Cinderella Liberty (9 page)

"You?" She raised a brow. "How do you think I felt? I had to pretend nothing was going on."

Crash dipped lower, his lips just inches from hers. "Oh, there was definitely something going on."

Yes, there was, and she hoped it would happen again. Trish closed the distance and pressed her mouth against his. Crash thrust his tongue between her lips as he backed her up the few feet until she was pressed against the door.

When he broke from her mouth and moved on to biting her neck, she hardly had enough breath to ask, "Should I open the sofabed?"

"No. This is good." He slid down her body until he was on his knees in front of her, his hands moving beneath her dress and up the bare skin of her thighs.

"Don't you want to take off your uniform?" Trish wondered where the fastidious Marine who hung up his T-shirts had gone.

"Too risky. Don't know how long they'll be." Crash pressed his lips against first one thigh, and then the other while his fingers slid over her ass.

"Aren't you worried about messing it up?" It was amazing she could still think given what he was doing to her, but Trish managed it. Barely.

"Doesn't matter. Only have to check in tonight. Tomorrow we'll be in flight suits, and then we'll be home." He pulled down her underwear and there was no more discussion, because his mouth was busy elsewhere.

Crash spread her with his thumbs and drove his tongue into her sensitive flesh. Trish gasped at the feel of it, but she sure as hell didn't want him to stop. She let him know that by moving her feet another step apart and giving him better access. He answered that cue with a low groan.

As much as she wanted this, she wanted him inside her more. "Crash, we don't know how long we have. Just fuck me."

He pulled back and stared up at her, his sandy brows raised high. "You Jersey girls sure say things plain." Then a smile spread across his face. "I like it."

Crash stood and Trish found herself hoisted up against him and carried around the half wall to the kitchenette area. This was good. At least there they would have a little bit of privacy should Danny come out of the bedroom. Crash set her on top of the counter and reached into his pocket.

She watched him tear into one of the condoms he had stashed in his pants. "I see you came packing."

"You have no idea how hard it was to get these without Zippy seeing me." He shook his head as he unbuckled his belt and unzipped his fly. Pushing his underwear down, Crash rolled the latex over his length. His eyes narrowed as he pulled her hips forward and stepped between her spread thighs. "It was well worth the trouble."

Crash pushed inside her with one thrust. After a night of sitting next to him anticipating this moment, and after that orgasm in the bar and his tongue on her just now, she was more than ready.

Eyes closed, Trish let her head fall back against the cabinet behind her and concentrated on the sensations. The feeling of Crash filling her, stroking into her, hard but slow. Fully dressed, he stood on tiptoe to reach her on the counter.

He seemed to throw his whole body into loving her. As he'd said last night, this was predeployment sex. She was sure he was putting everything he had into this, and she was willing to give all she had to him on their last night together.

Crash gripped her hips with both hands and slammed his mouth into hers. His motion into her sped, his breathing increasing along with his stroke. He stiffened beneath the hands she had braced on his arms. She felt the tremor run through him and knew he was coming.

It was as if he came back to his senses once the initial frenzy was over. His sky blue eyes opened and he watched her face. He stayed inside, pressed deep, making the tiniest of motions into her. Wetting one thumb with his tongue, he reached between them and rubbed her clit, slow and gentle.

Trish's eyes drifted shut and her mouth opened on a breath as he zeroed in on the spot that would bring her so much ecstasy. Her muscles were already clenching, primed for release, when Crash pressed harder, working her faster. He leaned close and pulled her earlobe between his teeth, biting just hard enough to let her know he wanted to devour her as much as she wanted him to.

"Oh, God." He let out a breath and she felt the warmth wash over her. "I can feel you squeezing me."

The sound of his voice, the heat of his mouth against her ear, was all it took. Trish felt the climax start to break over her. Her breath came in quick bursts and she couldn't control the sounds of her pleasure.

He was still inside her as they both tried to recover, when she heard the bathroom door close. Her eyes flew open at the sound.

Danny and Dawn were moving around in the other room. They could come through the door any second. She looked to Crash, but he had already pulled out of her and was crossing the small space to toss the used condom in the trashcan.

Eyes wide, he turned to her. "Your underwear."

"Oh my God. It's still by the door. I'll get it." Still in the heels she'd pretended she'd needed to change, Trish jumped down, holding on to the edge of the counter to keep from twisting an ankle.

While Crash was busy tucking in his shirt and zipping his pants, she ran as fast as she could to the door. She spotted the incriminating item on the floor right where Crash had dropped it. Trish bent down and scooped up the scrap of lace. She wadded the fabric into a ball in her fist just as the bedroom door opened and her brother came out wearing the expression she was familiar with from their childhood. The one that looked too innocent to be real, which he donned when he'd been up to no good. It was obvious he and Dawn had done something in there. The only question was why the hell hadn't they taken their time tonight the way they had last night?

"You ready to drive us back to the boat?" he asked, straightening the shirt not so neatly tucked into his pants.

"Already?" Trish put on her own look of innocence.

"Yeah, it's getting late and we have to check in early tonight. Remember?"

"And you want to go out somewhere else before you do." The thought had the acid backing up into her throat.

Why did Danny's plan bother her so much? The reason moved closer to stand behind her now. Crash. She didn't want him at some strip club surrounded by women who for a twenty dollar bill—or however much a damn lap dance cost—would grind their bodies against his.

"I'm sorry, Trish, but I promised some of the guys we'd meet them for a drink at a club near the boat. It's no big deal. You and I got to have dinner together and hang out, didn't we?"

Trish scowled at her brother's lie, or rather avoidance of the complete truth. Crash had told her about Danny's plan to go to the strip club across the street from where the ship was docked. She noticed Danny never had mentioned
which
club he'd be ditching her and Dawn to go to.

"We have time to get down there, Zip. It's early yet." Crash stepped closer and she felt his hand on the small of her back, where her brother couldn't see his touch.

The intimate gesture made Trish more pissed she'd be saying goodbye to him sooner rather than later, thanks to Danny. "It's not like I'm holding you up. As soon as Dawn is ready, we can go."

Danny glanced down at Trish's feet. "I thought you had to change your shoes. That's why we came up here in the first place."

Crap. She'd forgotten about that ruse.

"I do, but the door to the bedroom seemed to be closed for some reason so I couldn't get to my shoes, now could I?" After adding a good dose of attitude to her tone, she strutted around her brother and headed for the bedroom door.

She smothered the guilt and wadded the panties tighter in her hand. She held them behind the skirt of her dress as she walked so he wouldn't see. Trish shouldn't be laying into her brother about being shut inside the bedroom with Dawn since she and Crash had been behaving just as badly together out here without even the privacy of a door.

Right now, she didn't care if she was right or not. All she could think about was the goodbye ahead.

Dawn was still in the bathroom, which was good. It gave Trish time to step behind the closet door and slip her underwear back on. Only then, after she was no longer commando, did she take the time to look for a different pair of shoes. They'd have to be flats since the other pair of heels she'd packed didn't match this dress. Not that it mattered. All she'd be doing was sitting in the car and driving. Delivering her brother and the man she'd been having sex with just minutes before right into the arms of some naked woman-for-hire.

But before they disappeared into the ironically named
gentlemen's
club she'd have to say goodbye to both of them, and that would be the hardest part.

The door to the bathroom opened and she turned to see Dawn, a little pink cheeked, in the doorway, although Trish couldn't say that she wasn't looking a little flushed herself after her own quickie with Crash.

"You ready to go?" Trish asked.

Dawn's brow wrinkled. "Go where?"

"I have to drive them to the dock. Danny is itching to get back."

"Why? I thought they had a few more hours."

"They do." Not in the mood to enable Danny's half truths considering he was taking Crash away from her earlier than necessary, and to be with naked women no less, Trish decided to tell Dawn the real reason. "There's a strip club across the street from their ship he wants to go to."

Dawn's frown deepened. "No wonder he was in such a rush."

"Yup." Trish sat right on the carpet and pulled off her heels, tossing them one at a time into the closet. She slipped on her flats and stood. "Ready?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Dawn's expression told Trish she was no happier about Danny's plan, and there was nothing either one of them could do about it.

Her brother and the guy she was crushing on hard were both heading to the damn warzone in Afghanistan and the only thing Trish could do was drop them off for one last night out on the town, and then pray they'd both come home seven long months from now. That pretty much sucked.

~ * ~

Trish pulled along the curb, out of the way of the traffic, and put the car in park.

Crash noticed it was early enough that, unlike when she'd dropped them off this morning just minutes before they were due back onboard, there wasn't a line of cabs and troops streaming toward the boat.

The one good thing about this drive was that Dawn had insisted Zippy sit in the backseat with her. That left Crash in the front next to Trish. It was a small thing, but he felt better being there. Like he wasn't loving her and then leaving her, even though that was exactly what he'd done thanks to Zippy's speedy performance tonight.

He would have thought all that alcohol would have extended the man's stamina. Crash knew from experience that much tequila sure as shit would have meant a marathon session in the bedroom for him. But that wasn't in the cards for tonight.

As Trish cut the engine, Crash opened the door and stepped onto the curb.

Trish walked around the car just as Zippy and Dawn crawled from the backseat. "So I guess this is goodbye."

Zippy enveloped Trish in a hug. "I'll call before we leave the country. After that, I'm putting my cell service on hold until we get back."

"Okay. Make sure to email me and give me your mailing address over there so I have it."

"I will."

Trish clung a little tighter before she released Zippy. "Goodbye, big brother."

"Bye, sis. And thanks for the ride."

"You're welcome."

Zippy stepped back and Dawn launched herself at him. While his friend was occupied with a handful of tipsy and now, teary woman, Crash decided to take advantage of the time to say a semi-private goodbye to Trish.

"I had a really good time this weekend."

"Me too." She swallowed hard and raised her gaze to his. "Stay safe, okay?"

"That's the plan." After one more look at Zippy to make sure he was still occupied with Dawn, Crash pulled Trish close and hugged her hard. He'd been inside this woman not even an hour ago. It was a hell of a thing he couldn't even kiss her goodbye now.

Fuck it. Zippy was probably still drunk enough he wouldn't notice anyway. Crash cupped the back of Trish's head, leaned close and pressed his mouth to hers in one brief, hard kiss that he hoped told her how much he did enjoy their time together. All of it.

He pulled back and dropped his hands from her just as Zippy extricated himself from Dawn's hold.

Zippy turned to Crash. "Ready to go?

"Yup." He dipped his head in a nod and then glanced at Trish. "Thanks again for everything."

"Anytime." So much promise in that one word and her tiny, sad smile, but it was futile. Seven months in Afghanistan was Crash's reality.

"All right. Let's go." Zippy turned and looked both ways, waiting for a break in the traffic to cross the street to get to the club.

Crash hated with everything in him to be leaving to go to a damn club when he and Trish could have had more time together tonight. With a heavy heart, he turned to follow Zippy. Behind him, he heard the doors of Trish's car slam and the engine fire to life.

Their whirlwind weekend fling was good and over. He glanced back long enough to see her pull away from the curb before he had to jog behind Zippy as a car stopped to let them cross.