Maid to Order (18 page)

He backed up and cut off the rest of her unladylike talk by capturing her mouth once more in a ruthless kiss meant to punish her for setting his body on fire. Instead the result was a whimper that he was learning meant that she was almost there. Good God, she made him into a wild beast… forcing him to do her bidding.

Hell if he didn’t like it too.

Just as he was about to once more take her to his bed, she finally broke his kiss to ask, “Wait… what about Danny?”

“You had your chance to seek the protection of your brother… instead you chose to start talking dirty to a Sergeant in the United States in Army. Now it’s too late. Leave the man alone, Amy. You’ll survive the next hour or two without having him under your thumb,” he replied before gently biting her neck. “Now… I can’t very well wash your mouth out with soap because then I’d taste that instead of you, but I’ve got ways to make you reconsider that kind of talk in the future.”

“Is that right?” she asked. Then, to his surprise, she paced away from him and, within minutes, stripped off her clothes right there in his living room.

She was closest to the couch and he damn well wouldn’t make it to his bedroom. Hell, he couldn’t wait another second. Approaching where she stood with her back to him, showing him the perfection of her backside, he grasped her by her upper arms and guided her over to the couch before turning her around to face him.

Then he pushed gently on her shoulders to direct her to sit down. Dropping to his knees in front of her, he slid his hands underneath her bottom and pulled her forward so that she was reclining back.

Gently he lifted her legs to place her feet on the edge of the couch and then pressed on the inside of her knees to spread her open. Then sitting back, he looked at her while sticking his fingers in his mouth. Sucking them briefly, he ran them along her wet folds and rubbed them in a circle around all that softness.

She was already wet just from teasing him. He would never want another woman like he wanted this one. He bent forward and replaced his fingers with his mouth. This was better than any dessert she could ever invent.

Soon enough she was writhing, moaning at him, and pulling his hair while begging him to make love to her. Finally her body lifted up to meet his mouth as she cried out her enjoyment.

Unable to resist her any further, he put her feet back on the floor. Standing up, he pulled her to her feet and guided her to the arm of the couch. Bending her forward over the arm of the sofa, he managed to remove his clothes as he watched her there, waiting for him.
Wanting him.
Then he stepped up behind her and moved her enough to get one hand between her and the couch so he could touch her some more.

“What are you doing?” she asked, looking back at him, her face flushed from her earlier release and her eyes shining with a small bit of trepidation.

Then he guided himself into her and she bucked back against him as he slid into her warm, wet body.

“Following orders,
Ma’am
,” he ground out, his breath hitching at the vision she presented. Controlling himself with her draped over his furniture, spread eagle and glistening, was next to impossible.

He found an easy rhythm, joining his body to hers while his hand rubbed between her legs in perfect harmony. Bending forward, he sucked the back of her neck into his mouth, releasing it to create the same smacking noise as when he’d gave her the ‘oral pleasure’ she’d asked him for.

The sound reminding her that she wanted him…
begged him
… to do this to her. Then she was coming for him, her body clenching his tightly. His need for her took over his sanity. Unable to resist the temptation she presented he grasped her waist in his hands and pounded into her until he found his own release. Only then did he realize she was yet again taking her own pleasure.

“I’ll never leave you… making you feel good… like this right here… is my promise of that. I’ll never get enough of you either, Amy.
Ever
. I warned you about teasing me and you didn’t listen. So now you’re all mine. That means that if you decide to climb in my bed you better be prepared to stay there… for a lifetime,” he said breathlessly as he pressed kisses along her shoulders and on the back of her neck.

“Yes, Rusty,” she replied just as breathlessly.

“I’m a hard man to live with, Amy. You may want to think that over before giving me an answer,” he said, pulling out of her body and helping her to stand up.

“I know what I want… and I want you,” she replied, pausing long enough to tap him on his nose before heading down the hall to the bathroom to clean up. “Besides, my brother said I can hang out with him and listen to records whenever…
life
… gets to be too much. That’s what big brothers do… or so he says.”

Then she disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Grabbing his clothes, he headed down the hallway himself, toward his bedroom.

Stopping halfway, right outside of the bathroom, he said loud enough for her to hear him through the door, “I’ll expect that in writing, Ms. Carlton. The sooner the better. Your signature on a marriage license will do.”

He couldn’t help but smile upon hearing her small squeal followed by a giggle filtering through the door.

Chapter Fifteen

Nothing compared to watching him sleep so peacefully. Lying there
really sleeping
, with deep even breaths and a satisfied smile on his handsome, pleasure giving mouth. He was by far the best looking man alive.

Having loved her once more, face to face while whispering promises of devotion and a lifetime of pleasure in his arms, ensured she would follow him into whatever battle life threw at them.
He wanted to marry her!

She almost hated to move for fear he would wake and, after the emotional events of the evening, she would hate that more than anything, but she needed to check in on Danny. Slowly moving toward the edge of the bed, she managed to move the sheet aside and sit up. It was already pretty late and tomorrow promised more painful conversations regarding Rusty’s well-being.

As soon as she thought she would try to stand up, she heard him say, “What part of being prepared to stay in my bed once you got here, did you not understand, Ms. Carlton?”

She jumped at the sound of his voice and then between giggles managed to say, “I have to get back… Danny’s there alone and I’m sure he’s wondering about me… and you for that matter.”

“I spoke to your brother while you were in the shower earlier. He invited his new friends, Addie Clark and Caleb Lewis to come over and hang out for a while. Addie texted me to let me know she intended to stay over there with him since tomorrow is a teacher in service day anyway or some such nonsense,” he replied. “No one is expecting you… so stay here with me.”

She should also let Ronnie, Seth and Ian know that he was okay after having given them such a fright. But how did a person resist the promise in Rusty’s voice? Against her better judgment she risked glancing back at him. His eyes were like the sky on a clear summer day and his lopsided sexy grin threw her heart into overdrive. He could disarm someone just from staring at them with that hungry stare of his.

“Not to worry… Ronnie, Seth and Ian will be on my doorstep bright and early in the morning looking for an explanation from me. Their version of early differs greatly from most people’s,” he said, his voice giving away the fact that he wanted her yet again. She felt the bed dip and then she felt his lips and tongue pressing gently against the middle of her back. With a warm breath that she felt all along her spine he said, “Anything else you’re worried about? If not, then lie down and let me touch you until I fall asleep.”

“I thought you
were
sleeping,” she admitted, attempting to close her mouth which had gone slack from the shivers that were racing up to her neck from the feel of his mouth on her back.

“Soldiers sleep when they can… with you lying naked next to me… sleep is the last thing I want to be doing,” he said against one of her shoulder blades.

Then he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back on the bed. Knowing she couldn’t resist his touch, she lay back down beside him on her side so that he could spoon her. Instead he pushed on her shoulder, forcing her to roll onto her stomach.

Then he ran the backs of his fingers from below her butt across each check, then along her lower back and finally all the way up to her neck and she moaned his name.

“Shhh… quiet now, Ms. Carlton,” he whispered into her hair. “Close your eyes and relax.”

The next thing she knew she was hearing voices and, opening her eyes, she realized it was morning. Rusty had managed to sneak out on her without getting caught… She quickly got up and pulled on her clothes, trying in vain to find her panties and finally giving up and going commando.

Sneaking down the hallway, she made it to the bathroom where she managed to find a rubber band that she used to pull her hair up into a knot and brush her teeth with a bit of toothpaste and a finger. Then, after washing her face and attempting to look like anything besides a woman who’d been thoroughly sexually satisfied, she gave up on that idea as well.

Stepping into the open living and dining room area, she was shocked to find all of Rusty’s Army buddies and their wives sitting around the room. Most of them were drinking coffee. Upon seeing her standing in the opening of the hallway, Ronnie gave Rusty a knowing look and a grin.

Turning to find her standing there, Rusty’s expression said what his words didn’t. The man was insatiable. She could feel herself blushing at his bold gaze as it raked over her.

Getting up from his chair at the table, he walked into the kitchen and poured some coffee into a mug and added a single serving creamer to it. Then he brought it over to where she stood. His eyes burned with desire as he approached. After handing her the coffee, he gently reached into his pocket and pulled enough of her panties out of his front pocket so she could tell what they were.

Then leaning down, he kissed her on the cheek and whispered, “Were you looking for these, Ms. Carlton? Two can play this little teasing game of yours.”

She knew her mouth was hanging open but no sound was coming out. With a smirk, he shoved the panties back into his pocket and turned away from her to sit back down at the table with Ian and his wife, Courtney. Amy made her way over to the remaining chair at the table.

“So are you ready to explain this?” Seth asked, holding up the notepad that he probably found on the floor in the same place she’d thrown it down yesterday.

“The Army was all I’ve ever done besides working for Man Maid… and all I ever really wanted to do. The men and women I’ve served with over the years… they were all I had. Knowing that my inaction, when they needed my leadership the most, could have cost them their lives… I knew it was time to get out. What I didn’t know was how hard it would be to go from the roller coaster ride of active duty… where one day you’re bored out of your skull and the next you’re in the middle of hell… to what most people think of as normal. For me… that roller coaster
is
normal,” Rusty explained. “I felt like I couldn’t go forward with my life because the military is all I know but I couldn’t go back because I was no longer fit for duty. I mean…
Christ
… Buck did my fucking job that day. I lost myself in that feeling of failure… and couldn’t see a way to fix my life. For what it’s worth I’m sorry for my shortcomings that day and every day since.”

“Sergeant Buck is an amazing dog, Rusty. I mean, he can make women faint at his feet. It’s just one of his many talents. He used that skill on me when I first met him and when I came to, there was this handsome man kneeling over me… so I kissed him,” Kayla said, smiling shyly at Ronnie. “Up until then I had failed miserably in the love department. I managed to find a way around my failures, though, and try one more time. Lucky for me… Ronnie just so happens to belong to Buck. A package deal I guess you could say,” Kayla said with a smile. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re the one that assigned them both to work for me.”

“Besides, we’re not the only ones he’s saved in his lifetime. You may remember he found Kayla’s mom. I sure as shit couldn’t have found her all the way out there by myself,” Ronnie replied, rubbing Sergeant Buck’s head and ears. “Saving lives was
his
job, Sir. Yours was to finish the mission. And you damn sure finished it… didn’t you?”

Amy glanced at Rusty who stared into the darkness of his coffee, clearly remembering and experiencing the pain all over again. The room was silent waiting for Rusty to speak.

“I respect what you’re saying, Sergeant, but up until that day I’d always felt that I was a highly qualified soldier. Men followed me because I got them back home…
safe.
I was
always
extra cautious. I was damn good at my job. Then one off day… and I was left drowning in self-doubt while that
damn dog
led you guys out,” Rusty finally replied. “There’s no place for an ‘off’ day when you’re in a combat zone and you damn well know it, Ronnie.”

“An off day, Sir?” Seth asked in amazement. Then he laughed sarcastically and said, “You’re pissed because you had an
off day?
I was a
male stripper,
for God’s sake, and the one woman I wanted more than anything wanted
nothing
to do with me. If not for Ronnie letting me borrow that
damn dog
, I might not be sitting here married to that woman right now! Hell, he was present the first time I got up the guts to kiss Tori… long after it normally took me to make a move on a woman, I might add. Especially considering how
much
I wanted her. If I’d quit after an
off day
with her, I’d never gone back to work for her a second day. So I guess that makes me inferior to him too.”

“Not to mention, he helped Zach learn to read, when I… his own mother… couldn’t,” Tori joined in. “I guess my name can be added to the ‘inferior to Buck’ list along with the others.”

Rusty was listening but he wasn’t responding. Amy couldn’t figure out if he was just absorbing what his friends were saying or if he’d shut down and was no longer listening.

Each of the men looked to be lost in their own thoughts. Looking from one to the next, it dawned on Amy that this was healing for all of them. It was meant to help only one of them but in all reality it was helping all these brothers in arms.

“If it weren’t for me, none of that shit would have happened to begin with,” Ian said with a heavy sigh. Courtney reached across the table and placed her hand on Ian’s arm. He smiled at her and then continued, “For a long time I felt like the little brother no one wants hanging around. Following you here to Ohio, I thought I could maybe make up for it… working for Man Maid. I shouldn’t have been goofing that day… but I have accepted it as something that I can’t change. I’m also grateful that Sergeant Buck was there to lead me out of a mess of my own making. It took a lot longer to forgive myself for that day than it did for you guys to forgive me. So how does my screw up somehow transfer to being your fault, Sir? Help me to understand that one…”

Again Rusty was silent for a long time before finally saying, “You are a lot of things, Ian. However, a
little
brother is not one of them.”

Suddenly the room broke into laughter.

Once the tension in the room lifted a bit, Courtney sat forward in her chair and rubbed a hand over her huge stomach and said, “I think that Buck’s job has always been to look out for you guys. Even you, Rusty. I remember Ian inviting me over here for dinner once. Left alone for just a few minutes with Buck, I was surprised when he knocked over a picture of you and then just looked at me like he wanted to tell me something. I think what he was trying to communicate to me by way of those big brown eyes was that he was worried about you. I get that now. That
damn dog
saved my husband’s life and if all he wants in return is for me to help save yours… to help you find solid ground…
safe ground
… then it’s the least I can do. I want you to be happy, Rusty. You were instrumental in me finding happiness… you’re the reason Ian even happened to be in Ohio. I would never have met him if he hadn’t stuck around here to work for you at Man Maid. Oddly enough, Buck was around for a lot more than kissing where Ian and I were concerned. So will you let me help you as a way to show my gratitude?”

“I’m not sure what you can do to help… what any of you can do… but I promise that I’m in a different place now than I was when I wrote that letter,” Rusty said.

“I want you to talk to someone… like Courtney. Maybe even get on medication if that’s what it takes to help you. I don’t want to worry that every time I best you in an argument, decide to give you the silent treatment for some well-deserved reason or that an
off day
will get the better of you, causing me to lose you
permanently
,” Amy ordered. As an afterthought and retaliation for making her sit in the same room with all his friends without panties on, she said, “And I’d like that in writing. Do you have a pen in your pocket by any chance?”

Knowing full well that the only thing in his pocket was her panties, his eyes shot daggers of lust at her. Yet he smiled, took a sip of coffee and look around the room at his friends. Then his gaze landed on Sergeant Buck.

“I’m beginning to think that Sergeant Buck has been in charge all along,” Rusty laughed. “He not only saved our asses that day but, in one way or the other, he led us to women willing to put up with us. You can forget medicating me but I’ll give the rest to you in writing later, Amy. Courtney, once those little ladies are born and you’re back to work, I’d like to make an appointment to come and talk to you for a while. As for the rest of you… thank you for giving a shit about a grumpy old man. I hope that I haven’t been so bad that you decide not to come to my wedding.”

In the next minute the room exploded in noise. Cheers, laughter, congratulations and lots of hugs were passed around. Amy had never felt as awkward as she did hugging his Army buddies and their wives knowing that her panties were in her Rusty’s pocket.

Soon couples began leaving since some of them had to be at work. When the last one drove down the street and out of sight, she turned to find Rusty holding her panties out on the tip of his index finger.

Pointing her finger down the hall and trying to contain her laugh she said, “Bedroom… now!”

She could only smile when he grinned and said, “Is that a direct order,
Ma’am?
”