One Night of Pleasure: Military Romance Featuring a Sexy Navy Hero (Take a Chance Book 5) (3 page)

As they waited at the elevator bank, Bridget shot him an anxious look.  “Are you sure about this?” she asked.

Mark had never been surer of anything, but it was obvious she was still hesitant.  “I am, but if you’re having any doubts . . .”

The ding of the elevator’s arrival kept him from continuing and her from answering.  They climbed on board, but once inside, went to separate sides of the elevator, almost like fighters in a boxing ring.

“This isn’t something I normally do,” she said, tightly gripping the metal rail on the elevator wall.

“Me, either, although you seem to think otherwise,” he said, puzzled by what was happening.

“The guys always talk – ”

“About all the women I’m with.  I get that, but it’s part of what I do here for the casinos.  You’re around guys all the time on the beach replenishment job,” he shot back and sauntered over until he was standing right in front of her, his gaze locked on hers.

“It’s different,” she said and glanced away, clearly uneasy.

The words were on his lips, ready to spill out, when the elevator jerked to a rough stop, jostling them together.

Darkness surrounded them for a brief second until a dim emergency light kicked on.

“What happened?” Bridget said and laid her hands on his chest to steady herself.

“Let me call someone and find out.”  He reached beneath his tuxedo jacket, pulled out his cell phone, and speed dialed his employee who was on duty for the night.

The man answered immediately.  “Good evening, sir.  How can I help you?”

“Evening, Zack.  My current situation is that I’m stuck in an elevator in the South tower.”

“Roger, that. Chatter is that there’s a transformer problem.  Hold on while I check on when it’ll be fixed,” Zack said.

He could hear Zack talking to someone on another line and from what he could gather, it wasn’t good news.

“Zack?” he said and a moment later, the young man came back on. He turned on the speaker and tilted the phone so that Bridget could hear the reply as well.

“I’m sorry, sir.  They say it could be as much as an hour before they get the power back.  We’ve lost eyes in the elevators as well,” he said, referring to the closed circuit cameras.  “Do you want me to send someone up to try and get you out?”

And give up an hour alone with Bridget in a nearly dark and very private elevator?

He skipped his gaze to hers and she shook her head to confirm that their rescue was unnecessary.  “No, Zack.  We’ll be fine.  Just keep me posted if the situation changes,” he said and swiped off the cell phone.

“Are you sure?” he asked, wanting to be certain that she was fine with their unplanned captivity.

Am I sure
? Bridget thought.  She had never envisioned the night starting quite like this, but it made it impossible for her to change her mind about what she wanted:  one night of pleasure with this amazing man.

“I’m sure, Captain,” she teased.  Dragging up false bravado, she added, “You strike me as a resourceful man. I’m sure you can think of what to do to keep us occupied for the next hour.”

He huffed out a rough breath, laid his hand at the crook of her neck, and tenderly swiped his thumb across the line of her jaw.  “They say that darkness heightens all the other senses,” he said, the tone of his voice low and husky.

She looked past him to the emergency light that cast murky illumination in the space.  “Not quite dark.”

“Not quite.  Close your eyes, Bridget,” he said, a hint of command threaded in his voice.

She examined his shadowed features, taut with desire.  His crystalline gaze hot, irises wide with passion.  As much as she wanted to lose herself in that gaze, she dragged her eyes closed, anxious for more.

“That’s it, babe.  You’re so beautiful,” he said and when she went to protest, he slipped his index finger over her lips.  “No, don’t deny it.  Not when I’m so hard for you that I’m ready to burst out of these pants.”

To prove his point, he guided her hand to his erection and laid it against him, but as she went to stroke him, he said, “No, not yet. First it’s all about you.”

He skimmed his fingers from her jaw down to the low Vee of the dress, the pads of his fingers rough against her skin.  He ran his index finger along the edge of the fabric, avoiding where she wanted his hand the most and she mewled in frustration.

Chuckling, he said, “Patience, Bridget.  No sense rushing since we have an hour.”

She wouldn’t survive an hour of this slow seduction.  It had been way too long since she’d been with a man and she was way too needy.  But she wouldn’t beg either and . . .

She shook as he dipped his hand beneath the fabric and covered her breast with his palm.  A wave of wet and heat exploded between her legs with his touch and when he dragged his thumb across the tip of her breast, a whimper escaped her.

He muttered a curse and laid his forehead against hers.  His breath was shaky as he said, “You make me crazy with those sounds, Bridget.  With the way you feel, so soft and hard.  I want to taste you, babe.”

He danced his lips down her nose and to her lips.  He opened his mouth on hers and plucked her tight nipple with his fingers, dragging another sexy cry from her before she said, “I want your mouth on me, Mark.”

“Whatever you want, babe.”  He brushed aside the fabric of the dress and dipped his head to lick and suck the hard nub of her nipple while he teased the other one with his fingers.

The heat and wet of his mouth was far more enticing than she had expected.  The strong yet gentle pull of his lips.  The slickness of his tongue as he licked the tip and followed it with a teasing bite.

“God, Mark.  That feels so good,” she said and cradled his head to her.

“You’re so sweet, Bridget.  So sweet,” Mark said, loving how responsive she was to his every touch and taste.  Wanting to give her so much more pleasure and show her just how beautiful and exciting he found her.

He shifted to her other breast, sucking and biting.  His fingers plucking and rubbing the wet all around the tip of the breast he had just left.  As she butted her hips against him, he nearly came from that slight pressure, he was so ready for her.  But he wanted her to experience her pleasure first.  Wanted to show her just how good it could be between them because he sensed that even though she was with him now, she wasn’t quite sure if this was the right thing for her.

He wasn’t sure it was either.  Not when she found out more about him.  About all the things he couldn’t offer her, but he wouldn’t think about that now.

Not now when it was all so good.  So promising.

He kept on loving her breast with his mouth while he dipped his hand lower and found the slit in her dress.  He eased beneath the fabric and toward her center, anxious to have her beneath his fingers.  Anticipating how she would feel and imagining all that heat and wet surrounding him.

He moaned at the thought and she shook at the sound.

“Mark,” she said and grasped his wrist as he ran his fingers along the top edge of her panties.

He’d never forced anyone before and he wouldn’t now.  Raising his head, he met her heavy-lidded gaze.  “If you want me to stop, I will.  Just say the word.”

“I don’t want to be selfish.  What about you?”

He released a shaky chuckle and said, “Giving you pleasure is very satisfying and the night has just started.”

Just started.

The words repeated in Bridget’s head and melded with thoughts of them together, satisfying each other over and over and over again.  She didn’t think it was possible, but another wave of wet dampened her panties and her clit pulsed in anticipation.

She released his wrist and stroked her hand up his arm as she parted her legs.

Eyes locked with hers, Mark dipped his thumb beneath the edge of her panties and found her center.  As he rubbed his thumb around and around her clit, her breath grew choppy and her knees wobbled a bit.

She grabbed hold of his shoulders and he wrapped one arm around her waist to offer support.

He eased his hand between her legs, swept his fingers across her nether lips and eased a finger inside.

Her vagina clenched with need and he groaned.  “God, you’re so wet. Tight,” he said as he stroked her.

She was tight because it had been way too long since she’d slept with a man much less had one finger fuck her as he was doing.  Each stroke of his fingers along her sensitive clit and vagina brought ever greater need until she was rocking against his hand and moaning for more.

“That’s it, babe.  God, you’re so beautiful.  So sexy,” he urged and eased another finger inside while he kept on caressing her clit, alternating between light swipes and deeper pressure.

Her breath was rasping out of her chest as if she was running as she rode his hand and he stroked her, raising her desire higher and higher until she was at the edge of release.

She closed her eyes against the desire buffeting her and the sight of him, his gaze locked on hers, watching it all.

Throwing her head back, she keened as the first wave of her orgasm coursed through her body and Mark urged her on.

“Let it go, Bridget. Don’t hold back,” he said and a second later his mouth was at her breast again sucking hard on her tight nipple.  Giving it a gentle nip before licking away the slight sting and she lost it then.

She wrapped her arms around his head and held him to her as he kissed and sucked at her breasts. As he thrust his fingers into her until the last waves of her orgasm ebbed.

He moved his hand from between her legs and she thought he was done, but he took hold of her panties and dragged them down her legs as he lowered to his knees.

“Mark,” she said and shook as he parted her dress and buried his head between her legs.

With one sure stroke of his tongue along her clit, her desire was soaring again, flying high as she approached another climax.  He drove his fingers inside her until she was ready to come apart again.

She held his head with one hand and grasped the metal railing with the other, her body nearly boneless from the pleasure he was bringing her yet once more.

Over and over he licked and sucked at her clit and nether lips.  Dipped his tongue deep into her pussy, claiming her orgasm until she was pleading for him to stop.

He did, but not before one last kiss on her clit that sent a final wave of pleasure throughout her body.

He rose and brought his hands to her waist to hold her steady.

His gaze met hers and he gave her a crooked and boyish grin.  One that said he was quite satisfied with himself and which yanked a smile from her as well.

“Don’t get all cocky now, Captain,” she teased.

He rubbed his hips across hers with the very obvious proof of just how cocky he was, and shot back, “Too late.”

She was saved from responding by the sudden lurch of the elevator and a blast of brightness as the lights came back on.  A second later, the elevator was on the move back down to the main floor.

Mark stealthily tucked her panties into his pocket as the elevator door opened.  He wrapped an arm around her waist and escorted her into the dimly lit lobby.  A well-dressed young man waited there.

Zack, if she had to guess.

“What’s the situation?” Mark asked, switching back to work mode.

“A big SNAFU, sir.  They managed to get temporary power to the elevators to get you out, but they’re still without juice in the lobby area and the first three floors.  They’ve got representatives on each floor to assist guests with complimentary rooms in the other tower for the night.”

The first three floors, including my room
, she thought.  “I guess it’s not my lucky night.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Mark said, but in such so soft tones only she could hear.

“Do you need me or any additional personnel to deal with the issue?” he asked.

The young man wagged his head of shortly-cropped hair.  Everything about him said ex-military although she guessed him to be in his mid-twenties.  But the too fresh network of scars visible just above his shirt collar confirmed her first thought.

“No, sir.  Rafe was here when it happened and he’s helping out.”

He glanced at her, as if seeking her approval, as he said, “I guess we should go home.”

Chapter 5

Mark waited expectantly for her answer.  Relief swept through him at the subtle dip of her head.

With his hand at the small of her back, he guided her through the tower lobby and to the main entrance for the hotel.  A valet rushed up to them and Mark handed him the ticket for his SUV.

Beside him Bridget shivered with the chill of the night air.  It might be Memorial Day weekend, but if there was such a thing as global warming, it wasn’t helping them out tonight.  He eased off his jacket and slipped it over her shoulders.

“Thank you,” she said and he was grateful she wasn’t one of those women who couldn’t appreciate a gallant gesture.

“You’re very welcome.  I’m sorry we had this mishap with your room.  I can lend you some clothes when we get home.”

She grinned wickedly and her blue eyes shone with a devilish glimmer. “Why, Captain. I thought the whole idea of getting me home was to get me out of my clothes?”

He laughed out loud and tightened his hold on her.  “Are you always this unpredictable?”

Some of the gleam left her eyes.  “No, not ever.  I’m usually boring and responsible.  Or at least that’s what my sister Maggie tells me.  But for this one night, I want to be different.”

She didn’t say it, but he got the subtext beneath her words.  She wanted to be like the kind of women she thought he liked.  Beautiful, pampered, and glamorous.  But as much as he enjoyed seeing Bridget all done up, he far preferred her in her natural state.

He definitely planned to prove that to her tonight.

What about after
? the little voice in his head asked. 
What will happen after?

He ignored the annoying intrusion of his conscience.  Bridget had said nothing about tomorrow, only about tonight.

For this one night he’d show her just how much pleasure they could share.