Breaking All the Rules (24 page)

Chapter Eleven

Nina wrapped her
arms around him and felt his encircle her, drawing her tight against his body.
Just the feel of his solidness and his warmth eased some of the tension
gripping her insides. A ragged breath—somewhere between a sob and a sigh—burst
from her lungs. Laying her head against the hard wall of his chest, she closed
her eyes and savored the way he felt. The beat of his heart was strong and
steady beneath her cheek. As she listened to it, her own pulse began to slow,
gradually falling into rhythm with his. A fear she hadn’t wanted to name began
to fade.

He was safe.

It didn’t make
any sense. She didn’t have any reason to believe anything had happened to him.
But more than anything, she’d needed to see it for herself. Only with her hands
on him did she begin to believe it.

Without moving,
he said against her hair, “Do you want to talk about it?”

She really
didn’t. It was so easy to forget the rest of the world when he was touching her
and his arms were blocking out everything else. But somehow that made it easier
to talk about too.

“Something
happened to Jackie’s husband overseas.”

He didn’t have
to say anything. She felt his body go taut at her words. “How bad is it?”

“I don’t know.
All she knows is that he was injured and is being transported home.” She closed
her eyes tighter. Behind her lids, she saw Jackie’s face. She couldn’t even
imagine what the other woman was going through. “They’re both so young,” she
whispered.

“It might not be
that bad. Or if it is, it might be something he can recover from.”

“Maybe,” she
agreed, because it was easier than admitting the alternative.

“There’s no use
mourning until you know for sure you have something to mourn. You have to hope
for the best as long as you can.”

He spoke with
the assurance of someone who knew what he was talking about, which of course he
did. He’d lost friends, comrades, in battle. He’d been through this before.

She nodded
against his chest. “You’re right. I will.” But it was so much easier said than
done.

His hands moved
in slow circles on her back, the motion gently soothing. Gradually, she became
aware of the effect of his closeness on her. Her body inevitably responded to
the sensation of all those muscles pressed tight against her, as his arms and
his scent enveloped her in his essence. Almost before she realized it, that
pull of desire was working insistently deep in her belly. And she realized this
was what she’d come for all along.

“Do you want to
come in?” he asked.

She pulled back
and looked up into his eyes. “For starters.”

He released her
and moved aside to let her step into the apartment. He’d left plenty of space
for her to walk by. She didn’t take advantage of it, deliberately brushing
against him as she passed through the doorway. The back of her hand grazed his
crotch, the motion too slow and lingering to leave any doubt she’d done it on
purpose. It lasted no more than a few quick seconds, long enough for her to
note his quick intake of breath. A smile touched her lips as she returned her
gaze to his.

That same hand
caught his and pulled him along behind her as she passed over the threshold.
“Come on.”

He followed
obediently, kicking the door shut behind them. “Where to?”

“The bedroom.”

“You want to
start in the bedroom?”

“We should try
it at least once, don’t you think?”
Especially since this time will be the
last
, she thought with a twinge. If they were ever going to start in a bed,
then this would have to be it.

Certain her
expression gave away her thoughts, she was glad he couldn’t see her face.

“Hey, I’m not
complaining.”

“Good.”

They raced up
the bedroom, him fast on her heels. She reached the doorway, and he was
immediately there behind her on the threshold. His hands, including the one
that had just been clutched in hers, were suddenly on her hips. They molded to
the curve of her waist before sliding forward, over her belly and down inside her
thighs. His fingers didn’t approach her sex, as she expected. Instead, they
grasped her thighs, prying them apart and pulling her pelvis back against his.
She felt the hard ridge of his erection against the small of her back,
perfectly aligned with the crevice between her buttocks.

His mouth came
down against her neck, his tongue swirling curlicues against the sensitive
skin. Momentarily weakened, she went with it, falling back against him,
dropping her head to the side to let him work his magic. Every lap of his
tongue reverberated through her body. The insistent rocking of his hips against
hers, the pressure of his cock against her spine, fueled the fire building
between her legs. He moved one hand to her waistband. It would take less than a
second to pop the button and her pants would give way. All he had to do was
push them down and shove her panties aside and he could take her from behind.
She could grab hold of the door frame in both hands and bend over, giving him
greater access to sink his hard length into her soft, moist folds—

She came back to
awareness with a gasp. The image was so vivid, so real. Combined with the
sensations he was evoking with his hands and his tongue and the insistent press
of his cock, it was like he’d already done so. If she didn’t get a grip, he
would within moments, and that would be all wrong.

She wanted to
savor every moment of this. She had to make it as long as it could. The only
way she could do that would be to take control.

“No,” she said,
summoning every ounce of strength she possessed. It still almost wasn’t enough,
but she lurched forward, catching him off guard enough to elude his grasp. “Inside.”
Her tone left no room for argument. Neither did the fact that she was already
walking away.

She didn’t
bother to take his hand. It wasn’t necessary. She knew he’d follow.

He did exactly
that, his hands hovering eagerly over her hips. She managed to elude his grasp
and stepped forward. The big king-size they’d already inaugurated sat right in
front of her, just waiting to be boarded again.

Instead she
turned her back to it and whirled to face him.

He tried to take
her hips again. She swatted his hands away.

He sighed.
“We’re here. Now what?”

“I want to touch
you.”

He held his arms
out wide. “By all means.”

He made an
irresistible picture standing there, offering himself to her. Her palms were
itching, her fingers flexing instinctively. She wanted to touch him so badly.
Like a kid in a candy store, there was so much temptation available right there
for the taking that she didn’t know where to start. Her instincts were
screaming to just throw herself at him all at once and touch as much as
possible as fast as she could, gorging on the feast that he presented.

That was exactly
what she couldn’t do. They’d be in that bed in five seconds flat, if they
didn’t just drop to the floor right then and there.

Slow
, she
reminded herself.
Take it slow. Savor every moment.

So she stepped
forward, and instead of touching any part of that magnificent body, she lifted
her hands to his face. This late in the day, he usually had a five o’clock
shadow darkening his cheeks. The coarse stubble bristled beneath her palms, but
the feeling wasn’t unpleasant. Exactly the opposite. It was so distinctly
masculine her body responded with a tug low in her gut.

She moved her
thumb along his square jaw and traced the hard planes of his cheeks and the
firm lines of his brow with her fingers, as though trying to commit them to
memory solely by touch. It wasn’t far from the truth. She wanted to remember
how he looked right now, just like this, staring down at her, smoke in his
eyes. His mouth deserved special attention. She grazed the edge of her thumb
over the soft, supple, full lower lip, remembering how much pleasure he’d given
her whenever—and wherever—he put his mouth on her.

“You have a
great face,” she murmured.

“Yours isn’t
exactly hard on the eyes either.”

Her smile was
all that acknowledged the comment. The rest of her had already moved on. She
smoothed her hands over the breadth of his shoulders, feeling the tensile
strength packed into them, then down over his hard chest. Two blocks of granite
couldn’t have felt more solid. Suddenly it wasn’t enough to touch. She needed
to see.

She grabbed two
fistfuls of his T-shirt. “Are you particularly attached to this shirt?”

“No, it comes
right off,” he deadpanned.

“Really?”
Without missing a beat, she tightened her grip and yanked her hands apart,
ripping the shirt in two. The fabric split as easily as tissue paper, exposing
the wide expanse of his chest. Sliding her hands lower, she leaned back to
admire her handiwork, among other things. “What do you know? You were right.”

His eyes widened
as he took in the gaping hole in the middle of his shirt. She couldn’t help but
grin. “Impressed?”

“Hell, yeah.
That was a pretty thick shirt. You’ve got some muscles there.”

“So do you. Right
here.” She ran her palms over his pecs again. They’d felt incredible beneath
the shirt, but having her hands on his bare flesh was so much better. She
plunged her fingers into the light bed of hair dusting his chest. Beneath it,
his skin was hot to the touch.

“And here.” She
trailed the very tips of her fingers lazily over his abdomen, dipping them into
the ridges of his stomach muscles. “One...two...three...four...” She moved
slowly, giving each set of abs her special attention. His belly twitched
reflexively in response to her touch, and he drew in a shallow breath. She
flicked her gaze to his face and found him following her progress intently.
Even if she couldn’t tell from his body that he was primed for her, the way he
practically quivered for her to put more of her hands on him again, it was
written there on his face in big, bold letters.

Of course there
was only one way to be sure. She withdrew her hands with deliberate slowness
and sensed him flinch at their absence. They didn’t go far though. She reached
down and gently cupped her right palm over his crotch. His throbbing cock
surged in her hand, rising to fill it completely.

Oh yes. She had
him.

“And I
especially like this one,” she drawled, giving him a little squeeze.

He maintained
his composure admirably. Only the telltale dip of his Adam’s apple gave him
away. “You don’t have to tell me. You made that clear a long time ago.”

She feigned a
pout, her hand now stroking up and down against him. “Was I that obvious?”

“You never could
keep your hands off it.”

“It’s just too
bad you’re wearing so many clothes now.”

“Feel free to
rip those off too.”

Even as he said
it, she shifted her attention to his waist. A flick of her fingers popped the
button at the front of his jeans. Plunging her hands into the sides of his
waistband, she dragged his jeans and boxers down his legs in one long motion
that brought her to her knees. Freed from its prison, his cock leapt forward,
jutting upward, pointing straight at her as though calling for her attention.

She ignored it
for the moment. There would be time for that, though perhaps not much longer. First
things first.

She needed him
naked.

She tugged on
the jeans that were now crumpled around his ankles, prompting him to step out
of them. As soon as he complied, she tossed them aside. His cock was right
there, hovering in front of her. She could feel his eyes on her, sensed how he
was expecting her to touch him. Or maybe he just needed her to. In the edge of
her vision, she saw his cock bob slightly in the air, his blood clearly pulsing
under the force of his arousal. It was so tantalizingly close. She wasn't sure
she didn't need to touch him too, her hands practically itching to take him, to
tease him even further.

She didn’t let
herself. If she did, things would proceed a lot faster than she wanted. And as
appealing as his cock was, there was so much more to him.

Lowering her
gaze, she leaned forward and cupped the backs of his ankles with both hands.
They may not have been what he'd wanted her to touch, but she still felt the
tremor that quaked through him at the contact. Nina allowed herself a small
smile while keeping her focus where it was. He had such great legs, perfectly
formed and matted with crisp dark hair. She stroked up his muscular calves and
the thighs so massive she couldn’t even wrap her hands around them. She could
feel the strength coiled beneath his skin.

He really was
incredibly strong, his body trained and conditioned to perform like a well-oiled
machine. Even his ass was rock-hard. She knew that well enough by now. She’d
spent enough time looking at it over the years—not to mention over the past few
days. But it was something else entirely to feel it, as her palms closed around
his buttocks. She squeezed gently, felt the muscles flex beneath her fingers,
and wondered why she hadn’t done more of this over the years. So much time
spent looking at this fine ass when she could have had it in her hands, could
have been feeling him up all this time.

And then she was
back where she’d started, her head even with his crotch, his cock before her.
Still gripping his ass tightly, basking in the feel of it, she finally looked
at directly at his cock. As soon as she did, it twitched again. Clearly Bobby had
noticed her attention. It really was a magnificent specimen, she thought,
remembering that first conversation they’d had. His cock was as perfectly
formed as the rest of him, from the flared head to the thick shaft. If she did
touch him, she’d barely be able to get her hand all the way around it. She knew
exactly how it felt too, both in her hand and buried deep inside her. Even as
she thought it, she felt a heavy throb low in her belly. Of need. Of want...