TWELVE

Dale had told her what Neil and Lawrence had budgeted for food for the ice cream/pool party. She’d bought groceries within that range, carefully keeping the receipts for them, and then she’d bought a whole lot more. The thirty-five kids were all boys, and she knew enough about adolescent appetites to prepare for an army. The tables in the game room were loaded with snacks, as well as the ones the staff had set up beside the open French doors that led back to the pool area. As the boys traveled between locations, they could grab a handful to keep them fortified.

The tennis courts were equipped with extra rackets and several wire baskets of balls. Basketballs sat at the ready beneath the two hoops. Roy had poured the pad for them between the pool house and tennis courts. Beyond them was a driving range and putting area.

Her husband had been a big kid when it came to his sports, and she loved watching him play there with friends. As well as playing there with him herself. As her gaze passed over the driving range, ensuring the staff had put out enough balls and clubs, she remembered the day Roy had tried to teach her to swing. Holding her from behind like that had led to a different type of athletic activity.

“Ma’am?” Lynn buzzed her phone. “The invasion force is coming up the drive now.”

Athena chuckled. “Don’t worry, Lynn. We have three SEALs to contain the attack.”

She cut around the side of the house to get to the driveway, arriving in time to see a battered activity bus park with a rattle of the diesel engine. One of the men, presumably Neil or Lawrence, stood up inside to give direction to the boys so they spilled out in a reasonable order. Dale pulled up behind them in his truck, giving her a wink as he got out. She thought she gave him a proper smile and nod back, but the amusement in his gaze told her she might not have quelled a blush. Or perhaps she’d overdone the propriety, such that he was already devising ways to get her into a far less proper position. That thought did make her blush.

Neil and Lawrence made the boys line up and introduce themselves to her. They ranged from ages eleven to fourteen. She understood the SEALs’ intent today was as much about developing good social behavior as having a play day away from the stresses of their difficult home environments. Therefore, she responded appropriately, asking each boy a couple of things about himself, shaking his hand and making eye contact. Most were wary of the respectful adult greeting. Some were shy, but intrigued by her attention. They were all fidgety, their eyes wandering everywhere, wanting to explore. In short, they were active boys.

Stepping back, she told Neil how to get to the recreation area around the side of the house. She raised her voice to explain the pool house had bathrooms and a locker area for changing. She noticed many of the boys had brought suits, but she’d provided a few extra, as well as a wealth of towels. When she mentioned that, more than one expression brightened in the faces of the boys who were empty-handed. Dale gave her his look that told her he knew she’d gone beyond what they’d asked her to do, but she hoped he understood her motives. She wanted to do her part to make this a wonderful day for all of them.

Lawrence wasn’t tall, only about five seven, but he had the ripped body that all SEALs seemed to possess. He had a good way with the boys, too, and they were attentive and respectful to him, despite the shifting bodies and wandering eyes. They were like a pack of young dogs, wanting to run. She couldn’t blame them.

“For those of you interested in taking a look inside the house, Mrs. Summers said she’ll be happy to give tours throughout the day. However, unless you’re with her or with one of us, you stay in the areas we’ve just talked about.”

“Yo, we ain’t going to steal nothing,” one of the boys called out.

“It’s not about that, Elliott,” Lawrence said patiently. “Part of moving ahead in the world is showing you can respect boundaries. This is Mrs. Summers’s home. We respect that. You’re not going to see me, Neil or Dale going in her house without her permission, either. Now, we have a good day planned here. We’re going to swim, play games, use the courts and driving range, have lunch. Later this afternoon, you’ll get to settle down in Mrs. Summers’s home theater to watch a movie, and we’ll cap off the day with an awesome pizza dinner.”

His gaze swept them all. “But that’s contingent on you guys using the manners we’ve talked about. You say please and thank you, and if you want to do something you’re not sure is okay, you ask first. You break the rules, you sit on the bus for fifteen minutes, which means whichever one of us is babysitting you is going to make you do push-ups in the aisle, because we’d rather be out here having fun, too. Got it?”

He received a fairly amenable response, a few eye rolls, but more for form than to be disrespectful. Even so, he pinned a couple of the eye rollers with a stare that had them straightening up. Athena pressed her lips against a smile. When Lawrence gave her a significant glance, she thought she might be getting that chastising stare, as if he sensed the mirth she was suppressing, but he was merely doing a lead-in for his next point.

“I’m sure all you rocket scientists have noticed Mrs. Summers is a woman.”

The expected comments and some attempts at whistling were handled by Neil. He was taller than Lawrence, with a lanky quality that didn’t detract from his powerful build, reminding her of a young Gary Cooper. He administered a few head slaps that quieted them back down. “You show extra respect to her,” Lawrence said, his stern look suddenly very much like what she’d often seen on Dale’s face. The boys responded to it almost as she did, with cautious attention. “You watch your language. That’s what comes out of your mouth, what gestures you make . . . you can put together the rest. You learn to be respectful around women, you’ll get a lot further with them.”

“Don’t see either one of you with a woman,” one of the boys teased.

“Cause he don’t trust them around us,” another called back. “He knows we can steal her away because we got moves Neil and Lawr only dream about.”

Neil rolled his eyes, dishing out another set of head slaps, but the way the boys ducked and laughed told Athena the teasing was part of the bond they had with the men. Everything within the proper boundaries.

The thought made her gaze slip back to Dale. He was leaning against the side of the bus, listening and watching, riding herd on the boys closer to that end. Feeling her regard, he met her eyes again, gave her a slow smile. Her toes curled inside her sneakers.

“All right, we ready to do this? Give me the answer I want to hear.”

“Yes sir!” They shouted it at once and with great force, like a basic training platoon. Not expecting it, Athena jumped, and Lawrence slanted her a grin, some of the other boys laughing at her reaction. She chuckled at herself, shook her head.

“Anything else you want to say, Mrs. Summers?” Lawrence asked.

She stepped up beside him. “I’m delighted to have you boys here in my home. At the tennis courts, you’ll meet Maryann and Chuck. John and Carl are at the driving range. They teach tennis and golf lessons and said they’d be happy to teach anyone who doesn’t already know how to play. Don’t be shy. They love getting new students.

“Also, throughout the day, please help yourself to the food that’s sitting out. Don’t worry about us running out. We’ll restock anything that gets empty, and you’ll each go home with a bag of leftovers at the end of the day. Have fun.”

More of those wary looks, but she knew they’d loosen up as soon as they felt safe in the environment, which was the whole intent. Nodding to Lawrence, she stepped back again.

“Okay, whoever wants to swim first, follow me to the changing rooms,” he said. “Those who want to go to the arcades and courts, follow Neil. No stampedes. Believe me, you’ll be tired as hell by the end of the day. Spread it out.”

As the boys split up as he indicated, their obvious charge checked by his warning, Dale moved toward her. His attention slid over her T-shirt, neat jeans and sneakers. She’d put her hair in a ponytail and applied light makeup, intending to look more motherly than womanly today.

“Did you intentionally go for the MILF look?” he teased.

She arched a brow. “You better behave. Lawrence told me to report anyone acting inappropriately to him right away. No telling what kind of punishment he has planned.”

“Usually push-ups or sit-ups. It worked great in BUD/S. You got so you hated the word push-up.”

She gave him a considering look. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you do some push-ups. Shirtless, of course.”

“Now who’s misbehaving?” He winked at her. “Of course, if that munchkin had the balls to give me a punishment, it’d be knee bends. All SEALs have a sadistic side.”

At her startled laugh, he took her hand, leaned in and brushed a kiss over her lips. “You did too much. Maryann, Chuck, Carl and John?”

“Maryann and Chuck teach the youth tennis division at my country club. Carl is one of our golf pros and John is one of the caddies, but he’s an excellent golfer as well. They owed me some favors, but more than that, they were enthusiastic about helping. They’ve done it before, with the Louisiana children home visits. As for the rest . . .” She shrugged. “What good is having lots of money if you can’t do fun things like this with it?”

“It’s more than money. You could have thrown that at a bunch of people and then spent the day getting your nails done somewhere off-site. You look ready to get hands-on.”

The observation obviously carried more than one meaning. When he brushed a thumb over her cheekbone, drawing her attention to the fact he’d made her cheeks warm, she shook her head at him. “I think Lawrence is going to be making you do those knee bends.”

He snorted. “He can try.” Linking hands with her, he nodded toward the recreation area. “Let’s go join the fray.”

—

It was utterly exhausting, and tons of fun. She went where she was needed, and by late morning, that was the tennis courts. A few braver souls came to learn about the game, and then, when others saw them having fun, they flocked over as well, such that having a third instructor was useful. She wasn’t on Maryann and Chuck’s level, but she was a good player and knew enough to provide basic instruction.

Most had basketball hoops in their neighborhoods, so throughout the day there was a regular rhythm of sound coming from that area, the echoing metallic sound of baskets being made, the shouted directions and exclamations as the boys passed and feinted. The arcade area was likewise well attended, with a profusion of beeps, explosions, gunfire and theme music from the various machines drifting out the open doors of the building.

There were a few who didn’t swim, but teaching that wasn’t difficult for a pair of SEALs. Neil and Lawrence took turns giving lessons. Watching them, she thought about being in the pool with Dale, just the two of them. In the water, she expected he’d be far less concerned about his leg, the buoyancy compensating for its lack. She’d twine her legs around him, his arm cinching her close, nothing between them but water droplets . . .

She brought herself away from that with a firm shake. Definitely not the environment to be having such thoughts.

Dale was like her, floating from station to station, pitching in where needed. Since Lynn and Beth kept a good eye on the snacks and drinks, Athena wasn’t surprised she had very little to do for that area. She was surprised by how well the boys cleaned up after themselves, but apparently that was one of the rules Neil and Lawrence had set. Her suspicion was confirmed the first time a boy missed his three-point throw of his wadded up napkin into a trash can and tried to walk away without dealing with it. The sharp-eyed Neil caught him by the collar and brought him back to pick it up. Then he made him do ten push-ups right there, to the good-natured teasing of the other boys.

It was then she noticed one boy who kept coming back to the snack tables. He’d caught her eye several times, because he’d merely been wandering from place to place without really getting involved in anything. He’d watch the other boys engaged in activity, and then move onward. It made him look like he was participating when he really wasn’t. The men had noticed it as well, trying to draw him into things, but he’d preferred to stay on the periphery. Now, as he went by the snack table once more, glancing around to confirm he was by himself, she put together what he was doing.

When he was ambling away from it once more, she intersected his path. “Jason?”

He looked surprised that she remembered his name, but that had been the point of her questions about each of them, helping her mark their names in her mind. It was an effective tool for fund-raising parties. She’d asked him his favorite thing to do, and he’d said basketball. Yet he wasn’t at the courts. He was a tall boy for his age, taller than her, and had the beginnings of broad shoulders. From the way he studied the ones playing basketball, she expected he was a good player.

“Yeah? I mean, yes ma’am?” He said it dutifully, obviously coached by Neil and Lawrence, but not really sure of the importance of the honorific.

“I notice you’re not joining the other boys.”

“I’m not really into all that.” Yet his eyes tracked the boys in the pool, visible since she’d had the staff latch open all the entrance doors so the pool house was a pavilion today.

“Why are you hiding food in your clothes, Jason? It’s all free, and you can have as much as you like. There’s no reason for you to worry about that.”

His gaze cut back to her. Before the hard, defensive look to his mouth could become a denial, she held up a hand. “You’re not in trouble. Food isn’t the same thing as electronics or a pair of high-tops. You’re taking it for someone, aren’t you?”

Behind him, she saw Neil and Dale had noticed their conversation, registered Jason’s tense shoulders. She gave them a subtle head shake, telling them she had this under control and didn’t want their involvement.

When Jason set his jaw, she nodded. “It’s good of you to look out for them, whoever they are. Why don’t we do this? Put back what you’re carrying and just focus on having a good time today. I promise, before you leave this afternoon, I’ll take you to the kitchen, and we’ll make up a box of food for your family. That’s what we planned to do for everyone, but if you need it, we’ll put extra in yours. Neil and Lawrence are taking you all home, so they’ll make sure you have additional hands to carry it.”

At his suspicious look, she reached out, laid a light hand on his arm. He didn’t skitter away, but he stared at it like he wasn’t sure if it would bite him or not. “Jason, can you look at me? Meet my eyes?”

He did it, and she nodded in approval. “You look like you have a lot on your shoulders,” she said gently. “You’re not betraying those you love by taking a day for yourself, by rewarding yourself for your care of them. Go have fun with the others, and let us help you take care of them today. All right? Can you trust us enough to do that?”

The uncertainty that entered his gaze made his expression far bleaker than a thirteen-year-old’s should look. It twisted her heart, but she kept her attitude matter-of-fact. When they’d been arranging the event, Lawrence had called and given her a lecture, his tone amusingly not too much different from what he’d used on the boys when they were lined up outside the bus.

These guys go through hell every day where they live, but they don’t need your pity. To get out of their world, they’re going to have to learn to pull themselves out of it, and the right way, with honor and integrity. Strength of character. You don’t get that from being babied or pitied.

“So, that’s decided,” she said. “Put the food back on the table, and change into a suit. All right? The pool temperature today is too good to waste.”

A small smile appeared on his face, nervous and wary, but there. “Yeah, okay.”

“Yeah, what?” She gave him a little pinch on his arm and won a small smile.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“All right.”

She didn’t watch him return the food, but when she was a suitable distance away, she glanced back. He was headed for the changing room. He fell in with a couple of boys coming from the arcade who’d decided it was time to do the pool. He seemed a little easier, exchanging banter with them. One good day might not change his view of the world, but as she well knew, one good day could make a lot of bad days more bearable.

The rest of the day was a blur. Dale teased her about it, but in truth, she was having as good a time as the kids. The boys also became far more comfortable around her, though she noticed the men were quick to correct any who became too familiar. She understood they were making sure the boys saw her as an adult to respect, not an easy mark. Though she adjusted her behavior accordingly, she couldn’t resist an occasional hug of a younger boy or teasing the older ones right back as they made comments about her being a “rich white lady” who couldn’t play basketball or beat them on the Star Wars arcade. She impressed them with her serve on the tennis court, however.

She conducted a handful of tours through the house and grounds. A couple of boys had more than a passing interest in her library and the gardens. One asked her specific questions about the art pieces scattered throughout the house. Finding out he was an accomplished graffiti artist, she showed him some of the books she had about art history and let him hang out in her reading room to look through those.

She’d been told plenty of times she’d be a good mother. She knew the best way to interact with children was to be attentive and not patronizing, and project a firmness that came with the expectation of respect on both sides. By teaching children like this about a world larger than their own, they were learning the behavior that would help them succeed, if they developed that critical strength of character Lawrence had mentioned.

It made her think of the submissive cravings she’d kept so well hidden, channeled into something else for so long. Dale had helped bring her into that world, and was showing her she could exist there and still keep who she was. Actually, she could be more of who she was, by integrating both. When the graffiti artist paged through one of the books, he unconsciously dropped his tough street talk and attitude to ask questions and respond to her own enthusiasm about it. Everyone assumed disguises to cope, to meet expectations. How rare a gift it was, to be truly oneself with another.

She’d been able to be herself with Roy, except that one part. Could she be all of herself with Dale, not just the submissive side she was exploring?

Take your own advice, Athena. Just enjoy the day, and the time you have with him. This was her first relationship after her husband’s death. It was possible it was nothing more than a bridge to what she’d eventually settle on, but she didn’t like the word settle. Did she still feel Dale was too larger-than-life to be a permanent part of her life, that the strong Master was merely her tour guide on a fantasy?

When she had that thought, she was leaning against the chain-link fence at the tennis courts. Turning her head, she saw him on a bench by the basketball court, calling out encouragement or insults while Neil played a scrimmage with several of the kids. One of the younger boys was sitting next to Dale, unconsciously mimicking his pose as they razzed the players together.

Dale’s concentration was on the game, his expression changing for quick smiles or sneers as Neil threw back insults. His body language was easy. He was having a good day. She had intimate knowledge of that body. She’d likely have intimate knowledge of it again sometime very soon. Maybe tonight. They hadn’t slept in her master bedroom since the bed had been changed.

The first night after Hector and his men had done the switch, she’d gone to the guestroom. Lynn hadn’t yet changed out the bedding, so she’d slipped under the covers of the bed that had been hers and Roy’s for so long. But the bed was in a different room. The surroundings changed the feeling of it, telling her she’d made the right decision.

Though she’d shed a few tears as she returned to the other one, she’d since become used to the different feel of it. Even so, each night when she lay down to go to sleep, she ran her hand over the empty side, registering how it was no longer sculpted by the hollows Roy had left there. Would Dale be part of her life long enough for that side of the bed to bear his imprint? An imprint that would deepen from nights of passionate lovemaking, expand from her sleeping close to him, draped over his body. Or would it bear a couple of different imprints over time?

Her mind recoiled from that thought. She was amazed she wanted Dale there so soon, but perhaps it said something about her state of mind toward him that if she envisioned anyone there, it was him. She wasn’t sure she had the strength to be involved with a man who didn’t understand her the way Dale seemed to know her.

Deciding she was just worrying herself without purpose—because none of her thoughts changed a damn thing about her feelings or actions today—she threw herself back into play with the boys.

—

By the time they all settled down for pizza and movie time in the theater room, she was worn out, but in a good way. When she was sitting on the back wall, Neil and Lawrence came and sat down on either side of her. She offered them both a smile, noting they didn’t look as tired as she was, but it was obvious the boys had given them a workout.

“You are utterly awesome,” Lawrence stated frankly. “The kids have had a great day.”

“That’s your doing,” she said. “I just provided the venue. I had a great time, too. I’ve been thinking about making it a monthly event.”

“Not weekly?” Neil teased. Close up, he had tawny brown eyes and close-cropped sandy hair, as well as a sprinkling of freckles. If he wore a bill cap and she saw him lounging shirtless in a bass boat on the bayou, it would match her image of him as a Louisiana good old boy, reinforced by the drawl to his words. She chuckled.

“I’m not energetic enough for that, but I think we could work out doing something like this on a regular basis with the Y. There’s a city grant to fund inner-city youth programs and . . .” As she fell into a conversation with them about that, another idea sparked in her mind, one she filed away to discuss with Dale at a later time.

Speak of the devil. He’d appeared at one of the entrances to the theater and was scanning the room, even as he engaged a few of the boys in conversation. When his gaze latched onto her, making it obvious whom he was seeking, her body and heart tightened in all the right places. Seeing him at a distance all day, not being able to touch or kiss him the way she wanted, but getting close enough to enjoy his scent, the sound of his voice, all that was enough to spike her libido.

Watching him work with Neil and Lawrence had just enhanced it. All three of them were powerful, charismatic characters. Their clean, direct communication, the dry humor they enjoyed, and an unmistakable sense of brotherhood that synced their movements and thoughts in a fascinating way, increased their magnetism. It gave a woman a good feeling just to be around them. Though Dale had said Neil and Lawrence were still single, she couldn’t imagine how difficult it was for the wives and children of such men, having them half a world away, deployed on dangerous missions for months at a time. Maybe she’d plan another pool day for Dale and his fellow SEALs and their families.

While her motives were certainly pure, she couldn’t help imagining her pool area full of muscular men like these three. Playing pool volleyball, muscles sleek and wet, swim trunks weighed down so when they went up for the ball, she’d see that strip of pale skin below the hip bone, the upper curve of tight buttocks . . .

She imagined the three of them surrounding her, Dale commanding her as her Master as Neil and Lawrence removed her clothes, all three of them touching her, kissing her . . .

She started out of the unexpected daydream. Being shared was something she’d never contemplated, and she didn’t think she was really doing so now. It was just too nice a fantasy to resist, given that she was being flanked by two sweaty, muscular young men, and she had her Master eying her across the room the way the boys had eyed the juicy burgers and fries she’d provided for lunch.

When Dale moved in their direction, she noticed his gait was more pronounced. He’d been on his feet quite a while today, doing a variety of physically exerting tasks. However, his expression said he wasn’t going to give her time to nurse that thought. As he drew closer, he offered his hand. She immediately put her hand in his grasp, let herself be tugged to her feet. That first touch was so welcome, it shivered across her skin. He registered it, his blue-green eyes flickering.

“If you two don’t mind, I’m going to take Athena off for a little break. She looks beat.”

“And if we do mind?” Neil teased him, latching onto the hem of Athena’s T-shirt as if he was going to tug her back down on his knee. It was so close to her fantasy, her body responded to the flirting, her fingers tightening on Dale’s. “She’s too awesome, Master Chief. Lawrence and I have decided to keep her.”

“I’d rethink that, son. This old frogman is more than capable of taking both your legs off at the knee.” Dale gave him a half smile, but he moved Athena decidedly into his grasp and away from them, making the other two men grin.

“You ever get tired of his cranky and overbearing attitude, Athena, you know where to find us,” Lawrence put in helpfully.

“Yeah. In an unmarked grave, you keep that up.” As he guided her out of the theater, Dale threw a look over his shoulder, leaving them chuckling.

He guided her with purpose away from the recreation area, into the northwest gardens and well away from the area the boys occupied. Bemused, she saw he was headed to one of the potting sheds placed at strategic points through the extensive grounds. The moment they reached it, he pushed her against the outside wall, his mouth capturing hers with hot hunger. She made a matching sound in her throat and gripped his shoulders, hanging on. She was tired, but need was pulsing between her legs, in the aching cavern under her breasts, all of her craving to be filled by his touch, his desire.

“Christ, I’ve wanted to do that all day. C’mon.” Now he opened the shed door, drew her into the small space with him and closed it securely. Enough light came through the window to allow the moonlight and solar lights to frame his silhouette. As her gaze shifted to the floor, she saw two spare lounge chair pads had been laid out, covered with a trio of towels. He’d even smuggled out a couple of throw cushions to use as pillows. He’d prepared for this. The knowledge only intensified the needy feeling inside her.

He wasn’t ready to take her down yet, though. Instead, he lifted her onto the workbench. This was the shed where Hector kept his tools, and there was a vise on either end of the bench. Dale looped something around her wrists, zip ties for tomato stakes. He threaded two lengths of ropes through them before cinching the ties to a more snug fit. Tugging one of her arms toward the end of the workbench, he secured the rope ends in one vise, turning the handle so it clamped down, held them fast. Then he did the same to the other side so she was sitting on the bench, her arms spread out to her sides and held by both vises. He did it so efficiently, with no wasted effort, it took her breath away. She had no time to react. Well, her mind didn’t. Her body reacted with eager pleasure.

“Dale . . .”

He pushed up the T-shirt, shoving her bra cups down to capture her breasts in his hands. She moaned, pressed into his grip. When he put his head down, nipping at her throat, he squeezed her curves. “I’m feeling a little mean, girl. I caught you hanging out with those two young studs, and I think it’s time I remind you who your Master is.”

The rough threat made her arch into his touch even more. She turned her head, trying to tease his brow with her lips, the tip of her tongue, and then made a soft cry as he bit her throat. When he lifted his head, locking those blue-green eyes upon her, she grasped the challenge with both bound hands. Tossing back her hair, she gave him a sultry look.

“How can you do that if I’m up here, rather than down on my knees where I can serve my Master best?”

He muttered an oath. Rather than responding with words, he pulled open her jeans and slid his hand into her panties. He’d made her wet merely by looking at her in the movie room, but he tsked at her slippery state, giving her a stern look. “Just as I thought. You were fantasizing about them, weren’t you?”

“Just about the two of them . . . touching me . . . under your command.”

His fingers stilled, his gaze sharpening on her face. She wasn’t sure if she should say such a thing, but he’d made it clear that he expected honesty from her. “Is that something you think about, girl? Me sharing you?”

“No.” She put the truth of it in her voice, her eyes. “I like the fantasy, but the reality is . . . just you.”

She could imagine a wide range of things, but when it came to what she wanted when she woke in the middle of the night, whose hands she wanted on her, demanding her surrender, this was all that, with nothing lacking.

He studied her, as if verifying she wasn’t stroking his ego. Whatever he saw made him put his mouth over hers. Her fingers tightened in her bonds, curling over the ropes as he kissed her endlessly, fingers plunging into her hair, slipping over her throat, her nape and shoulders. The man knew just how aroused a woman could get from being touched from the shoulders up. Done right, everything below the shoulders caught fire. She kissed him back with the fervor of an inferno. “Please tell me,” she whispered. “Please.”

He pressed his mouth to her temple. “Tell you what?”

“What did you think when I said that? The truth.”

Tugging her head back with both hands snarled in her hair, he bit her throat again, sharper this time, making her suck in a breath. His body pushed urgently between her legs, and she flexed against him, her legs wrapped around his thighs. “I told you, I don’t share,” he said. “Not you. That may make me a selfish prick, but . . .”

When he began to kiss her again, he put the passion behind the thought into the kiss, a thorough branding with mouth and hands that left her trembling.

“Let me please you, Master. Please.”

“You don’t do anything but, girl.” Cutting the zip ties with a box cutter on the workbench, he slid his hands under her arms and lowered her to her knees on one of the cushions. She rested her palms on his thighs and looked up. His face was in darkness, but she sensed he was thinking about her words. He was a confident man, one who didn’t cut himself any slack about having half a leg. She’d spoken of her fantasy about his two friends without hesitation because she’d never thought of Dale as anything less than a whole man. But when it was silent like this, she knew it would be in his mind. She’d seen hints of it when he watched Neil play basketball, his whole, healthy body feinting and spinning with the kids.

He’d believed her, rationally, yes, but she wanted to prove it. With actions, not words.

Her fingers slid up his thighs, thumbs drifting along that intriguing crease of denim between testicles and hip. Then she unbuckled his belt, and slipped the button, drawing down the zipper. When she found him under the soft cotton of his boxers, he drew in a gratifying breath. He helped shove the jeans down a little further, making it easier for her to put her hungry mouth over him. The moment her lips touched the broad head and spread around it, drawing his thick cock into heated moistness, his hand dropped to her crown. He gripped her hair hard, growling as she sucked him in, hollowing her cheeks and flicking him with her tongue.

This time he was letting her put her hands on him, and she was going to make sure he liked it enough to let her do it again. A lot. Circling the thick base of his cock with her fingers, she used the other hand to grip the side of his thigh, fingers teasing his buttock as the muscles shifted under her grip, thrusting him deeper into her mouth.

He had a wonderful organ, so hard and pulsing, wide enough to stretch her lips, long enough to take him to the back of her throat and beyond. He put his other hand on her shoulder, thumb sliding beneath the collar of her T-shirt to catch her bra strap and tug as she serviced her Master. Her panties had soaked through to the crotch of her loosened jeans, such that she felt the dampness as both rubbed against her when she shifted. All the pent-up pleasure of watching him from a distance today was now channeled into this. She made little needy noises against his steel flesh as she worked him in her mouth, drew him toward climax.

“Fuck, as good as that is, I want your cunt. Right now.” He caught her arm and brought her to her feet, despite her noise of protest. In a movement too swift to follow, he’d yanked her jeans to her knees, and brought them both down to the lounge cushions. He didn’t give her time to take the pants all the way off. Instead, he rolled to his back and, with the strength of his upper body alone, slid her on top of him. He guided himself between her closed thighs, held that way by the jeans and panties still up at her knees. It made the channel even more narrow, so his angle of penetration was high, his cock rubbing against the wall of her cunt as he pushed into her. The feeling was indescribable. He put both hands on her ass and started shoving her down on him fully, controlling all her movements, rubbing her clit against his rougher skin. She shot up toward climax in record time.

“Master . . . I’m too close. I’m going to—”

“Let me hear you,” he growled.

She did, crying out her release. She gripped his shirt, feeling the solid man beneath, her thighs strained cords against his hips as he rocked them both to completion. She wasn’t the only one driven crazy by their chaste proximity throughout the day. He thrust up into her, letting go with a groan, fingers clamping down on her bare ass to hold her pinned, working himself in her. She gasped and continued to make helpless noises of pleasure until he slowed to a halt with one last shuddering, satisfied grunt.

“Jesus,” he murmured. He pushed her head down into the opening between his shoulder and the side of his head, pressing his face into her hair.

She couldn’t agree more with the reverent expletive. She held on to his shoulders, balanced on his body like the firm deck of a ship, the world around still rocking, making her dizzy. She turned her lips to his ear, but she wanted to do even more for him. Despite the constraints of her clothing, she pushed herself up and wriggled down his body until she was kneeling between his legs again. Cradling his semiturgid cock in her hands, she bent, put her mouth on him once more. She tasted herself and his seed, and began to clean him with caressing licks, suckling his flesh, making him twitch a little at the sensitivity, but he didn’t stop her, merely reaching down to stroke her hair, fondle it.

“You keep doing that, girl, I’ll put you on your back next.”

“Why do you think I’m doing it?”

He chuckled, the sound vibrating under her touch. “I might have to call in Neil or Lawrence after all. Make them keep up with your demands. I think you’ll wear them out first.”

“I’d rather wait on you.”

He gripped her forearm, telling her he wanted her to come up and lie next to him. She did, sliding her hand over his testicles and cock, offering one last caress before she put her hand beneath his T-shirt and rested it on his sectioned stomach. A different man from Roy. Recalling their conversation, she traced those muscles, the shiny smooth skin of a scar. Pressing her nose against his side, she inhaled his unique Dale scent. Then she rested her cheek over his heart.

“Master Chief?” she asked, remembering what Neil had called him.

His chest rumbled with a half chuckle. “My rating in the SEALs. I’ve told them not to call me that, now that I’m retired, but sometimes they forget.”

She expected it was because he was still so obviously in command, and the world felt like a safer place to Neil and Lawrence—and her—when that was the case. Master Chief. Master. She liked it.

“Should we be getting back to the kids, help Neil and Lawrence?”

“Naw, they’ll keep for a while. The kids are exhausted, too. Most of them’ll probably doze off during the movie and we’ll have to wake them up with a foghorn to get them back on the bus.”

“They could stay here tonight—”

“Oh no.” He gave her bare ass a firm squeeze. “You’ve been a very generous hostess, Mrs. Summers, but I promise you Lynn will quit if she has to confront the horror of three-dozen teenage boys using your bathrooms in the morning. Plus, we told their parents we’d have them back tonight. The ones that give a rat’s ass, that is, which means about half.”

She thought about Jason, the other boys she’d met today. How many of them would actually make it, given how few good influences they had in their corner? She’d be adding all of them to her prayer list.

“Are your parents still alive?” she asked at last.

“Yeah, my mom is. She lives up in Michigan, near my two sisters. She remarried after my dad died, and the new guy makes her happy, but he’s always kind of rubbed me the wrong way, so we don’t really see one another too much. Around the holidays, mostly. It’s all right. My dad and I were much closer than my mom and me. My two sisters have also provided the all-important grandkids for her.”

“How did he . . .”

“Lung cancer. Chain-smoker since he was a teenager, knocked him down in his forties.” Dale turned his head, pressed an absent kiss to her temple. He stroked the line of her back beneath her T-shirt. “Lived long enough to see me graduate BUD/S, which meant the world to us both. He was an enlisted Army grunt, served in Vietnam. That was where he picked up the smoking habit, and he couldn’t ever kick it. He was adamant about none of us getting hooked, though. First time he caught me with a cigarette, he ground up some with a couple raw eggs and made me drink the whole thing. Cured me forever of the urge. I thought I was going to die of puking.”

“I’ll bet.” She smiled against his warm flesh. His heartbeat was slow and steady.

“So . . . I believed you when you said you weren’t interesting in being shared. But I want to know why.”

She considered it. “Why do you not want to share me?”

“That doesn’t work as an answer.” He took a proprietary grip of one buttock. “My reasons have to do with an overload of testosterone. You don’t have any of that, thank God.”

She smiled at that. “That’s not all of it, though. You’ve shared subs with other Masters at the club. Like . . . with Gerald.”

“Because they aren’t mine. They belong to me for that session, and the session is about pushing boundaries, exploring the things the sub wants. Even though I’m completely involved, absorbed in it, there’s a certain level of detachment. I’m facilitating what the sub wants, integrating it with my intentions and desires. I’m not trying to get into her heart and soul, just her body and mind.”

She swallowed. “But you are trying to get into my heart and soul?”

He tipped her face up with his strong fingers, ran them along her jaw as his gaze caressed her face. “You invited me in, Athena, and I liked what I saw. That first time, the way you opened yourself to me, stripped yourself bare, inside and out; it called to something inside of me, something I haven’t had before. That’s why it’s different.”

He gave her a not-so-gentle pinch with the other hand. Her thighs were slippery against one another when she twitched in response. “You’re not getting off the hook,” he said. “Why don’t you want to be shared?”

It took a few moments to marshal her thoughts, but he waited on her. “Women are supposed to be adventurous and want to do it all, these days,” she said slowly. “Not think of sex as so significant. But to me . . . the marriage oath was sacred. Keeping yourself for that one person, and him for you. If you care enough about someone else to create that bond, that suggests that whatever you need, physically, you can find with one another, if you have the patience and desire to uncover it. I know we’re not married . . . but I still view it the same way. If I want to be with a man, I want to belong to him, and only him. And him to see me the same way. As his and his alone. It sounds archaic, I know—”

“No, it doesn’t. Or if it does, it’s as archaic as an ancient temple. And just as sacred, like you said.” He lifted her chin again. “I find you to be a remarkable woman, Athena. Honest and confident about what you want. That’s rare, not old-fashioned.”

The praise warmed her, and he bent his head, tasted her lips. “Will you stay tonight?” she asked when he broke the kiss.

He gave her a look of regret. “I have to help get the kids home. Do you have to work tomorrow?”

She quelled her disappointment that he wouldn’t be sharing her bed. “Not until the afternoon. Why don’t I bring you brunch?”

“Sounds like a date.” He gave her a searching look. “I would love nothing better than to wake up with you, Athena. This is moving pretty fast between us, isn’t it?”

“Too fast?” she asked. Had he read her mind, or did he share her concerns?

“Can’t tell. It moves like it moves. The trick is to make the in-between time quick, but draw out every moment like this”—he leaned down, kissed her again, proving the point by keeping the kiss going long enough she was breathless when he was done—“so it feels like the kind of forever you want. Then you have no regrets.”