Just One Night (3 page)

“Can you pour me one as well?
 
Thanks,” he said and the man quickly placed
the drink in front of him.

Tommy snared the tumbler and
clinked
it against his.
 
“To the blue and white,” Tommy said, referring to their alma mater’s
colors.

He smiled and raised his glass, “To the blue
and white.”
 
After a bracing sip, he
stayed beside his best friend, but his mind was on
Nickie
as she stood across the room, chatting with an older couple.
 
She shot a quick look his way, smiled
hesitantly, but then turned her attention back to the guests.

“How long have we known each other,
Jase
?” Tommy asked as he jammed one hand in his suit pocket
and took a sip of the drink in his other hand.

He shrugged and said, “Since kindergarten
when we were on the same T-ball team.”

“That’s a long time to be friends,” Tommy
said thoughtfully, but then plowed on.
 
“In all that time, I’ve never seen you be afraid of anything.
 
Well, maybe
one
thing.”

He peered at his friend and searched out his
features, puzzled by his statement.
 
“Where are you going with this, Tommy?”

His friend raised his index finger off the
glass he held.
 
“You’ve got one night,
Jase
.
 
One night before you head to North Carolina with your parents and
then ship out to that fuckin’ desert.”

“It’s actually not a desert, Tommy,” he said,
trying to avoid the discussion he sensed was coming, but Tommy was apparently
not going to stop.

“Dude, don’t be a
fucktard
.
 
Don’t you think it’s time you did something
about my sister?” he said.

Jase
nearly choked on
the bourbon he had been sipping and stared hard at his friend.
 
“You’re fucking crazy.”

“No, I’m not.
 
But you are if you don’t do something about it.”

“It” being
Nickie
.
 
“You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

“I am,
Jase
.
 
I know you care for her.
 
I’ve known for a while. I also know you’ve
never let anything stop you before.
 
What’s stopping you now, bro?”

Tommy’s gaze was so intense, that he had to
look away, not wanting his friend to see what he was really feeling.
 
He shook his head hesitantly.
 
“I’m the last thing she wants. We’re nothing
alike.
 
She’s so serious and a bookworm.
And I’m
– ”

“All action guy.
 
Not as wealthy as us.
 
Those are lame excuses, dude.
 
I guess you feel guilty because she’s my
sister, too.
 
But you know what,
Jase
?
 
It’s time to
do something about what you feel for
Nickie
.
 
It’s time to go big or go home.
 
Just don't hurt her,” Tommy pleaded and
before Jason could say another word, his friend clapped him on the back again
and hurried off to where his parents stood with some friends.

Go big or go home.

How many times had they said that to each
other on the playing field?
 
Too many times to count.

But
Nickie
wasn’t a
game to be played.
 
Nickie
was special to him and had been for some time.
 
Nickie
was everything he could ever want in a
woman.
 
She was bright and
beautiful.
 
Caring and
honorable.
 
Incredibly
sexy, not that she seemed to know that.

And he’d just gotten the green light to go
for it from his best friend.
 
From a man
he thought of as a brother.
 
Her
brother.

Slugging back the last sips of his bourbon,
he took a deep breath and rushed toward her.
 
He had only this one night to make it happen.

He wasn’t going to waste another minute.
 
After all, a Marine never backed down from
even an impossible task.

Not even an incredible and seemingly
unattainable challenge like
Nickie
.

Chapter 3

From the corner of her eye,
Nickie
caught a glimpse of her brother stalking from the
bar at the far edge of the great room and of
Jase
who
stayed rooted there, looking her way.
 
His square-cut jaw was tense and his lips were in a firm line.
 
Dimple-less.
 
His gaze was so . . . intense.

A second later,
Jase
was marching in her direction, purpose in every long and powerful stride.

He was clearly a man on a mission and her
heart sped up at the thought that she might be his intended target.

“You must be very proud of your brother,”
said the older gentleman across from her.
 
He was a business associate of her father's and she forced her attention
back to him, smiled and nodded.

“We are proud of him and I know Dad is very
excited that Tommy will be joining him in the family business.”

“He's going for an MBA, isn't he?” the man's
wife asked just as
Jase
reached them.

“Yes, yes he is,” she said, but stumbled with
her next words as
Jase
laid a possessive hand at the
small of her back.
 
“H-h-a-
ave
you met Lieutenant Hart?
 
He's an old family friend.”

“Thank you for your service, Lieutenant
Hart,” the man said and Jason dipped his head gratefully.

“Thank you, sir.
 
I hope you don't mind if I steal Nicole away
for a little bit.”

Before she could protest, he exerted gentle
pressure at her back and urged her away from the couple and toward the French
doors leading outside.

“What do you think you're doing?” she hissed
beneath her breath and plastered a smile on her face, trying not to attract too
much attention as he hurried them out the doors and to the large flagstone
terrace that ran along the back of the house.

It was a beautiful early summer night and
many of their guests were gathered outside to enjoy the weather.
 
Various tables and chairs had been laid out
on the terrace and at the far
end,
a second bar had
been set up to serve drinks to the party-goers.
 
Luckily most people were gathered in that area as
Jase
led them toward the edge of the terrace.

“You and I need to talk,” he said and urged
her to the lawn beyond the flagstone, but she dug in her three inch heels and
skidded to a stop.

He faced her, a determined look on his
features.
 
He shifted his hand to her
waist and held her possessively.
 
His
touch punched the air from her lungs and awakened sharp need as she imagined
him urging her closer and closer until . . .

“What do you think you're doing?” she
repeated to stop those too sexy thoughts.

He glanced all around the terrace and his
lips thinned into a grim line again.
 
He
leaned near and whispered in her ear, “Not here,
Nickie
.
 
Please come with me somewhere private.”

He moved his hand away from her waist and
slipped it into
hers,
twining his fingers with hers as
if afraid she'd pull away.
 
He tugged
gently, prodding her to follow him as he turned and strode toward the
beachfront.

It was crazy to go
, she thought,
but it was just as crazy not to explore where this night might take them.

* * *

Jase
breathed a sigh
of relief as
Nickie
relented and followed him down
the steps of the terrace and onto the lawn.
 
He waited for her as she slipped off her incredibly high crimson-colored
heels and they hurried from the lush manicured lawn to the wooden boardwalk
that took them through the protective shelter of the dunes and down to the
beach.

There wasn't a soul along the sand and for
that he was eternally grateful.

As they walked down the stairs at the end of
the boardwalk and back around beneath it, he grabbed her shoes and placed them
on the edge of the wooden boards along with his hat.

“What's up,
Jase
?
 
Why did you almost drag me out of the party?”
she asked and leaned against one of the thick pilings for the boardwalk.

He braced his forearm just above her head on
the support and shifted until her warm breath spilled against his face.
 
She smelled of something flowery and of
Nicole and he inhaled deeply to memorize that aroma.

With his free hand, he brushed away a
windblown lock of her hair and then skimmed his fingers down her smooth
cheek.
 
She trembled beneath his touch
and he hardened as he imagined how smooth the rest of her skin would be and how
she would shiver against him while they made love.

“I want you,
Nickie
.”

Her eyes widened in surprise and the words
rushed from her.
 
“Hell
no.
 
I don't believe you.”

“Believe it,
Nickie
.
 
I’ve wanted you for a long time,” he said and
moved ever closer until his body was pressed to hers.

At that touch, she sucked in a shaky breath
and closed her eyes.
 
In a husky voice
she said, “Don't play with me,
Jase
.”

He chuckled and her eyes snapped open to meet
his gaze.
 
“Babe, I am so not playing
with you.
 
At least not yet,” he said and
dropped his hand to trace the rounded swells of her breasts visible above the
bodice of her killer dress.
 
It was the
kind of dress that invited him to touch and to see. The fabric was fine enough
that even in the dusky night, the pebbled tips of her nipples were visible.

“There's no sense in starting this.
 
You're leaving tomorrow.” She dragged in
another irregular breath as he continued his caress across the sensitive skin
beneath his fingers.
 
Despite her words,
as her gaze locked with his, he detected her hesitation, but also her need.

He decided to press on with his campaign to
convince her that the two of them together was a good idea.

“Does everything have to be sensible with
you,
Nickie
?
 
Can't you just let go?
 
Even if only for this one night?
 
It would be good between us.
 
I promise.”
 
To prove his point, he dipped his hand down and cupped her breast. He
tweaked the tight tip between his thumb and forefinger as he pressed his body
to hers and nuzzled the side of her face.

“
Jase
,” she said on
a long exhalation, but didn't move away.

His cock jumped to attention at the sound of
his name on her lips.
 
He lazily rubbed
his erection across her belly and whispered into her ear, “I love the way you
say my name,
Nickie
.
 
Say it again.
 
Please.”

“
Jase
, this is
crazy,” she said, but she cupped his head with one hand and stroked her fingers
across the short buzz of hair.
 
She
wrapped her other arm around his waist and dug her fingers into the fabric of
his uniform.

“What's crazy is how long it's taken for this
to happen,” he said and trailed a line of kisses down her neck and across the
tops of her breasts, but it wasn't enough.
 
Not after so long.

He eased the fabric of the strapless dress
down to expose her breasts and cradled them in his hands.
 
Tenderly he teased the taut points of her
nipples as he met her darkened gaze.
 
Her
hazel eyes were nearly chocolate brown with desire and she licked her lips and
shot a quick glance down at his hands.

“
Jase
– ”

“Tell me what you want,
Nickie
.
 
I'll do whatever you ask . . . except
stopping, that is,”
he
 
teased
and smiled.

* * *

Damn that boyish
grin that was always my undoing
,
Nickie
thought
barely a second before she said, “Kiss me there,
Jase
.
 
Please kiss me there.”

With a rough groan, he
dipped his head and dropped a quick kiss on the tip of each breast before
alternately sucking and caressing her nipples with his mouth.
 
Each wet tug sent a corresponding pull to
between her legs where her clit pulsed and pleaded for more.
 
She was already wet for him and every suck or
bite or lick brought another wave of dampness between her thighs.

Her body shook as she
held him to her and urged him on with soft cries until the sound of someone
coming down the boardwalk made him pause.

He met her gaze, but
instead of stopping, he inched his hand beneath the hem of her dress and
continued upward, dancing his fingers along the sensitive inner skin of her
thighs.
 
When he reached her panties, he
dipped his fingers inside and found the swollen bundle of nerves at her center.

“
Jase
,”
she whispered urgently and grabbed hold of his wrist as from a few feet away on
the boardwalk came the murmured conversation of others.

“They can't see us.
 
Or hear us if you're quiet.
 
Can you be quiet,
Nickie
?”
he asked and stroked a finger across her responsive nub, dragging a strangled
moan from her.

“Or are you a screamer?”
he continued and kept up his caresses, drawing her ever closer to a release.

Nickie
grabbed hold of
his shoulders because she needed something to keep her upright.
 
Each shift of his fingers raised her higher
and higher and weakened her knees.
 
Her
heart pounded with both excitement from his touch and fear at the thought of
being discovered by whoever was still nearby on the boardwalk above them.

“
Jase
,
please,” she keened in a whisper and shot a worried look above them as the
footsteps came ever closer.

He whispered against her
ear, “Come for me,
Nickie
.”
 
He pressed against her clit and slipped a
finger inside her.
 
Stroked
her urgently as he bent his head and suckled her breasts.
 
Gently teethed the hard tips and tugged on
them.

Oh God
, she thought,
biting her lower lip to keep from crying out as he stroked and enticed with his
lips and fingers.
 
As the juices of her
release spilled over his hand and down her thighs, she wanted to scream and rip
off her clothes and his and fuck
him
right there and then
on the sand like she had in her fantasy.
 
Even if there was someone right there watching.

From above them came
another footstep and then a laugh, chilling her passion for only the short
moment it took for whoever it was to head back up the boardwalk toward the
house.

“They're gone,
Nickie
.
 
Come for me,
babe.
 
Scream if you want,” he said and
shoved a second finger into her while pressing his thumb against her clit and
circling it possessively.

“God,
Jase
.
 
I want you
inside me.”
 
She reached down and covered
the long hard ridge of his erection with her hand.
 
He groaned and laid his forehead against
hers.

“Later,
Nickie
.
 
I
promise.
 
Right now is all about you,” he
said and kissed her, his mouth warm and mobile against her lips.
 
Coaxing her mouth open as he stroked her and
slipped his tongue past her lips to taste her.

She held onto his
shoulders and bucked her hips against his hand, reaching for her climax.
 
Loving the taste and feel
of his mouth against hers and his hands on her breasts and inside her.
 
As she moved for him, the tips of her breasts
rubbed against the fabric of his uniform, making them ever more sensitized and
alive.
  

God, so alive.
 
So damn incredible
, she thought and
closed her eyes, giving herself over to the sensations he was creating in
her.
 
Sensations like nothing she had
ever experienced before with anyone else.