Breaking Away (46 page)

The emotional issues before held passion at bay, but the brush of her bare skin against his set off an instinctive response, and he grew hard. Instead of pulling away she nestled closer.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so—unpredictable,” she said her breath warm against his chest.

“We’re just trying to make it past all the hurt the best way we can, honey.” He ran his fingers through her hair and cupped the back of her head. His fingers rubbed the band of muscle at the base of her skull where tension lay. She began to relax.

He brushed her forehead with his lips. “I’ve missed holding you like this. I’ve missed feeling how you lean into me like we’re two pieces of a puzzle, trying to lock in.”

She drew a deep breath and her breasts moved against his chest. She ran her hand down his back so slowly it was like she sought to touch every inch of his skin from the base of his neck to his ass. When she ran her hands beneath the fabric to cup his buttocks, his erection pushed forward against her.

“How can you still want me after all I’ve put you through?” she asked.

“How can you still love me after all I’ve put you through?” he countered. His fingertips grazed the hollow of her spine and followed it all the way down. He pushed against her and felt the answering tilt of her hips.

“Remember how we used to finish each other’s sentences?” she murmured. Her lips turned against his skin. She slipped her hand between them and her fingers closed around his erection.

The wall between them began to crumble. For a moment he thought he might explode, but he fought back the need, though his breathing became unsteady. “And how we used to read each other’s thoughts with a look.”

He cupped her breast with his other hand and toyed with her nipple, careful to keep the pressure the way she liked it. “We can get it back, Marsha. All we have to do is want it.” He slid downward and caught her mouth with his and their tongues reached for one another in long, slow kisses. He bent his head and took her nipple in his mouth. She drew in a shaky breath.

The doctor had warned Marsha the medication he’d prescribed would reduce her sex drive. But the poignancy and tenderness in James’s seduction reached past all that. Using his lips, teeth, and tongue, he worked his way from her breasts to her navel, then the sensitive area along her pelvic bones. It was as though her heart, mind and body had been in a sexual hibernation and he awakened each nerve ending, one kiss at a time. The patience he used to bring her to the point of opening herself to him gripped her heart and tugged. She loved him. She’d fought against it. Tried to suppress it. Out of—resentment? hurt? anger? She didn’t know. But she couldn’t fight this.

He pulled the bikini panties down her legs and off, then nibbled the inside of her thighs. The tiny love bites sent arrows of sensation to the very heart of her and she writhed beneath the sensation. He found her with his mouth, his tongue laving the tender heat, as though he couldn’t get enough. Her hands twisted in the sheets. When she thought she might fly apart at any moment, he withdrew and rose above her.

He tempted her with the head of his penis until she rocked her hips up, trying to guide him where she wanted him to be. When he finally thrust home, she groaned in encouragement and ran her nails down his back. His muscles contracted beneath the pressure and his hips thrust forward, deepening the connection. She bowed her back as the pleasurable contractions swept through her.

“Oh, baby,” he breathed. His long, measured thrusts built the sensuous tensions all over again. Emotion gripped her and she became overwhelmed by the sweet feeling of unfettered intimacy as she moved beneath him. He swelled inside her, growing harder, his climax building. “Marsha?” he breathed, her name, a plea, a question.

“Go,” she demanded. With one last thrust he found release, his hips jerking. She rolled her hips and rode the sensation until she followed him to completion.

Afterwards she held him close and ran her hands up and down his back while they both caught their breath. Her muscles felt well-used but weak as water.

When James shifted position, she opened her eyes to look up at him and found him grinning.

Color ran up her throat to her cheeks, and his smile widened.

“Shut up,” she said.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“The self-satisfied grin on your face says it all.”

He laughed. “We’ve always been good together.”

“Yeah, we have.” She drew him down to kiss him. “I’m ready for a nap.”

He eased onto his side and she turned her back to him so they could spoon. She drew his hand to her breast and held it there. For the first time in a long, long while she felt in complete balance. “I love you.”

His lips moved against her shoulder. “Roger that.”

James woke more than an hour later when Marsha slipped out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom. He closed his eyes and waited for her to return. When she slipped back into bed he reached for her. They made love again. Slowly. Enjoying touching one another, being close.

Afterwards they called home to check on Alex, and finding everything under control, showered, dressed, and went downstairs to the casino. They wandered through, pausing just to observe from a distance. Then went into the slot room. A wide range of slot machines lined the length of the room.

“Want to try one?” James asked.

Marsha shook her head. “No. But I’d like to go to the art gallery tomorrow. They’re supposed to have an exhibit of landscapes. And let’s go to the Fashion Show Mall. I don’t really need anything, but I’d like to see it.”

“Okay.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ll catch a cab to take us to the restaurant.”

Twenty minutes later their cab dropped them at the Paris hotel. The sun was setting and the lights started to come on as they entered the hotel. The French provincial lobby decor featured panels of creamy white edged in gold, and crystal chandeliers gleamed overhead. From there, they were directed by the concierge to a private elevator in the casino manned by an attendant. Once on the restaurant floor, a hostess led them past an open, spotlessly clean kitchen and seated them at a table for two that looked out at the strip and the Bellagio fountains.

They talked about friends and Alex and lingered over their meal, sampling the food, Beef Wellington and wild salmon, from each other’s plates. In the middle of the meal Marsha said, “I’ve been thinking about getting a job I could do from home. What do you think?”

She looked relaxed, and though the subdued lighting created hollows beneath her cheekbones, the more dramatic eye makeup she’d used made her eyes look smoky blue, and her hair gleamed with highlights. She looked beautiful. She raised her brows, waiting for an answer, and he dragged his thoughts back to her question. “I think you should give yourself another couple of months to get back to full fighting form, then see how you feel about it. You may even want to try something different.”

She nodded. “You’ve always been supportive of me in whatever I’ve wanted to do.”

He laid his hand over hers. “You’ve always supported me, too. And I know it hasn’t always been easy. I know what a sacrifice you’ve made being married to me. If I’m home, I’m running the unit. If I’m downrange, I’m out of touch.” How would she respond to being alone if he had to deploy again?

They enjoyed crème brûlée and a caramel soufflé for dessert, and coffee.

Marsha looped her arm through his to cuddle in the back of the cab as they headed back to the hotel. After they arrived at the Bellagio, they strolled toward the front entrance while taking in the sights.

A man stepped from behind one of the Chinese dogs into their path, and Marsha started. James’s arm tightened around her.

“Good evening, Captain, Jackson,” Agent Barnett said, coming further into the light. He nodded to Marsha. “Ma’am.”

Agent Cooper approached from the other direction and nodded to him. “We need to talk, sir.”

CHAPTER 34

J
ames settled on the couch in the sitting area of Agent Barnett’s room and stretched his arms out along the back. The room was more spacious than his and Marsha’s, with a living room area with a couch and two chairs.

“What are you doing here, Captain?” Barnett asked, his face settled into the same bulldog frown he’d kept the entire time they’d spoken before.

“I’m spending some quality time with my wife.”

“This place doesn’t come cheap. I bet you dropped a hundred fifty to two hundred dollars on dinner. That’s a chunk of change on a captain’s salary.”

As usual Barnett was coming in low and trying for the cheap shot. “Barnett, have you been stuck in bad cop mode for so long you can’t do anything else? Or is it your normal personality to be an asshole?”

Barnett scowled.

“You’re welcome to look through my financials. Which you probably already have. We haven’t taken a vacation in five years.” He bore down on the words, “
I was fucking busy somewhere else
. We eat out a couple of times a week. And the rest of the time we lead a quiet life within our means.”

“Except you’re a SEAL and are gone on deployment or training nine months out of every year,” Agent Cooper said.

He swung his attention back to her. “Which goes without saying. Now get to the point, or I’m leaving.”

Cooper flipped her ponytail over her shoulder impatiently. “We know this was Lieutenant Carney’s favorite vacation spot, Captain. It just seemed out of character for you to come here. You don’t gamble.”

“You mean I haven’t gambled since I’ve been here.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “There are other things to do here, agent.”

Her deadpan expression almost encouraged a smile.

“Because we have a two-hour window to report to base if something goes down, it has to be someplace we could fly to and from within that time frame. Tomorrow we plan to go through the art gallery here, and visit the mall to purchase a gift for our son. We’ll probably eat somewhere nice, not nearly as nice as tonight, but that was a one-time deal. While my wife goes for a massage, I’ll probably hang out in the casino and try my luck. Then we’ll fly back to San Diego around six.”

“You flew down on a private plane.” Barnett said, leaning forward in his seat.