Protecting Cheyenne (SEAL of Protection Book 5) (9 page)

Without giving her a chance to say or do anything else, Dude dropped his head and licked a line between her breasts. He held her still with one hand still clutching her wrists behind her back and the other rested just under her breasts. He could feel her heart hammering against her chest as if she’d run a marathon.

“Beautiful. So beautiful,” Dude murmured, pulling back once more. He looked up into Cheyenne’s eyes again. “You have no idea how badly I want to take you to the ground, strip off all your clothes and spend the rest of the day tasting you and discovering just how good you feel under me. No fucking clue. This is
not
a one night stand, Shy. Say it.”

“Not a one night stand.”

“Good. Yeah, no way one night would be enough.” Dude struggled with himself. Cheyenne was so beautiful, helpless in his arms, waiting for whatever he was going to do with her next. He knew he was treading on thin ice. He was testing his control to the limit, but he had to taste her.

“Hang on, Shy. I have to feel your nipple on my tongue just once before I let you go.” Dude leaned back and took his mangled left hand and stretched the V-neck of her shirt to one side. He was probably ruining it, but he didn’t fucking care. He moved it over enough until he could see the edge of the lace on the cup of her bra. Holding her shirt, he used one of the stubs of his fingers to move it out of the way. It only took an inch and her nipple popped out of the cup of her bra and Dude could see it harden further as the cold air of the room hit it.

Cheyenne had large areolas and her nipple was a shade darker than the skin around it. Dude took the nail of his thumb and flicked it over her nipple. He watched as Cheyenne groaned and arched into his touch, pushing herself closer to him. “Fuck. Beautiful.” Dude leaned down and sucked Cheyenne into his mouth hard. Just as he’d done with the kiss, he didn’t start out slow. He sucked hard and used his teeth to pull on her nipple and elongate it further. Dude felt her arms jerk against his hold as she squirmed against him.

He let go of her nipple with a pop and looked down. If they hadn’t been wearing clothes, Dude knew he would’ve been inside her. They were pressed together intimately and he could swear he could feel Cheyenne’s heat through both their clothes.

As his thumbnail continued to flick over her nipple, Dude leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Oh yeah, that thong is soaked, isn’t it, Shy? I’d love to brush it up against my cheek now that you’ve been wearing it. I imagined what it’d feel like, what it’d smell like as I pulled it out of your drawer, but I’ll kill to have my hands on it now.” Dude heard Cheyenne whimper, and she tilted her neck to the side, inviting him to play.

He sucked her earlobe into his mouth and bit down. Then Dude moved to her neck. Not caring, he began marking her where everyone would be able to see it. Purposely choosing a place where his mark couldn’t be hidden, he sucked Cheyenne’s skin into his mouth.

“Are y-y-you giving me a hickey?” Cheyenne stuttered, not fighting him, but tilting her head giving Dude more room to work. “What are we, fifteen?”

Waiting until he’d sufficiently bruised her neck with his mouth, Dude finally lifted his head to check his handiwork. “Hell yeah I’m marking you. I want you to think about my mouth on you, my fingers on your nipple, and your legs squeezing me tight every time you look in the mirror, Shy.”

Watching as his fingers plucked at her erect nipple Dude repeated, enunciating each word clearly, “This is not a one night stand. I don’t think I’ll get ever get enough of you.”

Finally, with regret, Dude knew he had to stop or else he
wouldn’t
stop. He leaned down and gave her nipple one last long lick, loving how hard she was for him. He licked his way over to her cleavage and tasted her between her breasts one more time. He reluctantly tweaked her nipple one last time with his thumbnail and eased the cup of her bra back over so it covered her breast once more. He leaned in and took her mouth with his again. His left hand shifted so it was up at the back of her neck.

Dude eased back so the only places they were touching were his hand holding her wrists at the small of her back and his other hand on her neck. He waited patiently, with a wide smile on his face, for Cheyenne to open her eyes.

When she finally pried her eyelids up, he was right there, watching as she blushed a fiery red. “You’re delicious, Shy. I’m sorry you were caught up in that situation yesterday, but I’m not sorry we met. If that was the only way you could come into my life, then I’m glad you were there. I’m a selfish asshole, but that’s how I feel.”

Dude waited, when Cheyenne didn’t say anything, but continued to look up at him calmly, he continued. “I like you, Cheyenne. I think you’re amazing. I’m a demanding son of a bitch in the bedroom, but if this interlude was any indication, we’re going to get along just fine.”

Cheyenne struggled for the first time, realizing just how much Faulkner had bossed her around. When he didn’t let go of her she belatedly glared at him. Her glare obviously had no effect, because he just laughed and held on to her wrists tighter.

“I loved feeling you next to me. I loved feeling you flex against me. If at any time you honestly don’t like what we’re doing, just tell me. I swear I’ll hear you, Shy. Okay?”

“Okay,” Cheyenne agreed immediately. Faulkner hadn’t done anything she didn’t like so far. It might not be very women’s lib of her, but she loved not having to think about anything but enjoying the feelings Faulkner was invoking in her body. She liked that he took charge of their lovemaking.

Dude finally let go of her hands and took a step back from her. He looked down at her in appreciation as she shifted, trying to regain her equilibrium. He ran his index finger down the stretched out V of her shirt, and dipped low between her breasts. Finally he shut his eyes and sighed.

“Okay, now that you think I’m a sex fiend, I’m leaving. I have some stuff to do related to yesterday. I have to debrief my commander and check in again with the police. I’ll be back around three to pick you up. We’ll be heading to Wolf and Ice’s house. They’re having an impromptu picnic today.

“Impromptu?”

Dude smiled. “Yeah, as soon as Fiona dropped off the food last night, she called her girl posse and they arranged this get together today so they could meet you.” At the startled look in Cheyenne’s eyes, Dude leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. “They’ll love you, Shy. Trust me. Remember when you said this wasn’t a one night stand? This is what I mean. I would never bring a one night stand over to my friend’s house to meet my team and their women.”

“You made me say that.”

“I didn’t make you say anything. You said it of your own volition.”

“But…”

“No, no buts,” Dude cut her off. “This. Is. Not. A. One. Night. Stand.” He enunciated quietly and firmly.

Cheyenne smiled. “Okay, Faulkner, whatever you say.”

Dude just shook his head at her. She was so damn sweet. His smile dimmed and he looked at Cheyenne seriously. “You all right with this. With us?”

“We just met. It’s fast.”

“It is. But it feels right. Yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay then, I’ll pick you up at three.”

“Okay, Faulkner. I’ll be ready.”

Dude stepped completely away from Cheyenne. As he backed away from her, he didn’t take his eyes off hers until he got to the front door. “Rest today, Shy. Take it easy, don’t overdo it. I’ll see you later.” Then he turned and opened her door. Right before leaving, Dude turned back to Cheyenne. “Lock this behind me.” He waited for her to nod, then he disappeared out the door.

Cheyenne padded over to her front door. She dutifully turned the dead bolt and put on the emergency chain, then sagged against the door.

Holy hell,
was all she could think to herself as she closed her eyes and smiled.

Cheyenne fidgeted nervously as she sat in the truck seat next to Faulkner. He’d come back to her apartment later that afternoon just as he said he would. Cheyenne had spent the day freaking out about what she was supposed to wear to this “get-together” with his friends, what he was really doing with her, why she was even letting him come back and get her…and any other little thing that came to her mind.

This wasn’t her. First of all she wasn’t the type of woman to move so quickly with a man. Hell, the last man she’d dated, they’d dated for a month before he’d gotten to second base. Secondly, she wasn’t the kind of woman men fell for, but God, it felt nice. She’d daydreamed about Faulkner. Ever since she’d seen him in the grocery store, innocently shopping for food, she’d dreamed he’d take one look at her and declare his undying love. It was stupid, but as her family was constantly telling her, she had her head in the clouds.

Cheyenne had spent the day, between freak outs, cleaning her apartment from top to bottom. She could admit she was lazy, but knowing Faulkner had been in her craptastic apartment all night, looking at her sloppiness, was too much.

So she cleaned. Cheyenne washed all the dirty dishes that were sitting in the sink, vacuumed, picked up all the junk mail she usually just threw on the coffee table and sorted through it. She wrote out a couple of checks for bills that were due soon and she did a few loads of laundry.

Looking around, Cheyenne figured she probably should dust, but that was going just a bit too far. She never understood dusting. What was the point? It wasn’t as if dusting a piece of furniture would make the dust in the air disappear. As soon as she finished wiping down the bookshelf, or table or whatever, the dust in the air would settle right back down…so it was really just a waste of time. Cheyenne also didn’t figure Faulkner would even see or care about some dust.

Finally in the early afternoon, Cheyenne knew it was time to see about figuring out what she was going to wear. Cheyenne left on the thong undies with a secret smile. Over the course of the day she’d gotten used to them, and if she was honest with herself, she wanted to please Faulkner by keeping them on.

After trying on, and dismissing, what seemed to be half her wardrobe, Cheyenne settled on a pair of low rider jeans, which weren’t too low, she wasn’t eighteen years old anymore, a black knit sweater that had a scoop neck in front that showed a hint of cleavage, but not enough to be slutty. Cheyenne did consider for about four point two seconds wearing the push-up bra she’d had on before, but decided against it. Yes, Faulkner had picked it out for her to wear earlier, but it seemed too weird to wear it when she was going to meet his friends.

There was nothing she could do about the bruise Faulkner had left on the side of her neck, but if she was being honest with herself, it made her smile every time she looked at it. She’d only had a hickey once before in her life, back in junior high school. The boy who’d given it to her had sucked way too hard on her and the bruise that had resulted was horrific. She’d worn a turtle neck for at least a week until it had healed enough not to be gruesome looking. But Faulkner’s mark, was subtle. He’d applied just the right of pressure to mark her, but not to make her look like she was thirteen and experimenting with sex.

Her shirt had long sleeves to cover her still-healing arms, which was one of the most important check boxes for Cheyenne for the night. She didn’t want to stand out too much when she met Faulkner’s friends, and if she wore a short sleeve shirt, she certainly would. She put on a pair of black flip flops with sparkly rhinestones along the material on the top, and finished off the outfit with a pair of dangly fake diamond earrings.

Cheyenne couldn’t really do anything about her black eye though. She’d never really learned how to put on make-up and figured if she tried now she’d look like a teenage girl playing with her mom’s make-up kit for the first time. She swiped some mascara over her lashes and put on some peppermint flavored lip balm. She stuck the tube in her pocket for reapplication later. She never wore lipstick, but was addicted to flavored lip balm.

Cheyenne figured she looked passable. She’d never win any beauty pageants, but she thought she looked pretty good. The shirt was one of her favorites and the jeans looked good on her. The thirty minutes before Faulkner arrived at her apartment Cheyenne spent pacing the small living room and biting her thumbnail. It was a nasty habit that she’d mostly broken, in part because her sister had teased her unmercifully about it, but she couldn’t seem to make herself stop doing it when she was stressed out.

She’d also packed a small overnight bag. Faulkner had informed, not asked, her that she’d be spending the night at his place that night. She wasn’t sure if he really meant it, but if he did, she wanted to be ready. Cheyenne knew it was a little weird, and way fast, but what the hell. She decided to live in the moment. Faulkner said, and had made her agree, that whatever was going on with them wasn’t a one night stand, but she wasn’t sure she truly believed him. She’d go with it though. If all this turned out to be
was
a one night stand, she wasn’t going to complain about it. Cheyenne had obsessed about the military guy in the grocery store long enough that there was no way she could, or would, turn him down now. Hell, people had one night stands all the time. She decided to live a little and worry about it all later.

Cheyenne packed a T-shirt and pair of stretchy boy-shorts to sleep in, as well as a casual outfit to change into the next day, another pair of jeans and a V-neck T-shirt this time. Faulkner said he’d bring her home before her shift tomorrow, so she could change into her work clothes then. Cheyenne threw in the things she needed for the morning–shampoo, toothpaste, things like that, and she was done.

Finally when Cheyenne thought she was going to have a heart attack, Faulkner was there. She opened the door and watched as his eyes did a full body sweep. When his eyes finally met hers, it was obvious he liked what he saw.

“Maybe we can stay in instead.”

Huh?

“What?”

Dude shook his head as if to clear it. “Fuck. No, we have to go, everyone is waiting for us.”

“You don’t want to go anymore?” Cheyenne’s thumb came up to her mouth unconsciously. If Faulkner had taken one look at her and decided he didn’t want to take her to meet his friends anymore, she was going to die.

Dude saw the look of uncertainty in Cheyenne’s eyes and mentally kicked himself. He took a step forward until he was in her space. Satisfaction ran through him when she didn’t step out of his way.

He put his right hand on her arm and brought his scarred left hand up to her face. In the past he never would’ve even thought about touching a woman with his mangled hand, but Cheyenne didn’t seem to mind it in the least. In fact, if her words and actions in the car the night before were any indication, she enjoyed it.

“Shy, I want you to meet my friends more than anything. They’re going to love you, you’re going to love them. But the second I saw you, the only thing I could think about was how you’d look lying on your bed, looking up at me the same way you did when I opened the door. I’m trying to go slowly here, to prove to you, and me, that this isn’t a one-time thing. I’ve never had to hold myself back before, so I’m learning as I go. The words popped out of my mouth before I could stop them.”

Cheyenne was looking up at him with wide eyes. Faulkner could see her nipples peak through the knit shirt she was wearing. He shut his eyes for a moment then opened them again and willed her to understand.

“I say what I mean, Shy. If I didn’t want you to meet my friends, you wouldn’t. If I wanted to be your friend, and only your friend, you’d know. I’m a simple man. If I’m tired, I sleep, if I’m hungry, I eat. But know this…I want you. I want nothing more than to take you into your bedroom and watch as you take your clothes off for me. I want you to watch me, just as you are right now, as I strip for you. I want to take you hard and fast, then I want it slow and sweet. I want you in your shower and on every piece of furniture in my house. I want to take you from behind as your hands are tied together behind your back, and I want to watch as you take me down your throat until I explode. All these thoughts ran through my mind in the split second after you opened the door and I saw you. That’s why I said what I did, not because I don’t want you to meet my friends. Got it? Don’t doubt me, Shy.”

Cheyenne could only look up at Faulkner. Her brain was officially fried. She could feel how slick she’d gotten with his words and she knew if she looked down she’d be embarrassed at how tight her nipples had gotten with his words.

“I got it. You certainly put any fears I had to rest about whether or not you wanted me to meet your friends.”

“Good. One more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not wearing the bra I pulled out earlier. Why?”

Cheyenne blushed, she wasn’t sure Faulkner would’ve noticed. “You can tell?”

Dude loved the rosy hue that bloomed over Cheyenne’s face and neck. He’d wanted to pull her into his arms and cart her off to her bedroom more than he wanted to breathe, but he controlled himself…barely. “Yeah, I can tell. You’ve got beautiful tits, Shy. They don’t sag and sit high on your chest. But when you were wearing that bra earlier, they were pushed up even higher, and the cleavage it created made me want to bury my face between your flesh and spend hours worshiping you there. So yeah, I can tell.”

Dude brought his right hand up to her chest and caressed the top of her breasts that were showing above the scoop neck of her shirt.

“I…uh…Do I look okay in this sweater without it?”

Dude didn’t like the uncertainty in Cheyenne’s words. Damn. He mentally kicked himself again. He was saying all the wrong things tonight. He knew Cheyenne wasn’t confident in herself and how she looked. He’d have to work on that.

“I think I already covered how ‘okay’ you look in that shirt, Shy. And on second thought, my teammates might be married, but I don’t want them ogling you all night, and ogle they would do if you were wearing that bra. I think I’ll have to make sure you only wear your sexy lingerie when we’re alone.” Dude watched as Cheyenne gave him a small shy smile.

Dude pulled Cheyenne forward, put his right hand under her chin and lifted her head so he could get at her with the perfect angle, and kissed her long and deep. The kiss was over way too quickly, but Dude knew he had to get them out of there. Every word he’d spoken was the God’s honest truth, and if he didn’t get them gone, they wouldn’t go.

Dude pulled back. “Peppermint. Every time I kiss you, you taste different.”

“It’s my lip balm,” Cheyenne told him softly.

“I love it.” Dude left his right hand under her chin, forcing her to look at him, and took his left hand and curled his remaining fingers down and ran the stubs of his fingers over the mark on the side of her neck, her collarbone, then down over the swells of her breasts. Without looking away from her eyes, Dude moved his hand lower and ran his hand over the nipple on her right breast. Feeling it peak even more than it was before, he finally looked down.

“Damn, Shy, You’re so fucking responsive.”

“I haven’t been before,” Cheyenne said the words without thought, then cringed. Shit.

Not freaking out over her mention of being with other men, Dude commented, “Oh man, we’re going to have fun aren’t we?” Taking a deep breath, Dude moved his hand so it gently grasped her arm. “Did you pack a bag? You’re coming to my place tonight.”

Cheyenne nodded shyly at him, and pointed to her bag sitting next to the door.

Dude took a deep breath, the sight of her pre-packed bag, knowing she’d done what he’d asked of her without balking, did something to him. Yes, he’d told her to, but ultimately she made the decision to do it. It was what he loved best about being with submissive women. They held all the power. He could order Cheyenne around all he wanted, but in the end, she was the one who allowed it or not. Dude leaned down and grabbed the small bag, suddenly wishing it had a lot more in it, and said, “Come on, we have to go. Now.”

Cheyenne smiled at him. Faulkner liked to boss her around, it was obvious he liked to be in control in the bedroom, but she could still get to him. She liked that.

Now they were sitting in his truck on the way to Ice and Wolf’s house.

“Tell me about your friends again?” Cheyenne asked as they headed down the road.

“Wolf is the team leader. Ice is his woman and she’s a chemist. She saved his life when they were on a plane that was hijacked.”

“I remember that! Holy shit! That was
your
SEAL team?” Fascinated by the blush that stole over Faulkner’s face, Cheyenne waited for him to continue.

“Yeah, that was us. They went through a whole bunch of shit, but eventually Caroline moved out here to be with him. They recently got married. Then there’s Abe and Alabama. Things were great with them until Abe said some shit after Alabama got arrested and he fought like hell to get her back. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a couple more in love and connected at the hip than those two. As SEALs, we’re born and bred to protect others, but Abe certainly fucked up by not protecting Alabama’s emotions. Thank God she forgave him.

“Cookie and Fiona were the next to get together. Fiona was kidnapped by a sex slave ring and taken over the border. Cookie was the one to go in and find her and bring her out. Mozart and Summer are the most recent of us to get together. Mozart had been hunting the man who killed his little sister when he was a teenager and somehow the man found out about Summer and wanted to torture Mozart by taking his woman. Benny and I are the last ones of our team without women.”