Chapter Three
They sat side by side in bed, both still naked, each sipping on a fresh glass of bourbon. Between them sat the tray of finger foods they’d ordered from room service. By mutual agreement, they’d skipped a full meal, preferring the assortment of nibbles instead.
It hadn’t taken long for Gabe to harden inside her again. He wondered that the first orgasm had even taken the edge off at all, given the hot, delicious woman searing his senses. Not a role player, either. Just honest and open and giving.
And hot. Did I say hot? When he first slid into her, he thought for sure she’d scorch his dick.
But now they were taking a breather, renewing their energy and indulging in pillow talk.
“So you had four missions back to back?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He didn’t really like to think about them once they were over. SEALs got the roughest and toughest, mostly because men who could survive Hell Week in BUD/s training could handle anything. After all, the facts stated that eighty percent of the candidates washed out. Those who survived were trained and fit for anything thrown at them.
This was the reason he realized he finally, finally wanted and needed a smart, sexy, independent woman. Someone who could provide sanctuary for him when he took his timeouts from the nightmare of warfare.
Wait! Sanctuary? What about this being just one night? How could he even think of anything else?
“Penny for them,” Maggie said, a hint of laughter in her voice.
God, that voice flowed deep inside him, soothing every jangled nerve.
“My thoughts?” He put a hand on her thigh and stroked it idly. “They’re all about you, darlin’.”
“I hope they’re good ones, then.”
He chuckled. “You have no idea.” He sipped at his Jack Daniel’s and changed the subject. “What made you choose architecture for a career?”
“My grandfather was an architect. On my tenth birthday, he gave me a T-square and a book on drawing blueprints. The whole process fascinated me.”
“Strange gift for a kid that age.”
“Not really. I used to love it when my dad took me to Grandpa’s office. Everything about the place captivated me, from the basic drawings to the final blueprints to the models they often created of large projects.” She delicately licked the chocolate from a strawberry, the movement of lips and tongue nearly sending Gabe into orbit. His willing shaft began to harden into another state of readiness.
“I Googled you,” he confessed. “Just wanted to find out a little more about you. Your work is incredible. I can see why you’re so successful.”
“And you?” she prompted. “What made you want to become one those fabled, dangerous SEALs?”
“I don’t think you really decide,” he said, slowly. “I think it’s something that’s born into you. I always pushed myself physically and when I was in college, my oldest sister dated a SEAL. His courage and patriotism and incredible skills made me realize what I wanted to do. Where I should be.”
“Ten years is a long time.” She lifted her glass to her lips.
“It toughens you up, that’s for sure. But I can’t see myself doing anything else.”
“Never wanted to settle down with one woman?” she asked, almost too casually.
“Never found one that made me think about it,” he told her honestly. “It takes a particular breed of woman to live with the tension of a SEALs life and the long separations. Someone who’s both independent and giving, strong and compliant.” He gave himself a mental shake. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to get mushy.”
“No, no. I asked you because I wanted to know.”
He changed the subject. “So, Maggie Fitzgerald. Why in hell would a woman like you be interested in a one-night stand, anyway? I’d think the men would be lined up six deep at your door.”
She sighed and inched her leg closer to him. “Any of the younger men I’ve been with have always been in too much of a hurry and the older ones don’t have the stamina or the imagination any longer. Besides, I think who and what I am scares off a lot of men.”
“Scares them?” He frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged. “You know. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I’ve built a successful reputation as an architect and I head my own firm. A lot of men feel threatened by that.”
“Then a lot of men don’t know what they’re missing.” He glanced sideways at her. “You’re smart and funny and off the charts in bed. In my mind, a true prize.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw a blush creep up her face. “Are you always so free with the compliments? I bet women throw themselves at you on a daily basis. Younger than me, too.”
He lifted the tray of food and placed it on the bedside table, drained his glass and set it with hers next to the food. Then he reached over and turned her to face him.
“Listen to me, Maggie Fitzgerald. You have a hell of a lot to offer. And right now, for whatever reason, you’re offering it to me. I intend to take full advantage of that and appreciate every minute of it. And feel sorry for those poor bastards who don’t know what they’re missing.”
Her lips were soft and yielding and when he slipped his tongue into her mouth, he drowned in the welcoming heat of it. He never found kissing as addictive as he did with this woman. His cock brushed against the silken flesh of her thigh and fiery sensation jolted through him.
“Come here, Maggie.” He slid down flat on his back and lifted her with his strong arms, positioning her cunt directly over his mouth. Taking her hands one at a time, he lifted them to the headboard, reaching back to curl her fingers over the edge of the wood. “You just hang on there, darlin’. Don’t move, okay?”
“Okay.” The word came out on a breath of air.
He used his long fingers to open the swollen lips of her pussy and took a long, slow lick of the tempting pink flesh he revealed. In the next few minutes, he tasted every inch of that delicious part of her body, nibbling on the outer lips and the clit and then thrusting his tongue inside her quaking walls. God, she tasted like nine hundred kinds of heaven. Better even than the finest bourbon. He wondered fleetingly if one night would be enough to satisfy his hunger, then tried to brush the thought away.
He worked her, pushing her to a high plane of arousal before easing her back down and then starting again. Her thighs pressed against him, clenched and released, and tiny whimpers of pleasure floated from her exquisite mouth. They soon turned into moans, and the moans into please as she begged him to give her release.
He traced the line where thigh and hip met with the tip of his tongue and brushed his thumbs down past her drenched opening to the beginning of the crevice where the lush cheeks of her ass curved.
“Please,” she cried. “Oh, please, Gabe.”
Thrusting his tongue deep inside her, he stroked her clit with his thumbs. Rub, rub, rub.
And she broke, shaking and shuddering, her pussy gripping his tongue like a wet fist, her body caught up in spasm after spasm. And he rode her through it all, working her clit and lapping her cream. When she collapsed, limp, he moved her body so her face was resting on his shoulder, her breath coming in great, shuddering gulps.
Before the last quiver had died away, he lifted her from his body and turned her over, pulling her to her hands and knees. He could barely restrain himself long enough to roll on a condom before kneeling behind her. Wrapping his fingers around his pulsing shaft, he prodded at her opening and on an exhalation of breath, plunged into her.
Oh, sweet Jesus!
Never before had sex been a near-religious experience for him, but the moment Maggie’s wet flesh closed around him, she transported him into a state almost spiritual. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, wanting to enjoy the sensation as long as he could. But his body had other ideas, his hips moving almost without him realizing it.
Over and over he pushed into her, his hands in a tight grip on her hips, holding her in place. The release surged up through his body, along his spine, his balls tightening. As he fell over the edge in a free-fall drop, he took Maggie with him. Her pussy clutched at him, drawing every last drop of liquid from him until they both collapsed in exhaustion.
***
He’d coaxed her into the shower and Maggie leaned against the tile wall in the enormous enclosure, letting the warm water sluice over her while Gabe’s strong hands smoothed sudsy lather over every inch of her skin. It surprised her that she could even make her very wilted body stand up. She wouldn’t be surprised to learn she left marks on the headboard from digging her fingernails into it while his mouth worked its magic on her. He’d wrung her out and left her limp as a dishrag then squeezed her again. But she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so sexually sated. Or so well cared for. He’d ministered her like a treasure to be handled delicately.
Strange feelings brewed inside her, emotions she’d never felt before with any other man. Warmth curled around her heart and seeped through her body. How could this happen in just a few hours? She’d asked for a young, virile, sexually knowledgeable, totally masculine man. She’d gotten that and so much more. And now, something in her deepest recesses told her it would be impossible to let him go. So how did she handle that?
Let it go, Maggie. Don’t start asking for something he doesn’t want to give.
She let out a slow breath and gave herself over to the sensation of his hands stroking over her, rubbing, caressing. His thumbs pressed into the crooks of her elbows, drew soapy lines along the crease where hip and thigh joined, circled her navel. When he turned her to face the wall she pressed her palms against the slick tiles as he worked his magic down the length of her spine and along her shoulders.
His palms moved over the curve of her buttocks, gliding over each cheek then down her legs and back up again. When he slid soap-slicked fingers into the hot crevice of her ass, she sucked in a breath and every muscle in her sated body tightened. It took a special man to give a woman pleasure there, to give as much as he took. In the past, the few men she’d given that privilege to had fallen woefully short, focused only on their own pleasure and satisfaction. But Gabe? Oh, he obviously knew how to give a woman pleasure in every area of her body.
Suddenly infused with energy as the excitement of the possibility coursed through her, she turned around, brushed his hands aside and knelt on the slippery floor. Lifting her face up to the multiple sprays long enough for the soap to be washed away, she wrapped her fingers around his cock—Holy hell! It already felt semi-hard again—and slowly drew it into her mouth.
Her nerves crackled as if singed by lightning and the pulse in her well-tended cunt began to beat softly again. She tilted her head slightly so she could slide him deeper into her mouth, toward the back of her throat. Then she slid her lips forward. And back again, slowly, drawing out the sensation. A groan began deep in Gabe’s chest, vibrating through his body as she slid her lips back and forth, moving her fingers in the same, stroking fashion. Her other hand stole between his thighs to cup his balls, brushing the soft, tender skin.
With another groan he pushed his fingers through her hair to clutch her head, shifting it slightly to give her the best angle as she drew over him again and again.
She could tell the moment his climax began to grab him. His body stiffened, his balls tightened, and his fingers dug into her scalp, but she welcomed the harsh pressure. Because she knew she gave back some of the enormous pleasure he’d given so unselfishly to her. She wouldn’t let him pull free, tightened her fingers around him and sucked more deeply.
And then he shouted his release, his satisfaction spurting while she drew every last drop from him and swallowed it. Finally tipped her head back and eased him from the clasp of her lips, freed him from the grip of her fingers. Growling, he lifted her to her feet and kissed her with such hunger it nearly drove her to her knees again.
“You’re incredible,” he murmured against her lips. “How did I get so lucky tonight?”
“Mmm,” she hummed. “I think I‘m the lucky one.”
“Let’s get you dried off and back where you belong.” He brushed his mouth over hers. “In bed.”