Her Firefighter SEAL (11 page)

“This part of you isn’t complaining,” she said, close enough for her words to whisper against his penis. He jerked and cursed.

She palmed him. Oh, he felt good. The heat of him seared her skin, and he was hard, so no worries about whether or not he wanted her enough. She dragged her hand down, then back up, enjoying the slick glide of her skin over his and earning herself another hoarse curse. He pushed against her fingers, and she leaned in, blowing gently over the tip of him.

“Abbie!”

She had plenty more surprises in her. His pleasure in this, in
her
, was an aphrodisiac. So she leaned a little farther, bracing her hands on the bed, her fingers brushing the warm skin of his hips. And licked him. Swirled her tongue around the swollen head like he was her favorite flavor. Swept her tongue down and down, exploring and tasting. He groaned something, gasped words as his hands tangled roughly in her hair, guiding her, hanging onto her. She liked this wilder, fiercer side of him, so she showed him by humming approvingly and kissing a naughty path back up him.

Then he took over. She was secretly surprised he’d let her set the pace for this long. Kade was good at pretending he was a gentleman—and he probably thought he
wanted
to be one—but he was all rough-and-tough SEAL. He pulled her away and up his body so he could see her face. Just to provoke him a little more, she licked her lips. He looked heated... and more than a little questioning.

“If you stop now, I’ll kill you,” she said, just to make her position on what was happening understood.

He nodded. “Works for me.”

He slid his palms over her hands, threading his fingers through hers and pulling her hands slowly over his head. The move stretched her out over him and put her breast at mouth level. She could work with this, she decided happily. Her nipples were just as happy with their current position, puckering into hard, tight buds as he brushed his mouth over the sensitive skin. Forget holding back or holding in what she felt, because she moaned, and he gave her more. He licked and sucked, his mouth exploring her and pushing her down that familiar-unfamiliar hot slope toward what she really, really hoped was the best orgasm she’d had in months. Years. Really, the timeline didn’t matter—just that he kept going and going.

“Equal time is good,” she said when he lifted his mouth away from her left breast. He’d made her breathless. Next thing she knew, she’d be moaning and sighing.

“I can do that.” And then he did. He kissed her, his mouth covering the soft slope and working down to her nipple. Her breasts were sensitive, thanks to Baby, but Kade also knew what he was doing. Boy, did he ever.

“Wow,” she said, long minutes later, her knees trembling and her nipples greedy little points. “You
do
live up to your high school reputation.”

“You have gorgeous breasts.” Then he blinked, like he’d just processed her words. Good to know she scrambled his brains too. “You’re holding what I did all those years ago against me?”

She thought about that for a few seconds. “Absolutely. You were a legend in the girls’ bathroom, and I might have shared a few secrets of my own.”

“Do you remember my signature move?” He teased.

“Give me more words.” Because that sure sounded promising, even if it didn’t ring any bells. He’d been the high school bad boy, although he’d promised her he’d been tamed the minute she’d agreed to date him. His heartfelt promise had been sweet, but she’d snorted at the mere thought of Kade Jordan limiting himself to just one girl. Maybe that was one more reason why they’d broken up, because she’d heard the stories, and what he’d done in the back of his truck had been legendary. A girl could tell all sorts of stories if she substituted Kade’s name for the name used in her
Cosmo
. He’d been a living, walking fantasy, and for eighteen months, he’d been all hers.

He eased her up, big hands lifting her butt. Lifting and lifting until she was right over his face. His arms tightened, the muscles bunching, when she squeaked and tried to scramble backward. And then to the left because, sweet baby Jesus, his high school self had apparently gotten up to all sorts of things that hadn’t been reported in the girls’ bathroom. He certainly hadn’t done
this
to her.

“Nuh-uh,” he said. She wasn’t going to look down at him. No way, no how. But she could hear the amusement in his voice. Worse—
better
, her inner bad girl sighed happily—she could feel the small puff of air as he spoke right on her center. Oh. My. God. He was looking at her. And the lights were on, and no way she was prepared for this kind of close up... “You need to give me a chance.”

“I think we should try something a little more conventional.” But she let him pull her a little closer, closing her eyes because
one
of them needed to not be looking.

“Where’s your spirit of adventure, cowgirl?” Wicked amusement filled his voice, laughter and something else. It was the
something else
that kept her where she was. Okay, that and the certain knowledge that there was no dignified escape from her current position. The flush on her cheeks probably kept right on going straight to her toes. This was like starting with a double axel followed by a triple Salchow instead of inching around the ice rink, holding onto the wall for balance.

“Apparently I’m not the adventurous type,” she said breathlessly and, oh God, she could just about feel his grin.

“I think you are,” he said. “Let’s find out.”

While Abbie had been reliving his high school glory days—God help him—Kade had been having a few fantasies of his own. Cupping her ass, keeping her steady, he was pretty damn sure he was in heaven. Since he didn’t want to be there alone, not when he could bring Abbie with him, he gently opened her up.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, because she needed to know that, and she apparently had some doubts.

“Kade—”

God. He loved the sound of his name on her lips. Next he wanted her to moan it. Then scream it. After that, he’d know which was his favorite, and he could make her do it again. And again.

He stroked his tongue over her, and she cried out. Not his name, but some inarticulate, totally cute, incomprehensible string of syllables. Good. He wasn’t the only one not thinking. He did it again, tracing her slick folds. Drinking her in because, damn, she was perfect. Sweet and sassy and wonderfully, perfectly Abbie. If there’d been some way to tell her, he would have. Instead, he had to settle for showing her, licking and sucking until she pressed against him, inhibitions forgotten as she let go and let him.

~*~

A
bbie sprawled on the pillows, death-gripping on all that down. And riding Kade’s mouth. There was nothing dignified or elegant about her position. She worried about that for about two seconds, and then it was all about the pleasure. Because holy wow, once Kade started touching her, she forgot about everything else. His big hands held her up effortlessly, and all she had to do was focus on the orgasm headed her way like a loaded semi barreling down the freeway in the fast lane. Or... sure, there were probably better ways to think about it, but her brain turned off, tuning into what was happening between her thighs, and long, long minutes later, she was whimpering something that sounded suspiciously like Kade’s name. And then yelling it for all she was worth.

He licked and teased, the delicious suction pushing her slowly, absolutely over the edge until she was shuddering and quivering and one hundred percent boneless with the pleasure. Oh, God, he lived up to every fantasy she’d ever had of him, and quite a few she hadn’t known she had. He gently eased her down onto the bed and she promptly rolled over onto her side.

“I’m done,” she announced. This was the part where she got to curl up and go to sleep.

“Not yet,” he said firmly.

She cracked one eye, hoping he appreciated the effort. “Orders already?”

“You’ll like this.” Sexy promise filled his voice. “I will too.”

And dammit, she melted all over again for him.

~*~

H
e eased Abbie onto her knees, slipping her thighs apart.

“Knock, knock,” he said roughly, notching himself at her slick opening.

“Should I ask who’s there?” She sounded less sleepy, thank God.

He nipped her shoulder. “I’m coming in.”

The
please
that shuddered out of her was more sigh than sound. He loved her reactions. She made him feel like the king of the fucking mountain when she let him know how he got her going. If he hadn’t been so breathless, everything focused on the place where they were almost but not quite joined, he’d have told her so.

Her silky brown hair tumbled away from her pretty face, but it was the need in her eyes that tugged at him. She felt their connection too, and not just
there
. Although that was damned good, too. More than good. He pushed in slowly, sinking deep. She pressed back to meet him, her toes digging into the mattress and his legs.
So good
.

She was soft and silky, and when he buried his face against her throat, her skin smelled like some kind of fruity body lotion. This was
Abbie
he was holding. She connected a line between his dick and his... heart? Between places he definitely hadn’t known could be connected. And it scared the hell out of him as much as it thrilled him.

His knee twinged, reminding him that other things had changed since high school. Shifting, he got a knee on either side of her. It wasn’t like she weighed that much, but his knee protested anything and everything these days. So he eased back, taking her weight on his thighs as he pushed inside her again. Pulled back, then drove forward again until she came with a not-so-muffled shriek, her nails digging into his skin where she could reach him, and then he finally let go and followed her over the edge.

––––––––

Chapter Eleven

A
bbie reached over and flicked off the light. Kade reminded himself that was a perfectly normal response. People didn’t generally sleep with the lights on once they left their toddler years behind them, and Californians liked conserving their electricity. Blah blah blah. There were a dozen reasons why lying in the dark made perfect sense. Abbie rolled over and cuddled up against his side.

He wrapped an arm around her, breathing in her hair. See? He was fine. He’d just had amazing sex, he was holding a fantastic woman in his arms, and the sun would come up in—he peered at the alarm clock—approximately five hours.

The sex had been amazing. Hot. Mind-blowing. The two of them together in high school had practically spontaneously combusted, and apparently their chemistry had only gotten better with age. Hell, he could probably fill up at least the next thirty minutes coming up with synonyms, but she was downright amazing and he was a lucky man. No question of that. Abbie’s breathing evened out, and she wriggled closer. He’d worn her out, and he liked that. He liked lying here, holding her.

He just would have preferred to not do so in the dark.

As his eyes got used to the lack of light, he could pick out details of her bedroom. Moving her to the new place was going to be epic because the amount of stuff he could see defied the cottage’s small square footage. She had stacks of books on every visible surface and enough pillows and picture frames to stock a store. He could get up and start packing. That would be useful. Or... the door was right there, calling his name. Five yards to the living room. Another ten steps, and he could be outside. Where maybe he could breathe, because it felt like a fucking elephant had taken up residence on his ribcage. Was he really going to slip out of bed like Abbie had been a Friday-night quickie? He was no dating expert, but that didn’t seem like his best move.

The elephant pressed down until he could hear the rough sound of his own breathing. The door got farther away, the walls drawing nearer. Abbie had picture frames on those walls, but instead of family photos she’d filled the empty spaces with California landscapes. Her family had left Strong years ago, moving east, but Abbie had never really left, even during that handful of years she’d danced in New York. She was the one who belonged here.

He counted, but he couldn’t figure out the pattern. It was like she’d hung the frames wherever she felt like sticking a nail. Twelve pictures. He counted twice just to be sure while Abbie’s breathing got slower, deeper. The tassel from one of her decorative pillows tickled his cheek, and he turned his head. Six pillows on his right, four on his left, and probably a Mount Everest of decorative shit over his head.

The elephant won. He disentangled himself from Abbie, easing his arm away, and she promptly took over the entire bed. He grinned. Good thing he hadn’t actually planned on sleeping. Pulling on his jeans commando, he moved toward the door.

Stan was curled up by the front door. Stan was used to sleeping all sorts of places, but he liked outside best, too. As soon as Kade approached, the dog popped to his feet, his tail wagging a furry welcome.

Cool air blasted in when Kade opened the door, so he stepped out quickly. Waking Abbie up wasn’t part of this plan, probably because he didn’t have a plan. He was kind of onto the
hope for the best
part of the night. He looked down at the dog and opened the door. “We’re all kinds of fucked up.”

Stan bumped against Kade’s legs, either in agreement or the canine version of
you’re on your own, mate
, and then ran off to pee in Abbie’s front yard. She’d have a yellow patch on her lawn to remember them by. He suspected that wouldn’t be her first choice of souvenirs, because she appeared to have a thing for gardening. There was a name for all the white flowers lighting up the yard in the moonlight. A night garden. A floral explosion.

Don’t think about explosions.

Instead, he sat down on the top step and tried counting flowers, but the damn things bled into each other and disappeared into the shadows. There had been too much dark in Khost, and objectively, he knew those three months had left him anything
but
normal. Unfortunately, the military shrinks didn’t have a magic pill or a quick solution for the claustrophobia that snuck up on him when he tried to sleep inside.