“No, I don’t. There’s a whole wide world out there, and I don’t know where I want to live in it or what I want to be. It’s pretty strange realizing at the age of twenty-six I can be anything I want.”
“All I ever wanted was to be a Special Forces soldier. I chose the Rangers because the army was the easiest military organization to join.”
“Why did you get out?”
“After my mom died, I couldn’t stay in it.”
“Because she asked you to leave the army and come home to take care of your dad and you refused? You felt guilty having your dream when your mom was dead.”
“Yes.”
She understood, but she thought it was such a waste. “You’re an incredible soldier, Daniel.”
“There’s a lot more freedom being a merc than there was in the Rangers.”
“Yes, but I think you would have been happy if you’d stayed.”
He pulled her back against him, tucking her head into his shoulder again, but didn’t respond. The silence lasted a long time, and she let her gaze drift lazily across the now star laden sky.
“My dad is up for parole this year.” His voice after such an extended silence surprised her, but no more than the words.
“I thought you didn’t keep track of him.”
“I don’t, but Sergeant Major does. He’s gone to visit Thunder in prison.”
“Does he encourage you to go, too?”
“No. He says that kind of thing is something a man can only do if his soul leads him to it.”
Daniel’s sergeant major was a wise man.
“Do you want to talk to your dad again?”
“I want to ask if the drinking was worth killing her.”
Josie knew with the same instincts that had saved her life more than once that Daniel wanted to ask a whole lot more than that, but she said nothing. If he ever did decide he wanted to see his father, she hoped Daniel would let her be there for him because no matter how hard he sounded, his heart wasn’t as invulnerable as he wanted to believe.
“Has he told the sergeant major he wants to see you?”
“If he has, Master Sergeant Cordell didn’t pass it on, but he wouldn’t.”
“No matter what you decide, you’re a good man, Daniel.”
“You’re good for me, Josette.”
“Thanks.”
In her mind, they had spent enough time talking about deep subjects. Daniel needed his thoughts directed to something more pleasant, and she had a pretty good idea how to do that.
Slipping her hand up his thigh, she brushed it quite deliberately against his sex. His body went instantly rigid, and she could hear the increased pounding of his heart against her head.
She smiled and relaxed against him as if she hadn’t a care in the world, while at the same time guiding her hand beneath his waistband. “Keep your eyes on the stars, Daniel.”
Anyone looking at them from outside would think she was just resting against him while they both unwound in the spa. Her hand slid inexorably downward until her fingers tangled with the light, curling patch of hair above his penis.
His hand latched on to her wrist, stopping her from moving lower. “What are you doing?”
“Can’t you tell?”
“We’re in a public place, Josette, or hadn’t you noticed?”
“What I noticed is that the bubbles make it impossible to see what is happening under the water.”
“You don’t think my raw shout of ecstasy will give you away?”
She laughed softly, wiggling her fingers against him even if she couldn’t reach her main target. “That’s a long way off. If you keep your face expressionless, no one will know what I’m doing. You’re good at controlling your temper, Daniel. Do you think you can control your passion?”
“You make it hard,” he growled.
She grinned at the double entendre. “Don’t you like it?”
“Yes…,” he hissed, and his grip slackened.
She immediately went in search of and found his penis. She began stroking up and down his length. “Just relax and let me pleasure you.”
“You are pure pleasure, sweetheart, but I’m not sure this isn’t torture.” He groaned as she squeezed his quickly growing member, and his head fell back against the stone edge of the spa.
She snuck a peek at him and smiled. His eyes were closed, and his face was impassive, but there was a line of stress around his mouth. Arrows of pleasure shot through her core at the evidence of how strongly she affected him. She turned her head away, her eyes fixed on the stars overhead.
It felt deliciously naughty to have her hand inside his swim trunks and touching him intimately while anyone looking on would think she was doing no more than contemplate the night sky. With a sense of wanton delight, she slid her palm over the head of his penis. Wetness more slick and silky than the water told her he was closer to coming than she could have imagined, and she felt a corresponding moisture between her legs.
She played with the silky wetness, rubbing it over his head with her palm and then caressing his length in turn until his legs were jerking with the effort to stay still. She felt close to orgasm herself, and he hadn’t even touched her. She stroked him, enjoying the sounds of pleasure and need he was making and letting her mind run wild with images of him inside her.
Suddenly he erupted from the water, lifting her from the pool with him.
She squeaked out a shocked, “Daniel,” but he ignored her surprised protest and carried her at double time to their room, the expression on his face one that would live with her for a long time.
He was a feral warrior claiming his mate, and she exulted in being that woman.
Daniel carried Josie into their room, his body on a collision course with a desire he could no longer control. Her little green bikini had started a chain reaction in him that was set to explode with nuclear proportions any second.
Stepping over the threshold, he kicked the door shut with enough force to leave it reverberating on its hinges.
“Daniel?” Josie’s eyes were fixed on him with a mixture of breathless passion and trepidation.
“I want you,” he growled down at her and then took possession of her mouth with all the hunger crashing through him.
He ate at her lips, tasting the sweet warmth that she reserved for him alone. His tongue pressed into the seam of her lips, and she gave him entrance, letting him taste her, tasting him, sucking on his tongue as though she couldn’t get enough of his mouth against hers.
The need to bury himself inside her expanded with each slide of her tongue against his and the swollen responsiveness of her lips until it was too big to contain. He dropped her to her feet, but couldn’t stop kissing her long enough to do something about the storm raging through him.
Finally, with a monumental effort of will, he broke the kiss and stepped back.
Damn, that little nothing of a swimsuit was going to give him a heart attack. The water had turned the green fabric dark, but it clung to her obviously aroused nipples and swollen curves in a way designed to send him over the edge of reason. If he wasn’t already there. His gaze shot down to where two small bows held the secrets of her femininity hidden behind a shimmering wet bit of fabric.
He wanted to get rid of that barrier.
“Take it off,” he ordered, his tone so guttural it was a wonder it didn’t scare her.
He forced himself to look at her face and make sure, but she didn’t look frightened at all, just dazed. Her eyes were dilated with passion, and her lips pouted an invitation to be taken again.
She licked them. “What?”
“Take off your swimsuit.” He’d managed a marginal improvement in his tone, but not enough to make his words sound like anything but a demand.
“Is that an order, sir?”
