
as unsavory as the thought of being slapped was, that would definitely relieve
him of having to get rid of her and give him room to move in on the woman
commanding his attention from the arms of another.

When
the song ended, he escorted Jill back to their table, picked up his beer
bottle, and walked away toward the patio. He needed some air. Going home with
Jill was the furthest thing from his mind tonight and he had to figure out how
to make sure she understood that.

“So,
Madi, have you seen that hottie Marine checking you out?” Her friend Donna’s
eyes were lit up and following him out the door.

“Yeah,
do you know him?” Madi turned and watched him as well.

She’d
noticed him when she first came in. What wasn’t to notice? He towered over her
by at least a foot, had jet-black hair and eyes such a dark blue they were
nearly black too, and he had chiseled features made even more rugged by a tiny
scar above one brow. His low-slung jeans hugged his tight ass and hard thighs,
and his plum-colored polo shirt clung to his rippling muscles. Their eyes had
locked for a few brief seconds and something akin to electricity had flowed
through her, dredging up a feeling she hadn’t felt in so long, she wondered if
she had perhaps imagined it. She’d hoped he would ask her to dance, but some
tall blonde was obviously his master as she was reluctant to turn loose of him
even as he dumped her at a table and left to go out onto the patio.

“Not
personally, but I know he makes the rounds, frequently.”

“Really?
Maybe that’s just what I need, someone experienced who won’t hunt me down in the
morning.” She smiled wickedly at her friend and glanced out the patio door to
see him leaning on a post, tugging on his beer.

“Madi,
are you serious?”

“As
serious as I’ve ever been…”

Before
she could finish her less than ladylike thoughts, Jared came back from the bar
with her wine.

“How
are you doing?” He handed her the glass and set his drink down.

“I’m
good.” She smiled widely. “Better than I have been in a long time.”

“What’s
she up to, Donna?”

Donna
glanced at the patio door. “I don’t think we have to worry about what she’s up
to.”

Jared
eyed the older Marine standing on the other side of the glass door. “You need
to be careful, Madi.”

“Yes,
Daddy. I think I remember how to do that.”

“That
isn’t what I meant.”

For
the next couple of hours Madi tiptoed around the idea of asking him to dance
while entertaining several other men, even affording Jared a couple of dances,
but every time she worked up the nerve that blonde Lilith dragged him out. Madi
watched disgustedly at her hanging on him like he was a leaning pole instead of
a man. Finally, just before midnight, the woman who seemed more interested in
him than he was in her, picked up her purse and disappeared. Seeing it as her
in, Madi hopped up and walked over to the table full of Marines most of their
eyes on her the whole time. The primitive beat of a hip hop song was echoing
out across the room and she was determined to know what it would be like to
feel his body against hers pulsing in unison to such a heady sound.

“Well,
Gunny, there she comes.” Aiden had one corner of his mouth turned up taunting
Rafe. The whole table had been taking bets as to how long it would take them to
hook up. “You better jump on that before Jill gets back, and if you don’t, I’m
going to.”

“Hi.”
Madi leaned in close to Rafe, her hair brushing against his cheek and the fresh
scent of mint wafting off her. “I was wondering if you would like to dance with
me?”

Like
a man possessed, he wasted no time leaving his seat and leading her to the
floor. She backed up to him grinding on him rolling her hips in tandem with his
in complete harmony with the song that emanated around them.

He
twisted his hand in her silky hair, pulled her head back, and nuzzled her
throat. “You’re good at this,” he whispered in her ear.

“This
isn’t anything.” She turned her head and looked up at him. “You should see me
on a pole.”

He
raised his eyebrows and stopped moving for a minute.

“I’m
kidding.” Her eyes lit up and effervescent laughter trickled out of her at his
reaction.

Running
her palms down the outside of his legs, she twisted from side to side easing
down into a half-squat in from of him. She then spun around working her way
back up, sending her hands up his rippled chest while straddling his hard
thigh. The friction of soft denim against the sensitive flesh between her legs
sent tingles rushing over her confirming the feeling that had swept over her
earlier as perfectly real and not imagined. Pheromones mixed with the woodsy
tones of his after shave drifted off him, heated by the warmth of his body. The
intoxicating concoction pricked at the fibers of her senses and caused her
heart to palpitate. She wondered for a moment if she was brave enough to go
through with what she had already set in motion. Quickly, she was being dragged
under a swiftly moving current of desire, and the only thing there to save her
was the man she’d chosen as her partner in this dangerous game of impersonal mating.

With
the last note hanging in the air vibrating between them, she knew the last
chance to change her mind was slipping away and instead of extracting herself
from the hard lines of his body she melded closer giving over to his strong
arms drawing her in. Another slower song rose around them only to glance off
the impervious bubble cocooning them, shutting out the laughter, the sounds of
beer bottles smashing behind the bar, the bright white spots of light sweeping
around the room. With her cheek pressed to his chest, the only thing she heard
was his heart racing as fast as her own. The only thing she felt, his fingertips
running the length of her spine sending invisible tongues of flame along her
skin.

*
* * *

Heat
radiated off her satiny, bare flesh under the gentle touch of his fingertips.
He wanted to feel all of her beneath him, skin on skin, touching, licking, smelling
until he’d memorized every inch of her, imprinted her signature across his
senses. Running his hand under her hair, he stroked the base of her throat. Her
pulse fluttered under the pad of his thumb. He leaned down and ran his tongue
along the line his thumb had taken. She tasted salty and honey sweet, nothing
artificial. Just the pure essence of woman teased the back of his throat as he
consumed her. Musk rose off her, mingling with the mint he’d detected earlier,
further heightening his realization that a hunger he didn’t even know existed
gnawed at him, lending a void only she could fill.

Chapter 2

Madi
barely noticed that they had stopped moving when he turned her loose and took
her hand firmly in his. He led her off the floor, and through the patio doors,
and quickly found a darkened corner, spun her facing him, and backed her into
it. It had cooled down significantly and the sky was clear with thousands of
stars shining down on them as his body pressed into hers. Placing his hands on
the wall on either side of her head, he leaned into her, possessing her mouth
with a fervor Madi hadn’t quite expected. Taking her breath when he pried her
lips open, he invaded her mouth with his tongue, driving it forcefully along
hers. She moaned and ran her hands up his chest. Her insides coiled, releasing
thick moisture between her legs that threatened to slide down her thighs.
Breaking the kiss, he moved on to her ear, nipping the lobe and running his
tongue along the edge of it, sending a ripple through her and causing her to
shiver.

“Are
you cold?” he teased.

“No,
in fact, quite the opposite.”

Urgently
she ran her hand down his middle. It landed on his throbbing engorged cock. She
found the buttons that kept him contained, and started to undo them when he
reached down and stopped her.

“Maybe
we should take this somewhere else.” His voice was low and rough.

“If
you feel what I do, it can’t wait that long.” A trembling voice floated out of
her.

He
eased his hand up her thigh and between her legs, then pulled his head back and
gave her a wicked smile. “That’s what I thought.” He ran a finger between her
lips and found her clit pulsing and slick. “You’re right, you can’t wait.”

Even
in the darkness, now that his eyes had adjusted, he could see that her eyes weren’t
just green, they were multifaceted with golden flecks shooting out from her
pupils. As he forced her legs further apart and began to circle her swollen
nub, they grew dark with need. Struggling to breathe, she tugged his shirt from
his waistband and ran her hands up his back, digging her nails in as he
continued his sweet assault. On weak legs she leaned on him for support as he
dipped into her, drawing her moisture to the place she needed to be touched.
She gasped biting her lower lip, trying to contain the feral noises threatening
to erupt from her.

“Does
that feel good?” Still leaning on one arm on the wall, he bent his head,
licking her throat.

“God,
yes,” she whispered.

“Pull
the top of your dress down for me,” he murmured in her ear.

With
his body covering her, any curious eyes that might wander by would be deflected
from her half-dressed state. Only he would be able to see what she was offering
him.

A
tremor ran down her spine as his warm breath caressed her ear. With shaking
fingers, she reached around her neck and unsnapped the clasp that held the
cloth firmly to her breasts. She pulled it down exposing them to the crisp
night air that immediately caused her nipples to pucker. He removed his hand
from the wall and pressed into her so she could feel his cock against her
belly. Reaching down, he took one of her creamy breasts and squeezed ever so
slightly, then descended on it, taking her rosy nipple under his lips sucking
and laving it. Between the feel of his mouth on her breast, and his continued
circular motion around her clit, the most wonderful heat she’d ever known built
under her belly button. It spread up her stomach and down her legs, and she
began to pant into his shoulder. Her insides clenched and pulsed. She felt so
good she ached from it. Then, before she could tell him she was coming, it
happened and she took his collarbone in her mouth suppressing a scream into him
as waves of delicious sweetness ran through her rendering her helpless beneath
his touch.

With
the initial urge to cry out past, she released his flesh from her teeth and
leaned back against the wall, trying to catch her breath as he reached in his
front pocket producing a condom. She unbuttoned his pants and watched as he
ripped open the package, withdrawing its contents. Quickly he sheathed himself,
then put his hands around her waist and lifted her up.

“Put
your legs around me.”

Following
his instruction, she wrapped herself around him just as he thrust himself
inside her. With her back grating against the stucco wall, he began to move
inside her, holding her up with his hands along the backs of her thighs where
they met with her firm cheeks.

“Oh
my God, you feel good,” he rasped into her hair.

Sweat
was beading on his forehead, falling on her breasts, and rolling down her stomach
only stopped by the purple fabric that was bunched up there. He could not
fathom what possessed him to take her right there except that something in him
demanded he mark her as his. He could have, and should have, stopped after he
brought her to orgasm and waited until they were in his bed to satisfy his
desires. But like some beautiful witch from Grimm’s fairy tales, she’d managed
to cast a spell over him, stripping him of his common sense. Thus he found
himself buried deep inside her, knowing that this one brief encounter would
never be enough to assuage his hunger for her. Something about her tore at him
and he realized as he drove into her soft tightness over and over, that for
once in his life he wanted more from someone than a one-night stand.

Madi
loved the sensation of him filling her up. She’d felt that hollow ache for so
long she’d almost forgotten what it was like to have a man inside her. Running
her arms around his neck, she clung to him, never wanting to let go, wanting to
give as much as she was getting. She didn’t know what it was about this man,
but nothing Gage had ever done to her had ever made her feel so good, and she
didn’t think it had just been so long that she’d forgotten. She heard the night
sounds around them singing a harmonious accompaniment to their symphony of
groaning and labored breathing and felt herself floating away again. Pulses of
energy flew out of her, combining with his, binding them across the plane of
their juncture, and before she could smother the roar escaping her throat with
another mouthful of his body, he possessed her lips with his. He swallowed her
noises along with his, as he drove himself into her one last time, shuddering
and pulsing with her. His stifled growl reverberated down her throat and cast a
shiver across her skin.

Leaving
her mouth, he touched his forehead to hers as he held her aloft until their
breathing returned to normal, savoring the essence of sex that wafted around
them. Withdrawing from her depths, he lowered her back to her feet. She pulled
her skirt down and reclasped her bodice, hiding her breasts once more while he
buttoned his jeans and wiped the sweat from his brow.

Before
taking her hand to go back inside, he brushed the back of his fingers along her
jaw and kissed her again. “I’ll just run to the men’s room and then we can get
out of here.”

That’s what you think.

He
deposited her at the table with her friends and strode around the dance floor
to the hall where the restrooms were.

“Where
the hell have you been?” Donna demanded.

“Nowhere,”
Madi lied. She knew her face was still flushed and told another story. “Where’s
Jared?”

“He
left with some woman. He asked if I’d take you back to the motel.”

“Well,
I need that ride.” She looked around to make sure the perfect stranger she’d
just gained carnal knowledge of in the shadows, wasn’t coming back yet. “Right
now.”

She
grabbed her purse as Donna stood and dug her keys out of her pocket. Hurrying
across the floor, she made her escape.

With
the condom disposed of and his shirt tucked back in, Rafe left the restroom to
retrieve his mystery woman. Walking past the table where Aiden sat, he looked
around and found he couldn’t locate her.

“If
you’re looking for that hot chick you just had outside, she left with her
equally hot friend.” Aiden drew another swallow of his beer. “So, did she have
on underwear or not?”

An
unexplainable fury built in Rafe at his friend’s asinine question. He slammed
his hand on the tabletop. It occurred to him that he didn’t even know her name.

*
* * *

“So,
do you mind telling me why we are fleeing like two murderesses from the scene
of the crime?” Donna put the car in gear.

“Not
particularly.” Madi checked her side mirror to make sure he wasn’t following.

“I
hope it was worth it.”

“I
never kiss and tell.” Madi frowned, knowing if she ever saw him again, she’d do
it all over. He was well versed in the fine art of pleasing a woman and once
with him hadn’t been nearly enough. She already felt empty again.

*
* * *

Rafe
was just getting in from work Monday and walking toward his house when he saw
them pulling in across the road. A black Lexus driven by a woman and a four-wheel
drive extended cab Ford driven by a man. The windshields had the Army’s 101st
emblem emblazoned on them.

He’d
seen the Lexus with Kentucky plates parked in front of the old house a few
weeks ago and thought then he might be getting a new neighbor. No one had lived
there since Colleen Collier had died. Death didn’t usually affect him, he’d
seen so much of it, but he’d always liked the old woman and had been saddened
by her passing. He’d done everything he could to help when her son couldn’t
come by. Then she’d become so ill her family had to put her in Shady Oaks in
town where she could get around-the-clock care, and a few days later she was
gone. He missed the wise old woman next door who fed him frequently, let him
feel like he was making a contribution by helping her now and again, and talked
about her granddaughter constantly. She’d never criticized his endless stream
of beautiful women that drifted in and out of his house. She just asked
occasionally if he was ever going to marry one of them. His answer was always
the same, “Not until I come across one like you, CeCe.” Within days of her
dying, a moving company had come and cleaned the place out, but there hadn’t
been any indication the place was for sale. He was a little surprised that
Julia or Meredith hadn’t told him someone had bought the place. Since Thomas
and CeCe were gone he saw them pretty frequently, talked to them often, and
tried to help them when they needed it.

He
went inside, dumped his gear, and took off his cammie blouse. The new group of
students going through MP training this cycle was the worst bunch he’d had in a
while, and his ass was dragging from correcting them all day. Not to mention,
his mood had been far from happy ever since he’d lost track of the gorgeous
dark-haired mystery woman he’d shared a most enjoyable encounter with Friday
night. He’d gone to the parking lot after he found out she left in hopes of
stopping her, but she had already vanished, and none of her friends would give
up who she was or how to get in touch with her. He felt like Aphrodite had
cynically turned the tables on him and he was now on the receiving end of the
game he’d so cleverly played with so many women he’d lost count.

He
went to the refrigerator and found a beer, then decided he should go introduce
himself to the new people. With two more beers, he headed across the road. If
he had driven all the way from Kentucky he would need a drink, they probably
would as well.

*
* * *

Madi
looked around the barren house. She hadn’t been in it for a couple of years and
had decided that the months of being left empty hadn’t been at all kind to the
old structure. The walls needed a fresh coat of paint, the floors needed
refinishing, and there were water spots on the ceiling in two of the bedrooms.
She would need to find a roofing company to come look at that as soon as
possible. In her mind’s eye she saw money disappearing that she couldn’t afford
to shell out. She silently apologized to CeCe, her ungrateful attitude was
unwarranted. Just having a roof over her head should have been enough whether
it leaked or not. It looked like she would just have to leave a lot of things
in boxes until she got the work done that needed doing. At least there was
plenty to keep her busy until she found piano students to take up her time.

A
knock on the screen door frame brought her out of her thoughts.

“Is
that the welcome wagon already?” Jared clapped his hands together in mock enthusiasm
and rubbed them together.

Madi
blew out a breath. She opened the screen door, stepping out and seeing
someone’s midriff. The first thing she noticed was the digital camouflage, not
the pattern she was used to seeing on soldiers. Terrific, a Marine had found
his way to her door.

“Can
I help you?” She looked up and froze. “How did you find me?”

“What
no kiss? I thought we were closer than that. By the way, my name’s Rafe, Rafe
McCarthy. We seemed to have skipped the introductions before. And I didn’t find
you, I live across the road.”

Her
grandmother had gone on and on about Rafe before she died. No wonder feisty old
CeCe had liked him. What wasn’t to like? And CeCe wasn’t even privy to what he
could do with all his perfect parts. His eyes were even more mesmerizing in the
daylight. They drew her somehow, those seducing eyes, making her stare back at
him like some star-struck teenager.