Her Marine Bodyguard (18 page)

Her shiver of reaction vibrated through him, and he took his time, drying her with deliberate motion. Shannon didn’t pull away; instead, she kept reaching out to touch him. The need for contact, and the tremulous smile despite the dark revelations and the flashbacks, struck him hard and fast. She’d tried to shut down on him but had listened and hung onto him when he stayed in her space.

More, she’d said she loved him.

“Brody.” She exhaled his name with a groan. He continued to towel her dry, stroking every inch of her skin. The bruises were still dark and angry, but the scrapes were healing.

“Are you hurting?” Despite all the bumps, bruises, and shocks, he hadn’t seen her take anything.

“A little,” she admitted and gazed at him.

Running his hands along her legs, he reveled in the muscle beneath her satin flesh. “You’re gorgeous. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

Her nostrils flared, and the small smile on her face grew. “I always feel beautiful with you.”

“Good.” He pressed a kiss to her tummy. “Hurting, however, isn’t acceptable.”

Laughter trembled in her voice. “No? Are you the boss of me?”

“Absolutely.” And he meant it. She belonged to him. He’d teased her earlier about understanding she was taken. He’d held onto every communication, every whispered sigh, every memory they created…and he wanted more. “I love you.” He didn’t need to repeat himself, but he chose to anyway. “I’m not looking for Ms. Right Now or a good time or a fling.”

With his tongue, he drew a circle on her tummy and then dipped lower. Dropping the towel, he cupped her ass and held her steady when she began to sway.

“No?” Strangling the single syllable, she placed her hand on his head. No pressure, no weight. Merely a touch to help her balance. The trust in the simple act smashed his resolve.

“No, I want more. A lot more.” Massaging her ass, he remained mindful of her bruises. Everything about her went softer, more relaxed, and she drifted forward, and her knees buckled. Lifting her, he set her on the bed. “From the moment we met, you intrigued me.”

“I was a mess. I’m still a mess,” she protested. He bent and bit her nipple gently—hard enough for her to feel the sting, not so hard as to hurt her.

“Be nice to my girl,” he told her before laving the spot he’d nipped. He’d known from the first week what he felt for her went beyond simple attraction. She had him itching from the inside out. Some women might have used the success she’d found in her sensuality to look closer to home or experiment, but not Shannon. The nascent bond they’d formed deepened, and she hadn’t merely relied on him to chase away her demons.

She’d confronted them on her own.

“Life is messy,” he said, delivering the words between kisses. “Chaos exists in everything we do. You’re strong, and you own who you are.”

“How do you always know what to say?” No longer content to be passive, she cradled his face and traced his features with her thumbs.

He pulled himself out of his musings and back to the woman who turned his life inside out and made him a better person. “Do you have any idea who I was before I met you?”

“No.” The simple answer caused him to smile, but she wasn’t finished. “But I have a good idea. You’re kind, and you’re smart, and you’re incredibly loyal. You never had anyone before the Marines who showed you a kind of loyalty in return. You don’t expect things from other people, and you’re genuinely surprised when you receive them. You live to defend, to fight and make this a better place. You would have gone home with blue balls the night you met me if I hadn’t wanted you enough to overcome my fears…but wanting you has never been a problem. You always put me first. Sometimes it scares me.”

Possessiveness he’d come to associate with her slapped him upside the head. The same urge to claim her had been a fire in his belly since their first night. She was right , and no matter how much of his Neanderthal side it appealed to, he kept the decision in her hands. Too many other choices had been taken away from her.

“It will always be your choice,” he said, fisting her damp hair and dipping down for a long kiss. She met his tongue stroke for stroke. Shifting, she spread her thighs, creating a place for him, and cradled him closer. “I want you, permanently.” She needed to know this wasn’t an affair or a fling, or something he would abandon. “But it will always be your choice.”

“I chose you,” she said, tugging him until his forehead rested on hers. “I
love
you.”

“Be sure,” he said, fighting the very primitive urge to just take her at her word and to hell with the consequences. “I mean it, Shannon. If you want something else—” He wouldn’t say someone else because then he’d be battling a far more violent urge to kill that mysterious someone. “I would understand. I’m a Marine. I’m not sure where the next assignment will take me, if I don’t end up in jail. I know we talked about me retiring, but it might not be an option. Everything I have, everything I can give you, I will…but sometimes, I can’t control what they demand of me.” Or where they demand he go. She’d needed him once, and he hadn’t been here.

He trailed his fingers over her curves, unable to lie there and not touch her.

“I am sure.” And with her whisper, she’d both freed him and shackled him willingly. “I don’t want anyone else. I don’t even like other people the way I like you. I
love
you. I choose you. I will always choose you. Everything else we can figure out.”

“I’m never letting you go.” Offering her a last warning on a last chance he would never make good on. He’d been hers from the first day, and it was his privilege to keep her.

“Promises, promises….” A gleam of humor chased away the shadows in her eyes, and she arched her back, rubbing her breasts against him. One kiss had never been enough, nor had one night. He’d known for a long time.

A lifetime wouldn’t be enough. “Marry me?” His benefits would be hers. His guys would look after her if he couldn’t. She’d have his name, and worst-case scenario, he could move her onto a base. She’d be swimming in Marines; no one would ever get near her again if she didn’t want them there.

Tremulous smile growing, she wrapped her arms around him and rose to nuzzle his mouth. “I love you, Brody. Yes…I’ll marry you.”

He teased his tongue along the seam of her lips, and she opened them willingly. No hesitations, no retreat. Once he stole inside again, she moaned. The vibrations tingled against his mouth and filtered across every nerve in his body.

She didn’t even hesitate for a second. She was perfect. Generous breasts tipped with hardened dusky nipples. Long, gorgeous legs that didn’t quit. Smart. Sassy. Vibrant and passionate in her responses. She held him with strength and offered him her vulnerability—and more—she gave him her trust. He poured his want into the kiss, and cupped one breast so he could play with the tip.

Conversation was over. He continued to kiss and suck her tongue for several, long panting moments before abandoning her mouth to dip lower. Her harsh inhales and groans offered up her pleasure like a fine meal. Nothing shy in her response, nothing held back, and the scent of her arousal acted like a drug on his system.

Fuck, she owned him body and soul. He grazed his teeth over her nipples, sucking one, then the other.

Sliding his hand down her belly, he shifted so he could reach her sex. She was wet and warm, and he knew how it would feel to thrust his cock into her. He circled his thumb around her clit. Her arms tensed, and she moaned, long and low. No, she didn’t hide her pleasure from him or fight her own responsiveness.

He eased two fingers into her, soaking up the pleasure in her gorgeous eyes. Where she’d been pale and haunted before, she flushed. So pretty and pink. He pressed on her clit, and she cried out. He wanted to play and make her come in so many ways, but the lust in his veins exploded. Playing would be for later, he’d wanted to lay claim to her so deep and hard she’d never doubt who she belonged to, where he belonged.

He rose for another taste of her mouth, enjoying the way her inner muscles clung to his fingers and how she dug her hands into his shoulders and then his sides. She didn’t pretend not to need him as hard as he did her, but she didn’t drive him to do more either.

The surrender of her pleasure to him so utterly was the sexiest thing he’d ever experienced. She was an absolute joy to behold, a delight of curves, fragrant skin, and the most provocative sounds. A perfect fit for him.

“I want to take my time.” He had to grind the words out, past the clawing beast demanding he satisfy them both immediately.

“No, you don’t.” She defied him with a breathless laugh. “I’m not going to break, and you don’t have to prove anything. I want you—every day, every way.”

She gave him permission to slip the leash, to feed the yearning in his soul that left him so vulnerable. Accepting it, he gave her another hard kiss before rolling free. He needed a condom, and they were in the bathroom, but she stopped him.

“You don’t….”

His brows rose.

“I’m on birth control, and even if I wasn’t…I’m ready to leap with you.”

Permission and invitation invaded his reason. If he got her pregnant, they’d be tied together forever. But who was he kidding?

They owned each other.

“You sure?” Somehow, accepting all of it made teasing easier.

The door in the other room opened, and they both went still.

“Yo, Brody, I’m going to….”

Shannon’s eyes grew into big circles, and she bit her lip, amusement vibrating through her in suppressed giggles.

“Get out, Rowdy,” he yelled in response, not bothering to disguise his growl. “You come back up here before I let you know you can, and I’ll kill you.”

“I’m going to get coffee and talk to you later.” Laughter trailed the man out, but the stairway door closed, and a lock tumbling closed echoed behind him.

The heat of her sex warmed his cock, causing it to twitch. “Fucking bastard.” But the last came out without any real censure, and he settled along Shannon once more. “We can have kids whenever you want, but I’m a greedy man, and as much as I want my baby in there, I want you to myself for a while.”

“Like I said, I’m on birth control…and I don’t want anything between us.”

He couldn’t argue, and he didn’t want to. No more delays. No more interruptions.

No more separation.

He moved back between her legs. When he gazed at her, he forgot how to think. How had he ended up so lucky? All her dark hair spread over the sheets. Her lips swollen from his kisses, and her dark eyes heavy with the same lust devouring him—perfection. One more slow, easy kiss had his heart pounding and his need burst out control. He rose up to his knees, pulled her hips up and then entered her in one, hard swift movement.

Fucking hell
. It was the only thing that came to mind. Not exactly romantic, but it was what it was. Nothing kept him from feeling every silken, hot inch of her. Her muscles tightened around him as he pulled himself out and thrust once more. Shannon thrashed her head from side to side. Her hips arched, eager and demanding, meeting him motion for motion.

Impatient, and wanting her pleasure nearly as much as his own, he slid a hand between them and worked her clit. Between one instant and the next, she convulsed and screamed his name. Her orgasm had her inner muscles clamping down on him, pulling him deeper, and he slammed into her. It didn’t take much before his spine went white-hot, and then his own orgasm took over, and he came hard and fast.

Her second orgasm pulled him farther into her warmth, dragging his from him. One last thrust, and he lost it. His balls dragged up hard, and he came with a shout. Collapsing, he fought to keep from crushing her, but Shannon had no such reservations. She wrapped him up in her trembling arms and legs.

“I love you, Brody.” She brushed a kiss to his ear.

“I know.” He wore a small smile, felt a giddiness more suited to a schoolgirl than a Marine flowing through him. “I’m keeping you, Mrs. Soon-To-Be-Essex.”

“Oh,” she said with a startled laugh that had her inner muscles flexing around his softening cock, and the sensation twisted his insides. “I love the sound of that.”

“Me, too.” He didn’t mind admitting it.
Wife
. She would be his. His to take care of. His to protect. His to keep for all time. Rolling over, he pulled her with him and settled her like a feminine drape across him. Shannon snuggled closer and rested her head on his chest. She couldn’t disguise her drowsiness, and he began to rub her back in slow, gentle circles.

Sleep. She needed to sleep.

And Brody needed to plan.

Dale Weston’s days were numbered. He just hadn’t realized it yet.

“When did those two get here?” Brody asked while watching Jazz Cavanaugh, along with two women he hadn’t expected to see again, take the elevator up to Shannon’s loft studio and apartment. Sergeant Mary Phillips and Corporal Roxy Cortez had both been members of Jazz’s FET team in Afghanistan. The last time Brody had seen the other two women had been when his team went in to get them out and facilitate transport before sweeping the town for insurgents.

Logan and Zach had brought all three with them when they’d arrived to take over watch, so Brody could head out with Foster and Rowdy. They had an appointment to see Dale Weston.

“Roxy and Mary are both assigned to Quantico for a few months to teach some training classes, and they had some leave, so they came to see Jazz.” Zach’s smooth answer earned a snort from Logan.

“What he’s not saying is Roxy’s husband decided his wife’s regular deployments meant he needed to fuck around on her. He’s also suing her for custody of their kids, and she’s a wreck. Mary brought her here, so Jazz and she can buck her up.”

Shit-ass situation and not the first time a deployment had come between a married couple. “That sucks.”

“Yep,” Logan said with a nod. “But we have three Marines up there with your girl, and all women. Keeps her comfortable and safe.” He didn’t need to add it kept Jazz safer by extension. Neither Logan nor Zach would let Jazz take on a potential combat situation without backup.