Hard and fast.
That’s the way Stacie wanted it the first time with Jeff. Then they’d take their time as they explored each other’s bodies.
Right now, though, wrapped in Jeff’s arms, she pulled down the barriers and let herself feel the heat of his body against hers. She was eager to feel his naked skin against hers. His hands roaming over most sensitive places. Then to have him pounding into her. He’d give her the best orgasm, she was sure of it.
Inwardly she smiled. Orgasms. Plural. Sure, they were supposed to do it once so they’d act correctly, but nothing said they couldn’t continue to have sex throughout the entire mission. Fact is, they should. To keep up the right image.
Who was she kidding? She had wanted Jeff Lennon from the day they’d met at NSWCOM. He’d slouched in the chair across the table and only paid half attention to the briefings, but his full attention was engaged when he flirted with every female on the staff. No woman could ignore that cocky smile. He was such a bad boy, and that tempted the good little girl in her. She’d had to dig deep and find the resolve to resist. Obviously even the shrink had thought she wasn’t interested in the sexy SEAL.
Well, hand her the Academy Award. She’d succeeded in hiding every one of her secret desires for the man in her arms.
Thank you, Dr. Bowden, for not only giving permission, but practically ordering me to have sex with Jeff. And to take a walk on the wild side. She wondered just how untamed Jeff could be? The devil standing in the unlocked door poked her with a pitchfork and demanded to get this party started.
He’d already admitted to missing her. But she owed him an apology and needed to clear the air first.
Locked in his embrace, she leaned back to read his always-changing hazel eyes. Today, they were more green than brown. “Jeff, I’m sorry I slapped you the last time we—”
“Don’t worry about it.” He gifted her with that panty-melting grin of his. “I’d had a few too many beers and got a little…carried away.”
No, he hadn’t. He’d touched her breasts, then squeezed, and a memory of their captivity had triggered. But Jeff hadn’t been the one to man-handled her. He’d been forced to watch. When he’d tried to look away, one of Rashid’s men held his face as the terrorist and his other men fisted and pinched her bare breasts.
It wasn’t his fault he’d been captured. She’d discovered and reported al-Baghdadi’s plan that had nearly gotten him killed. Then they’d used her against him.
“Jeff, you did nothing wrong. Let’s just call it bad timing,” she insisted. She wasn’t about to tell him why.
Quietly he asked, “Is there someone special, in your real life?”
“No. And not for years. Not since the academy.” Strange, but she and Jeff had never talked like this before. They’d lived together for six months as man and wife, yet not talked about their real lives.
This was nice.
Jeff stepped back. She instantly missed his heat. He grabbed her hand. “Let’s talk. In the family room. We need to catch up.”
His hand seemed to envelop hers and felt so wonderful. He never let go, even as they were seated on the well-worn leather couch. He angled toward her, resting their clasped hands on his thigh. “I’d forgotten you went to the Naval Academy, too.”
She smiled sheepishly. “I was a few years behind you.”
“Who was this guy you dated there? Maybe I know him.” Jeff was making small talk. This was easy.
“Do you remember Charles McCallister?”
Jeff lifted his brows. “Chas? We called him CAM three, Charles Augustus McCallister, the third. Sure I knew him. We were in thirty-second company together.” He scanned her face. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember you dating him.”
“You were pretty busy your First Class year to concern yourself with a Youngster.” Even back then, Jeff had been a hound dog, building that bad boy rep. She’d heard rumors that he’d had two girlfriends at a time, frequently all three in bed together.
He shook his head. “I would have remembered a pretty thing like you.” He ran the tips of his fingers through her hair and down her jaw line. “And he would have bragged.”
“We had to keep our…relationship well-hidden since I was two years behind him.” She was the one who had insisted on it, with her entire future at stake.
Jeff waved that off with a scoff. “That kind of shit happened all the time.” He then smiled, and his eyes melted into deep pools of chocolate. “He wanted to keep you to himself. I can understand that.”
Stacie wanted to go swimming in the sweetness of those eyes. Then make him lick every drop off her body.
Bringing them back onto the original topic, she asked, “Is there someone special in your life? Or should I be on the lookout for a crazed former lover?” She facetiously snickered. “Like the threat of terrorists killing us if we blow this mission isn’t enough to worry about.”
“No.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I’m not sure there has ever been anyone special in my life.” There seemed to be more to that statement, but he only stared at her.
Uncomfortable now, she asked, “So, what have you been up to since May? Last time I saw you, we’d just completed the mission in Cancun.”
“Well, I worked for Jack for a few weeks during his honeymoon and while he found my replacement. Since Josh was down visiting Lilly and the boys, I got to fly back on the agency jet. They had me back in training for months. It’d been over a year so I had to requalify on the range, all weapons. I got to do the urban warfare course again. Have you been through the new city they’ve set up in Quantico for live fire?”
“Yeah, it’s really cool, isn’t it?” She caught herself smiling at him.
A real smile.
His was genuine, too.
He added, “And I learned to drive an eighteen wheeler. I even got a CDL with all the endorsements. I’m not sure why I need a Commercial Driver’s License, but Homeland thinks I need one for this op. What do you think? Do I look like a trucker?”
She checked him out from his thick dark hair, past shoulders so broad and powerful, down his cut abs to a narrow waist where his jeans rode low. No. He looked…damned good.
“I wouldn’t know.” With a deprecating smile, she confessed, “I’ve never met a truck driver.”
She needed to move this along. The sooner she and Jeff slept together, the sooner she’d be released into the field with him. And the thought of having him touching her, everywhere…kissing her, everywhere…was the catalyst she needed.
But how? She’d never had to entice a man before. Least of all Jeff. She’d spent months holding him at arm’s length, playing the fraternization card. She wasn’t sure if he had a type. Female, definitely. Well, check that box, she was a woman. Beyond that, she wasn’t sure of anything about him.
Honesty. That’s what they needed. The truth was something relatively foreign to her since she’d been trained to lie often and well by the Navy. Pretending—lying—had been her job for seven years. And she lived the job. She lived the lies.
“Can I tell you something?” She lifted her gaze to meet his.
“You can tell me anything.”
“What I mean is can Stacie Vandercoy tell Jeffry Lennon a truth he may not believe?”
He started to answer then glanced around the room. His eyes fell on the secret security panel next to the garage door. “Yes. In one minute.”
He rose and pressed his fingers to the glass, disconnecting the open line to headquarters. When he returned to the couch, he sat right next to her, thigh to thigh, hip to hip. He slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. Just above a whisper, he said, “No one else needs to hear this.”
Stacie lost her whole train of thought. Jeff smelled of man and spice, and she wanted to snuggle in for however long he’d hold her.
He lifted her chin, and she met his gaze. “Jeff Lennon is listening.” He stroked her arm, soothing away all her worries.
All the locked away passion she’d stored for years broke loose at that moment. She had to tell him or burst. Cupping his face in both hands she pulled it within an inch of hers. “Promise you’ll believe me?”
“I promise.” His moist breath brushed her lips as she breathed in his words.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time…but I was afraid.” She sucked in a ragged breath. “I still am.” With her confession heavy on her lips, she closed the short distance and pressed them to his.
Finally open to him, she allowed the tidal wave of passion to surge through her veins. She wanted to devour every ounce of his hard body, to crawl into him, meld their bodies into a single entity.
She jabbed her tongue at his closed lips, begging for entry. She needed to taste him. Now.
He released their kiss for a millisecond and changed the angle, diving into her mouth. He glided his tongue over hers before lifting it into a dance of desire.
Jeff hugged her to him so tight she could barely breathe. Who needed air? She’d steal his, sharing one more thing with him.
Their teeth clicked as they bit at each other’s mouths, pressing harder and harder.
She slid her hand off his cheeks and over his neck, pausing under his jaw to check his pulse. Passion could be faked very easily, but his racing heart matched hers.
Thank God. She wasn’t in this alone.
Dropping her hand to his stone hard pecs, she couldn’t wait to watch them as he hovered above her. Then as he slid into her.
She moaned at the thought and went wet. She loved that feel as a man slid into her the first time.
Jeff lifted his head a fraction. “Are you okay?”
“No.” She dragged in a shaky breath. “You stopped kissing me.”
He dropped his forehead to hers. “I mean, are you okay with this? Us kissing.”
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me.” She closed her eyes and gathered every ounce of determination and knotted it together with the truth. She opened her eyes and looked into his, hoping he’d see her undeniable honesty. “I’ve wanted you for years. On top, under, behind, any way we decide, as long as your cock was buried inside me.”
Jeff blinked.