Dagger's Edge (SEALs On Fire) (3 page)

In the milliseconds while she waited for his response through word or action, the world seemed to stop spinning. Her heart suddenly lodged in her throat. Her pulse raced in her veins as though she’d taken some kind of drug spiked with adrenaline. The dare and his reply took on a meaning she’d never intended. But there it was. More than ever before, she wanted his kiss. She needed his kiss. Hadn’t she loved him long enough to finally deserve to have her lips touch his?

“Please, Dean,” Mia whispered earnestly. She stared at him, hoping he’d read the desperate pleading she tried to convey through her eyes. “Just one kiss.”

He drew in a breath, his chest heaving slightly for the effort. Without saying a word, he bent his large frame and placed his full lips on hers. Gently, ever so gently, the softness of his perfect mouth pressed against her lips, sending a thrill of excitement throughout her body.

As though being lifted off the floor and onto a floating cloud, the muscles in the lower part of her anatomy numbed to a wobbly nothingness. Meanwhile, her middle warmed as a dozens of fireflies glowed and quivered within her belly. A pleasurable lightheadedness erased all thoughts save one.

More.

Mia craned her face up to better meet the kiss and extend it for as long as she possibly could. This moment had to last. It had to. She’d waited for what seemed like an eternity for it to happen. Heaven only knew if she’d ever get another. When she dared to part her lips to better taste him, she heard a faint groan. To her relief, the sound hadn’t come from her.

Did his one quiet utterance confirm what she’d hoped? Did he truly want her as much as she wanted him? Needing to know the answers, she mustered her courage and took a tiny step toward him, then reached up until her hands moved over his broad shoulders and connected behind his neck.

Dean didn’t pull away. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him, almost crushing her with the sudden ferocity of his movement. Her chest touching his, she could feel the wild, irregular pounding of his heart. The smell of spicy soap, sunshine, and fresh ocean breezes wafted from his tanned skin. She dug her fingers into his overgrown locks. Unlike his hard, chiseled physique, his hair was amazingly soft.

“Damn it. I shouldn’t be doing this,” he gasped against her cheek after breaking the kiss. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

I don’t want to hurt you
.

Huh?

The words barely registered in her reeling brain. Why would he feel the need to say something like that? Years of his ignoring her had caused the real pain. There wasn’t much he could possibly do that would be worse than that.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let you,” Mia said on an exhale. Euphoria and desire stirred within, like an intoxicating cocktail, making her impatient for more. More Dagger, more kisses, more everything. All the indicators showed he was feeling the mood, too. Why was he stalling?

“How can you be so sure?”

His voice, so solemn, so sincere, took her by surprise. An effort was needed to work her way through the happy pink fog in her brain and formulate a proper response. “You’re a good man, Dean,” she answered with equal frankness. “I knew that the day you saved Brice from the bullies at school. You didn’t think twice to take on those idiot brutes to help my brother. To me, you’ve always been the knight wearing the white, shining armor. You’re my hero.”
The only man I’ll probably ever love.

Apparently unmoved by her reply, he hesitated. Concern, dark and foreboding, etched into his handsome face. “Sometimes even heroes can let you down.”

Her mind turned over his statement, looking for its significance. Who had been the hero that let him down?

Was he referring to his father? He had to be. The man had abandoned Dean and his mother when Dean was only eight years old, leaving his child the one item Mia had seen several times, an old army issued dagger. To her knowledge, Dean valued that crusty knife as thought it were made of gold. He’d even had its likeness tattooed on the bicep of his right arm the day he turned eighteen. The well-inked image was the reason he’d been given his code name.

The spark of insight made twenty years worth of Dean’s odd, sometimes inexplicable behavior crystal clear. Her brother most likely had nothing to do with Dean’s avoidance of her. No. His motivation was much darker and deeper than that. If what she thought was true, he’d steered clear because he believed he might end up being like his dad.

I don’t want to hurt you
. Just like his father had hurt his mother—and him.

The realization caused a powerful wave of emotions to roll through her, almost knocking her off her feet. Of course. The answer had been in front of her all along. All she had to do was look beneath the surface to understand.
Oh God. How could I have been so blind?

“Dean, only you can control your actions. You are your own man.” Mia placed both hands on his cheeks and stared him in the eye, making sure there could be no misunderstanding. “I care about you, you big oaf. More than any man I’ve ever met. And I trust you. I’d put my life in your hands if I had to. I know you will never let me down. What’s happening, right here and now, is a good thing. Don’t you feel it in your bones?”

“Yes,” he murmured, his blue eyes filled with longing. “I do.”

With startling force, he claimed her mouth again, but this time, the kiss was deeper, his embrace tighter. He opened his mouth and greedily swept his tongue over hers. Darting and striking, its tip moved within her as though attempting to conquer her from the inside out.

Helpless to do anything but completely submit to her desire for him, she kissed him back, meeting every flick of his tongue with one of her own. He plundered her mouth, exploring its depths until she was nearly overcome with ecstasy induced delirium. The heat of the kiss, like a wildfire out of control, burned through her all the way to her soul.

She had expected Dean to be passionate but never imagined how profoundly intense he could be. If this kiss was a prelude of things to come, just what would the rest of the afternoon bring? Absolute bliss? Enthusiastic, sweaty sex the likes of which she’d never dared to wish for? The thought alone spurred a rush of cream to her pussy, further wetting the insides of her already slick thighs.

His skilled fingers skimmed the top of the towel until he found the tucked in end. A slight tug was all that was needed to undo the simple hold. The thick terrycloth fell silently to the floor and puddled around her bare feet. Dean’s hands, rough with calluses, slid down her back, tracing the curve of her waist as he went. When they finally rested on her hips, he rubbed his palms over the contour of her ass then squeezed.

“I’ve always thought your ass was amazing. Every guy in school thought so, too,” he said, his voice ragged. “I’ve been around the world a dozen times and seen some amazing looking women. But none has ever topped your beauty. Not a single damned one.”

Though the summer sun had warmed the entire house to an almost uncomfortable temperature, Mia shivered as Dean stood back and examined every inch of her body. From her head down to her French-tipped toes, his hungry gaze took her in.

Too afraid to speak lest he come to his senses and decide to leave, Mia stood still and waited for Dean’s next move. She didn’t have to wait long. With one motion, he easily lifted her and placed her bare ass on the island counter. Hands firmly planted behind her and her legs dangling over the edge of the cold granite top, Mia leaned back, allowing him free rein to do as he pleased.

Instead of coming to her, Dagger turned and opened the door to the freezer. He dug around the frozen meats and vegetables, clearing looking for something specific.

“Just give me a second,” he said over his shoulder. “There you are.” A triumphant grin turned up his lips when he pulled out a box of Popsicles. “I knew they would be in here somewhere.” He set the colorful package on the counter and sifted through its contents until he withdrew a red frozen treat. While he unwrapped the Popsicle from its wrapper, he glanced at Mia. “Strawberry is my favorite.”

Disbelief at his sudden disinterest had her head spinning. Was a kiss really all he was willing to give her? What had happened to all the urgency? All the fire?

“Seriously? You’re going to eat that thing while I’m sitting here butt naked?”

Something wicked flashed across his face as he waggled the pop in her direction. “If we’re going to do this, and it looks like we are, then prepare yourself. I wasn’t lying when I told you I think about you. Now you’re going to find out exactly what I’ve been thinking about, and things are going to get wild.”

Chapter Three

There was little doubt as to what Dean planned on doing with the strawberry popsicle, and Mia was fairly certain it was illegal in at least seven states. That he would even think of something so wanton, so unrestrained was beyond titillating.

Maybe she hadn’t given him enough credit in the imagination department. Although he’d always been fun and a bit of a jokester, his creative side generally leaned toward diesel engines, particularly how to get them to work or run faster. Maybe all his traveling in foreign countries had introduced him to kinky kinds of lascivious acts.

If that’s the case, please let him do all those things to me today.

A thought passed by her as she sat waiting for him to make his way from the freezer and start doing naughty things to her. Here she sat naked as the day she was born and he was completely dressed. Unfair to say the least.

Mia held up her hand. “Hold on there, frogman. Before you show me the latest in frozen juice weaponry, I think we need to even out the playing field a little bit.”

He tilted the Popsicle forward, making it appear oddly limp in his big hand. One brow raised comically over his bright blue eye. “And how do you suggest we do that?”

The way he phrased the question had her brain moving a hundred miles an hour. Seeing him do a strip tease would be fun, although she’d most likely laugh the entire time. Few men looked good dancing and shaking their hips while trying to rip off their clothing. Who knew? Maybe Dean was one of those guys. Channing Tatum’s moves with Dean’s obscenely large and gorgeous body? It was all the makings of one hell of a fantasy.

She would have to remember that when he left, because he eventually would have to. Probably too soon. The SEALs didn’t get to stay on leave for long. He could be called back at any time, so each minute they spent together was a gift. When she might see him again was anyone’s guess. That wasn’t exactly a happy thought, and she sure didn’t want to think of his leaving now. He was here in her home and, come hell or high water, from this moment on she didn’t plan to waste even a second of the time she had.

“We aren’t going to do anything. You, however, will take that torture device in your hand and place it on the counter. Then you will take off your clothes until you aren’t wearing anything but a smile.” She adopted what she perceived to be the serious facial expression of a drill instructor. “You got that, sailor?”

He straightened his posture until he was stiff as a board, then saluted using quick, precise movements. “Yes, ma’am.”

A giddy flush heated Mia from the inside out. Oh, the pleasures she could imagine if he would follow every directive she laid on him. Perhaps that was something to look into later.

For being such a large man, Dean was extremely graceful, she noted as he peeled off his shirt. He swung the cotton T in circles over his head, then let the garment fly into the living room. His disappearing shirt wasn’t the real show though. His washboard abs were.

Completely smooth, save the light dusting of dark hairs leading from his navel to what lay hidden beneath his khaki cargo shorts, his bronzed chest was a marvel to behold. A true piece of art. Between the individual abdominal muscles were deep gorges, giving his stomach a sculpted look. Atop were two rounded, well-defined pecs topped off by dusky nipples. Below, his groin muscles budged above the waist of the low rise shorts then narrowed, making a perfect pathway to his awaiting cock.

Mia swayed slightly. If what lay unseen behind his shorts was anything like his upper body, he would certainly be the biggest man she’d ever taken to her bed. Granted, she didn’t have more than a few men to compare him to, thanks to years of brushing off guys while waiting for Dean to finally notice her. But as things were shaping up, her patience would soon be paying off in spades.

Dean posed for her, flexing his biceps as he turned his clenched hand this way and that. His dagger tattoo looked amazingly real on his arm.

“These are military-issued guns. Cocked, loaded, and ready for action.” He kissed each enormous mound. “Impressed?”

Boy, was she ever. Telling him though would only stroke his already hulking ego. “Are they inflated to help you stay buoyant when you’re on water missions? Do the other SEALs tie a rope around your ankle and toss you out to drowning victims?”

He shook his head and smiled, creating the most adorable crinkles near the corners of his eyes. “You are a clever girl.”

“That’s what I hear.” Mai pointed to his shorts. “You’ve still got on more clothes than I do, petty officer. If I need to remind you again, you’re going to drop and give me fifty.”

“Since I’m supposed to be on vacation and not even thinking of working out, I guess I had better take them off.”

He kicked off his leather sandals, sending them soaring across the kitchen. They landed with a bang near the table. Before he undressed any further, he reached into a pocket of his cargo shorts, pulled out a pager and his wallet, then placed them on the counter. “Sorry. Gotta keep an eye on the pager.”

“I know, I know. You may get recalled. Whatever. Just keep going.”

Waggling his eyebrows, Dean popped open the snap at the top of his shorts then took his sweet time unzipping the zipper. In an unexpected move, he turned on his heel. With the waistband of the shorts firmly in his grips, Dagger slowly shimmied the khaki material down his muscular legs. When it pooled around his feet, he stepped out of the puddle.