Chapter Six
“What… the… fuck?”
“Lexi Knight! Just because you have Marines for brothers doesn’t mean you have to talk like one of them.” Their maman’s shrill cry came from the front of the house as Sean sneaked in the back door and past Lexi.
He held a finger to his lips and pointed toward the upstairs.
“What happened to you?” Lexi whispered.
“Got caught in the swamp. Walked most of the day to get back.” He was filthy and smelly—and he wanted nothing more than to get even with Hawk. Right after he paid Elise a visit and showed her exactly what he wanted from her.
Which was everything.
The slow, soft caresses and deep kisses. Pinning her to a wall and giving her the hard fucking she needed. And the talking—God, he loved talking to that woman. Her mind was an oyster opening to reveal a pearl, and he was damn well going to learn everything there was to know about her.
Their maman’s footsteps sounded, and Lexi shoved him toward the stairs. “Go!”
He managed to reach the top floor and the bathroom he’d shared with his brothers growing up without explaining his appearance to his mother. After a hot shower and a good scrubbing, he felt semi-human. A clean set of clothes and he was ready to face anything, even on an empty stomach.
Though the fragrances of gumbo wafted upstairs and had his stomach twisting into a knot. Maybe he could spare a few minutes to grab a bowl of his maman’s specialty.
By the time he hit the kitchen, Lexi, his parents and several of his brothers were just filling their bowls.
His mother’s eyes widened. “Sean, I didn’t know you were here. When did you come?”
“About the same time Lexi said what the fuck.”
Their father arched a brow at his sister and she gave Sean a flat, I’m-going-to-murder-you look.
Maman started to get up to fetch him a bowl, but he waved her back down. “I got it.” He grabbed the bowl from the cupboard and took a seat around the table with his family. Chaz was sporting a new cut on his cheek. Sean didn’t recall him having any injuries after their last operation.
Scooping some gumbo into his bowl, Sean said, “How’d you get that cut?”
Chaz shook his head, but Dylan spoke up. “Three little letters, bro. DEA.”
Sean sat back in his seat and eyed Chaz. “She’s a hellion, is she?”
“Only when pissed off.” Chaz shot him a look but then added, “We’re through. Too clingy for my tastes. Besides, I think she’s secretly jealous that I have a dick.”
“Chaz!” Maman covered her mouth with a hand as Lexi’s giggles filled the room. Their father hid his grin in his gumbo.
“I’ll have to tell Tyler about this,” Lexi said.
“That’s the last thing we need.” Chaz glanced around the table as if just realizing their youngest sister wasn’t present. “Where is Miss Wildcat anyway?”
Lexi fixed her attention on her gumbo, and Sean knew something was up, but he wasn’t about to probe into that snake pit that made up their sisterhood. For years the twins had been plotting against him and the rest of their brothers, and Sean was in too good of a mood to get bitten.
He filled his mouth with a spoonful of rich gumbo and groaned. The shrimp was perfectly cooked, and the spices were Mardi Gras in his mouth. “This is excellent, Maman.”
She dropped her hand from her mouth where it was still planted in shock from Chaz’s revelation. “Thank you. But can we please refrain from bad language around the table? This should be a sacred spot.”
Properly contrite, Chaz nodded, but his lips twitched. “Maybe we should discuss Sean’s girlfriend.”
Fucking great.
Everyone’s gazes snapped to him. “You have a girlfriend?” Lexi asked.
Dylan’s stare settled on Sean, and he suddenly wondered why the hell he hadn’t stolen out of the house before anybody spotted him. He was far from ready for questions about Elise, especially when he had no clue where he stood with her.
“Not a girlfriend, in the sense you’re thinking.” And hoping and praying. Ever since Ben had hooked up with Dahlia, their maman had been on them to find someone to settle down with.
Sean went on, “I’ve only spent a bit of time with her.” He sent Chaz a long look that said Don’t worry—I’ll get you back. He’d only brought up Elise to get the focus off himself.
Lexi jumped on the wagon too, always eager to shift the topic from herself. “Tell us about her, Sean. I already know she’s pretty.”
He didn’t look up from his bowl, just kept shoveling it in. “How do you know that?”
“Because you have great taste in women.”
He leveled a look at her. “Why are you buttering me up? What trouble are you in?”
She glanced away.
“She’s gorgeous.” Dylan’s statement had all eyes on him and a growl rising in Sean’s throat. “Should I tell them how you shoved me off my own job in order to work with her on those messages?”
“Lexi, cover your ears,” their mother snapped. “You know we aren’t allowed to know what goes on in OFFSUS.”
“Just for mentioning OFFSUS, we’ll have to put you under house arrest.” Sean spooned up more gumbo. “And maybe I just wanted to learn a new skill, Dylan.”
He grunted but said nothing. Sean was still touchy that his brother had noticed how gorgeous Elise was.
Hell, even a blind man would. A single look could slay a man. Throw in her dark eyes and full pout and he was fully hard. Not to mention all that warm honey-colored skin to put his hands on.
“When will you be bringing this woman around?” Maman’s question ended his mental undressing of Elise.
He glanced at his siblings. “Uh, not yet.” If ever.
Suddenly, Lexi pushed back from the table. “I’ve gotta run. I’m late.”
“Late?” Pére echoed. “You’re in a hurry to get to the flower shop at this time of day? What’s the rush?”
Lexi’s cheeks bloomed with color, and Sean and his brothers shared a groan.
“Hell, I knew it,” Chaz said.
“Best grab some shovels,” Dylan added.
“Who is it this time?” Sean asked.
Lexi rolled her eyes. “You guys just love to think the worst of me.”
“Not the worst of you—of your boyfriends,” Sean said.
“I’m a grown-ass woman and I can make my own decisions.”
Sean stared at her until she shifted on her feet. “Just keep him away from your bank account and remind him you have four brothers with certain… skills.” He emphasized the last word in a deadly tone.
She set a hand on her hip and cocked her head. Gearing up for a tirade. As a child, she’d had them all fighting to see who could make her quit crying, but Sean was made of tougher stuff now.
“Settle down, y’all,” Maman said. “Lexi can take care of herself.”
Sean didn’t think maman sounded so convinced that she could handle her newest and probably stupidest bad boyfriend, but he respected their mother’s effort to smooth things over.
He flicked a gaze to his sister. “Just remind him.” He dug into his gumbo again, and Lexi issued an exaggerated groan before clearing her bowl and leaving the house.
As soon as she was out of the room, Dylan pushed away from the table too. “I’ll follow her.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” their mother cried.
“We’re just looking out for her, Maman.” He dropped a kiss to her cheek, cleared his own bowl and headed out to tail their little sister.
Maman and Pére exchanged a look. “These boys are never going to let Lexi grow up.”
Their father looked okay with that prospect.
Sean smiled. “C’mon, we don’t just watch over Lexi. We’ll break the legs of all Tyler’s boyfriends too.” Both sisters had horrible taste in men, and Sean wasn’t the only one who believed that. They’d seen them come home in tears far too many times.
Their father shook his head, staying out of it as usual, and gave his wife a soft smile. “They mean well, Ellietta.”
Sean took in the exchange between his parents. For the first time in his life, he wondered how they’d made their relationship stand so strong for so many years. They still looked at each other with such love in their eyes.
He watched them a minute more.
Before meeting Elise, would he have wondered these things? Sure, he’d considered what it would be like to have someone who cared about his safe return instead of fucking the next guy in line the minute he stepped out the door. But after only a few days with Elise, he could only picture himself going home—to her.
He stood up and grabbed his empty bowl. “I’m off. Thanks for the delicious food, Maman.”
“You be sure to bring that lady friend of yours home soon, you hear?”
His heart expanded as he dropped a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll see what I can do.”
* * * * *
Elise eyed the man leaning against the doorway of her apartment, her mind and body at war with each other.
“Can I come in, cher?” Damn if Sean’s low, rumbled words didn’t have her fingers twitching to rip off all her clothes. Then jump his bones.
His fiiiiine bones.
Her brain told her to slam the door in his face and hope like crazy she never set eyes on Sean Knight again. Except he was undressing her with his eyes, peeling off her T-shirt and running shorts with slow flicks of his eyes she felt over every inch of her very silly, very ramped-up body.
“Please?”
A simple plea shouldn’t have her pulse pounding, yet it did. She ran her tongue over her lower lip.
His gaze fixed on her lower lip, and he groaned. “Can I just…?” Not waiting for her agreement, he stepped inside. She moved back as he crowded close, but his just-showered scent, mingled with the man himself, had her longing to rush into his arms.
He closed the door.
And locked it.
Two bad things.
“Sean—”
A simple look from him, dark eyes piercing through her, cut off what she was about to say.
“For the record, I fucking hate your ex.”
She jerked, torn from her dirty thoughts of stripping off his clothes, starting with that fitted shirt that molded itself to every muscle of his shoulders, arms and torso. “Uhh… What did he do to you?”
His lashes were stupidly long for a man’s. Surely, that should give him a weak appearance, but somehow the lengths only added to his appeal. He swiped a hand through the air, dismissing her words.
“I’ll handle Hawk. Right now, I need to handle you.”
A squeak left her, and she choked it off midway. Great, now she sounded like she’d swallowed a chicken bone. She took another step back, and he followed her.
Stalked her, more like.
“Sean, wait.”
He stopped, his expression solemn. “Is there something going on with you and your ex?”
“Absolutely not. I told you that. We’re friends, and he’s a little overprotective of me.”
“A little?” He cocked a brow, which only added to his dastardly appearance and spiked her libido another notch.
“Let me handle my ex-husband. And you’ll just have to trust me when I say we’re friends and nothing more.”
His lips twisted momentarily, as if he couldn’t quite trust her words or the meaning behind them. But it didn’t matter, right? He could damn well leave if he didn’t believe her.
“Now don’t get that look on your face, cher. I didn’t come here to fight.”
“What look? And what did you come here to do then?”
“First, I’m talking about that look that tells me you know five kinds of martial arts and can kick my ass out of your apartment if I push you. I don’t plan on pushing you. Second… maybe I do.” He closed the gap between them, his body heat scorching through her shorts and thin black T-shirt. When he lifted a hand to cup her cheek, she barely swallowed the moan he raised from her throat.
“I…” She swallowed past her suddenly parched tongue. “Actually, I know six kinds of martial arts.”
He nodded, staring right into her eyes. “And a strong woman needs a strong man to make you remember how feminine you are.”
Oh God… how was he digging so deep into her psyche? She had loved how he’d guided her so easily in the bedroom, made her forget to be in control, to let go and just feel.
He leaned so close that his warm breath washed over her face. “First, I’m going to seduce you with kisses… and not just on your mouth.”
Her pussy squeezed hard at his words.
“Then,” his lids hooded, “after I’ve made you come at least twice, I’m going to lick you clean.”
A shiver ran through her.
“Right before I slide into your tight pussy.”
She had no words. Hell, she hardly had a thought in her head, just vivid images of everything he’d told her he’d do to her.
He ran his tongue over his lips like a hungry wolf, and she couldn’t stop herself from tracking the movement. She felt the action deep in her body.
He gripped her hip, swaying her into him, and continued to run his hand up her torso to cup her breast.
“Ahh.” Her moan was positively embarrassing.
“I can take you right here, right now. This carpet looks soft enough.” He flicked his tongue at the corner of her lips. “Or you can show me to your bedroom.”
She shuddered at his heated words and the stroke of his thumb across her nipple. The point hardened, and a dark need coiled inside her.
“That’s what I thought. This way?” He flicked a glance over her shoulder toward the hall leading to her room.
Struck dumb, she nodded.
He swooped in and claimed her mouth. His rough kiss stealing all resistance, if she’d ever had any. She parted her lips and he drove his tongue in, seeking, stroking. Then he picked her up. With her legs dangling over his arm, she felt light and delicate. With each step he took toward her room, her body hummed louder.
One more night with Sean wouldn’t hurt. She could break things off afterward, tell him how different they were and how it was pointless to go on.
Except it was a lie—they had loads in common. Hell, just being able to talk to someone about what they’d done back at that inn was huge to her. Any man she’d date would be left in the dark.
He stepped into her bedroom and stopped dead. Glancing around, his eyes lit with surprise.
“It’s a little girly. You’ll feel out of place.”
He blinked, shedding that dazed expression. He stepped into the room farther and laid her gently on the frilly duvet on her plush mattress. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you, cher?”
Feeling a little exposed, she averted her gaze. But he braced his arms on each side of her body and stretched out atop her, his lips hovering over hers.
“God, I love everything about you.” His words tumbled out, rough and rumbly but sweeter than anything he’d said yet.
Without waiting for a response, he captured her lips again. Slowly, drawing her in with small nibbles and teases of his tongue. When she didn’t think she could stand another second of his torment, he angled his head and sank his tongue deep into her mouth.
Need blasted her, leaving her feeling hot and cold as if she’d just stepped on a landmine and didn’t know which way to turn. But her body knew—she wrapped her arms around his neck and dragged him down as he tongue-fucked her mouth until she grew dizzy.
Hooking her heel around his back, she yanked their hips together. His hard cock dug into her pussy, and they shared a throaty moan. With each slant of his tongue across hers, her passion soared higher.
As their kiss spiraled out of control, he stripped off her top. Her breasts were free and her nipples aching for his touch. He didn’t make her wait long—he rolled one nipple between his fingers and thumb. She arched upward, gasping as he pinched it harder than he ever had before.
Need made her pussy spasm, and she rocked her hips. “More,” she whispered, the sound urgent in the stillness of her apartment.
Those dark eyes of his flashed as he pulled from the kiss. “Oh, you’ll get more, love.”
He bit her lower lip—a quick nip of pain that only heightened her awareness more. Then he kissed her throat, her collarbones and finally down to her breasts. Spattering pecks around each and finally sucking one hard bud into his mouth.
“Oh God!” She gripped the back of his head and held him there as he delivered the most exquisite torment her body had ever known. The soft strands of his hair slipped through her fingers.
He flattened his tongue, and holding her gaze, licked his way to her other nipple. When he captured it between his teeth, she cried out. No way could she hold still. She fumbled with his fly, the zipper and button no match for the wild need inside her.
She reached into his jeans and skimmed her fingers over his thick erection. She followed the path of each ridge up to his flared head.
“Fuck. I’ll never hold out if you keep doing that.” His words sounded like he’d guzzled whiskey—the entire bottle.
His reaction amped up hers, and she tore at his pants and boxers, shoving them down his hips and them gripping his hard ass. His cock settled at the V of her legs.
“Get these pants off me—now.” Her demand had him rumbling out another chuckle. Damn, she loved when he did that. He had no idea that she’d replayed those moments of playful laughter over and over in her head since they’d come together the first time.
Now…
His rough beard struck her sensitive skin. He skated his cheek down her belly to her waistband and then using his jaw, dragged the fabric down. He caught the elastic of her sweats in his fingers and towed them down and off.
He stared down at her tiniest—most impractical—pair of panties she owned. Pink and lacy, completely uncomfortable. By wearing them, it looked as if she’d been anticipating a lover.
He arched a brow.
“It’s laundry day.”
“Umm-hmm.” His eyes hooded as he looked at the panties barely clinging to her mound, the sides like floss around her hips. A devilish gleam hit his eyes. “How much do you love these?”
“I… I hate them actually. They ride up my crack.”
The rumbling laughter was back, causing a bone-deep tremble inside her. She didn’t even want to think about why she reacted so strongly to him.
It was lust. Simple lust.
His lips quirked up in that bad-boy smile that would melt a stronger woman than her, and she considered herself pretty hardened to men’s ploys. She’d spent her entire career dealing with guys who thought because they could throw pretty compliments her way that she’d spread her legs for them. But Sean Knight seemed to have that mastered with a single twitch of his lips.
Without warning, he dipped his head. His teeth grazed her hip and then she felt the string holding up her panties snap.
“Oh my God.” Made dizzy by the erotic action, she clutched at his shoulders. He moved to her other hip and took care of that string as well.
Locking gazes with her, he slid down her body, parting her thighs to make room for his wide shoulders. She couldn’t look away. He very deliberately flicked his tongue out and strummed her clit.
The warm, wet caress ripped a cry from her lips. Juices squeezed from her folds, and he groaned as he lapped them.
When he pressed his fingertips into her outer lips and parted her to make way for his tongue, her inner thighs quivered. Another gasping cry left her. This man knew how to pluck all the right chords.
He swirled his tongue around her nubbin with the skill of a professional gigolo. At this minute, she didn’t care who he’d practiced on before her—she was thrilled with the benefits of having an experienced man who knew her body so well.
She bucked her hips, and he sank his tongue into her channel. Liquid heat moving in and out of her stole all thought until he pressed his callused thumb into her clit.
Her nerves went haywire, and the tight knot in her lower belly shredded into oblivion. Her orgasm struck with a force she couldn’t think through. The first pulsation slammed her, and she was helpless to do anything but scream Sean’s name.
Dammit, she’d just fed his ego.
* * * * *
Sean’s grin stretched as he continued to bathe Elise’s pussy with his lips and tongue, tasting her release even as his eardrums vibrated with it. He had to admit he was damn pleased she’d called out his name. It felt like a victory.
It wasn’t about making a conquest—it was about knowing she was feeling the same things he was.
As her final pulsations faded away, he delivered one last slow lick from the bottom of her pussy to the top, gathering the last drops of her release.
She shuddered beneath him, her fists twisting the ruffled covers of her bed. That too had been a surprise, and he knew there was so much more to Elise than she wanted people to see.
But he was here to tell her—with his teeth and tongue if necessary—that she couldn’t conceal anything from him.
A final shudder left her, and she went boneless. Grinning, he moved up her body, kissing a trail to her lips. When he probed the corner of her mouth, she twisted into the caress with a gasp of desperation.
His heart somersaulted and kept rolling. She poked her tongue into his mouth and kissed him greedily.
He growled and cupped her head in one palm, drinking from her long and deep even as he realized his heart wasn’t going to recover.
He was a goner.
He couldn’t catch his breath and didn’t care if he ever did again. If she made him feel this excited, breathless and out of control, then he was officially an addict.
He flipped onto his back, settling her on top of him. Her sexy curves plastered to his body was something he couldn’t get enough of. That left only one answer to his dilemma—he had to make sure he kept her happy so she never left his bed.
With a shimmy of her hips, she had his cock nearly bursting. He groaned and stilled her. But she refused to remain in place and eased down his body with a private smile and a glitter in her eyes that told him he was in… so… much… trouble.
“Elise,” he rasped when her lips hit his abs and skittered down into the short tangle of hairs cushioning his cock. She mouthed the root of his shaft, and he damn near lost it there and then.
He felt the veins in his neck bulge with the effort of retaining his control as she slid her mouth along his cock to the tip. Her warm breath enveloped him for a split second before she swallowed him.
“Jesus Christ.”
She made a noise that could have been a giggle and did something with her tongue that had his hips coming off the bed. Hell, at this rate, he’d be glued to the ceiling. The woman knew how to give head.
He couldn’t drag in air around the groan he was releasing. Speaking of releasing…
Pre-cum leaked onto her scorching-hot tongue and he had no idea if he was going to stave off his impending orgasm.
“Stop.” He gripped her shoulders and yanked her up.
Her smile spread across her beautiful features, and he couldn’t stop staring at her. Or at her ripe lips swollen from sucking his cock.
“I’m going to finish you off,” she said.
“I’ll take you up on that. But not today. Reach over the side and grab a condom from my wallet, would you?”
“I’ll do better than that.” She leaned forward and opened her nightstand drawer.
His eyes bulged when he saw the number of condoms there. “Please tell me you don’t have those for anyone besides me.”
She just gave him a small smile and ripped open a packet. He was mesmerized by her fingers as she rolled the rubber over his cock. Then she arched her back, thrusting her breasts forward.
He caught them in his palms and swished his thumbs over her distended nipples as she poised her pussy over his erection.
“Slide down on me, cher. Take what you want.”
Her eyelids fluttered as she eased down over him inch by slick inch. Heat spread through his groin, and his balls tightened. He kneaded her breasts and jerked his hips upward, his cock buried so deep that he couldn’t think of where his body separated from hers.
Then she started to move. Slowly at first, with small rolls of her hips. Each movement growing faster, more and more out of control, until her throaty moans echoed off the flowery wallpapered walls. He grabbed her hips and guided her, up and down, faster until she let out a scream that hit him like an air strike.
His orgasm rushed up and overflowed, jets spurting from him rapid-fire.
“Oh my God,” she whispered and collapsed on his chest.
Her silky hair spread across his chest, and some of it caught on the stubble of his jaw. He didn’t move. Couldn’t move. And she seemed content to lie there and recover.
Stroking his fingers up and down her spine raised goosebumps in his wake, and damn if he didn’t feel good about that too. He loved how reactive she was to his touch.
After long minutes, she eased off him, mindful of the condom that had to be about to burst from all the cum he’d shot into it. She rolled onto the mattress and he leaned over to brush his lips over hers. “I’ll just take care of this.”
He got up and went to the first door off her bedroom. Her giggle followed him. “That’s the closet.”
He grabbed the first lacy thing he saw hanging and came out dangling it on one finger. “You should put this on.”
She laughed again and shook her head. He set aside the lacy dress and then found the bathroom. It only took him a minute to clean up—he wasn’t wasting a minute of his time with her. Especially when he had no idea when he’d be called out to duty again.
He emerged from the bathroom to find her sitting up, the blankets tucked under her armpits. Her dark hair tumbled over one sexy shoulder.
“Damn, you look fine.” He ran the few steps to the bed and dived onto the mattress, making her giggle and bounce into his arms. He drew her against him and she flipped the ruffled covers over his shoulder.
Another laugh escaped her. He stared at her.
“What?”
“I’ve never seen you so carefree,” he said, in awe.
“Well, I’ve never seen a man wear ruffles so well. I don’t know how, but you look even more manly.”
He cocked a brow and gave her a crooked smile. “It’s the tattoo, isn’t it?”
Her gaze flicked down to the eagle clutching a rippling flag in its talons inked across his chest. She nodded. “I think it is.” She raised a hand to the tattoo and just her soft touch against his skin had him hard again.
The covers tented around his erection, and she tugged the blanket back to peek. “Seems we have a problem, Knight.”
“Mmm. I can see a couple myself.” He stroked her hardened nipple through the sheet.
Her eyes grew serious as she stared at him. “First, you have to promise that if you get called away for a mission while I’m asleep that you’ll wake me and tell me.”
His heart gave a hard thud of emotion at her words. Leaning in, he pressed his forehead against hers, breathing in her sweetness. “Promise. But you’d better not be the type of woman who wakes from a sound sleep swinging a fist.”
She chuckled but looked a bit worried. “Who does that?”
“My sister Tyler.”
“Oh yes, I’ve heard of her.”
His brows shot up. “Tell me it’s not because she’s dating some jarhead.”
“You don’t want her with a Marine?”
“Not if I can help it. I’ve known too many Marines.” His mind went to Elise’s ex and how a man like Hawk would never, ever lay hands on his sister. Because Sean would take pure pleasure into smashing each digit into bone pulp.
“What does that say about you?” Elise asked.
“I’m different. Ask anyone.”
“Hmm.” She didn’t sound so convinced, and there was only one way to get her off the topic. He lowered his head and kissed her with a slow intensity that left them both gasping. He skimmed a hand over her bare hip, up to her narrow waist. Things quickly heated, and in minutes, he was sporting another condom and thrusting his cock high and deep into her tight pussy.
Looking down into her eyes, he said, “I’m good for you. Tell me you don’t feel it.”
She closed her eyes and let out a rasp of pleasure.
He grinned. “I’ll take that.”