A Major Connection (7 page)

He ignored her and focused on the dog, teaching Lobo how to sit and stay, commands the dog should already have been trained to obey yet didn’t. She stopped shoveling and watched the play of sunlight over Thorn’s body.

April sighed, wishing lust was the only thing she felt. If only he’d be a demanding jerk when they weren’t sexually involved. But he’d made her breakfast and shared a sensual shower earlier, where he saw to her needs before his own. An unselfish lover. Check. A kick-ass body. Check. A big package he knew how to use. Double check. And he smiled with his whole body when he looked at her. Oh man, triple-quadruple check.

She turned-to on the sprinkler and finished the repair.

“The dog obeys. Let’s see about you,” came a low growl right in her ear.

She started, not having heard him creep up on her. Before she could turn around, he knelt behind her and put his arms around her waist.

“Um, awkward position here, Thorn.” She was off balance, her bottom snugly pressed against his steely cock as she sat on her heels, one hand holding a shovel.
And I’m topless, don’t forget that.
Her nipples felt every breeze that passed, wishing Thorn’s fingers would replace the wind.

“Tell me about your sister.”

“Are you kidding me?”

He yanked her with him to stand and dragged her to the lounge chair, where he sat before pulling her onto his lap. He had her straddle him, face-to-face.

He stared at her breasts and licked his lips.

She waited.

He did nothing but stare as she drenched her teeny-tiny bottoms, so aroused she ached.

“Come on.” She nudged him with a soft kiss, but he didn’t respond. “You know I want you. Suck me.” She held her breast to him and plumped her nipple. April had no problem telling him what she wanted. She just didn’t want to think about it after the fact.

He raised his gaze to hers. “I said tell me about your sister.”

She blew out a breath. “You’re going to be difficult about this, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

She sighed. “Fine. She’s younger by a few years.”

“How many?”

Still no touching. She decided she’d play until he lost that icy composure. Except for the bar grinding under her bottom, the man might as well have been a statue. She cupped both breasts, teasing herself into greater arousal.

“Jane is younger than I am by three years. She’s twenty-seven. I’m thirty.”

“And?”

He stared again at her chest, his eyes shuttered.

“Oh, that feels so good.” She rocked over him, heard his sharp intake of breath, and smiled. “Jane is engaged to Dan—Captain Morrow. He seems like a great guy.”

“Mm-hmm.” His reached around and stroked her back.

Finally.
Touching.

“Sh-she’s pregnant. Seven months.”

“Congrats. You’re going to be an aunt.” He stroked her lower back and rounded his hands to her front, just under her breasts. “What else?”

“She’s in Raleigh visiting my parents,” she hissed as he cupped her breasts and stroked her nipples with his thumbs.

“Pretty.” Thorn took one nipple into his mouth and sucked, tonguing her flesh but not biting or giving her the rough treatment she needed. The anticipation made her lightheaded until he stopped. “You’re close to your family, aren’t you?”

It took her a moment to understand him, because he’d moved onto her other breast, tugging her nipple with his lips and teeth. So gentle.
Too
gentle.

“We all…God, bite me. Please.”

He teased with his tongue instead.

“Bastard.”

The other hand cupping her breast squeezed, but he refused to clamp down on her nipple.

“Sorry, Sir.”
No, I’m not.
“Yes, I’m close to my family. We all love each other, but I can’t think about them right now with you doing such nasty things to me.”

He chuckled around her taut nub, then gave her the bite she needed.

She almost came, grinding against him, needing to feel more.

“You like this, baby?”

“Yes.” She tried to pull him away so she could kiss him, but he wouldn’t be budged.

He murmured against her, “I do too. I love holding you. Sucking you.” He drew her other nipple into his mouth and bit down, teething on her until she couldn’t stop moving, feeling so needy, so empty.

“
Please.
Inside me.”

“Out here? Where anyone can see?” he teased.

“I don’t care.”
Wait. He’d said no one could see them. What—?

Then it didn’t matter, because his hand eased down the front of her belly to her shorts and slid inside. Her brief bikini bottoms were no barrier for his fingers, and she arched into him as he thrust two digits inside her while sucking her nipple back into his mouth. He fed from her, moaning with her as she rode his fingers and came in a rush.

The orgasm was so intense, she couldn’t think. She could only feel as her body splintered into shards of pleasure.

“So sweet,” he said, his voice thick, his arousal clear in the tension of his frame, the thick shaft swollen beneath her ass. Thorn withdrew his fingers and pushed her from his lap. “Stand up. Lose the bottoms.”

She stared into vivid blue eyes bright with hunger. With shaky hands, she removed the rest of her clothing. He said nothing, then pulled her back onto his lap. But this time he made her straddle him up on her knees, and he lifted he a fraction higher so he could shove his face between her legs.

He licked her and teethed her sensitive clit, shooting her into another shocking orgasm. She cried out as she came, and he continued to consume her, leaving her limp and sated.

When he finally finished, he fiddled with his trunks, exposing himself. She stared down between them, noting his shiny tip, seeing the flushed shaft so thick and full. Then he pulled her down over him, sliding so deep it seemed as if he’d reached her womb.

“Fuck. You feel so wet,” he groaned as he gripped her hips and dragged her up and down over him. “So tight.”

“Yes, Bobby. More.”

At hearing his name, he lost all restraint. She wasn’t sure how he did it, but he remained inside her as he dragged them from the chair to the grass and fucked her. He pounded into her, rough and incredibly sexy. Before she knew it, he was stiffening, his grip on her hips bruising. So damn amazing.

“Shit. Oh, baby. April.” He moaned and pumped a few more times. Then, as before, he drew into a rhythm that culminated in a second stirring climax.

Too tired to join him again, she stroked his shoulders and arms, what she could reach as he shuddered inside her.

“You really like messing me up.” She gave a light laugh. “I think we embarrassed Lobo. He’s gone.”

“Oh.” He started to withdraw, then slid back inside her. “You’re so warm. I don’t want to move.”

“I know. You fill me up, and it’s like we fit.”

Like we fit.
“Like a lock and key,” he added, staring into the face of the woman coming to mean far more to him than she should. Than should have been possible, considering he barely knew her. “What’s your favorite color?”

She blinked. “Seriously? You’re inside me. We’re both naked on your back lawn. And you want to know my favorite color?”

He felt like an ass, but he needed to know. Like a driving force inside him, uncovering knowledge about April Soames seemed as necessary as breathing. “Tell me.”

She exhaled on a groan. “You have some seriously odd timing. First you want to know about my sister while I’m half-naked on your lap, now you want my favorite color while you’re buried inside me. But fine, whatever.” She gave him a funny look, staring straight into his eyes. “I like blue.”

“I like aqua-blue.” Teal sounded too womanly, but damn if it wasn’t his new favorite color.

“Chocolate or vanilla?” she asked.

“Vanilla.”

“No way.” She laughed at him, and he softened—finally—and fell out of her.

Not wanting this closeness to end, he lifted her to her feet and picked her up, then carried her inside to the shower. She was no lightweight. The woman had serious muscle, but Thorn had no problem holding her.

“Oh my gosh, you’re carrying me?”

“No problem.”

“Not with those muscles—Master. And you like
vanilla
?”

“Vanilla as a flavor, not a lifestyle,” he amended with a smile as they continued down the hall.

She smiled back, and they showered together, each cleaning the other with gentle hands, learning through touch.

After they’d dried off, they dressed in shorts and tee-shirts—because if he had to watch her prance around in a bikini again, he’d take her, and his dick might fall off from overuse. They found Lobo and sat outside, drinking iced tea.

“What about you? Vanilla or chocolate?” he asked.

“Strawberry.”

“I didn’t know that was an option.”

She smirked. “It is when I make the rules.”

“See? We’re a lot more alike than you might think. We both like to be in charge.”

“Yeah, well, in bed I’m all for you taking the lead. But out of it, that’s another story.”

He nodded. “I like that about you.”

“Oh?”

“You’re pretty confident. It’s sexy as hell.”

She blushed, and he wanted to pull her into his arms and never let go.

Not good, Thorn. And not smart. You know better.
Yet he couldn’t stop himself from feeling more for her than attraction. Affection, tenderness, and lust all balled together in a knot he knew would tie him up no matter how hard he fought.

Before he could say something stupid and probably scare her off, she said, “Tell me something about yourself. I mean, I know you’re Force Recon. Everyone’s heard of the notorious, loud-mouthed company gunny at Alpha Company. I also know you’re dictatorial, obnoxious, and need better discipline on your Marines.”

“Bullshit. Corporal Harris didn’t see you that day. He wasn’t gaffing you off.”

“Oh? So he saluted the officers behind me and to the left of me, but he didn’t see me?”

“No. I was talking to him at the time and he—”

“Gave me the same leering onceover you’ve been giving me since Lobo tore up your yard.”

He blinked. “Harris did that?” The little prick. And Thorn had thought he’d done the right thing by sticking up for his Marine, assuming at the time that Major Hotness had been on a power trip.

“Never mind, Thorn. Let it go.”

“Sure.”
I’ll nail the kid when I see him again. He’ll be doing mountain climbers until he’s a sergeant—if he even makes it that far.

“I know Thorn—the Marine,” she said. “Tell me about Bobby’s family.”

“You make me sound like a schizophrenic.”

“If the shoe fits…”

“Smart ass.”

She laughed. “Well? Come on. Tell me. Do the Honorable Mr. and Mrs. Thorn live around here?”

“My mom and dad live in Swansboro right up the road. Believe it or not, I grew up here.” Most people around Jacksonville, North Carolina were tied to the Marine Corps base in some way. But not his folks.

“Military family?”

“No. I have two younger sisters who married Marines though. Does that count?”

“No. But it counts that you’re a Marine.”

“Gee. Thanks.”

She smiled. “So what made you join the Corps?”

“I kind of absorbed it through the town. Everything around here is Marine-related, you know? You see a guy with more than an inch of hair and he’s considered a hippie.”

She nodded. “I know. It’s so hard to date civilians. They seem so, I don’t know. Unkempt.”

“You and your big words.”

“Shut up.”

He chuckled. “My parents weren’t military, though my uncle was. My dad’s a salesman, recently retired. Mom runs the household. I have two older sisters, and like you, we’re tight. We all had a decent upbringing. Not rich but not poor. We’re pretty happy people, I guess.”

“So how did you get so intense, then?”

He shrugged. “Guess I’m just built that way. It’s funny. My dad is pretty mellow. I’m more like my uncle, who was a SEAL, actually. We have fun family reunions trying to outdo each other.”

“I’ll bet.” She took a sip of her tea and studied him for a moment. “So I have to know.”

“Yes?”

“Why no Mrs. Gunny Thorn? I mean, you’re not half bad to look at. Your body is amazing, and you know it.”

“I do.”

She rolled her eyes. “So humble. You seem somewhat intelligent and no longer live with your parents. I’m surprised you’re still single.”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“You could, but I’m asking
you
.”

“Fine. Yeah, there was a woman a few years ago. I was totally hot for her, but she had it bad for her childhood crush.” He still missed Maria, but with a fondness anymore, not so much a biting grief for things that might have been. The rest of them had paled next to her…until April.

“Years ago? No one more recent?”

“No one serious,” he answered.
Not until you.
“So tell me, why no Mr. Major?”

She sighed and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her foot against his calf and stirring a warmth that went far deeper than the skin. “I decided early on not to date Marines. Tried it once; it didn’t work. It was like he didn’t know how to handle the fact that I understood his job and wasn’t impressed by his ability to run a few miles without dying.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, he had issues, and he made it difficult when he involved friends of ours into our spats. I figured it would be easier to not date peers. But dating civilian guys is just as tough. When you’re a male Marine dating a female civilian, women think you’re studly in uniform. It’s okay for you to be strong. But try being a female Marine dating a regular guy. They feel like they have something to prove. More than one of my exes was jealous I spent so much time around men.”

“It’s the nature of the job.”

“I know.” She shrugged. “Heck, I do more before nine a.m. than most people I know who aren’t military. Civilians just don’t get it, at least, the ones I’ve met don’t.”

“Like your loser date the other night.”

“Thanks so much for bringing him up.”

He tried to hold back a smile. “Come on. Someone had to come close to tempting you with a ring.”

“Nope. I kind of gave up on guys for a while. Then I got so busy with work I just didn’t care enough to try.”