Triple Shot (19 page)

Josiah chalked it up to Tessa’s elation over
Rowan’s fortunate turn of events with his relationship and the fact that a baby
would be along shortly. No doubt, the idea of becoming an aunt had to cause the
excitement she showed now. Unless, of course, there was something else she was hiding
from him. With Tessa’s track record nothing would surprise him. He pushed the
thought from his mind and focused on the task at hand.

“Is there quite a bit still to bring
over?” he asked her as she all but skipped past him.

“Oh, you can just grab whatever moves
you,” she responded with a wink.

Josiah turned on his heels to face
Tessa. “What has gotten into you, girl?”

Tessa ignored his question, moving at a
quicker pace to Rowan’s place as if she couldn’t get away from Josiah fast
enough. The sand that had settled in the sparse patches of grass kicked up as
her steps increased and he swore he heard a faint laugh as she distanced
herself from him. He brushed off her odd response and moved up the steps to
Madison’s to grab what boxes he could to help get her moved in and settled. Thank
God she wasn’t very far, otherwise the simple task would have turned into a
monstrous job. As Josiah swung the door open, he heard a gasp come from his
right. He quickly pivoted to face whoever lingered in the house. He stood
motionless, unable to make his muscles follow his commands or make his voice
start working. Susan’s lips had released the startled sound and she stood just
feet from him looking as sexy as he’d ever seen her. The blond tresses he’d run
his fingers through only months ago, were pulled into a tight ponytail,
accentuating her high cheekbones and bringing out her piercing green eyes. Her
lips were as lush as he remembered and opened just slightly as if to take in
small calming breaths. His gaze traveled the length of her body, the corner of
his mouth lifting as he took in the sight of her standing there with a blue
v-neck tee that clung to her breasts. He felt envious of the material, wanted
to pull it from her body and replace it with his fingers, or better yet, his
mouth. A pair of tight khaki shorts reached just above the middle of her thighs
and visions of those legs wrapped tightly around him as he’d penetrated the
depths of her played over in his mind. Josiah pulled his thoughts from the past
when his cock twitched at the sight of her, cursing his body for having such a
reaction to a woman who had no use for him any longer.

“I’m sorry,” he said once he composed
himself enough to speak. “I didn’t realize anyone else was in here. Tessa…”
Josiah shook his head and laughed as Tessa’s words flitted through his mind -
“just grab whatever moves you.” Oh, he’d been moved alright by this sexy little
vixen in front of him. He glanced to Susan who had not moved or spoken a word. “Tessa?
Right?”

Susan nodded. “Well, along with Rowan.” Susan
began to pick at her nails, avoiding eye contact with him. “I wanted to call
you,” she started.

“But you didn’t,” he stated as he walked
over to pick up a couple boxes that had been stacked behind the couch. He
needed to get out of the house because suddenly it felt very suffocating and
his lungs begged him for fresh air.

“I needed time to get my head clear
first. With my mother and everything else I just wasn’t-”

“I don’t need an explanation. Look I
came here for Rowan’s wedding, that’s all. I honestly didn’t even think I’d see
you,” Josiah said as he turned with his arms full of boxes leveling her with
his gaze.

“And now you’re sorry you did?” she
asked with a slight hitch in her voice.

“No,” he said on a sarcastic laugh
shaking his head. “I’m sorry it took you so long to clear your head. But now
you have and I suppose that’s good for you at least, right?” He tried to reign
in his anger and hurt, but honestly how could she possibly think that he would
just forget all that had happed with one simple word. Did she honestly think
sorry would erase the words that beat at him daily? Did she even care that they
were a constant reminder of how she shut him out after the time they’d spent
together? Truth be told, the only words his brain had processed for the past
two months were, “I should have never been with you,” and it was going to take
a lot more than her telling him she needed to get her head cleared to erase
that from his memory.

Susan stepped in his path as he began to
walk to the front door. “I’m sorry about that, too. And I’m sorry that I pushed
you away. I’m sorry for the words I spoke to you on the day of my mother’s
funeral and if I could reverse the hands of time and suck them back into the
depths from where they came, I would.”

“Darling, the depths from which they
came is exactly how you felt.” Susan crossed her arms under her breasts,
pushing them up and out while Josiah silently cursed her along with his cock
for having the audacity to respond to the slight movement. The little
seductress thought she could distract him or gain his forgiveness with such a
movement? Not likely. “You should never apologize for how you truly feel. I
learned a long time ago, that when people are squeezed past their limits
because of what life throws at them, the words they speak in that moment are
the true feelings they hide daily.”

“And I never will apologize for how I
feel,” she said, suddenly her cheeks flushing and her eyes narrowing in on him.
“I’m apologizing to you for saying something I didn’t mean, for something that
I spoke because it was the easiest thing to do in the midst of dealing with all
the other shit I had going on. But apparently the big bad Marine has never had
a moment of weakness or spoken a harsh word before he put any thought into, has
he?” Susan stepped out of his path and walked to the kitchen leaving Josiah standing
with his arms full as he mentally kicked his own ass.

Slowly setting the boxes from where he
retrieved them, he dragged his feet to the kitchen and leaned his shoulder against
the door frame. He watched as Susan busied herself with packing what looked
like a truckload of dish towels. The red and checkered towel she folded and unfolded
repeatedly trembled as she took deep breaths. Josiah’s heart tightened in his
chest at the sight of her and he wanted to verbally berate himself for treating
her as he had. The last time he’d seen her anywhere near as close to this
upset, he’d been standing at the rear of a church wishing like hell he could
wrap his arms around her and take the pain from her. Now, he watched as she
tried to control her emotions unsuccessfully. The tears she shed now were
because he’d opened his damn mouth and instead of accepting her apology decided
that making her feel bad for the past two months would be worth the hurt he’d
felt. He’d never been more wrong about anything in his life.

“I
have
said things I’ve
regretted. I’ve done a few, also. Like leaving,” he confessed. When she
withheld a response from him, he continued, “The night we shared together
wasn’t just about the sex for me, if it had been I wouldn’t have shown up at
the funeral. I could have just walked away then.”

“I didn’t ask you to come.”

“No, you didn’t.” Josiah sucked in a
deep breath, hoping like hell that she’d realize how much those words stung.

Susan swung her head around, “I didn’t
mean…I just didn’t want to burden you with my problems.” She offered her back
to him once more.

“It wouldn’t have been a burden. That’s
what you don’t understand.” Susan’s shoulders shook as she tried to contain her
emotions. Her fingers still at work on the towel she’d been holding since he
entered the kitchen.

Josiah stepped quietly behind her and
slipped an arm around her waist. “This is what I wanted to do at your mother’s
funeral,” he whispered against her ear as she leaned into him.

“I wish I would have let you,” she
responded on a sob.

“You need to understand that I want to
give you whatever you want, whatever makes you happy,” his breath a soft caress
against her skin.

“You Josiah. All I want is you in this
moment,” Susan exhaled.

Josiah pulled his arm from her waist feeling
bereft at the loss of his body pressed to hers, ran his fingers down the middle
of her back and stepped in front of her. He cupped her face in his hands, just
as he had months ago and softly pressed his lips to hers. The mixture of her
natural taste and the salt of her tears sent a barrage of emotions running
through him. His body came alive for the first time in months and had he been
in the comforts of his own home he would have taken her where they stood. Allowing
his fingers to sift through her hair while their kiss deepened, his fingers
tangled in long blond strands. He pulled back gently moving his lips to her
neck then her ear.

“I’ll have you know if this were my
place I’d press you to the floor and bury myself so deep inside you, you’d think
twice about ever shutting me out again,” he whispered against her ear.

“Then we’ll have to try it after you
move in,” she responded.

Josiah jerked his head back and stared at
Susan, uncertain of how to take her statement. She reached up and wrapped her
arms around his neck, placing a quick kiss against his lips.

“That is if you decide to stay,” she
quickly added.

“What do you mean stay? I only came for
Rowan’s wedding and then I’m heading home.”

Both Josiah and Susan turned their heads
towards the living room, still wrapped in each other’s arms, when Rowan cleared
his throat. “Yeah, about that wedding?” Rowan said with a shrug of his
shoulders. “Seems I got the date all mixed up. You know me and dates… evidently
it’s not until next year.”

Josiah scooped up Susan into his arms in
one swift movement. “I’ll take the house,” he said shooting Madison a look. “Does
the bed come with it?”

“Absolutely, was planning on leaving
it,” Madison laughed as she pulled Rowan behind her. “We can start unpacking
some of the boxes we already took over.”

“Yeah, we’ll work out the details
later,” he heard Rowan laugh.

Josiah didn’t even wait for Rowan and
Madison to shut the front door behind them before he made his way down the hall
to the master bedroom with Susan squirming in his arms.

“What are you doing? We can’t do this here.”

“You heard Madison, the bed comes with
the house. I think we should break it in to our liking,” he laughed as he
gently tossed her to the mattress and stripped off the black t-shirt he wore.

“Josiah, seriously we can’t do this
here,” she said absently licking her lips.

“They don’t mind,” he said when he took
possession of her mouth. He pulled her shirt over her head then took one breast
in his mouth in a rush, not bothering to remove the barrier of her bra as his
fingers fought with the button of her shorts. Her fingers slipped into his hair
and the scrape of her nails against his scalp sent a shiver through his body
and landed in the center of his cock, bringing all the pent up frustration he’d
felt the past two months to the surface. Pulling his mouth from her breast, he
yanked at her shorts and had to catch his breath at the sight of Susan beneath
him. Hidden behind the khaki shorts, she wore a silk red thong that barely
covered where a patch of hair had been before.

Josiah ran his index finger along the
center of the silky material, taking his time to see what awaited him
underneath, really just trying to calm himself before he went any farther. Susan
lay before him, more beautiful than he remembered. She looked sexy and
beautiful and delectable and he planned on taking his sweet time tasting every
inch of her body.

Chapter 28

Susan’s gasp filled the bedroom when Josiah
ran his index finger along the edge of the thong she wore, gently grazing the
skin beneath it. He pulled aside the thin strip of material and when his eyes
widened at the treasure he found, she smiled up at him with a wicked little
grin. She was smooth and wet and more than ready for him. He pressed his palm
against his crotch, trying to relieve some of the pressure without releasing
himself just yet, while his middle finger ran the length of her hot core. There
had been no disappointment when he pulled his finger from her depths. He’d been
rewarded with a coating of her juices and as his eyes locked onto hers he
brought the finger to her mouth, covering her lips with her own wetness. He
quickly covered her mouth with his, sharing with her the taste of her heat that
she offered to him.

Susan pushed at Josiah’s chest and he
reluctantly broke the kiss. “It’s my turn,” she said as she slipped out from
underneath him. He smiled knowing that this time she would not allow him to
deny her what she wanted. And he wanted it also, to feel her lips wrapped
around his cock.

Josiah sat on the bed watching as Susan
shucked the thong now drenched from her anticipation then shed the only piece
of material left still covering her breasts. Standing before him completely
nude, Josiah’s need bit at him and he wanted nothing more in that moment than to
rip off his own jeans as quickly as he’d shed his shirt. His boots were the
first to go, quickly kicking them off as his gaze seductively traveled the
length of Susan’s body. She stood beautifully before him, every inch of her
body calling to the need deep within his own body. When his hands flew
recklessly to the button of his jeans, Susan pushed them away then knelt before
him.