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Page 31

 

  I noticed his hands had stopped on his jeans, in the processing of unzipping them. I swung my eyes upward and met his. They were gleaming with amusement. But he said nothing. He didn’t have to. I smiled a bit ruefully and waggled my eyebrows, acknowledging I’d been caught, but my gaze drifted down to his hands again and another time, maybe Bo would have played it up for me, grabbed himself. Stroked himself.

  I remembered where he liked to be touched, remembered the day I’d learned. Sitting in my chair, with the afternoon light caressing him, he’d run my hand over his body, pressing lightly at his most sensitive spots and groaning audibly to let me know when he wanted my touch heavier, tighter. The vision of his head tipped back in pleasure was burned into my memory. I don’t know that it could ever be excised. Or that I could ever have enough of him. I raised the blanket to invite him in when he’d disrobed, nude as always.

  He slipped in next to me, sliding an arm under my neck and pulling my head onto his chest. The fingers of one hand stroked through my hair. The other he wrapped around my cheek and chin so he could tilt my face upward. He pressed his lips hard against mine, his tongue plunging forward. I gripped his shoulders and he dropped his hand from my hair, wrapping it around my back. I could feel the heat of his body, the protectiveness of his embrace. His mouth was wide and open, eating at my mouth, my lips.

  When he finally pulled away, I felt dazed. Like he’d consumed part of me with that kiss.

  Bo’s hand traveled from my face and ran slowly down my arm, raising the flesh and making me shiver. He bent his head toward me, biting me softly between my neck and shoulder. He laved the bite mark and moved up my neck, alternating nips and licks. He slid a hand down the front of my jeans and pressed his fingers hard against my clit. His fingertips rested near my opening. He began to rub me, gently but with firm pressure. I could feel my body lubricating his fingers.

  Our heavy breaths filled the night air. I was so close to succumbing. My nails raked up his back, and I could feel the play of his muscles responding to my attention. I wished I could see his body in the moonlight, watch the beams caress every dip and hollow.

  We shoved my jeans off together, a mix of hands and feet until I was as nude as he was.

  I pushed him backward and laid my tongue against his pectoral. I kissed and licked my way across the acres of moonlit skin. I rubbed myself against his chest, abrading my nipples against his chest. His fingers still stroked me, readying me for his intrusion.

  He lifted his already-covered cock and positioned the tip between us. I lifted my hips to accommodate him and sank down slowly, allowing my body to accustom itself to his girth. Even though I’d had him before, my body still acted surprised and shy. He placed both hands on my hips and pushed upward.

  I gasped.

  “You all right, Sunshine?”

  “Yes,” I groaned out, “keep going,” and I moved around on his shaft. He took over, pushing hard into me. I allowed him to control the pace, but it wasn’t enough, and soon he’d flipped me underneath him, dipping a hand between the two of us and rubbing me hard while thrusting swiftly. His skin was pulled tight over his bones and he looked like a fierce hawk at that moment, the hard planes highlighted by shadows.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  AM

  “WHAT’S THIS?” I ASKED, PULLING a round, heavy object from the mishmash of coins, keys, and bottle caps that represented the contents of his pockets. He’d dumped it all on my dresser before pulling off his jeans, as was his regular habit. After taking a bathroom break, I wandered over to look at the collection.

  Bo sat up and the blankets pooled around his waist, leaving his chest bare. The morning light peeked through the shades. I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath, afraid he would disappear, until he threw back the covers and climbed out, uncaring that he was naked. I stared at his obvious arousal, a flush of heat and embarrassment mixing to bring color to my cheeks and the tops of my breasts.

  Following my gaze, he looked down and then up to grin unrepentantly at me. Spreading his arms, he said, “What can I say? You turn me on. ”

  “I think a stiff wind would turn you on,” I mocked, trying to hide my own pleasure at this thought.

  His arms wrapped around me, and I felt his erection press against my side. “This is all yours, stiff wind or no. You can’t expect me to wake up in your bed, surrounded by the smell of us, you looking all rosy and hot, and not get a stiffy. ”

  He sat on my chair and pulled me down facing him. As always, he arranged me to his liking. My legs over his, straddling him. The tip of his morning wood pressing lightly against me. I squirmed a little, the light pressure turning me on more than I thought it would. Had I thought it’d been good with old what’s-his-name? I didn’t know what good was.

  Bo tossed the coin in the air a couple times as if considering its value.

  “It’s a challenge coin. A challenge coin is something that an officer or, I guess, anyone can have minted. It’s given to people, usually in the military, to inspire. I was just finishing Basic and a guy comes up to me, really random, and hands me this coin. I could tell by the look of him that he’s a BAMF. He has two prosthetics on his legs, from right above the knee down to the foot. “

  “BAMF?”

  “Bad ass mother fucker. ”

  “Does every military acronym include a curse word?”

  “Yes and if it doesn’t, you add the F and it’s all better. ” Bo pressed my head against his chest and resumed his story. I took it as a request to be quiet. “I didn’t recognize straight off who it was or what I was receiving. I just saluted, and said, ‘Thank you, sir. ’ With all the shit that was going on with packing up and returning home, I didn’t remember the coin in my pocket until I was unpacking the dress blues at home. I pulled it out, and it has the Medal of Honor emblem on it. I knew immediately who it was then. I didn’t know how to get a hold of this guy, but when I get to SOI, School of Infantry, I ask my commanding officer, who sends me all the way up to battalion command.

  “I’m a POG, the lowest of the low in the Marines, and I’m nearly shitting my pants standing in front of the LT. He asks to see my coin. I hand it over. He fingers it for what seems like an eternity, then hands it back. Tells me I’m dismissed and doesn’t say another word. ”

  “So he doesn’t tell you who it is?” I asked.

  “Nope. At the end of the five weeks, we’re at a bar, just off the Camp San Onofre base. In walks the battalion commander and every officer underneath him. They walk up to the bar. Pull out these coins and slam them down. Everyone else in the place rushes to the bar and slaps their coin, if they have one, on the table. LT looks at me and tells me to pull out my coin. I don’t even know why I have it but I do. I carried it everywhere. LT passes the coin down and without a word everyone looks at it and passes it back. The LT calls for a round for the bar.

  “Then he tells me about how this guy earned his Medal of Honor. He was on patrol and his squad comes under heavy fire. His squad leader falls. This guy covers the squad leader with his body, all the while discharging his weapon accurately and killing several insurgents. He single-handedly saves other members of the squad from being killed and pushes another out of the way of incoming artillery, the last action resulting in injuries so serious that it requires the double amputation of his legs above the knee.

  “LT tells me that he contacted the MoH recipient and asked him why the hell he would have given one of his challenge coins to a sorry-assed Marine such as me. The response? That inspiration should be given to those who are trying as well as those who succeed.

  “I wasn’t the best Marine at that point or throughout my enlistment, but—” He fell silent. I left my head resting against his chest, enjoying the rise and fall against his chest as he took easy, even breaths.

  “The guy who gave me the coin e-mailed me the next day and told me: Do the Corps proud, both in uniform and out. I haven’t been living up to tha
t out here,” Bo admitted; this time his breath was deep and heavy. “But I’m trying. ”

  “You’re too hard on yourself. ” I rubbed my hand over his bare pectoral and smiled when I heard his breath hitch as my finger rubbed lightly over his nipple. I pushed up against him so I could look him in the face. “You’re an incredibly loyal friend. You don’t make assumptions about people. You fight hard for the people you care about. I think that all adds up to a pretty awesome Marine. ”

  He brought his hands up to cup my face. “You still with me?”

  “Yes,” I said firmly. No hesitation in my voice. We’d weathered the storm, and I didn’t want him to think I regretted any of it. Bo was more vulnerable than he’d ever let on. I plucked the coin from his hand and held it up. “It’s nice that you have this, like a talisman. ”

  Bo looked at me seriously for a moment, studying my expression. He pulled me down for a kiss, open-mouthed and wet. His hands dropped to my butt and drew me hard against his erection, which seemed harder and thicker than before.

  My hands tangled in his hair, and I deepened the kiss, wanting to cement the personal intimacies with a physical one. He broke the kiss and reached behind me to pick something up. It was his dog tags, the chain and tags mixed among the detritus on my desk.

  Bo turned them so the light caught the metal. “During Basic, sometimes you’re so tired you can’t even get up to piss. You’re pushed beyond whatever limits you had set for yourself. You realize that your body can do things that you never imagined. But there are times when you don’t think you can go on, and that’s when your brother is there to lift you up and push you forward. He yells encouragement when the drill sergeant’s shouting obscenities. You know that if you’re ever caught by the enemy, your brothers will never stop looking for you. If you’re hurt, they’ll help heal you. The Corps is a unit of many, not one, but dozens, thousands even, who have your back. You can smite one Marine, but a thousand will rise up to avenge him. ”

  His voice was low, almost hushed.

  “That’s not the romantic notion that’s sold, but it’s the one that keeps you going. You don’t want to let your brothers down, and they won’t let you fall, either. Ten years from now, I could meet a Marine on the street, and he’d buy me a beer and lend me a hand. I’d do the same for him. ”

  He let the tags fall from his hand until he was holding only the chain. Slowly, he lifted the chain and slipped it over my head. Too stunned to move, I sat quietly as he pulled my hair out from under the chain and moved the closure to the back of my neck. He lifted the tags to his mouth and then let them drop, the weight dragging the chain between my breasts. My hand came up involuntarily to clench the tags. He closed his fingers over my fist.

  “Now whenever you feel alone, know that I’ve got your back. No matter who’s against you, know that a thousand others wait to avenge you. ”

  “But I’m not a Marine,” I whispered back, my voice catching on the tears threatening to spill out.

  “You’re a fighter, Sunshine. Plus, you belong to this Marine. ”

  “What if you want these back?” I fingered the tags.

  He gave me a crooked grin and shook his head at me. “I’ll know where you are. ”

  “Is that a threat?” I tried to joke, but the effect was ruined by the two big fat tears that rolled down my face and plopped onto our joined fists.

  “A promise. You aren’t ever going to be too far away from me. ” He lifted me again, as if I were weightless, and carried me over to the bed. When he laid me down, I heard the clink of metal as the tags jostled against each other. “I’ve got other promises to make to you. ”

  He laid his mouth against the chain at my throat and followed the path to the tops of my breasts. My tears were lost under a wave of desire, just as he’d probably intended.

  “With your tongue?”

  “With this body, I thee worship,” Bo said against my skin.

  And I surrendered to him and my sore heart began to lighten as it absorbed all the unspoken promises Bo made with his mouth, fingers, and tongue.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  AM

  “RANDOLPH,” BO BARKED INTO THE PHONE the following morning. I couldn’t hear who it was, but as the conversation went on, Bo tensed.

  He threw the phone on the nightstand and took in a deep breath.

  “What is it?”

  “Finn’s dad died. ”

  I gasped. “Oh that’s terrible. What happened?”

  “Heart attack. Dude wasn’t even fifty. Shit!” Bo cursed and rubbed his face. “I need to get over to the house. ”

  He quickly donned his jeans and shirt and shoved his sockless feet into his boots. I jumped up, gathered his books, and stuffed them into his backpack that Noah had dropped off the night before. Bo shrugged on his coat and pocketed his phone.

  I held his backpack out to him and he ignored it momentarily, crushing me to him instead. “I’ll call you later. ”