Embattled Minds (Military Romance) (Lost And Found Series) (11 page)

God she was beautiful. The light from the bathroom glistened on the soft pink folds of her sex, and his mouth watered. Shifting, he laved his tongue up the length of her slit. She tasted as wonderful as he’d dreamed.

Ember shifted her hips on the mattress. Zeke leaned to the side to make room for his hand. As he fondled her clit with his tongue, he rocked two fingers deep into her body, stroking her G-spot hard.

With a wailing cry she tried to stifle with a fist, she convulsed on the bed, fighting to pull away. Spanning her hips with his forearm to hold her in place, Zeke continued to swirl his tongue, sending her crying into another release. As aftershocks shuddered through her body, he kissed his way up to her mouth, aligning their hips. His cock seemed to sense where it needed to go, because it slid to the hilt with one easy push.

Zeke paused above her, afraid to move. With that one immersion, he was on the edge of oblivion.

Ember wrapped her arms around his head and pressed kisses down his jaw to his neck. Her delicate teeth nipped the skin of his clavicle and he knew he had to move. He pulled back, then surged into her again.

In response, she wrapped her sleek legs around his hips and rocked her pelvis up into him. She moaned and he felt the ripple of her internal muscles as she orgasmed yet again, and he was done. With three hard surges, he let the billowing heat consume him, unable to stave it off any longer. The hardest, purest pleasure he’d ever experienced arched his back and he tried to muffle the shout in his throat.

Pure white light overwhelmed his vision as he rode out his body’s movements. His arms eventually gave out and he buried his face against her hair as he tried to drag oxygen into his quivering body.

“Holy hell,” Ember whispered. Her voice was raspy and he took immense satisfaction in that.

An aftershock rippled through her body, tightening her sheath around him. Zeke groaned as his relaxing cock twitched and he had to surge into her again. She was just too damn good. But the need hadn’t been appeased. Already, he could feel the want building inside him for a second round.

She pressed kisses to the side of his neck and jaw, and Zeke knew she wanted him to turn to her. Hardening his heart, preparing for the worst, he lifted his head enough to look her in the eye.

She had one of the most sublime, perfect smiles on her face. Even with the bruise shadowing her cheek, she was beautiful.

And she was looking at him as if he’d hung the moon.

Zeke shifted, uncomfortable with her scrutiny, even after what they’d just shared. Or maybe because of what they’d just shared.

“I had no idea,” she murmured. “That was phenomenal. You were phenomenal.”

He blinked, unused to hearing anything of the kind for years. He disengaged from her body and sat on the edge of the bed, his reality shifting in his mind.

“Are you okay?”

He glanced at her over his shoulder. “I am.”

And he truly was. When he’d been younger, it had been no big deal to sleep around with whomever he’d wanted. But all of those girls faded into obscurity as he looked at Ember curled on her side behind him. She was backlit by the bathroom light, and the hourglass curve of her hip made him want to reach out and feel her smooth skin. There was a blemish on her belly and another on her neck. He scraped his hand over his beard in guilt.

He stood up from the bed and padded into the bathroom to dispose of the condom, then turned to stand at the vanity. His ugly mug looked the same, but he certainly felt different. As trite as it was to think, something had shifted inside him. Or maybe it was just the release of actual sex for the first time in forever.

Turning on the cold water, he washed his hands and splashed his face, trying to delay returning to the bedroom. She would be waiting for him, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about what just happened. Yes, he was satisfied. Kind of. The stirrings for another round of play were getting sharper. Emotionally, he didn’t know what he felt. He wanted more, definitely. But he was struggling not to feel indebted to her for fucking him. Clothes hid the worst of the damage to his body, but his face was out there for everybody to see. Yet she’d still taken him.
Why
kept echoing through his head.

Straightening, wishing he had an ounce of the confidence that he did when he was a kid, he walked out of the bathroom.

Ember was curled up on her side, the sheet draped over her lightly. Her hands were folded beneath her unbruised cheek, eyes closed. They fluttered open when she heard him come out, and his heart jumped in his chest at the way she smiled at him. There was no guile there, that he could see.

He heard a familiar beep coming from his jeans pocket, and he scanned the room for a clock. When he spied one on her bedside table, he cursed. “I was supposed to be at work half an hour ago.”

Ember frowned and seemed upset as he started to move around the room, gathering his clothes. She sat up on the side of the bed and dragged the sheet around her. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

He grabbed his phone from his jeans pocket as he slid them up his legs. Chad, asking where he was.

Ember blinked up at him, and he felt like an ass. “I’m s-sorry. I didn’t exp-pect to do this tonight. I have to get to work.”

Giving him an understanding look, she nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry you’re late.”

He shrugged, turning his face away. “No big deal. Chad will stay until I get there.”

She sat cross-legged on the bed as he pulled on the rest of his clothes. She didn’t nag at him or force him to talk, and as he prepared to leave, he knew she wouldn’t say a word if he walked out the door without acknowledging her at all. But he couldn’t do that. Crossing to stand before her, he leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. She tipped her mouth up, though, and his lips landed on hers. Need surged, and it took everything he had to pull away. “I have to go.”

She sighed, smiling up at him. “Okay. But before you do I need you to know that tonight was very special to me. I’ve never felt anything like what you gave me. Didn’t even know it was possible. So, thank you.”

Zeke tipped his head to her and walked out the door, too overwhelmed with emotion to form a response. Satisfaction fought with relief that he’d been able to bring her pleasure. It had been so long he’d feared not being able to satisfy her. Locking the front door behind himself, he jogged to his truck through the swirling snow, feeling almost joyous. Lighter than he’d felt in a very long time.

Chad grinned when he saw him pull into the LNF parking lot and get out of his truck. Ants marched across his scalp and he felt color surge through his face at the scrutiny. Hopefully, the night concealed most of it. “What?” he demanded.

“I’m not going to bitch at you because it looks like you had better things on your mind than a boring stakeout. I hope you tucked her into bed nicely before you left.”

Zeke snorted and grimaced in spite of himself. “Kind of.”

Chad nodded as he handed over keys to the nondescript black Crown Vic they’d been using for surveillance on the Malone case. “It was quiet, as always. Our contract is up soon and her ex is going to be pissed we have nothing to report.”

He nodded his head in agreement. “I know. I’ve n-never seen anything going on there. That woman lives like a h-h-hermit.”

Chad rubbed his hand over his face and looked at the office building. Snow swirled through the vapor light. “Well, we’ll work the contract and file our report, but he’s isn’t going to like what we have to say.”

Zeke shook his head, gathering his lunchbox from the truck. “Nope.”

“You still on for next Monday?”

The bottom fell out of his stomach as he remembered the date. Fuck. It had slipped his mind. “I g-guess.”

Chad smacked him on the shoulder. “I’ll be right there with you.”

He nodded, throat tight. It was amazing that he’d found this group of men, willing to take him in, warts and all, so to speak. Chad kept better track of his schedule than he did. The fact that he’d remembered Zeke’s surgery and Zeke hadn’t was disturbing.

The quiet night gave him too much time to think about what had happened with Ember. They’d moved too fast, he knew that. But for the life of him he didn’t think he’d change it if he could go back. She’d rocked his world. In spite of all his misgivings, she hadn’t made him feel like a pity fuck.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Shielding the illumination with his jacket to maintain cover, he pulled up the screen.

Wish we’d had more time
.

His heart rate sped up and heat raced into his groin.

Me too
.

He dragged in a deep breath, debating what to write. The darkness gave him false courage.
Maybe next time we’ll have longer
.

Definitely! ;-)~

Oorah! That sounded like a promise. Slipping his phone into his pocket, he leaned back against the seat. She was tying him in knots. And he loved it.

E
mber was a bit tender the next day, but she relished it. Not only had she made love with an awesome guy, he’d kind of promised to see her again. She glanced at the neon clock on the grill wall, and realized she’d been polishing the same brass rail for the better part of ten minutes. There weren’t many customers right now, but she still felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

Zeke consumed her thoughts. Even though she had so many other things she needed to think about and work on, he was always center stage. She wondered if he was sleeping, or working out. Sweat glistening across his chest.

She looked down at the hand clenched on the rag. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to hurt herself.

The little crush she’d had on him had definitely grown, exponentially it seemed like. When he walked into a room, he made her feel alive. Her heart rate picked up, nervousness invaded her system. It was as if she were in high school again. Although most high-schoolers had more experience than she did with the opposite sex.

Men hit on her all the time when she worked, but the attention turned into the buzz of bees after a while; irritating but no immediate danger. She’d never been tempted by any of the smooth talking men that came in.

Maybe the fact that Zeke wasn’t a smooth-talker at all was the pull.

The front door opened and the man of her dreams walked through. She grinned when she met his gaze, and he returned her smile, sending her heart into palpitations. She glanced at the clock on the wall. “You’re up early.”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I couldn’t sleep.”

His head tipped forward and she followed his line of sight to the front of his jeans. And the blatant erection straining the fabric.

Ember’s mouth watered and she cleared her throat. She crossed her arms over her suddenly hard-nippled breasts. “So, you thought you’d, uh, come for a booty call?”

The look he gave her was playful and shamefaced all at the same time, and it was the cutest expression she’d ever seen on his face. Without a second thought, she stepped into his space and leaned up for a kiss.

Zeke seemed shocked at first, then thrilled, and he threw himself into it. His heavy hand gripped her hip to pull her into his hardness and Ember pushed against him. It wasn’t until somebody cleared their throat beside them that they realized where they were and what they were doing.

Katy, one of the waitresses, stood to their side, blocking the view from some customers. “We have a couple kids here,” she whispered.

Ember felt embarrassment ruddy her skin and pulled away. She glanced over Katy’s shoulder and sure enough, two parents were glaring at her and trying to distract their kids with crayons.

For a wild moment, Ember didn’t care. She wanted to kiss Zeke until forever, right here.

But right here was not the right place.

“Sorry, Katy. I’m going to take my lunch break. Think you can handle the rabid crowd?”

Katy gave her a ‘you’re crazy’ look and glanced around the deserted restaurant. “I think I’ll be able to handle it.”

Zeke was just as embarrassed and happy to follow along behind as she pushed through the swinging door to the kitchen. The cook was at a counter in the corner, prepping vegetables for the evening service, and didn’t even glance up when they walked in, down the aisle and into her office. Ember dragged Zeke inside then locked the door behind him.

He didn’t let her turn around.

His bearded face nestled into the hollow of her neck, and she shuddered as chills raced across her skin from the contact. The elastic band holding the braid down the middle of her back fell to her feet, and her hair unraveled. Zeke buried his nose in it, breathing her in, and pressed his groin into her ass. “You’ve d-d-drugged me. I couldn’t think of anything but you last night and this morning.”

Ember gasped at the move and instinctively pushed back against him. Arousal burned through her body, exciting her beyond coherence. She gasped, her forehead pressed to the door and arched her back against him.

Zeke shifted, running his hands up her ribcage beneath her shirt to her breasts. Plumping them together, he scraped his thumbnails over the tips until she moaned out his name. He peppered kisses all over the unhurt side of her face. Ember twisted her head around enough to meet his lips, more thankful than she’d ever been that she had her own office, away from prying eyes. What she was doing was bad. Definitely not how a business owner should behave.