Military Romance Collection: Contemporary Soldier Alpha Male Romance (47 page)

Chapter 9

Dalton didn’t know what to say. Hell, he couldn’t think. As Billie gazed at him with a plea in her eyes, looking vulnerable and enticing all at the same time, his brain turned to mush. All the blood in his body collected in his groin, making it ache and throb with a sudden desire he couldn’t explain.

He stood there, trying to make a decision. He should just get on the elevator and leave. Billie had a long day ahead of her, and if he stayed, it would make a late night even later, guaranteed. But then again, if he stayed, and he slept with Billie, he just might get her out of his system and feel better, less desperate for her. He was probably mistaking pure attraction for emotions, just because he wanted her that badly.

Torn as to what was best, he hesitated and asked, “Why?”

Her eyes filled with liquid heat, and her voice was deeper, raspy with seduction. “Because I haven’t spent enough time with you yet.”

That did it. Dalton couldn’t turn his back on that, and he walked back over to her, trying not to rush. He stopped with inches between them and stared down at her, their eyes locked. Her lips were slightly parted, and his heart beat wildly, the same pulse echoed in his groin. She leaned forward ever so slightly, and Dalton wrapped a hand around the back of her neck as he plunged into the kiss.

She tasted like orange and tequila with a hint of something like chili, and as she melted against him, Dalton’s body shuddered, and his groin tightened again. This time, the need to satisfy it was almost too much to handle. But he wouldn’t make a move until she gave the word. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to thoroughly enjoy this kiss.

Billie kissed him back like she hadn’t been kissed in years, or at least, not well, and Dalton snaked his other arm around her waist, pulling her against him so she could feel his erection pressing into her. Like a vixen bent on driving him insane, she thrust her hips forward, rubbing against him and making him groan into her mouth.

She whimpered and pulled back, breathless, staring at him with wide-eyed surprise. Dalton didn’t know if that was a good thing until a slow smile crept over her face and she asked, “Would you like to come in?”

He wanted to, badly, but he hesitated. This was a bad idea. His need for her surpassed reason, and giving into it would be like signing his own death warrant. He liked his life just the way it was. He was single, free, and happy. And he had no problem with a one night stand. He’d done it plenty of times, with various women, most of them model quality. He had the looks, the money, and the game to get pretty much anyone he wanted.

But he knew without a doubt he wouldn’t settle for a single night with Billie, and that was unacceptable, for multiple reasons. First of all, Dalton had no intention of carrying on a relationship with anyone, and that meant he refused to risk a woman developing feelings for him. He didn’t see Billie as an average woman, but he didn’t really know her that well. He liked her as a person, respected her, and he hated the idea of having to hurt her when she grew too attached. She already seemed to be a little clingy.

On top of that, she was going home to New York in a few days. Normally, that would be a plus, but for some reason, the idea bothered Dalton. He’d gained a friend, a kindred spirit as she’d called it. He already had to say goodbye to someone who actually understood him. He didn’t want to say goodbye to a lover as well.

But most of all, unlike any other woman he’d known, he had a sickening feeling that he’d develop an emotional attachment to Billie if he slept with her even once, much less more than once. It angered him that he suddenly had tendencies he couldn’t explain, a desire he couldn’t harness, and a connection that make an attractive woman completely irresistible.

“Dalton?” Billie’s voice cut through his deliberation, and he realized he’d been standing there staring at her for far too long. She already knew his answer – it was apparent in her tone.

“I need to go,” he groused. His own voice was hoarse with his desire, and he cleared his throat, hoping he would sound stronger as he said, “I’m sorry. I should have just left the first time.”

He backed away, but Billie gave him a hard stare. “Why, Dalton? If you’re trying to be valiant, now isn’t the time.” He blinked at her as she crossed her arms over her chest, looking like she felt enraged and rejected all at the same time. “I’m a grown woman, and I know what I want when I want it. And I’m not going to let you make excuses for me, either. I didn’t drink too much, I’m not just lonely, and if I was bored, I’d go to the casino.”

“Billie, I…” But he didn’t know what he was going to say.

It didn’t matter – Billie seemed to have plenty of words to fill the air. “Are you going to tell me I’m the only one who wants this? Can you really tell me you don’t want to sleep with me and make me believe it? I know you haven’t exactly been throwing signals left and right, but I told you I can read people. And we have a connection, Dalton. You certainly can’t deny that.”

He just stood there, and she dropped her arms, stepping up to him. “I don’t understand why I’m so attracted to you. You’re sexy and fun and a little bit of a bad boy with a lot of good qualities, but I’m sure I’ve met plenty of men with those traits, or most of them. Still, I can’t get you out of my head. If you don’t feel it, that’s fine. But don’t walk away because you’re worried about taking advantage of me.”

Dalton had done nothing but hold back and behave like a gentleman all day, and he was tired. He didn’t have any fight left in him at this point. Giving into his instincts, he grabbed her ass and lifted her off her feet, carrying her into the penthouse suite as she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He kissed her with bruising force, kicking the door closed behind them, and he knew the configuration of the suite well enough to walk definitively toward the bed without breaking away from her lips.

He molded her mouth, controlled the melding of lips, and tangled tongues with her, drinking in the taste of her need. Rather than laying her back when he reached the bed, he turned and sat, lying back and pulling her down on him, her weight feather light above him.

Billie took the upper hand well, straddling him and teasing at his hard on as she slid over it, letting her breasts just touch his chest. Dalton cupped them through her clothes, then grew frustrated at the thickness of the hoodie in his way. He reached for the hem and gathered it, yanking it over her head, and she sat up, taking off her bra and letting her hair down. When she leaned over him again, the mass of dark locks cascaded over her shoulders and fell around him like a curtain. He drew her down, bringing a nipple to his mouth and suckling at it while he teased the other with a flick of his thumb.

She moaned and shivered, and he grew harder, his shaft pushing against his jeans with enough force that it felt like it would rip through the material with a painful thrust. He reached for his fly to get a little relief, only to realize Billie’s fingers were already making fast work of it. And then they closed around him, and a shiver coursed through his body. He let his head fall back, his eyes close at the pleasant sensation.

She caressed him, traced her fingertips over his head, and Dalton moaned. Billie chuckled, and he opened his eyes to look at her. “What are you laughing at?”

“Your reaction. I have so much control over you, just by toying with you.” As if to prove her point, she trailed her fingertips along his shaft, and Dalton’s whole body bucked.

Clenching his jaw, he glared at Billie. “You think so?” At her cocky expression, Dalton wrapped his hands around her tiny waist, lifted her off him, and tossed her on her back on the bed, rolling quickly on top of her. He pinned her hands over her head and put his lips against her ear. “I think I’ll take control now, and my first order of business is to get those damn jeans off you.”

She was eager and willing, and while he was at it, Dalton shed his own, tearing his vest and shirt off, too. Her eyes perused his body from top to bottom and back again, and then landed on his cock, standing at attention. Rather than reaching for him, she wrapped her long, slender legs around his thighs and pulled him forward, urging him onto the bed.

Dalton didn’t hesitate, leaning over her and climbing up her body, kissing his way up between her breasts and over the hollow at the base of her throat. When his mouth came down on Billie’s he showed her how he planned to take her, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, making love to it as he teased at her center with his tip.

She lifted her hips, begging for him to enter, but he wasn’t going to give in that easily. He wanted it hard and fast, but her urgency slowed him down. Dalton was in control, and he was going to prove it. When he entered her, he moved slowly, inch by inch with the same sensual, searching thrusts he made with his tongue. Billie silently begged for more, her back and hips arching and her heels pressing into his back, but Dalton ignored it. He was rewarded with Billie’s body convulsing as she came once, then twice, and a third time before he’d even filled her completely.

No longer patient himself, Dalton pulled back and plunged deep, Billie crying out wordlessly as her eyes widened and her hands fisted in the sheets beside her. She instinctively tried to pull away from him, but he held her steady and thrust again. Rough and swift, he plowed into her over and over, and even amidst a whirlwind of orgasms, Billie rocked with him, meeting him every time. He clamped his teeth, trying to hold back just a little longer, but as her core pulsed around him, clenching and releasing, he couldn’t last.

With the tension building, he pounded into Billie again and again, and his release came like a sudden burst of flames encompassing him out of nowhere. He cried out, growling with his head thrown back, even as he felt Billie reach another climax of her own. He shuddered, the power of the mutual euphoria overwhelming his senses, and it took him a minute to recover.

When he did, Dalton carefully rolled to the side, afraid he would crush Billie if his arms gave out and he landed on top of her with his full body weight. As his body went limp, he felt Billie curl into him, and somehow, he managed to move his arm to cradle her, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder. It felt good, though he didn’t want to admit it even to himself, and he knew he was completely screwed.

Chapter 10

Billie was in and out of consciousness for a while. She lost track of time, but she didn’t care. Every time she came awake, the warmth of Dalton’s body and the soft, soothing sound of his light, even breathing comforted her and lured her back into the sleep of pure satisfaction and afterglow.

At one point, she realized he wasn’t sleeping, just lying there and holding her, and she pushed up onto her elbow to look down at him. He rolled his head to meet her gaze, and she asked hoarsely, “Is something wrong?”

He took a deep breath and shook his head. “No, I’m great. You?”

She smiled ruefully. “Tomorrow’s going to be rough, but I don’t care. I’m happy. Are you staying the night?”

He didn’t answer right away. He had a habit of hesitating when he was going to say no. “I shouldn’t, but it’s late. If you don’t mind me using your shower, I have an extra suit in my office.”

She laughed. “Are you that sure of yourself all the time? You keep an extra suit in case you spend the night with a woman?”

“Maybe,” he said, laughing softly. Then, he shook his head. “Actually, it’s in case some drunk spills something on me, or if I have a late night at the clubhouse and sleep there, I can just head in here, shower in one of the rooms, and get dressed.”

“Do you live far?” she asked. It sounded like it would be too much of a hassle to go to his place if he crashed at the clubhouse.

Dalton shrugged. “Not particularly. I just know I’m better off after a night like that if I sleep as long as possible. It takes extra time to get home and find something to wear and then come back. I would rather get that extra thirty minutes to snooze off a potential hangover.”

“I see.” She still didn’t have a straight answer to her original question. “So, you are staying the night, aren’t you?”

He looked uncomfortable, but finally, he said, “Yeah, I’ll stay.”

Something in the pit of Billie’s stomach clenched, and her heart sang. She told herself it was just the companionship they’d had today, coupled with the amazing sexual experience. But it felt like more, even if that didn’t make a lot of sense. What woman seriously developed feelings for a man who would obviously rather remain single in less than 24 hours?

It didn’t matter. The answer wouldn’t change how she felt, and she was thrilled he was staying. She pushed up off the bed, and he called after her, “Where are you going?”

“I have to set an alarm for the morning. And I can’t sleep unless I have a glass of orange juice.” She padded across the floor naked, and she knew Dalton was watching her with interest. She reached into the fridge and pulled out the bottle of orange juice she’d requested from room service earlier that morning and poured a little into one of the glasses supplied in the cabinet.

“I’ve heard of milk, warm milk, water, an apple. I’ve never heard of orange juice.” He sounded amused, and Billie understood. She had some odd habits.

But after she drank it and set the glass in the sink, she turned to him and shrugged. “It’s a tradition my mother started, something we did as far back as I can remember. I never had an early bedtime because we all slept in the same room, so if I hadn’t passed out sooner, I just went to bed when my older brothers did. And as a family, we would all have a glass of orange juice before bed while my mother told us how much she loved us. Orange juice was our only luxury. My mother never let us run out of orange juice.”

“That sounds nice,” he said, and Billie looked up to see if he was teasing her, but he looked sincere and a bit thoughtful. “I don’t remember anything like that. Well, that’s not entirely true. My dad was a truck driver, and when he’d come home from a run, he would bring a pizza home with a two liter of Coke, and we’d eat it together. Then, we’d go outside and toss the ball back and forth, talking nonsense until the sun went down.” Dalton had a reminiscent smile on his face as he added, “He always managed to time getting home so that he came in about five minutes after I got home from school.”

Billie set her alarm, and she walked over and plopped unceremoniously onto the bed. “It sounds like, even though he wasn’t always there, you were close to your father like I was close to my mother.”

He nodded. “I guess so.” He rolled to his feet. “I have a nighttime tradition of my own. I can’t sleep until I use the restroom. I’ll be right back.”

Billie arranged the covers so they could curl up under them as she appreciated the rear view of Dalton walking away. He had a fabulous body, but his ass was the best part. She figured she just might dream about it tonight.