Waiting... On You (Force Recon Marines) (25 page)

He looked up at her, his expression
taut, passion defining every beloved feature, eyes dark and glazed. “Wait for
me, sweetheart,” he entreated as he crawled up between her legs and settled
over her. The moment his lower body touched hers, she arched beneath him, and
he groaned, “Mercy, I’m nearly there myself!”

Her long legs parted wider for him. He
didn’t need further invitation. His gaze locked with hers as he pushed into her
in one deep, penetrating plunge.

Hanna could feel how wet, hot, and
tight she was around him. Having only done this once, with him, three years
ago, she was so narrow, it was almost like the first time.

“Aw, Hanna!” His voice was hoarsely
drawn out across his heavy breathing. “Heaven help me! I want to go slow, make
it last, but you feel so amazing!”

There was a bar attached to the teak
ceiling, above the bed. It looked like a handicap bar. It had been there when
Lance had gotten the boat. Because it was brass, it had remained. Hanna had
always assumed it was there to help a person get out of bed since you couldn’t
exit from the sides, only from the foot. In a storm, when the boat was rocking
and pitching, she imagined it would really come in handy.

Nick showed her a different use for
it, though. Spotting it, he reached up and grabbed it with both hands, using it
to help himself penetrate her more deeply. It also assisted his balance as he
moved his hips back and forth in the age-old rhythm of lovemaking.

The sensation the position created was
beyond description. Hanna felt like she was coming apart at the seams with each
forceful thrust of his big body. Every nerve ending screamed with raw wild
need. It was so intense, it bordered on pain.

She watched him move, staring in
fascination at his body above her. With his hands gripping the bar, every arm
and chest muscle bulged with rippling power and imposing detail. His tanned
skin was slick with sweat, and his face intensely set, his dark storm-cloud
eyes locked on hers. He made such a striking visual image, it turned her on
just to look at him.

Her own body was glossy with sweat,
too, and her glasses slipped lower on her nose. They reminded her of how
ridiculous she must look― naked, wearing nothing but them.

She started to remove them, but Nick
stopped her. “Leave them on,” he insisted hoarsely. “I want you to see me
clearly when I come inside you.”

The intensity in his expression and
the raw desire in his voice vibrated inside her, swirling around her in a
maelstrom of passion. The rise of her impending climax had been delayed so long
by him, she was going crazy, ready to die for even a partial release.

Seeing her distress, he reached down
with his hand and rubbed the tight little bud that triggered her deliverance
from the storm. She cried out with abandoned delight, and he joined her within
seconds as her inner muscles contracted and throbbed around him. His satiny
skin broke out in goose bumps, and his whole body stiffened, actually getting
longer and harder inside of her as he exploded into her with a loud groan that was
more like a triumphant shout.

At the conclusion, depleted and
thoroughly sated, Hanna fell back onto the mattress in a series of aftershocks
that quivered through her sweat-damp body. A slight breeze through the open
porthole windows made her shiver. Nick collapsed over her, in a fall he caught
with both arms braced on either side of her. With a great sigh, he sank into
her softness, burying his face in her neck, resting there until his ragged
breathing stilled. As a blanket, his big body was all she needed to chase away
the chill.

With her arms around him, Hanna
pressed her lips to the center of his chest, which was wet with perspiration.
His heart was beating thunderously. She could feel hers beating just as hard.
Making love truly was taxing on the heart, she thought with a secret smile.

Eventually, he shifted his weight off
her, so that he was only partially lying on her. He was still inside her,
though, and Hanna hooked her arm around his hips to keep him buried there a
little longer.

“Aw, Hanna, that was more than I
remembered— much, much more!”

His gray eyes were locked with her
green ones as he lifted her hand and kissed each small knuckle. Turning it
over, he kissed her palm, marking it with the tip of his tongue in a mixture of
heat and tenderness that unraveled her all over again.

Thrilled by his admission, she lifted
her face to stare into his eyes. Eventually, he slipped out of her, limp and
drained.

Lying side by side, staring at one
another, they planted little kisses here and there, while their hands were busy
idly stroking the varied contours of each other’s bodies.

Hanna knew she was lost. Nick Kelly
could pop into her life once every three years until she was old and gray, and
she’d still want him like this. She was his, body and soul. Whatever he gave
her, she’d take. She was so crazy about him. Time and distance weren’t going to
diminish her feelings for him. She could never put him from her heart.
Just
be as kind as possible
, she prayed silently.

He threaded his long fingers through
the damp hair at her temple, smoothing it back from her face. Her glasses fell,
and he pushed them gently back up onto the bridge of her nose.

“Stupid, dumb glasses!” she grumbled.
“I wish I wasn’t so blind without them!” She hated wearing them naked! She
still thought she must look ridiculous.

Nick couldn’t seem to stop grinning.
“You wouldn’t be my Hanna without them.”

Her green eyes widened. He had just
called her his! Her heart skipped several beats.

He ruffled her hair and laughed. “You
just have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?” He planted a kiss on the tip
of her nose. “What am I going to have to do to convince you? Tell you every
single day?”

While she lay there absorbing that, he
rolled onto his back and sat up, then looked over his shoulder at her. “I’ll be
right back. Gotta dispose of this and get a new one.” He winked at her. “We’re
not done— unless you’re too sore.”

“No, no,” Hanna retorted quickly. “I’m
fine.”

He laughed, a deep rumbling, masculine
laugh that she heard all the way into the head where he went to dispose of his
used condom.

THE SUN HAD PROBABLY BEEN UP FOR A FEW
HOURS by the time Hanna and Nick opened their eyes the next morning. They were laying
in the big triangular bed, buried beneath the covers, front to back, Nick’s big
body curved to fit behind Hanna’s smaller, rounder one.

The porthole windows on either side of
the bed were open, letting in the cool salty air from the bay. The smells and
sounds of the harbor filled the little room. Nick’s body was warm and hard
behind Hanna’s. His arm was thrown over her waist, his fingers covering one
breast. Her buttocks were nestled against his groin, and she knew he was awake
when he started playing with her.

They had made love several times last
night. Hanna was indeed sore this morning, but it was nothing very painful,
nothing she’d wish away. It had been a glorious night, just the kind she’d been
waiting forever for with Nick Kelly. He’d certainly been a great instructor,
keeping to his promise to teach her whatever she wanted to learn, although she
imagined there was still much to discover.

“Are you awake, pretty doctor?” he
murmured against her neck, nuzzling aside her hair. “I think I need another examination.”

Laughing, she rolled onto her back,
then onto her side toward him, to give him a whimsical smile. “I don’t give
free examinations, you know.” With her fingertip, she tracked the planes and
contours of his marvelous body.

“I don’t make a lot of money,” he
replied. “I’m just a soldier.”

“Umm....” She thought about that for a
moment. “What could I charge you for another examination?”

“Breakfast and a shower?” he tried.

“That sounds like a good trade.” Her
hand stroked his whiskered cheek. He was so desirable, lying naked beside her
like this.

Her attention became ensnared with the
details of his body. It was beautiful, but he had scars all over it. Most of
them were faded, whitened tracings, evidence of a violent life and multiple
injuries. She traced them with her fingertips, then angled her body to give
each a tender kiss. The realization that they represented twenty years of close
calls with death made her shudder.

“I don’t want to know how you got each
one of these, do I?”

“Probably not.”

She wound her arms around him and
squeezed him tight. “Oh, Nick, sometimes I lie awake at night, thinking about
what you’re doing in all those faraway places, and it scares me to death!”

He let her hold him, certain there was
nothing better in the whole world than having her care that much about him. He
had never felt as whole as he had last night, in her arms, inside her body.
This morning, he felt reborn, realigned. Life seemed to have a new focus, a
different perspective. It was one hell of a revelation, more than he had ever
expected to feel, and he knew he had expected to feel great after making love
to her again. But this.... Could he be falling in love with this woman who had
always been his closest friend and was rapidly becoming much more?

They lay that way, holding one
another, each lost in their own thoughts for a while, then eased into one
another one last time before finally deciding to get up, shower, and eat.

The shower in the head was barely big
enough for one, let alone two. But on a sloop this size, there wasn’t that much
hot water, so they had to share it. Front to back, they had to squeeze into the
narrow stall together. But it was fun to soap and rinse and caress each other
until the water ran cold and chased them out.

Nick was toweling himself dry when he
heard his name being called out from up on deck. Recognizing Kurt’s voice, he
wrapped the towel around his waist, and climbed the stairs to stick his head
out through the cabin door.

“Hey, buddy,” he greeted the FBI agent.
“What’s up?”

“I’ve got a big file here for you—
copies of the photos Hanna and I took the other night, a copy of the one Seth
Haru got of Li Chen, and his notes on what he’s found out about all the parties
involved. I‘ve also included the name of the freighter’s owners. When seen as a
whole, it’s really interesting.”

Nick stuck his arm out and took the
large thick envelope from his friend. “Thanks, Kurt. When I get home, I’ll look
over all this and see if my bugs have picked up anything else while I’ve been
gone. If there’s anything interesting on the recordings, I’ll call you.
Otherwise, I’ll be in touch as soon as I have any new info.”

“You and Hanna managing okay?” Kurt
glanced down at Nick’s partially clad body.

He grinned. “We’re going to spend the
day sailing the Sound before we head home.” He ducked inside the cabin, then
popped back out with the pair of sandals Hanna had handed him. “Return these to
Trisha, will you? Hanna says thanks.”

Kurt gave Nick a salute, and grinned
broadly. “Have fun, bud. ‘Bout time you found a great woman. Call me.”

Nick laughed and waved to his friend.
“Will do.”

CHAPTER
17

AFTER KURT LEFT, Nick went to the
galley and started breakfast. By the time Hanna finished in the bathroom Nick
had reassembled the dining table. They sat across from one another for
breakfast in nothing but their bath towels.

“I didn’t know you were such a good
cook,” she complimented him after the final bite.

“Hey, as long as it can be cooked in a
fry pan, I can manage it.”

“So, shall we get underway? “They had
all day to themselves, but Hanna wondered if he had something else in mind.

Nick turned to her and hooked two
fingers into the place between her breasts where her towel was tucked. “Sure, we
can set sail, if you like,” he said, then winked. “We can always drop anchor if
we want a break.”

“A break, huh?” Hanna inhaled as his
fingertip traced the upper swell of her breasts.

He slid his hand to the back of her
neck. “I didn’t bring a bathing suit or even shorts.” He drew her close to meet
his lips. They feathered across hers hungrily.

Hanna managed a crooked smile. “I can
remedy that.”

When he finally let her come up for
air, she gave him a last kiss, then went into her bedroom. On her return, she
handed him a pair of thigh-length swim trunks. “I think this will fit you. It
belongs to Lance, but you’re both built pretty much alike.”

Nick took the trunks from her with a
frown. “Why does Lance keep a bathing suit on your boat?”

Hanna gave him a shrug. “He goes
sailing with me sometimes. He loves this boat, too.”

“And how do you know he’s built pretty
much like me?”

“I have eyes, and I’ve known both of
you since we were kids. Geez, Nick what’s the problem?”

“I’m just curious about you and Lance,
that’s all.”

Bemused, she stared at him. “He’s my
friend, just like you are.”

“Just like I am?”

“Well, maybe not
just like you
anymore.” Wondering about his comments, she headed back to the bedroom to
change into her own swimsuit.

Nick was up on deck, getting the boat
ready to depart when she emerged from the cabin. He had put on his brother’s
swim trunks, and was shirtless. His back was to her as he bent to untie the
anchor rope from the cleats on the pier. The play of muscles across his
shoulders and arms was totally mesmerizing. She had trouble dragging her eyes
away from him. Then she realized that she didn’t have to. He was hers all day
long.

When he saw her, he jumped down into
the cockpit to join her. Like her, he was wearing sunglasses, but she could
tell he was giving her scantily clad figure a thorough once over. She was
wearing a tiny little yellow bikini, with a sheer chiffon sarong knotted around
her hips.

She’d bought the bathing suit last
summer on a whim, but she’d never worn it. It covered so little. Except Nick
had seen all of her last night, so she’d thought she’d feel comfortable wearing
it in front of him. Beneath his prolonged assessment, though, she felt
very…well... hot and bothered!

He pushed his sunglasses up, and, to
her surprise, he was glaring at her. “Have you worn that for Lance?”

He sounded jealous. How silly! She
gave him a little disbelieving laugh. “No, I’ve never worn it at all, until
today. It’s a little daring for me.”

To her relief, his handsome face eased
into a smile. “You can wear it for me— but only for me.”

“Okay.”

“So?” he proceeded. “Who’s sailing her
today— you or me?”

“You.” Smiling, she motioned to the
big wheel in front of her. “I want you to see how she handles and tell me what
you think of her.” His opinion of her sailboat was important to her.

He took the wheel, started the engine,
and steered the sloop out of the marina at a ‘no wake’ speed. They followed the
shoreline past Magnolia Park, the area where Kurt and Trisha lived, then up
towards West Point and the Coast Guard lighthouse.

At that point, Hanna took over the
navigation, while Nick went to the single mast and raised the fore and aft
sails. Once he adjusted the rigging to his satisfaction, he came back to the
cockpit and took back the wheel. Hanna moved to the padded seat that wrapped
around the low interior wall of the cockpit. He looked really good at the helm
of her boat. Like all of them, he was a natural sailor, thoroughly at home on
and in the water.

Between Bainbridge Island and
Shilshole Bay, the wind caught their sails and sent the sloop into a run. The
sails became giant pockets filled with the afternoon breeze. This was one of
Hanna’s favorite positions on the water— running, racing with the wind,
propelled at a breakneck speed into a vast, blue, white-capped vista. Her
Emerald Mermaid cut through the water like a knife through butter.

Her delighted laughter captured Nick’s
attention. The wind was blowing her blonde hair back from her upturned face,
and she was breathtaking. He felt his heartbeat quicken.

“Come stand in front of me,” he called
out to her over the sound of the flapping sails and rushing water. When she
did, he hooked an arm around her bare midriff and tucked her close. Once she
was settled, he put both hands back on the steering wheel, enclosing her in the
open circle of his arms.

The wind stayed with them up through
the Puget Sound passage. Since it was the weekend, there were lots of other
sailboats on the water. They also passed several large ferries traveling back
and forth between Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia. All of them were
loaded with people and vehicles.

At the lower end of Whidbey Island,
they turned to head west, so the sails had to be adjusted and angled to accord
with the wind. Once again, Nick climbed out of the cockpit, while Hanna took
over the steering. Sure-footed, he made his way to the sail to trim it.

In order to catch the wind in their
new direction, he had to do a maneuver called jibing. The process involved
trimming the sail until the wind was just about ready to catch the leech and
swing the boom around. As the boat was turned, so that its stern passed through
the wind’s eye, the sail snapped over to the desired side.

Jibing was a maneuver to be mastered
carefully and slowly, so that the boom didn’t come around too quickly and swing
out of control. It had to be attempted with caution, and it took an experienced
sailor to do it properly. Nick handled it expertly and efficiently.

By the time he came back to her, they
were into Admiralty Inlet, and coming up on Useless Bay. Eventually, the wind
subsided and their sail was more leisurely, more peaceful as they threaded
their way through the inlet, toward Port George.

Having resumed their previous
positions at the wheel, Hanna leaned back into Nick’s muscled body, letting her
head fall back onto the pad of his shoulder. His tall, hard body fit her
shorter, curvier one perfectly at the hips, and he hooked an arm around her bare
waist to pull her even more closely against him so that her butt was snuggled
right up against his groin. With a quick tug, he untied the lower string to her
bikini top.

His large sun-warmed hand slipped
beneath her loosened bra. Long fingers molded her soft round flesh, making her
shiver. Against her bottom, she felt his very male reaction.

With one hand still firmly on the
steering wheel, he let the other slide lower until it encountered its new goal;
the expanse of bare skin just below her navel. Nuzzling her neck, he deftly
slipped his hand inside the panties of her swimsuit. His teeth raked lightly
over her skin, then took a gentle growling bite.

“Nick…” Her voice was laced with
drugging desire.

“Shall we drop anchor?” His breathing
was husky and as breathless as hers had been. He was also extremely aroused.

She loved the feel of his sun-warmed
body against hers. “We’re almost home.”

Nick chuckled. “You’re right. We’ll
wait. Here, take the wheel.”

When she moved into position, he
stepped behind her to retie the strings of her top.

By the time they reached Mynard Harbor
Marina, where Hanna rented a year round slip for her sailboat, it was late
afternoon.

“It was such a nice weekend,” Hanna
told him as he maneuvered the sloop into its slot.

Before she could climb out of the
cockpit, Nick pulled her into his arms. “It was a great weekend,” he corrected
her with a kiss. “I love your Emerald Mermaid. You’re right. She sails like a
dream. Part of me is glad Lance restored her for you.”

“Part of you?”

“The other part wishes I had given
this to you instead. It’s obvious you love her.”

She smiled up at him, touched, wishing
she had the courage to tell him she loved him even more than her sailboat. “I’m
going below to change. Would you mind tying her up?”

“I’d love to.” He winked at her. “But
don’t change just yet. Wait for me.”

She was sitting on the edge of her bed
in her bikini when he joined her a few minutes later. Her shy smile welcomed
him as they fell into each other’s arms and back onto the bed.

“HANNA!” NICK CAME BARRELING through
the back door of the McHenry house late the next morning, shouting for her.

At the kitchen table, Colleen’s white
head snapped up. “She’s upstairs, still sleeping. I believe you wore her out
over the weekend.” The older woman laughed at his startled look. “What’s so
urgent?”

“I’ve got some news about Lance. Mom
is coming over shortly.” He was carrying a small tape recorder that he set down
on the counter top and plugged in. “Snag Christine. I’ll be right back.” Not
waiting for a response, he ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Colleen shook her head. He might be a
grown man, but some things never changed, she thought, remembering how many
times he’d come into her house as a boy, shouting for Dylan or Hanna in just
the same way, then bounding up the stairs after one or the other. And she had
to laugh at that startled look he’d shot her when she had mentioned his
weekend. Did he and her granddaughter think she was too old to guess what had
happened between them? Hanna had been as radiant as she had been suntanned last
night when she’d gotten home. It was about time, Colleen McHenry figured. Her
beloved granddaughter had waited long enough for Nicholas Kelly!

Hanna wasn’t in bed when Nick rushed
into her room, calling out her name. She was in the adjoining bathroom, in the
bathtub, playing with her niece, soaking some of the stiffness and soreness
from a body that wasn’t used to the some of the exercise it had done over the
weekend.

“I’ll be right out,” she called out to
the man on the other side of the bathroom door, who, a second later, burst through
the closed door anyway.

“Nick!”

She and Katie were taking a bubble
bath together while Christine did her laundry. The baby was cooing and
laughing, in spite of Hanna’s shriek of surprise. When Nick invaded, she
immediately clutched the infant close to her chest. “Nick,” she repeated, “for
heaven’s sake, get out of here!”

He stared at her, holding the tiny
girl. Her hair was steam curled and wet, her face radiant and flushed, and her
bare breasts were peeking above the frothy bubbles in all their rosy pink
roundness. Spellbound, he forgot what he’d come in for.

Damn! He’d held her naked in his arms
just yesterday; seen all of her, had all of her. The sight of her in a bathtub
full of bubbles, clutching a baby to her naked breasts shouldn’t have the power
to disturb him so profoundly. But it did, and he realized, with a sudden jolt,
that he wanted what he saw before him— her, a baby, a family.

He dropped into a squat beside the tub
and curled his hand behind Hanna’s head to capture her mouth in a wet steamy
kiss that expressed just how much he wanted her.

Katie issued a little cry of distress
and slapped at his shirt with tiny wet hands. He released Hanna slowly,
ruefully, and she handed him the wiggling baby.

“Why don’t you dry her off and put a
diaper on her for me? I’ll get out.”

He cradled the wet infant over one
broad shoulder, dampening his Marine logo t-shirt as he wordlessly watched
Hanna rise out of the tub full of water. Bubbles slid slowly down her
shimmering body, gliding over every naked peak and hollow. He sucked in a
breath.

Hanna waved him away impatiently.
“Go!” She tossed a towel at him for Katie. “What if someone comes in here and
finds us like this, for heaven’s sake?!”

He decided it was probably best to go
because if he remained much longer, baby or no baby, he was going to have to
drag the woman before him back into his arms.

In the bedroom, he dried Katie and
laid her on Hanna’s unmade bed. He spotted a disposable diaper, then picked up
the baby’s bottom, like he’d seen on the television commercials, and slipped
the diaper underneath. Pleased with himself, he managed to figure out that the
two halves of the diaper came together at the sides, but where were the safety
pins?

Katie was remarkably patient with the
big man before her. She cooed at him. He smiled at her. She looked like she
smiled back, a gurgling baby smile. Staring at her precious little image, he felt
a wave of sadness sweep over him as he was reminded of the fact that Katie
would never know her father.