A SEAL's Oath (SEALs of Chance Creek Book 1) (16 page)

“Then give us the chance to fall in love.”

Did he want to fall in love with her? She knew all too well she could love him. Riley took a deep breath, feeling like she stood on the edge of a precipice and Boone was urging her to jump. Fear and exhilaration made a heady mixture in her veins. And after all, she really didn’t have a choice. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll marry you. On three conditions.”

He pulled back. “Tell me.” He watched her intently.

“One, you don’t come between me and my friends. Two, we have a Regency wedding. And three, I call the shots about our relationship. No touching, no kissing, no nothing unless I say so.”

A look came into Boone’s eyes that made Riley bite her lip.

“Maybe you should choose to kiss me right now,” he suggested.

That sounded like a good idea.

“We did just get engaged,” he added conversationally.

Why not jump off the cliff and see where she’d land? Riley kissed him.

And couldn’t seem to stop.

‡

B
oone did his
best to stay in control, but when it came to Riley that seemed impossible. With every passing moment, he felt the years draining away until he was as young and untried as he’d been before he’d ever met Melissa. Riley understood him better than he understood himself. Alone on this blanket in the middle of Westfield, away from all the complications of their lives, she shorted out the electric fence he’d built to shield his heart and brought him face to face with everything he wanted but was too afraid to admit he did.

He’d nearly lost all restraint when they’d stood in the stream and he was all too close to losing it again now. He kept waiting for Riley to pull back, but instead she clung to him as if she couldn’t bear to let him go.

He knew exactly how she felt.

He wasn’t sure if he was lowering her to the ground, or if she was the one tugging him down as they kissed all the while. She’d wanted to call the shots, and he’d meant to let her once he’d stolen a single kiss.

Now he didn’t know what he was doing.

With Riley underneath him, her arms wrapped around his neck, the brush of her mouth over his unlocked every frustrated fantasy he’d concocted during his sleepless vigil the night before. He held out for what seemed like an eternity, but it might only have been moments before he gave in to his baser needs and slid his hands up her back to search for the opening to her dress. He found ties at the back of her neck and waist, but another garment underneath the first blocked his way even after he undid them. With a growl of frustration, he reared up and examined her gown.

Riley smiled a Cheshire cat smile as he hunted for a way past the defenses of her outfit. But Boone wasn’t a Navy SEAL for nothing. He’d been trained to breach enemy strongholds, and a Jane Austen gown couldn’t stand up to his determination. Still, the damn thing frustrated him at every turn.

When he couldn’t find any way to access her breasts, he decided to hitch up her hem and try his luck from that angle.

“Having fun, sailor?” Riley asked, laughter all too clear in her voice.

“Don’t worry. I’ll have you out of there in a jiffy.”

“Good luck.”

Boone needed it. After a brief tussle with several layers of fabric he managed to reach her leg and discovered she wore thigh-high stockings, but above them her skin was bare. He skimmed his hands over her thighs and was rewarded when she gasped and leaned back, evidently enjoying his touch, but as he traced his fingers upwards, the fabric of her garments bunched over his arm and got in the way again.

With a grunt of exasperation, he shifted her skirts aside. Riley sighed in his arms as he continued to kiss her, but when his hand tangled in her petticoat, Boone got to his knees.

“What are you doing?” Riley asked as he bent over her and rolled up the hem of her dress, shift and petticoat like he would a sleeping bag to prepare it for storage.

“Trying to get this thing out of the way.”

“You’ll wrinkle my dress.” She sat up and began to unroll his handiwork.

“I’m being careful.” He batted her hands away and got to work again.

“This dress cost a bundle.” She unrolled it as fast as he rolled it up.

“I’ll buy you a new one.” Boone started all over again.

“That’s hardly sustainable,” she said primly.

Boone groaned. “For God’s sake, woman—get that thing off.”

“I’m supposed to call the shots, remember?” She flipped out the skirts of her dress and dusted them off with her hands. Boone thought she meant to put an end to their fun, but the sly look she sent him from the corner of her eye raised his hopes all over again.

“You’re going to be my wife,” he said, advancing again. “Don’t I get to see what I’m getting out of the deal?”

“I think you got an eyeful this afternoon.”

“Yeah, I did. And I liked it. A lot.” With a mock growl he bowled her over, kissed her and blew raspberries on her neck until she shrieked with laughter. He ducked down to make another attempt on her skirts.

“Boone—oh!” Riley gasped as he finally got them up to her waist, tugged down the tiny, silky panties she wore underneath and bent to explore.

Riley fell back and opened her legs, an invitation Boone didn’t try to resist. Positioning himself between them, his hands lifting her hips, he got his first taste of her.

Heaven.

She should tell
him to stop. She should go back to the manor.

She would—in a minute.

Riley bit back a moan of pleasure as Boone languorously explored her with his mouth and tongue. She couldn’t help moving against him in a rhythmic tilt of her hips, inviting him in further, almost begging him to make her his own.

She couldn’t believe how much a little silly teasing had turned her on, but it was just this kind of playfulness she’d always wanted in a man, but never found.

She’d joked with Boone tons of times when they’d been children, but she’d never teased him in a flirtatious way.

She promised herself she would do it again soon.

For now all she could do was lie back and bask in the sensations Boone was calling forth from her body. The rasp of his tongue over her most sensitive places had her bucking against him, wanting more. His hands gripped her hips, his fingers slid over her bottom, until she burned with a craving for something only Boone could give her.

Riley knew she should hold back—this was far too intimate an experience with a man she’d just gotten to know again—but somehow it felt so right. Every move that Boone made elicited its own exquisite response in her body. He played her with a virtuosity that stunned Riley. A touch here, a kiss there and she could only relinquish the control she’d thought she wanted and let Boone take them on a sensual journey she hoped would never end.

Riley didn’t realize she was tugging Boone toward her until he lifted his head and questioned her with his eyes.

“I want…” she panted. “Boone—”

He moved over her body to cover her. He was still fully dressed. That didn’t seem right. Riley’s fingers tangled with his belt, until Boone covered her hand with his and undid it for her. She got his button undone and tugged down the zipper of his jeans. When she slid a hand inside his pants, Boone sucked in a breath.

He was so hard. So magnificent. Riley ached with a longing she could hardly define. It went beyond reason or rationality to a place that was ancient, instinctive—feral.

She helped him shuck off his pants and boxer briefs and when he pressed himself against her, she gasped from the sheer pleasure of it.

“Riley. Protection? Is this safe?”

Safe? Hell, no this wasn’t safe. She was flinging her heart at a man who’d trampled on it once before. That wasn’t what he was asking, though, and Riley fought to untangle her thoughts. Protection?

“I’m clean,” she gasped.

“Me, too.” He pushed inside her just a little and Riley wanted to scream with impatience. It had been ages since she’d been with a man and her body wanted more—much, much more.

He pushed inside her so slowly it was like being propelled toward ecstasy in slow motion. She could tell how good it would feel when he filled her, but he was drawing the moment out until her nerves were on fire. One hand on her hip, the other bracing himself above her, Boone pushed in all the way, then began a slow retreat that was just as sensual. Riley whimpered, wanting him to speed up, but for all her talk about control, it was clear who had the upper hand.

“You are beautiful,” he breathed. “So beautiful.”

He was beautiful, too. She wished they’d managed to get the rest of their clothes off but it was too late to worry about any of that now. Boone picked up his pace and Riley closed her eyes.

Too late…

Too late—

“Boone!” She’d meant to say it loudly and stop him, but Boone was thrusting into her, every ounce of his concentration wrapped up in maintaining control, and her voice had come out a gasp. As he increased his pace again, he felt so good she didn’t want to stop him.

She had to stop him, though. She wasn’t—

Let me give you a child and we’ll raise it together.

Without a job, you won’t qualify to adopt.

Right and wrong tangled in Riley’s mind with desire and hope. She wanted a child.

She wanted Boone.

She wanted—

Boone shifted and Riley arched back, her orgasm crashing over her hard and fast, the way Boone was making love to her. The sensation went on and on, and Riley could only ride the wave of ecstasy he’d called forth in her. Boone grunted out his own release, bucking against her until he shuddered and collapsed on top of her, pinning her to the earth.

As she panted for breath, her vision swimming from the intensity of her orgasm, Riley stared over his shoulder into the deep royal blue of the darkening sky, too dazed at first to take in what she had done. But as a star peeped through the velvet curtain of night, and she became all too aware of the lumps and bumps of the hard ground underneath the picnic blanket, remorse cut through her as sharp as a knife. She’d crossed a boundary she’d always held sacrosanct.

Shame stole her breath away as she searched for a rationalization. When Boone wrapped his arms around her as if he wouldn’t let her go, Riley held still, afraid he could read the treachery in her thoughts. How could she have kept quiet knowing Boone had misinterpreted what she’d said? He’d thought she was using protection—the Pill. That she was safe.

But she wasn’t safe. She had abandoned her pills long ago after Marc left her, angry at the universe who kept stealing her dreams. Why bother with birth control if no one wanted to touch her?

Boone had touched her. Had made love to her.

Had he made her pregnant, too?

Boone thought if
he simply didn’t move, he wouldn’t have to face what he’d done. He’d railroaded right over Riley’s wish to slow things down and build a relationship from scratch. He couldn’t excuse himself, either. He’d wanted what he’d wanted—and he’d took it, barely slowing down enough to ask the most basic questions he should have asked a new partner.

He knew from his regular checkups he hadn’t brought anything extra to the party and he trusted Riley when she’d said she was safe, too. Still, that was a discussion to have when their clothes were still on, before he was half inside her and long past stopping.

He had acted like a…

Teenager.

He stifled a groan. Had he killed this relationship before it even started? Judging by the way she’d arched against him, she’d enjoyed being with him, too, but now she was quiet underneath him. Far too quiet.

Reluctantly, Boone rolled off of her. Riley sat up, but didn’t meet his eye. He hitched up his boxer briefs and jeans and fumbled with his belt. By the time he was done, Riley had smoothed down her skirts.

“Riley—” He didn’t know what to say.

“I think—” She broke off. “Boone—”

“Hey, we’re getting married, right?” he tried to joke. “I think it’s allowed.” He hoped she could see the humor in the situation, too, but Riley pinched her lips together. “Honey, I meant it when I said I wanted to give this a real go. You and me—” It was hard to keep going when she looked so miserable. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m… not on the Pill,” she confessed in a rush. “I’m sorry, Boone. I should have—”

Relief coursed through him, followed by a strange lift of… pride? Boone couldn’t parse the feelings that cut through him like rip tides. She was sorry? That meant she wasn’t angry at him. She wasn’t on the Pill? That meant she could be pregnant already.

His parents would be pleased.

So would Fulsom. Although, wasn’t he was supposed to wait until June?

He squashed those thoughts. Fuck Fulsom. He could care less what the man wanted. He hadn’t done it for his parents, either.

His gaze raked Riley from head to toe.

He’d done it because Riley charged him up like no one else he’d ever met.

“It’s okay.” He wanted to lay her out and make love to her all over again. He felt like he’d stumbled off the map of the world into a whole new territory that had never been charted. He wanted to explore Riley, to find out everything there was to know.