Marine Ever After (Always a Marine) (13 page)

Paul laughed and pressed a kiss to her ear. “I told you, you were tired.” His voice tickled her skin and she shivered.

“But twelve hours?” The question came out somewhere between a throaty whisper and ended on a squeak. It was almost mid-afternoon. Had Paul been in bed with her the whole time?

“Hmm. Hungry?” He continued his light massage against her belly, teasing upward occasionally and her nipples tightened in anticipation. Her very naked nipples. She had no clothes on.

Stealing a glance back at him, she grinned. “Please tell me I’m not the only naked one here.”

“Since you asked so nicely….” He took her hand and pressed it below the sheets and she wrapped her fingers around his very stiff, very hot cock. Excitement raced in her blood and her sex clenched. She went from feeling like a beached whale to horny in one caress.

He traced the ridges of her ear with his tongue and she closed her eyes. Stroking his cock from base to tip was an indulgence he’d not allowed her the last time. Their only time. He rubbed her belly and glided up to cup her breast and she contained a groan. Her breasts were almost too sensitive. When he brushed his thumb over her nipple, she bit her lip not to cry out, but liquid heat pooled between her thighs.

“How does this feel so right and so—odd at the same time?” Odd wasn’t the correct word, but confusion filtered through the desire filling her. She wanted to explore his body, and tracing her thumb around the head of his cock, she wanted him inside of her. The explosive needs were a point, counterpoint.

“We didn’t know each other last time.” His words soothed and teased as he kissed a path from her ear to her throat. Her pulse rabbited and the lazy pleasure unfurling within her ballooned. “Virtual strangers passing in an exquisite way.” Shifting against her, the wet heat of his mouth blazed across her skin to the breast he teased.

“Do we know each other any better now?”

His mouth latched on her nipple and he gave it a tug, teeth grazing ever so lightly, and she forgot to breathe. She squeezed his cock and he caught her wrist, tugging her hand away.

She barely recognized the low mewl coming from her throat. He laved the nipple, pulling all the pleasure up to focus on that point. Maybe he did know her better than she thought. He lifted his head, his gaze locking with hers as he blew a breath. The cool air stiffened her nipple and increased the tension stretching her taut.

“I think we do,” he said, softly. He set her hands on the pillow. “Keep them there.”

Amusement curved beneath the desire and the anticipation fluttering. “You still think you’re the boss of me?”

“No. I don’t think that.” He hovered over her, all coiled strength and raw masculinity. His gaze raked over her, a physical caress that sent another flush of warmth to her sex. “I know I am.”

Confidence on a man was about the sexiest thing ever and she bit back her retort. “Yes, sir.”

His expression softened and he captured her mouth in a kiss that robbed her thoughts of their coherence. All that hard, lean muscle and hot skin pressed against her. He held himself above her, one hand braced on either side. They touched nowhere save for their mouths moving together and the twining of their tongues.

Primitive arousal soaked through her and filled her with yearning. She wanted to lift her hands from the pillow and drag him down, but she didn’t dare. He’d ordered her to leave them there, so she settled for arching her back. Her belly bumped him and he growled, so low and visceral it only heightened her need.

“I want to be patient with you,” he murmured between long drugging kisses. His ragged breathing added to her thrill. “Is it safe?”

Belatedly she realized the meaning behind the question. Dazed, she looked up at him and smiled. “Yes. We can have all the sex we want.”

He kissed her again, and sparks chased across her vision. He caressed a path, leaving wanton need everywhere he touched. She squirmed, wanting his hand everywhere, but he took his time and plundered her mouth in the most erotic kiss. Abandoning her lips, he kissed his way down her body, particularly at her breasts where he drove her mad with teasing licks, but pausing at her belly.

“Sweetheart, do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” The way his voice deepened sent primal thrill zinging from her sex to her breasts and back again. When he dipped below to kiss her thighs, she closed her eyes and fisted the pillow.

Soaking wet, and so ready for him, she thought she might die if he played with her anymore. When his fingers found her throbbing clit, she cried out and came hard, disobedient as hell and she didn’t care.

Floating on that wild cloud of euphoria, she wasn’t prepared for his mouth replacing his fingers and the dark need that erupted spiraling her higher on a fresh rising tide of need. His tongue vibrated against her clit, ratcheting up her tension to an almost unbearable level. But the earnest attention and hard strokes of his mouth tumbled her over the edge. The shocks ripped through her and she cried out.

He gave her no time to recover, pulling away and rising above her. Dazed, she stared at him as he angled his cock and pressed into her. It was one, slow, unrelenting thrust and her inner muscles convulsed around him. She tried to arch her hips to meet him, the need hurtling her right back to the edge.

Seated deep within her, he stilled and checked her with a look. “Still okay?”

“Yes.” The whispered word came out a plea and he smiled, a heart-stopping, brilliant grin, and began to thrust in and out of her.

“Come again, baby.” He stroked her clit, never ceasing his rhythm, and she came again and again, sobbing his name, one orgasm crashing into another. His hips pistoned, and thrust harder, but he seemed ever aware of her, stroking her, teasing her, heightening her pleasure and when he found his release in hot jet of heat, he called her name against her mouth and kissed her.

I love him so much
…. The thought tumbled in her mind, riding the whirlpool of pleasure.
So much
….

***

Loving her was easier from several thousand miles away. There, he didn’t have to witness her simmering irritation when he came in from a run carrying a cup of coffee. There, he didn’t know how often she woke in the middle of the night, or that spooning wasn’t her favorite way to sleep. But there he also didn’t get to indulge himself in the softness of her body or give her foot rubs when she came in after a particularly long shift. He couldn’t deliver food to her or get to know her co-workers.

So maybe loving her from afar seemed easier, but it was nowhere near as satisfying. She loved the tree. And he even managed to coax her into buying some decorations for it—including one photo frame that boasted a miniaturized likeness of their sonogram. Baby bump still didn’t have any interest in sharing his or her gender. The baby played shy with his or her legs always closed or turned away. Paul enjoyed the anticipation, Lillianna not so much.

She was a planner.

“So what do you think of Michael?” He fixed dinner—well, he’d grabbed carryout from Damon’s restaurant. His idea of cooking consisted of anything made on a grill or take-out.

“I dated a Michael. No.” She didn’t eat properly, picking at her food and pushing it around on the plate rather than eating it. “Jackson?”

“Jackson Torres.” He tried the name.

“Hansen.” She corrected.

And there they went again. “Torres,” he repeated patiently. “I like Danniella, for a girl.”

“Then someone would call her Dani. I’m not a big fan of nicknames.” She shifted in the chair and he recognized the pinch of her eyebrows.

“You don’t mind when I call you Lily. Back hurt?” He rose and fetched the pillow off the sofa and eased it between her back and the hard chair.

“A little.” But her grimace betrayed the lie. He paused and gave her a hard stare, and she relented. “Okay, a lot. I’m not really hungry, maybe I’m just tired. And I like when you call me Lily.”

“Maybe, but you should still eat something. I can get you something else if you don’t like the fish.” Maybe he should have run the meal plan past her first.

“No, the fish is fine. In fact, I’m sure it tastes great. But it was a long day….”

“And your last one, right? You’re on leave now?” She had enough vacation time accrued to take off through the first of the year. The policy at her hospital allowed her a pre-maternity and a post-delivery leave. Which meant even though the baby wasn’t due for another six weeks, she had time off.

“Yes, I’m on leave. Signed the last papers today, I’m off work until April.”

“April.” He frowned. “That’s not a lot of recovery time.”

“Six weeks is more than enough and you’re presuming this kid is going to stay on some kind of predictable schedule. Babies tend to do whatever they want.” She grimaced again and glared at her stomach. “And kicking me isn’t helping your case.”

Paul laid his hand against her belly immediately. Since arriving, the baby had been pretty quiet. He’d only noticed some movement when she slept, and he was eager for the experience. When the little one thumped his hand through the belly, he grinned. “Hello there. Nice high five.”

Lily laughed. “I think that was his foot.” But the tension knitting her brows together relaxed.

“Okay, then maybe he can be a kicker for the football team.”

“Or she can be a prima ballerina.”

He’d miss talking to her—playing with her. The sobering thought kicked him square in the gut. He didn’t want to miss it. If she’d just agree with him—it would solve so much. Glancing up, he locked gazes with her. “Marry me.” It wasn’t a question.

“We’ve talked about this.” She glanced away.

“No, you’ve talked about it. You’ve given me a lot of excuses, but no real reasons. I know you’re life is here, but that doesn’t mean it’s set in cement.”

“No, it doesn’t. But I bounced around my entire childhood. I never knew where we would go next. We didn’t have any control of Dad’s assignments. I didn’t grow up in a neighborhood where everyone knew my name, I grew up in an Army where everyone moved when they were told, went to states and bases and countries they may never have heard of, and we had no say in the matter. No one took into account who my friends were or what I liked to do—if the Army said go, we went.” Tears filled her eyes. “I love my dad, I love that he loves his country, and I have always been proud of him. But Paul, I hated that. I hated not having a place to call mine, a place I could settle in and establish roots.”

Still kneeling, he covered her hands with his. “I get that. But if you stay here and I go, we’re apart. How is that fair?”

She bit her lip and gone was the sassy, tough nurse who handled everything and all that remained was the vulnerable mom-to-be. His heart fisted in his chest. “I don’t know. I don’t like it.”

Well, that was something. “You know kids don’t get to choose their families. They’re born into them. I know you didn’t like all the moving, and I can’t promise you that we won’t have to. I’m in Germany right now. I was in Afghanistan a year ago, Iraq before that. I’ve been assigned all over the world. I go where they need me. It’s who I am. But I want to be your husband, too.”

Sighing, Lily touched his face and he leaned his cheek into her gentle fingers. “Paul, we’re having a baby…I love having you here. I look forward to talking to you. But is that enough to make a marriage? Won’t you eventually resent me?” She swallowed hard. “Or worse, what if I end up resenting you?”

Discomfort rippled across her face and he touched her belly again. The baby seemed to be kicking more. “I can’t say it won’t happen. Because I can’t see the future. No one can promise you that. Happily ever after isn’t something that happens, it’s something you work for—together.” He believed that. He was raised with two parents who argued, loudly, and made up just as fiercely. They weren’t perfect, they made mistakes, they adjusted, and they grew together. He wanted that for himself.

He wanted Lily.

“But you’re tired.” It wasn’t a question. The baby’s size made her more uncomfortable by the day and he’d been there a week and already saw it. “So—let’s do this. We’re going to get you comfortable, you pick the movie and I’ll clean and then give you a foot rub.”

Her smile softened and she shook her head. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Wrong answer.” He leaned in and kissed her hard. “I don’t deserve you. That’s why you’re making me work so hard.” Rising, he helped her out of the chair and gave her bottom a light smack. “Go. Get comfy and figure out what you want to watch.”

And let me figure out how to convince you that we’re right together
…. His time ran short. Two weeks was nowhere near enough time to make his case.
Deal with the situation in front of you, like Luke says. This is the situation. This is what I do
.

***

Christmas morning turned magical. She’d noticed and watched curiously as the boxes waiting in her dining room vanished and mysteriously reappeared as wrapped presents under the tree. And there were a lot of them. Curiosity nibbled on her, but she focused her attention on Paul and not the presents. The last two weeks had been a small miracle.

The man was invested in every part of her life. They went to a Christmas party together at Mike’s Place. Surrounded by his friends and fellow Marines, she thought she’d be out of place—but no one allowed her that. They welcomed her like she belonged there.

Paul apparently conspired with Rebecca for her baby shower, too. He delivered her to the location and picked her up, packing in all the presents. They had a crib, a decorated room for the baby, and everything she would need for the first few months.

The night he put it all together, she’d never laughed so hard in her life. But he wasn’t perfect. Mentally, she’d ticked off the list—he snored. He used all the hot water in the shower. He loved to cuddle. He never let her do anything if he got to it first.

Yeah, his flaws are the suck
….

But at his core, he remained a Marine. The clock ticking down on their time together thudded with every beat of her heart. It didn’t matter how much fun they were having, he had to leave right after the first to report to his duty station in Germany. He would leave.