Lee

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When I finished the story about how my great grandparents met, Rusty grabbed my hips and pulled me onto his lap.

“Do you believe in destiny?” he asked in a rush.

“I don’t know. I never really thought about it.”

“Think about it for a second. Their story and now ours. The two of us meeting at the cafe. Doesn’t it sound a bit more than coincidental? Why else would I have come to Drummond? It’s not exactly a huge tourist hub and when I found it online, I wondered myself why I made that reservation.”

“But the railroad museum,” I protest.

“Sure, I liked trains as a kid, but I haven’t thought about them in years. It’s not like I actively seek out these kinds of places. I’m not a homey town kind of guy. In fact, I hid this from my buddies. If they found out where I spent part of my leave, I’d never hear the end of it. It didn’t make much sense to me, but I didn’t have anything else to do so I figured, what the hell.”

He did have a point. A huge glaring one. Single men weren’t flocking to Drummond in droves by any means.

“Okay, score one for Rusty. But coincidences happen all the time.”

“Yeah, they do. But not like this. Say we met, and then that was that. But Lee, it wasn’t just a meet and greet, how ya doin’, and adios. I don’t want to leave the day after tomorrow. I want to see you every day. I want to talk to you every day. The thought of going back to Virginia Beach is making me itchy. That’s not normal. And my instincts … I live and die by them.”

“Okay, score two for Rusty. I’m not exactly happy about you leaving either.”

“And then we have the meeting place. If we’d met passing on the street, or in a different restaurant, or even in that tiny museum, I’d say, maybe coincidence, but come on. You have to give some credibility to what I’m saying here. Great grandma and great grandpa are hard at work matchmaking, sweetheart. You can try and deny it all you want, but I’m giving them my blessing and thanking them. And I’m also going back to that little wood shop and thanking the old owner for sending me there.”

“What old owner?” I asked.

“You know, the old gentleman who sits in the back and does all the cool wood carving.”

“Nope, the only guy in that shop is Neal and he’s in his mid-forties.”

“Nah, this guy is at least eighty. His hands are all scarred up and everything. I asked if that train set in the window was for sale and he said it wasn’t. Then he sold me some other things instead.”

“No way. Neal is the only guy in there. He’s the shop owner. No one else works there to my knowledge.”

“Maybe this was Neal’s dad.”

“Huh uh. Neal’s dad passed about eight years ago.”

Rusty scratched his head. “I don’t know then, but I swear there was an old guy in there and he told me to go to The Depot Cafe to eat because they had the best food in town.

“Weird. I’ll have to check into that tomorrow.”

“Me too. But that’ll be after my breakfast at the cafe. Which, I’d better let you go because I know you have to work.”

“No, Jackson gave me the morning off. I’m to report in at noon.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.” I grinned at him. Jackson had all kinds of ideas, but I wasn’t going down that road yet with Rusty, even though I wanted to. I was a bit rusty—haha—and I needed a little more warming up in that regard.

“Care to come to my room, little girl?”

“What are you, the big bad wolf?”

“Not at all. I’m more like a cuddly puppy. And I promise to behave. I swear.”

“Ok. Under one condition. I won’t sleep with you because this is our first date.”

“Lee, I would never pressure you into that. Ever. But, I can’t swear I won’t kiss you.”

“I’m good with that.” And I was. Ever since I’d joined the Marines, I’d been one of the guys and it was different being treated like this. Rusty’s kisses made my stomach flutter, to the point that I wanted much more with him. He was better than anyone I’d ever been with and he could kiss me as much as he wanted. This would be my little secret. Letting him in on it wasn’t an option quite yet.

When he unlocked his door, his hotel room was much nicer than I thought it would be.

“Wow. This place is really great.”

“Yeah, I was impressed.”

It had a king-sized bed, a huge sitting area, and a giant bathroom with a separate shower.

“How much per night if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Only one twenty.”

“This is a steal.”

“I know. This town should add a few more things to do and it could take off. Especially since it’s only a few miles from the main interstate.”

“We’re hoping.” I held up my crossed fingers.

Rusty walked to the small refrigerator and grabbed a couple of beers, handing me one. But before he could pop it open, I impulsively reached for him and pulled his mouth down to mine.

The bottles forgotten, he lifted me higher to align us and took over the kiss. Sliding his tongue against mine, he tickled and teased every part of my mouth until I moaned. Currents of fire soared throughout my veins, and the unexpected idea of tearing his clothes off popped into my mind. I’d never been the aggressor in a relationship before, but surprisingly, I wanted to be that person now. I held back, of course, because I didn’t want him to think I was some shameless hussy desperate for a man. I also didn’t want to scare him off either.

He broke off the kiss and his piercing gaze penetrated my own. The emotion behind those emerald irises had the oxygen jammed in my lungs. He was right. There definitely was something firing off between us.

“You feel it too, don’t you, Lee?”

I swallowed the thick knot that had come out of nowhere and dipped my head slightly. I couldn’t bear to look away from him. “Yeah,” I breathed the word.

His legs took us to the bed, for which I was grateful. I wanted to lie in his arms and feel him between my thighs. I wanted to—oh, shit. I had not prepared for this moment at all. I was so adamant about not sleeping with him on the first date that I hadn’t bothered to shave or wax. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I groaned.

“What’s wrong.”

“Nothing. Not a thing.”

“It’s something. I can tell.”

“We’re not gonna get naked, are we?”

“Do you want to get naked?”

“Uh, yeah, sort of.”

He raised a brow. “Sort of?”

“I might have a slight issue.”

“What kind of an issue?”

“Promise you won’t laugh.”

He was so sincere when he answered that I was the one who almost laughed. “I promise.”

“I didn’t shave my legs.”

For one instant, he looked puzzled, and then he bit down on his lips. It was obvious he was trying his best not to break his promise.

“You promised.”

“I know,” he murmured between his lips he held together. Then little by little, his body began shaking.

“You’re supposed to be a freaking Navy Seal, forced to endure all sorts of torture and you can’t even contain your laughter.” That did it. He burst out in a huge guffaw, threw his head back on the bed and howled.

Did I mention the man was huge—in comparison to me anyway. He was about six feet two. And solid as a brick wall. I went to play punch him in the gut and my fist came up against steel abs.

“Jeez, Rusty, let me see what you have hiding underneath that shirt. Is it granite or what?” I tugged his shirt until it exposed the smooth flesh of his stomach and found the clearly defined ridges of an eight pack that veered off in both directions to form a perfect V from his obliques. “Good Lord. What kind of a workout do you do?”

“We have the best trainers in the country and we adhere to a rigid physical training program. It’s part of the requirement.”

“It’s obvious. I bet you can do pull-ups, can’t you?”

“That’s another requirement.”

But all talk about physical exercise disappeared when he pushed me on my back and hovered over me. “Now what was all the fuss about not shaving?”

“Er, you may want to close your eyes if we get naked.”

“Who said anything about getting naked, Lee?” His voice was hoarse and sent shivers across my flesh.

“I did.”

“I think we should take this one step at a time.”

“Me too. You kissed me. That was step one. Let’s move to step two.”

“Which is?” he asked.

“You undress half of me.”

“Which half?”

Using both of my thumbs, I pointed to my chest. “This half.”

He buried his hand in my hair and said, “I think I’m going to like this step.” His lips touched my neck and made their way down to where it joined my shoulder. My fingers sunk into the hard muscle of his arms and his hand slid beneath my tank top.

The idea of him seeing me without my top was fine, but the part below the waist made me freeze. I grabbed his hand and clamped down.

“What is it?” he asked.

The saliva in my mouth had disappeared and my tongue was scotch taped to the roof of my mouth. Words disappeared and I became mute.

“Lee, are you all right?”

I licked my lips, with a bone-dry tongue, then swallowed. “Um, I’m …” I couldn’t tell him. All my bravado was gone.

“What is it? You can trust me.”

I knew he was truthful, but yet, no one had seen my leg. Well, only a few people anyway.

“It’s just that …”

“Hey, we don’t have to do this, you know.”

“No, I want to. I’m a little nervous.” It was way more than a little, but I didn’t want him to know.

He held my hand and helped me take his own shirt off. When I saw what had been hidden underneath, my fingers began a little exploration of their own. The more I explored, the more I relaxed, and the more I wanted this man. My hands reveled in his strength, in the rhythm of his heart beating beneath my fingertips.

“You’re perfect,” I told him.

“Hardly.”

“You are.” And he was. He’d told me I was beautiful, but I’d never seen a more gorgeous man.

He leaned away from me and I sat up to get rid of my top and bra. When I was bared from the waist up, he only stared at me.

“Lee. I’ve never seen anything so lovely.” He touched me as though I were a fine piece of china afraid I would break. Gently, he pushed me back and his mouth sucked a nipple inside. My back arched from the sensation. I was flames and fire to his touch. He moved to my other nipple and all I could think of was how I wanted to feel him —all of him. Against me, in me, flesh to flesh, skin to skin.

He released me and moved back to kiss me.

“Lee, I’d like nothing more than to—”

“Yes, I want that too!”

He chuckled. “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“Weren’t you going to say you wanted to have sex with me?”

“No, I was going to say I wanted to make love to you before you got a little exuberant there. But”—he held up a finger—“maybe we should wait.”

“Why?”

“I want you to be sure.”

My heart nudged my ribs. How was I this lucky to have found a guy as considerate as him? “I’ve been waiting a long time for this and don’t think I’m going into this lightly. I’m sure, Rusty.”

He laughed again and rolled over, taking me with him. “Are you always this spontaneous?”

“Not really. I haven’t been with anyone in ages and never thought I’d find someone I’d want to be with again. Here we are with these crazy as hell feelings going on and even though it’s scary as hell, I don’t want to wait. You really do?”

“I’m trying to be a gentleman and you’re making it hard as hell.”

I lifted up my head and said, “Rusty, I don’t want you to be a gentleman. I want you to play dirty in bed. But don’t hold it against me that I didn’t shave.” I wrinkled up my nose.

Abruptly, he set me on the bed and stood up.

“Play dirty, huh? You like dirty? I can do dirty. In fact, dirty is my middle name. Ruston Dirty Garrett, at your service.” And then he proceeded to undress, but when he got to the underwear that he didn’t wear, I gasped. He was big. Much bigger than I ever expected.

“Whoa.”

“Don’t fear the beast. He will love you … dirty and diligently.”

I didn’t think I’d said it out loud. My hand covered my mouth as I laughed. “Oh my God. You did not just say that.”

“I did and it’s a promise. Now let’s get that unshaven body of yours undressed.”

In an instant, I was self-conscious again. Not because I hadn’t shaved, but because of my prosthesis and scarred leg. My eyes slammed shut and I cringed.

“Hey, what’s going on here?”

“Nothing, let’s do this.”

“Lee, baby, we’re not gonna just do this if you don’t talk to me.”

I opened my eyes to find his green ones right in front of me. My heart stuttered and then beat like the wings of a hummingbird.

“Oh, my. I’m super nervous. I’ve never let anyone see my legs since the accident.”

He gripped my hand and said, “I’ve seen a lot of shit, and I’m sure your legs aren’t bad—maybe in your eyes they are. But I can assure you they won’t be in mine. I hate you had to go through that experience. But your legs aren’t what define you. It’s what’s inside of you. We can sit here like this all night if you want. We don’t have to go any farther, you know.”

“I know, but I honestly want to. I want us to share each other.”

“Then tell me what to do.”

“Take off my pants.”

He followed my directions. When my pants were off, my legs were exposed. To me, the stump and jagged scars weren’t a big deal anymore. But to others, I’m sure it must’ve been horrid to look at. I kept my eyes squeezed shut for fear of what I’d find reflected in his.

His hands were gentle as they touched me. Fingers traced the scars, one by one, on each leg, until he came to the end of the line. “So, do you want to keep your prosthesis on for this?”

“Uh, no. I’ll remove it. Is that okay with you?”

“Why would you ask me that?”

“Because you’ll have to see my stump.”

He cupped my face. “Lee, that’s your leg and it won’t bother me. Take it off or I can do it for you if you’ll tell me what to do.”

Oh, Jesus. This man was so sweet. Did he really exist? I took the damn thing off, but still refused to look at him. But I shouldn’t have been afraid.

“Was that so bad?”

“Guess not,” I answered.

“Lee, you have to look at me.”

When I did, the only thing I saw in his eyes was admiration.

“Okay, it wasn’t bad at all. Now that I’m naked, can we make the most of it?”

“That is a definite.”

But the first thing he went to do almost had me running out the door. That is if I could’ve run without a leg. He pushed me back until my shoulder blades hit the bed and then he spread my legs. Without a second to be wasted, his mouth fell between my thighs and … oh shit.

“What are you doing?” I nearly screamed.

He lifted his head and said, “What do you think I’m doing?”

“You can’t do that.”

His brow formed some serious creases. “Why not?”

“Well, because.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“No, it’s not.” And his mouth dropped back down as I gasped.

“Because I haven’t shaved down there. That’s why.”

His head popped back up and he said, “What’s the big deal? Relax and stop overthinking things. I promise you’ll love it.”

His mouth went back to work, and I didn’t have a chance to think about anything except for what his lips and tongue, and then, oh fuck, what his fingers were doing. And just what the hell were they doing? He had one, no two, inside of me, and they were doing some little fancy motion that felt so fucking good. His tongue was flicking my clit in a circular motion and I was about to come. To come like a motherlode.

“Whatever you do, don’t you stop. Oh, God, don’t stoppppp.” I moaned.

My fingers grasped his head, or rather his hair, and I ground my pelvis against his mouth. Then my orgasm started in the arch of my foot and shot straight through to the top of my head. I moaned out, “Ohhhhh, Russsssty. Yessssssssss.” I sounded exactly like the shameless hussy I was. Christ, what would his neighbors at the inn think?

But he didn’t take his mouth off me. He kept fingering and flicking me off. I was frenzied with this epic climax he kept giving and giving. My sensitive nub couldn’t take any more, so I begged him to stop.

“Please, no more.”

He didn’t listen. I was practically contorted with my spasms. Then another giant orgasm nailed me and I mewled his name, sounding like the local tomcat. When this one let loose, it left me limp and weak in its wake.

He finally lifted his head, wiped his face with the bed sheet, and announced, “Fuck, that was sexy as hell. You’re so damn wet.”

Then he stood up and rifled through the contents of his bag to return with a handful of condoms. A handful. Jesus, I was a dead woman.

He lifted my knees, spread my legs, and I gawked at him as he rolled on the condom.

“You okay there, babe?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah. Just a bit limp here.”

“This’ll bring you back to life. Pull your knees to your chest.”

I did as he told me and watched as he pushed his long erection into me. Slowly he went, inch by inch, until I was stretched to the max.

“Damn, you’re tight.” He dropped his head and took my mouth in a searing kiss. While he kissed me, he inched his way out and back in until he was fully seated. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Let’s turn that good into a great, shall we?”

And he started to move. Long and slow even strokes, with my knees still pulled tightly to my chest, and him raised above me, he fucked me like a master.

After a bit, he pulled out and put a pillow on the bed and rolled me on top of it so it was under my hips. Then he slid back inside of me, hitching my hips up. This felt dramatically different in this position. With his hand, he dipped low and rubbed my clit. I was ten seconds from ignition when he said, “I’m going to come, babe. I hope you’re close.”

“Yes,” I whispered, only because I had no breath to spare. My fingers clawed the sheets as the orgasm hit and I moaned and moaned, feeling my inner muscles ripple against him. He held me tightly as he got his own and then collapsed, pulling me into the curve of his body.

“That was perfect, exactly like you are,” he murmured in my ear. I hoped he meant it because in one day I had fallen for this man. Weird, but I felt like I’d known him a lifetime.