Feel the Rush: A Hard Feelings Novel (InterMix) (17 page)

***

Reed’s dick twitched inside her as her sweet, slick pussy wrapped around him tightly. Her tender skin below his lips was like satin, and his tongue devoured the texture.

Reed felt her contract around him. She whimpered and shook as a wave of excitement coursed through her, penetrating his own excitement. He released the hold he had on her hair and her head dropped down. The look in her eyes was validating—she needed this from him just as badly as he did from her.

Her head fell to his shoulder and his arms wrapped around her retentively. She latched onto him as a spasm of shudders tore through her body. Reed lifted her head and pulled her mouth to his. He wanted to feel her moans and the vibrations of her cries in his mouth as she came around him—and he did.

She tightened and squeezed around him until he couldn’t hold on any longer, and at the same time his mouth filled with the sweet, ragged, sharp breaths of her cries.

Her body collapsed on him and he held her to him as their orgasms slowly climbed back down. When he was feeling the sensation in his legs again, he stood, his dick sliding out of her as he held her in his arms.

She used her toes to push her stilettos off her feet and they fell to the floor. Her head was still weighted down on his shoulder and he couldn’t help the smile that cracked on his lips—he loved that he pushed her to the brink of exhaustion.

He carried her back to his room and laid her down on the bed. Her body stretched like a cat, arching her back, pointing her toes as she elongated across the mattress.

“That’s incredibly sexy,” he said, standing next to her.

A blush crept over her cheeks and she shifted herself underneath the covers.

Reed lowered himself to the bed, lifting the cover so he could wrap himself around her. “I can’t promise you the things you will need me to promise,” he said against her hair, his breath causing the strands to cling to his lips. He waited for it. He waited for her to run like hell, this was the moment she would realize she deserved more—better.

She turned around in his arms and wedged herself tightly against his chest.

She wasn’t running.

“I can’t hold up to the bar you’ve raised,” he whispered, brushing the hair back away from her face. “But I sure as hell would like to try.”

***

Meagan just looked directly into his eyes. Her mouth parted slightly as she inhaled a breath—a poor attempt at easing the cluster-fuck of emotions that’s piled its way into her chest. She was happy, Reed wanted her, how could she not be happy? She was scared. Scared for her heart and scared for her future. She was also a little angry with herself. She had promised herself that she wouldn’t go down this road again, yet here she was, driving full speed down a gravel road with more potholes than she could possible anticipate. But more than anything, she was nervous. Nervous because everything he was telling her was the truth. He wasn’t sugarcoating it and he wasn’t trying to tell her what she wanted to hear. He was being honest.

She tucked her head under his chin and lodged her leg in between his thick thighs. “I’d like to try too.” She pressed a tight kiss to his chest and he pulled her in close.

She wanted to find Mr. Safe, but instead Mr. Thrill came barging into her life.

Chapter Sixteen

“All right, I’m a little sick of your cheeky-ass grin. You’ve been coming in here every day for the last week like you’ve won the lottery. And if you haven’t noticed, I’m a little bit bed-ridden at the moment. Some fake sympathy or maybe even a frown every now and again would be appreciated.”

Reed lowered himself into the plastic chair next to Brewer’s hospital bed. “Sorry, man, I will make a note to check my good attitude at the door.”

“You’re fucking her, aren’t you?”

Reed dropped his feet, which were propped up on the lower rail of the bed, the smack of his boots hitting the cold tile echoed through the sterile room. He sat forward in his seat. “Excuse me, Sergeant?”

Brewer’s face didn’t take on that intimidated pucker some young sergeants had when Reed was about to administer an ass-chewing. He just remained impassive—unaffected. Little shit.

“Sorry, CO. I didn’t mean any disrespect.”

Yeah, Reed was fucking her, but like hell was he going to let another man talk about her like that. “Just because I come visit your sorry ass and shoot the shit with you doesn’t mean you get a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

“Yes, sir.”

Reed heard the words come out of Brewer’s mouth, and although he knew they were genuine because Brewer wasn’t one to disrespect his chain of command, let alone a woman, the flat, monotone response pissed him off. Reed’s nostrils flared and his jaw set tight as he looked at his soldier.

Brewer started again. “Let me rephrase that. That nurse, Meagan, she gave into you, didn’t she?”

Reed pressed his lips together as they cracked slightly into a smile that he was repressing as his anger dissipated. “You could say that.”

Brewer shook his head incredulously. “Lucky.”

“Watch it.”

Brewer sighed heavily. “Here I am, broken leg, didn’t get my wings, there’s not a damn thing on TV, I would kill for a beer, and you get to go home with her every night. I will say it again: lucky.”

Yeah, Reed would have to agree with him there. He was lucky. He had spent every evening the last week with that woman pressed against him in one way or another—more often than not while she was gloriously naked.

He’d found himself skipping his evening rides and passing up on a few of his regular extracurricular activities just to get back to her quicker.

Brewer’s eyes darted past Reed. “Oh, hell. Speaking of the angel.”

Reed looked over his shoulder. Meagan was walking in, her hair pulled to the side and braided over her shoulder, giving Reed the desire to tug it. He could see a tired tension tightening in her shoulders underneath her pink scrubs as she walked over to the bed. She flashed Reed a quick smile before she turned her focus on Brewer.

“Isn’t the saying ‘speaking of the devil’?”

“Oh, my beautiful nurse, Meagan,
angel
is much more fitting for you.”

Meagan laughed and Reed shook his head and pressed himself to the back of the chair, folding his arms across his chest. It was either that or reach out and pull Meagan onto his lap, and that wouldn’t be all he would want to do if her ass was nestled on top of him.

Meagan ignored Brewer, she was probably used to him laying it on thick by now. She had been visiting him after every one of her shifts since he’d been there—three weeks.

She reached into her purse, which was the size of a suitcase, and pulled out a plastic sack, tossing it on Brewer’s lap.

“What’d ya bring me?” he asked, opening the sack.

“The greasiest burger I could get my hands on.”

“You’re a keeper, you know that?” He looked over at Reed. “Seriously, you better hang on tight to this one or I might snag her out from under you.”

“I hate to break it to you, man, but if this woman is under me, there is no way I’m letting her go.”

Meagan turned around, a fresh blush brushing across her cheeks as she winked at Reed. “So I heard from your nurse that you get to go home in a week or so,” she said, changing the subject as she sat down on the edge of Brewer’s bed.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t sound overly happy.”

“That’s because you won’t be there.”

“Ah, I see.” Meagan laughed. She was used to his excessive flirting, so she didn’t seem to realize he was serious. But Reed could see it in his eyes, he had gotten attached to Meagan.

“No, really. I’m gonna hate not seeing you almost every single day.” His expression shifted, and he was looking up at Meagan with admiration. Seemed as though she had found a way to wedge herself under his skin as well. Reed knew the feeling, and he sympathized with the guy. If he didn’t get to see her every day he would fucking hate it too.

Meagan reached down and grabbed Brewer’s hand. “It’s the army, we are bound to run into each other again at some point, right, Reed?”

The little suggestive glance she tossed over her shoulder at him sent a rush through his chest. He was sure as shit happy that he ran into her again, that’s for damn sure.

Reed leaned forward. “Yeah.”

“I’m looking forward to getting back to my squad and seeing everyone again, but fuck, there’s been talk about my unit deploying in the next six months or so.” His head turned toward Reed. “What if I’m not cleared for combat?”

Ah, there lie his true fears. It was a fear that floated in the back of every good soldier’s mind—not being in the game. It was why Reed enlisted. After 9/11, he and his brother were ready to sign their contracts in blood, ready to join the fight. To serve their country. Being told that you could no longer do so, that you weren’t fit for combat, was like telling a country singer she could no longer play the guitar or like telling a baseball player he could no longer bat. It was a part of their job—a part of them. If you took away the chance to go to combat, to fight for what you believed in, you might as well tell them they were no longer a soldier, because they would no longer feel like one.

“You’ve gotta hit the physical therapy hard,” Reed suggested.

Meagan’s eyes darted toward Reed’s for a split second, and they were narrowed behind her lids as her mouth puckered into a line. “But don’t overdo it. Your body needs to rest and heal just as much as it needs to regain strength.”

Brewer sent him a knowing glance, and Reed understood it without question. If he could walk, he would be doing everything in his power to get his leg back to full strength—to get combat-ready again.

***

“Do you really think he will be able to deploy again?” Meagan asked Reed as he walked her to her car.

“It wouldn’t surprise me in the least. If there is one thing about that kid that I have learned, it’s that he’s determined as hell and a natural leader—a damn good NCO. It would be a shame if the army lost him on the line.”

Meagan cringed inwardly at the thought of Brewer deploying. She had grown quite fond of him and his cocky ways over the last couple of weeks, and she didn’t want to see him leave as much as he didn’t want to leave. But more than that, she didn’t want him to go back overseas. He was like her little brother, and he was hurt. She wanted to wrap him in bubble wrap and stick him in a padded room. But he was a soldier. Soldiers didn’t know what bubble wrap or padded rooms were. They knew safety but disregarded their own to protect the safety of others. They knew how to risk their lives and didn’t blink an eye or hesitate doing so. It’s what they did—it’s what Reed and Trevor and Kale and every other male she had every cared about did, and it’s what Brewer wanted to do again. She was used to the
hooah
mentality—but that didn’t mean that she had to like their enthusiasm behind it.

Reed wrapped his large hand around the back of her neck, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Hey, where’d you go?”

She blinked hard. “Sorry, just thinking about Brewer.”

“Well, how about I get your mind off him? Let’s go for a ride.”

“I would, but I promised Eva I would scope out the nightlife tonight. We haven’t gone out once, well, other than the time we met at Oasis, and she is itching for a girls’ night.”

Reed leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. “All right.” He pouted. She could hear the waver in his voice, like he was debating whether or not to protest her plans. He sighed. “But you’re mine tomorrow.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“And should I be scared? You don’t have any bungee jumping planned for a morning pick-me-up, do you?”

His brows danced up and down. “Do you need a morning pick-me-up?”

“Maybe.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. The rough fabric of his uniform scratched her chin as she rested it on his chest and looked up at him. “I’m not trying to tempt you, just encourage you.”

“Well, all you are doing is encouraging me to throw your ass over the back of my bike and take you to my bed.”

She pulled out of his embrace. Reed’s bed had become one of her favorite places to be. Not only was it nice to be curled up in sexy, muscular arms, pressed against a sinfully gorgeous naked body all night, it sure beat the hell out of the air mattress in her apartment that was lacking the ability to hold air. But since the army finally took it upon themselves to deliver her and Eva’s things today, she was fully looking forward to a much-needed comforter session with her own bed.

“So what’s going on tomorrow?” she asked, knowing she should just back away now. The way Reed looked standing in his uniform had her imagining taking it off of him—and she had promised Eva a date. If she didn’t get space between them, she was more than positive she would find her way back to his bed.

“Just some jet skiing and wakeboarding, more than likely a lot of beer drinking.”

“Boating?” she said with a skip in her voice, an underlying tone of excitement rearing to life, distracting her from her previous thoughts.

Reed turned his head slightly and cocked his brows, looking at her from the side. “Yep, you in?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll come get you in the morning. Be careful tonight.” There was a slight threat to his words, a territorial rasp that equally tugged at her heart, and her body. She got the slight sense that he wasn’t too keen on the idea of her hitting the bar scene with Eva. And she liked it. She knew some women hated the overprotective act from their man—but Meagan almost wanted it. She wanted him to want to punch any man who looked at her with just a hint of suggestiveness. She wanted him jealous and on edge, wondering if she was being flirted with or hit on. She liked the idea of him wanting her all to himself.

“I can come with you ladies, show you my white-boy dance moves.”

Meagan laughed. She could only picture Reed and his moves out on the dance floor. If they were anything like the way he moved in the bedroom—she didn’t know if
she
wanted anyone to see him dance like that.

“Sorry, you can’t. That would defeat the purpose of a girl’s night,” she said. She raised onto her toes and slid her lips over his. He needed a distraction and she just needed him. Seeing him all pouty and disappointed that she wasn’t going to be spending her evening in his bed was sexy—and tempting.

His hands latched onto her sides and he dug his fingers into her hips. She loved how every little touch from him had a way of letting her know just how much he wanted her. He didn’t just hold onto her waist, he gripped her tightly with a force that walked the line of pain, but the good kind. The kind that was sexy. She didn’t want to be touched, she wanted to be held, smothered.

Reed rolled his tongue into her mouth and the taste of him was like a drug. Her hands moved to his biceps, holding on to him as he kissed her—but then she pulled away, she had to, if she didn’t she wouldn’t be able to hold true to her promise of a girl’s night.

“That’s not fair at all, sugar.”

The muscles of her neck twitched as she pulled her mouth back in a frown. “Sorry.”

“Oh, don’t fucking lie, woman. You’re not sorry.”

Her cheeks split and he grasped her chin in his hand. “Night,” he said as he hovered over her mouth. She waited. She waited for those perfect lips to caress hers one last time. She waited for the feel of his warm breath to be replaced by the feel of his warm mouth—but he didn’t move. He just lingered there, so close she could basically taste him. Huh, he must think he’s real good. . . .

She reached her hand down and pressed it over his cock, and no surprise, it was hard. It was a brief touch, just a quick, teasing pass—but it was enough to break his concentration and she pulled her face from his strong grasp. “Night.” She smirked and turned to walk away.

Reed laughed, the luscious baritone ring saturating the evening air. She looked over her shoulder to get one last glimpse at the smile that was covering him when she saw a wicked glint flash across his eyes. He leaned forward and smacked her ass, hard, and she jumped.

“Ow,” she whined, rubbing her butt with her hand.

He only laughed again. “Night, baby.”