A dark
tremor danced through her core as he drifted over her tight anus, and her response didn’t go unnoticed.
“Have you ever…?” She shook her head and he swore under his breath. “If we had more time, sugar.”
“I don’t know—”
He pressed his face into her temple. “No. But that’s definitely going in the fantasy vault.”
She shivered and nodded. “Mine, too.”
He curved his palm lower, finding proof of
how much she liked the idea. “Jesus. You feel good.”
She couldn’t respond, a weak cry the only sound she could form as her mouth gaped open, because as he said that, he’d slid two fingers around her clitoris and begun spiraling lazy circles up and around, spreading her slippery moisture all over. And with each pass over that bundle of nerves, he pushed her closer and closer to the release she
craved. The blinding crash of sex hormones and physical tension. But just as she felt everything start to fall away, as she shifted into that muzzy altered headspace, he pulled back, still touching her, but slow enough that she lingered on the cusp. Floating. Wanting. Happy.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “I can’t wait to be inside you.”
She whimpered in agreement, and he moved his mouth
to her neck, pressing the barest of bites to her skin there. Then he dropped to his knees behind her, and she grabbed her chest, desperate to replace his touch with her own. He nibbled at the base of her spine, making her squirm against his hand still steadily teasing her folds. And then lower, he kissed one cheek and then the other, and she thought she’d die for sure, of either embarrassment or
pleasure or both. When he bit the back of her thigh, she knew it was the latter because she lifted her leg in wanton offer, not caring in the slightest what she looked like, just needing his mouth there. There. And as he kissed her core, the very heart of her, sucking her clitoris into his mouth with greedy abandon, she flew apart, clutching the wall and then his head as she rocketed to oblivion.
— —
Drew caught Annie as she tumbled into his lap. His kitten might have claws, but she was sated for the moment. He reached up and turned off the shower, snagging the condom at the same time.
“You’ve got crazy ape arms, you know that?” She peered up at him through half-closed eyelids and licked her lips. “And crazy other things, too.”
“And one of them isn’t done with you.” He ground
against her ass. Oh, to take her there…but that needed time. And trust. Maybe one day they’d have another chance…
No. He couldn’t go there. Wouldn’t ask her to wait for him. “Come on, let’s move this to the bed.”
She unfolded to a stand, then smoothed her hands over his abs as he bounced after her, humming appreciatively when his muscles clenched under her touch. Like he could control it. Ha.
He was barely staving off an embarrassing explosion a few inches south, he wasn’t showing off his physique. As if finally sensing his urgency, she flicked her gaze up to his and licked her lips. “I was thinking of something else.” She wove her fingers through his and tugged them together toward the counter.
Bending Annie over, watching them together in the mirror…that would be an awesome fuck,
no doubt about it. But he wanted more. Needed more, and so did she, even if he hadn’t given her any reason to trust he could deliver. “You want to keep me out of your bed, sugar?”
She froze, and his erection lost some of its vigor, but he wasn’t giving up. He crowded her against the counter, caging her in with his arms.
“I wasn’t thinking like that.” She licked her lips and tossed her hair,
the gentle action making her breasts bounce in a perfectly distracting way.
“The hell you weren’t, and that’s my fault. I’ve said a lot of bullshit things about keeping us arm’s length, blah, blah, blah. But the truth is we can’t fight what’s between us. So denying it is a bit pointless.” He ducked his head and kissed the curve of her ear, working his way lower to the delicate skin on her neck.
The urge to mark her there was overwhelming, and his cock once again rose to full attention.
“What’s between us?” she whispered.
“An unbreakable bond.” The words spilled out strong and true, and she melted against him. Her breasts rubbed against his chest, high and tight, and the soft, swaying skin undid him. He nudged her backward, tipping her against the mirror so he could capture one of her
nipples in his mouth.
She keened his name as he sucked and swirled, and a savage pride ripped through his chest. He slid his hands down either side of her body, blindly seeking her hips, and when he found them he curved his palms around her ass and lifted her onto the cool stone counter. Her muscles twitched and flexed under his touch as he continued his worship of her breasts, back and forth,
while sheathing himself. Only when he was ready to slide into her warmth did he pull his mouth back up to hers.
He’d never been a huge fan of kissing before, not during sex, but with Annie he wanted to be joined to her in every way possible as they finally coupled. Maybe he was greedy, but he couldn’t get enough of her taste or the way she eagerly gave back as he thrust into her again and again.
Her legs gripped around his waist, and he lost a bit of leverage. “Hang on, baby,” he whispered, cupping his hands around her back and bottom as he lifted her. “We’re going to do this right.”
Still buried deep inside her tight, wet sex, he carefully maneuvered back into the bedroom and navigated them to the bed. Instead of trying to lay down, he climbed on and knelt in the middle, sinking back
to sit on his heels. Annie rose above him, riding his lap, and in the dim light he could make out a tremulous smile spreading across her face.
“Hi,” she whispered, lowering her forehead to press against his. Her hair fell like curtains around them, and in the darkness her breath against his mouth was heaven.
“Hi,” he rasped.
“I think it’s your turn to come.” She’d found her attitude again,
and the cheekiness made him growl.
“It doesn’t have to be a turn thing, sugar. Ride me, and I’ll make sure we both get there.” He flexed inside her and she sucked in a breath before lifting up half his length and sliding back down again. “Ahhhh, yes. You’re such a good girl.”
“Mmmm.” She hummed in pleasure and did it again, then again, and on the fourth grind he bucked up to meet her, ratcheting
up the tempo. The hitch in her breath told him that worked for her, so he slid a hand between them, finding her clit, because he wasn’t going to last long. Not with her tits bobbing in his face and her pussy clenching him like a custom-fit glove. Her voice ringing in his head like a clarion call.
His balls drew tighter against his body as Annie’s delicious little breathy sounds came faster and
more desperate, as their bodies slammed together in carnal repetition, speeding them both toward blissful release. She came first, spasming around him, and with a roar he surged into her, toppling them both to the side.
One hand went automatically to his dick, grabbing the condom, and the other snagged her around the waist and hauled her into his side. He needed to get cleaned up, but a leg cramp
and not seeing properly just yet were pretty damn good excuses to hold on to her a little while longer.
Being with Annie was right. The logistics were going to be complicated and would take time, but he couldn’t let her go. Couldn’t go back to the automaton routine he’d sleepwalked through for the last year.
He’d figure something out, and pray like hell that she still wanted him when he was
finally free to be hers.
— EIGHT —
They slept fitfully, each reaching for the other multiple times through the night, and when dawn broke, Annie gave up trying. But she didn’t get out of bed, because she knew as soon as she did, it would be over.
Instead she lay there watching her sleeping giant, committing the hard planes and sculpted ridges of his body to memory. He’d seared his brand on her soul last night and
she couldn’t imagine how she’d ever get over him. Wouldn’t try for a long time, hence trying to absorb every last detail of his magnificent body.
She traced a finger over an inked bird in flight on his rib cage and he stirred.
“Good morning,” she whispered, her voice cracking.
His eyes snapped open and he gave her a long, assessing look. “This isn’t the end of us, Annie.”
Why did he have
to go there? She moved to roll away but he gently cuffed her wrist with one of his large hands, holding her palm to his side.
“You know what this tattoo is?”
She shook her head, not trusting her voice.
“It’s a martin. I got it two weeks after Kevin died. He’d fucking hate it, call me a bunch of names for getting it, but he was the closest thing to family I’ve ever had.”
“Your parents?” She
knew they were both gone, but with a sinking feeling in her gut, she realized she’d never known the details of that.
“Not a story for this morning, but let’s just say they were that in name only.”
Her heart broke for a child-version of this hulking man. Salty tears slid down her face, hooking off her nose and lips, and he reached out to push them away, but she grabbed his hand and pressed her
mouth to his palm. “I’m so sorry. Here I’ve been feeling so sad for myself that my family is gone—”
“That’s the thing, sugar. I don’t feel that sadness about them. I can’t miss what I never had.”
Understanding dawned and she wrapped the sheet more securely around her body, all of a sudden far too naked for this conversation. “Easy breezy makes a lot of sense now.”
He nodded. “It did.”
She
pasted on an understanding smile and shifted her gaze somewhere
“Did, past tense. Annie, you make me want things I’ve never considered before.”
“Like a second date?” Her nerves were pulled tight and totally raw, the joke was the only response she could muster.
He seemed to get that and laughed gently. “Something like that.” He pulled her in close, sliding one heavily muscled leg between hers.
“Maybe some visiting back and forth between L.A. and San Diego.”
Could he hear her heart pounding in her chest? “Uhm, that sounds nice.” A nervous giggle escaped. “Really nice.”
He squeezed the back of her neck. “I’m still looking at a bit more time in, though, so I won’t ask more of you than that. Not because I don’t want to, but it wouldn’t be fair.”
Service. Deployment. Operations. Fear
sliced through her giddy happiness. She couldn’t lose Drew, not when she’d just found him. She burrowed into the safe haven of his arms and closed her eyes. “When do you leave on your next operation?”
“Probably five months from now, but the timing can change.” His hand wound up into her hair and he tugged her head back to look her in the eyes. “You remember the deal from Kevin, right? No news
is good news?”
The lump in her throat was getting bigger by the second. “I shouldn’t expect to hear from you.” She nodded. “I remember.”
“And when I get back…there’s a period of adjustment. I won’t be a lot of fun to be around.”
“You’re really selling this, Castle.” She tried to push a playful tone back into her voice, failing miserably. She’d take him however she could get him. Broken, grumpy,
tired. It didn’t matter.
He leaned in and laid a bruising kiss across her mouth. “I don’t have much to sell, sugar. But I’ve got you tattooed on my body. I didn’t know it was you when I did it, I thought I was marking a memory. It wasn’t about the past, though…it was my future. It was you.”
“This is crazy,” she whispered, snuggling into his neck.
“You liked crazy last night,” he rumbled, his
voice all around her.
She pressed a kiss to his bare skin, blushing at the memory of Drew filling her, stretching her from the inside out, making her hot and achy all over again. “Do we have time to get a little crazy again before breakfast?”
“We’ll make time. I’m a Navy SEAL, sugar, we’re resourceful.”
— —
Two orgasms and a shower later they made their way downstairs. On the dining
room table they found a tray of orange juice, croissants, and fresh fruit. The smell of frying bacon wafted from the kitchen.
Annie didn’t think she was hungry, with her stomach twisted in knots at the possibility of talking to the man who was raising her brother’s child. Drew had given her a quick briefing from the night before while he washed her hair, which helped mollify her when she realized
how much he’d kept secret while they were sorting out their relationship issues.
Relationship. The details of which were still up in the air, but there was no doubt that was what they’d tumbled into. And last night she hadn’t been in a headspace to think about anything, and there wasn’t any action to be had on the Harris front, not until Rik’s people in DC had made contact.
Which had left Drew
free to…she blushed as another X-rated moment replayed itself in her mind.
“Thinking of something naughty, sugar?” Drew twisted his body in front of hers, blocking her from the room. His voice was low, for her ears only, and she nodded as she buried her face in his chest. “Good. Want coffee?”
“Mmm-hmmm.”
From the kitchen, Calli hollered that more food was up, so Annie left Drew pouring steaming
coffee and warm milk into mugs and went to help carry trays of bacon, scrambled eggs, and fried tomatoes.
Rik and Mats joined them next, and finally Trent and Jackson silently entered the room from a hallway Annie hadn’t noticed the night before. Trent looked like he hadn’t slept—or shaved—since she’d seen him last. But he didn’t seem bothered by that at all, flashing her an unexpected smile.
“We’re all set for half past nine, Ms. Martin. Rik and Drew can take the call if you’d rather, but the senator has expressed an interest in talking with you.”
She slid a quick look in Drew’s direction, and her wave of anxiety was dissipated a bit by the comical sight of Drew tucking into a mountain of food. He paused for a moment and gave her a wink as if to say,
got your back
.