Yellow Ribbons (5 page)

“Hey, man, I’m sorry.” Jordan looked and sounded sincere. Greg couldn’t care less. “I guess that explains why you got to the scene so quickly. I know you live out in the boonies.”

He’d screwed that one up and hadn’t realized it until now. Greg backstepped to his truck. “Yeah, normally a long drive for me.”

“It’s not like I called you out for nothing.”

No, it wasn’t. “I’d suggest eating fast. We’ve got a hellacious day ahead. I’d hate to see any of us facing it without some rest. Think of it this way… Maybe I’m doing you a favor by horning in. Do you want her thinking of you as the guy who didn’t let her get some well-deserved sleep?”

That dimmed the light in Jordan’s cum-filled gaze. “Good point. I owe you one.” He jogged after Lani. She turned when she heard him. He saw relief wash over her face when Jordan begged off dinner. They exchanged more words, she smiled, waved at Greg, and then Jordan ran back to him.

“Thanks. I owe you one. Breakfast? I can fill you in on what we find.”

“Nope, I’ll grab something on the way in. Shit’s gonna hit the fan in a couple of hours. Right now I just want to get to bed. See you tomorrow.” Greg hurried on to his truck. By the time he reached it, Jordan and his vehicle were nowhere in sight. It didn’t relieve the tightness in his gut. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Common sense debated with the ache growing deep inside. Home wasn’t an option. He’d spend what remained of the night pacing and worrying, wondering how close Lani and Jordan were and why he hadn’t seen it before now.

He started the engine and picked his way toward her house, taking side streets and long routes until at least fifteen minutes had passed and he was damn sure he wasn’t being followed. Then he dared to drive by her place and let out a whoosh of breath when he didn’t see Jordan’s car parked there. Of course, that didn’t mean anything. Jordan could have parked anywhere. Although Jordan didn’t have to hide his presence at Lani’s, so why would he? They were on an equal plane—Jordan a civilian, Lani an officer. Nothing forbidden there. No one would blink twice. Well, they might. People loved to gossip. They’d have a field day over what Lani and Greg had been doing for the last six months. Fraternizing between officer and enlisted—
and
supervisor and subordinate—was a real career buster. They’d both be court-martialed.

Fuck. And now Jordan was suddenly sniffing around.

Greg didn’t like it, didn’t trust it. Was Jordan’s interest in Lani genuine, or had they been found out, and Jordan was gathering evidence against them? Either way, he didn’t like it, though jealousy ruled for the moment.

He drove on until he found himself at one of his normal parking spots two blocks over. Here several cars and trucks lined the street. His truck wouldn’t stick out.

He might, though, if anyone spotted him walking to Lani’s house. But then, anyone out at this time of night had their own problems to deal with, their own secrets to hide.

Duffel bag in a tight grip, he hotfooted it over to Lani’s. His conscience gouged holes in his heart the entire way. Why wouldn’t she want an open relationship? Why wouldn’t she want someone like Jordan Beck? No sneaking around. No lying. No looking over her shoulder. He’d known this day would come. He hadn’t expected it would hurt this much or that he’d even care she’d moved on.

Before he’d realized it, Greg stood in her backyard. Light poured from the bathroom and bedroom windows. He clutched the house key in a shaking hand. The key she’d given him. That meant all was well. Right?

Taking a deep breath, he ordered himself to calm down. He slung the bag over his shoulder and walked up to the back door. It opened before he could insert the key.

A wash of light bathed Lani in semisilhouette. His heart tripped over itself to reach her. She stood there in one of his olive drab Tshirts and little else. Long dark blonde hair rested just above erect nipples. Lord, how they tempted his fingers and mouth. But he was as unsure of his reception as he’d been their first time together, maybe even more so.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she said, yet she stepped back and opened the door all the way.

Greg didn’t hesitate. “It’s been a long night. You wouldn’t be mean enough to make me drive all the way home, would you?”

He closed the door and reached for her, pulling her tight against him. She wrapped her arms around him, laid her head against his chest. “I don’t think I have the energy to do more than sleep.”

He cupped her tight ass. “Sleep works for me. I’ll leave before the sun rises.”

“As always.” Was that sadness in her voice? Maybe she was tired of all this and ready to move on. He didn’t want to ask, didn’t want to know. He had her for the moment, in his arms, and wasn’t about to let go unless he absolutely had to.

“I’m…unsettled.” She pressed her palm over his pec. The nipple hardened into it, yet Greg knew neither of them had the energy for much more than a cuddle.

“Me too.” The combination of the scene they’d left and the abrupt finish before that. He liked to bring them down slow and sweet, bathe her in kisses and caresses, maybe have them both come again. They’d gone into a vicious crime scene still dazed from a scene of their own.

“There’s always the morning.” He kissed the top of her head.

“I’d like that. A nice way to start off what’s going to be a rough day. But no mask for a while.”

“Agreed.”

She stepped away and smiled up at him. “Come.” His hand clutched in hers, Lani tugged him toward her bedroom.

Heaven was slipping under the covers with her, feeling her arm rest over his when he spooned against her, hearing what he hoped was her contented sigh right before she fell asleep. Hell came with the dawn when he had to sneak away like a thief on the run.

Lani started awake from a nightmare she couldn’t remember. Strong arms wrapped around her, and Greg swept his hand over her hip, scattering her fears.

“It’s okay,” he mumbled. “I’ve got you. Go back to sleep.”

He was dead to the world a nanosecond later. The man could fall asleep in an instant. She could too, when he was by her side. When he wasn’t, the nights were long, lonely, and cold.

Lani relaxed against him, treasuring the security of his body next to hers and his warmth, her own minifurnace. What a treat in the winter. Come summer, she’d be sweltering next to him and loving every second. If they made it to summer.

God, what a dangerous game they were playing. No, not a game. Lani was very serious about him, and that’s what was going to wind up destroying them both.

She glanced at the bedside alarm—:. They could get another hour and a half of sleep before Greg had to slink away. She missed him already. In the light of day, in public, at work, neither could acknowledge what they truly were to each other. Regulations forbade every aspect of their relationship. It was only going to get worse. In light of tonight’s events, or rather…last night’s, Lani could predict what was going to happen next. She didn’t want to think about what was going to go down at work in less than four hours.

Greg mumbled something in his sleep and rolled to his back. The sheet, blanket, and bedspread were bunched at his hips. Lani turned onto her side to enjoy the view, feeling blessed and cursed at the same time. Lucky to have him, sad it had to be a secret.

Night light from the wall plug rippled over his chest. His pecs looked like desert mesas, the puckered nipples remnants of ancient peaks. Abs resembled rolling valleys, and the dark hair trickling to his navel a shadowed wash. Lani pressed her lips together to try to hold in a gasp. He did that to her—took her breath away. All he had to do was walk into a room. She’d played hell every time fighting her reaction—how her body tightened and sang for his touch.

He knew so much about her. Knew what she needed and when she needed it, and he thoroughly indulged her body’s demands. It was her heart that Lani guarded, that and the biggest secret of all—one even Greg could never know.

She couldn’t pinpoint the moment things shifted. Somewhere in the last six months they’d gone from fulfilling a mutual need for bondage and discipline play into making love. All Lani knew was that Greg held her heart in his big, wonderful hands. Maybe he had from the start, when fate put them both at that private, exclusive event hosted by Oliver Holbrook at his Palm Springs estate. If she lived to be a million years old, Lani would never forget Greg’s words when he saw her there.

“The woman is mine.”

He’d claimed her, his long legs closing the distance between them, chamois flogger dragging the floor by his side. He’d worn soft black pants that rippled over his muscled thighs. The long-sleeved ivory shirt had been open at the throat, loose. He’d looked like Heathcliff stepping off the moors. If she hadn’t been spread between the pillars, Lani still wouldn’t have been able to move. Then he’d reached her side and burrowed his face below her ear, inhaling her soul.

“No one touches my captain but me,”
he’d whispered.

He’d ordered her released and taken to a private area where…

Lani shivered at the memory.

Greg stirred and rolled her way. “Cold?”

She should have felt guilty for waking him but didn’t. “No, just…remembering our first time together.”

His penis swelled against her stomach, nudging her belly button. He skimmed his fingers over her ribs and down her spine, then rested them on the curve of her ass. His breath quickened, but he didn’t say a word. She knew the memory danced in his head. God, how she’d wanted him fully that not-so-long-ago night. Well beyond what her body needed from the endorphin bliss. She’d needed
him
. Wanted
him
. A month passed before they crossed that line, a month of release at the hands of a true master. Lani didn’t have a clue what release was like until the first time they’d come together outside their roles of Dom and sub. Calling it magic didn’t come close.

Her nipples hardened. She slid her hand over his tight buttock and closed the whisper of space between them. Greg kneaded his fingers oh-so-gently while he ground his cock into her belly.

“I love waking up to you.” He nuzzled her ear and nipped at her lobe. “Love how you feel in my arms.”

“Mmmm.” Lani arched her neck to his wandering lips. Electricity scored down her body when he crawled his mouth over the tendon under her ear.

Somehow she managed to press her palms against his chest. The barest push urged him to lie back. Greg didn’t hesitate, nor did Lani. She raked the covers to the foot of the bed with her toes. He cupped her cheek, then combed his fingers through her long hair. His lips were parted, eyes half-closed while he waited for her next move.

“You’re mine.” She skidded her hand over his chest, back and forth between his hard nipples. “Just like I was yours that night. God help the woman who steps between us.”

Lani meant it too. Though in reality there was nothing either of them could do about it without giving away the nature of their relationship and facing career-ending courts-martial as a result.

His hand tensed, but his grip on her head remained light. His expression lost the dreamy quality. Something had upset him. Her words?

“And while we’re on that subject… What the hell was that with Jordan last night?”

Her heart alternately ached and cheered at this spark of jealousy from him. “I have no idea.” It was the truth. She and Jordan were coworkers, casual friends. His move last night was…disconcerting. “I didn’t like it,” she admitted. “It threw me off.”

“I was beginning to think I was going to have to throw
him
off you.” Lani watched as he clenched his jaw, saw his eyes blaze.

You make me feel like a woman
. Your
woman
.

“Frankly, so was I,” she finished in a whisper, lips poised over his nipple.

His tension faded. She stole a gasp from him when she traced a circle around his nipple. Any other man would have tried to shove her head toward his dick. Not Greg. He was always content to let her play, even if it meant permanently wrinkling the sheet in a tight-fisted, sweat-drenched grip.

She plucked his nipple between her lips, loving how it hardened and strained for more. Lani moved to the other one and idly caressed the line of hair running down his chest, stopping just short of the erection waiting for her below. Greg released a shuddered breath and dropped his hand to her hip. His fingers flexed.

“God, you test a man’s control.” His voice was rough, a true testament to the words he’d spoken.

Lani smiled and licked the muscle cut under his pecs. She feathered her fingers downward, skirting his penis to tickle his thighs. Greg spread them, a silent request she couldn’t deny. She moved lower and flashed her tongue over his smooth sac, loving how he shaved there just for her.

“Ga!” He smacked his palms onto the mattress and wadded the sheet.

She slid over him until her shoulders were between his thighs. Greg lifted his knees, then spread them wide onto the bed. Lani sucked one testicle into her mouth, tongue laving circles over it. She pressed her thumbs upward, promising a touch to his erection that she never gave. Greg writhed beneath her. His soft groans made her juices flow, her clit swell. Releasing his sac, she ran the flat of her tongue up his penis.

His hold on the sheet faltered. Fingers flailed to grab her, then fell to her shoulders. He rubbed frantic circles over her skin. Lani flashed her tongue over the tag of flesh near the crown, blew over the tip, sucked in the precum gathered there, and wandered downward once more. Greg whimpered. His sac was harder now, hugging his body. She loved when he got like that, like he couldn’t wait to empty himself in her. She wrapped her hand around the top and tugged his testicles gently downward.

“You’re killing me,” he gasped.

“Am I?” She used her tongue to separate his balls, then sucked the other one into her mouth.

She felt his cock twitch as heat swamped his groin, his body locked. Lani eased away.

“I want you inside me.” She came to her knees and ran her hands over her breasts. Greg’s hands replaced hers, molding around her tits until her nipples were ripe and swollen. God knew her clit was.