Devil in Dress Blues (10 page)

Holding her in the crook of his arm, he slipped his free hand beneath her sweater, his warm palm smoothing over her ribcage until he cupped her breast. Sara sucked in a breath as he began to caress her nipple through the lace bra she wore.

“This is my fantasy,” he growled softly, pulling the bra down and her sweater up until her breasts were exposed to his gaze. “Having hot sex with a dangerous woman. Or dangerous sex with a hot woman.”

He fondled one breast, and bent his head to draw the other one into his mouth, suckling and nibbling on her aroused nipple until she squirmed in his lap and pushed his head away.

“Oh, stop,” she panted. “It’s too much.”

He lifted his head, but kept his hand over her breast, gently kneading and tormenting her. “Tell me what your fantasy would be,” he urged.

This
was
her fantasy.
He
was her fantasy. She’d fantasized about him from the first night she’d met him, but she’d never actually believed they might be together like this.

“C’mon,” he coaxed. “Tell me what you want.”

Well…there had been one entry in the planner that had intrigued her. She risked a peek at Rafe’s face, wondering if she should tell him. Wondering how he would react if she did. He watched her intently.

“Tell me,” he urged, and slanted his mouth softly across hers—a moist, sensual fusing of their lips that caused spirals of heat to lick their way across her skin. She moaned and pressed herself into his hand.

Finally, she dragged her mouth free, breathing heavily. “Okay,” she said against his lips. “But promise you won’t laugh.”

He kissed her again, deeply. “I promise. Now tell me.”

“Come here.” She drew his head down and whispered in his ear. As he drew back, his expression was one of raw, male need.

“
That’s
your fantasy?”

“Well, one of them anyway.” Sara knew her face was flaming. She couldn’t believe she’d had the courage to tell him. But from the heated expression in his eyes, she knew she hadn’t made a mistake.

“Oh, man,” he groaned, “you are killing me, lady.”

Sara lay back in his arms, enjoying how he made her feel. Sexy. Powerful. The promise in his eyes made her breath catch.

“You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with,” she assured him with a slow smile, knowing there was no way he’d refuse her. Not if his body’s reaction was any indication. She could feel him beneath her, hard and ready.

“Trust me,” he said with a lazy smile. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing with you. And if it kills me, at least I’ll die happy.”

10

R
AFE GLANCED OVER AT
S
ARA
, who sat beside him in the passenger seat of his car. They’d spent several unforgettable hours exploring their fantasies, first in his living room and then upstairs in his bed. If he didn’t have other obligations, Rafe thought he could have happily spent the entire day in bed with Sara.

He smiled as he recalled her secret fantasy of being dominated, of being forced to submit to him as he ravished her. As female fantasies went, he knew hers wasn’t all that uncommon, and he’d been prepared to back off immediately if she gave him any indication she was truly afraid.

But when he’d pushed her up against a wall and pinned her arms over her head, she hadn’t been frightened. She’d been excited, and that had aroused him. And when he’d shoved his hand into her jeans to stroke her, she’d been more than ready. He’d been forceful, but he’d been careful with her. And he was grateful as hell that she’d trusted him to help her fulfill that particular fantasy. He cringed to think what a different kind of man might have done, given that sort of control. Just the thought of another guy doing any of those things with Sara caused a tight knot to form in his chest.

Looking at her now, Rafe had a difficult time believing she was the same woman who had blown his mind just a few short hours ago. Gone was the flushed, uninhibited lover. In her place was a quiet, conservative woman who concentrated on responding to the messages on her phone and studiously avoided meeting his eyes. She’d tamed her hair into a neat ponytail and had applied some makeup and jewelry. In her button-down blouse and slacks, paired with a thigh-length trench coat, she at least presented an image of a Washington professional.

On one level, he understood that she might be self-conscious about what they’d done together earlier, but on the other hand he would have thought the experience would make her feel closer to him.

“Hey.” Reaching over, he scooped a loose tendril of her hair behind her ear. “You okay?”

She flicked a glance in his direction and nodded, but he saw how the tips of her ears turned red. The knowledge that she was embarrassed by what they had done was both endearing and infuriating.

“Today was amazing,” he said quietly. “
You
were amazing.”

She cast him a grateful smile and set her phone down on her lap. “Thanks. I, um, can’t believe some of the things I let you do.” She gave a self-conscious laugh and covered her face briefly with her hands before turning to him with a look of appeal. “Please tell me you weren’t horrified.”

In answer, Rafe pulled the car to an abrupt stop on the side of the road, uncaring of the other motorists who blared their horns at him as they passed. Thrusting the vehicle into Park, he unfastened his seat belt and leaned over to grasp her by the shoulders.

“Sara, I meant what I just said. You were amazing.” He rubbed the back of his knuckles across her cheek. “You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever known and I feel like the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet that you asked me to share that fantasy with you.”

She smiled at him, and Rafe felt something shift in his chest. “Really?”

“I never joke about something as serious as sex with a beautiful woman.”

To his relief, she laughed and then leaned forward to press a soft kiss against his mouth.

“How do you always know just the right thing to say and do?” she asked, resting her forehead against his shoulder.

Rafe chuckled and enfolded her in his arms. “You just don’t know me well enough, yet. Trust me, I put my foot in it more than I care to admit. Give me time—I’m sure I’ll say something to irritate the hell out of you.”

Even as he said the words, Rafe realized he did want more time with Sara. He wanted to give her the chance to get to know him better, even his faults, and his tendency to say whatever he thought and damn the consequences. He’d never have believed he was the type of guy who could fall for someone after just one night, but he knew he was in danger of falling hard for Sarah.

“We’ll see,” Sara said, clearly unconvinced. Pulling out of his arms, she rubbed her finger over his mouth. “Sorry. Lipstick.”

As Rafe eased the car back onto the thruway, she tucked her phone into her handbag. “So how often do you do this?”

He couldn’t help but tease her. “What? Convince unsuspecting women to move in with me for a week and then take advantage of them?”

She laughed softly. “No, not that, although I hope I’m the only one you’ve done that to. I mean, how often do you visit the guys at the Walter Reed Medical Center?”

Rafe shrugged. “When I’m here, I try to get over to the hospital a couple of times a week. A lot of those guys don’t have family in this part of the country, so they really appreciate visitors. And they need to know that they haven’t been forgotten.”

“What about you? Were you ever injured?”

“No. I’ve been lucky. My guys and I have had some close calls, but I’m grateful to say that we’ve never lost a team member.”

“Thank goodness,” Sara breathed.

“Here we are,” he said, pulling into the entrance of the medical center. “You’ll see some things here that you’ll find disturbing, even upsetting. But the important thing is not to show pity for these guys, okay? They won’t thank you for it.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“By the same token,” he added, turning into a vacant parking spot and shutting the engine off, “if you find yourself getting overwhelmed, just let me know and we’ll leave. Got it?”

Sara drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Got it.” She gave him a resolute smile. “I’m ready.”

F
OR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS
, Sara watched as Rafe moved from hospital room to hospital room, greeting the patients with fist bumps or handshakes. Many of the soldiers knew him by name, and prior to entering each room, Rafe would quietly indicate to her whether the patient was someone he had visited before, or a recent admission to the hospital. He made no distinction as to rank or branch of service, and if Sara hadn’t known better, she would have believed that he was a close personal friend of each patient.

He paused outside one room and caught Sara by the arm to keep her from entering. “This next guy is a unique case. He’s been here for a couple of months, and a bunch of us take turns visiting him to keep his spirits up.”

As they entered the room, Sara saw a man sitting up in his hospital bed with an electronic reader in his hand. He looked up when he heard Rafe’s footsteps, and his face creased into a grin. His head had been shaved and bore the evidence of extensive surgery, with scars criss-crossing his scalp. Beneath the blanket that covered him, Sara realized he was also missing a leg.

“Hey, Delgado,” he said, extending a hand. “Good to see you, man!” He looked over at Sara. “Who’s this you brought with you?”

Rafe drew Sara forward. “I want you to meet a good friend, Sara Sinclair. She’s doing a story for
American Man
magazine, and I thought she might like to meet a real hero, in the flesh. Sara, this is Corporal Shay Riordan. He and another soldier used their bodies as shields to protect members of their unit when an insurgent on a motorcycle rode by and detonated a bomb.”

Shay gave Rafe a disgruntled look. “Damn it, Delgado, I’m no hero. You would have done the same thing. Any one of my team would have done the same thing.

We just happened to see the son of a bitch first and realized what he was up to.” He extended a hand to Sara. “I’m pleased to meet you, Ms. Sinclair.”

“Sara,” she murmured. “Call me Sara.”

“How is Kim doing?” Rafe asked, indicating a photo on his bedside table.

Shay sighed and shifted restlessly. “She’s doing good. Getting impatient, I suspect. I just wish I could be there with her.” He looked at Sara. “My wife is expecting our first baby in about five weeks. I haven’t seen her because her pregnancy is considered high-risk and she can’t travel.” He gave a short laugh. “So here we are, both confined to bed on opposite sides of the country.”

“I’m so sorry you can’t be together,” Sara murmured.

Shay shrugged. “At least I’m alive, and I know I’ll be home in time to see our baby born. Nothing else matters.”

There was a momentary silence in the room as they considered his words.

“Hey, did I thank you yet for the laptop?” Shay asked.

Rafe shook his head. “When did it arrive?”

“A couple of days ago.” Leaning over the side of his bed, he lifted a silver laptop from his bedside table and set it across his thighs. “The Semper Fi Fund got this for me,” he said, glancing at Sara. “It has a built-in webcam and lets my wife and I Skype each other at least a couple of times each day. It’s almost as good as being there. Here, I’ll show you.”

Sara watched as he opened an application and keyed in a code. After a moment, he looked up with a sheepish expression. “She’s probably sleeping. She’s not online, so she doesn’t realize I’m trying to call.”

“That’s okay,” Rafe said with a grin. “She probably wouldn’t want to see a bunch of strangers staring back at her, anyway.”

“Nah, she knows all about you. I told her that you’re like family.”

Rafe was quiet for a moment, but Sara could see that the other man’s words had moved him. “Thanks, bro,” he finally said, taking the corporal’s hand in a firm grip. “I appreciate that. How long before they send you home?”

“With luck, my prosthetic will be ready by the end of the week. I’ll need a couple of weeks of therapy to get used to walking with it, and then I’ll be on my way.”

“That’s terrific. I’ll be by in a few days to check out the new leg, okay?”

Shay grinned. “Sounds good.”

As they left the room, Sara risked a glance at Rafe. “He seems to be in good spirits.”

Rafe nodded in satisfaction. “Yeah, he’s come a long way since he first got here. The doctors didn’t expect him to survive. He was in a coma for weeks, and they thought if he did pull through he’d have profound brain damage.”

“He seems fine.”

“He will be.”

“So whose idea was it to get him the laptop?”

“The Semper Fi Fund provided one for him and one for his wife.”

They were walking toward the entrance of the hospital, when a nurse called to them from a nearby nursing station.

“Sergeant Delgado,” she enthused. She was a pretty woman with sleek dark hair and eyes that practically devoured him on the spot. She swept Sara with one swift glance and then turned her attention back to Rafe. “I’m sorry I missed you the other day, but the flowers you sent arrived.”

Sara arched a questioning look at Rafe, but he just smiled easily at the other woman. “Great.”

“So…when will you be back?”

Rafe took Sara’s elbow and steered her past the woman, toward the exit. “In a couple of days. See you then.”

“Bye.”

Sara didn’t look back, but she was sure that if she did, she’d see the woman preening in the corridor.

“You bought her flowers?” she asked in a low voice, trying hard not to sound jealous but knowing she failed.

Rafe gave her a tolerant look. “No. I sent flowers to a certain female private who is recovering from injuries and I thought they would cheer her up.”

“Oh.”

They left the hospital and Rafe didn’t release her arm as they walked back to the car. Sara was acutely conscious of his strong fingers, and couldn’t help but recall what his hands were capable of doing to her. When they reached his car, instead of opening her door, Rafe pushed her up against it, following with the hard length of his body.

“I’ve wanted to do this for the past three hours,” he muttered, bracketing her face in his palms. Bending his head, he claimed her mouth in a kiss that was both primal and possessive. Sara sagged weakly against him as he pushed past her lips and mated his tongue to hers. The car door was cold and hard at her back, but Rafe’s body was warm and muscled and strong. Sliding her hands inside his open jacket, Sara reveled in his heat and returned his kiss with an abandon that might have shocked her just two days ago. But Rafe had an ability to make her lose her composure with little more than a look.

Rafe pulled away first, stepping back from the car. “That’ll do until I get you home,” he said with a wicked grin, and handed her into the passenger seat.

Sara watched as he rounded the hood of the sports car and eased behind the wheel. Her heart was still thudding in her chest and her mouth felt slightly bruised from the force of his kiss. His words caused a riot of emotions to surge through her. Anticipation. Confusion. And apprehension, because Sara suspected that spending too much time in Rafe Delgado’s company could be very dangerous to her heart.

They drove in silence as Sara thought about all the people they had visited that day, and what it meant to them to have someone like Rafe in their lives. If she hadn’t already known about his involvement with the Semper Fi Fund, she would have had a tough time believing it. She had the sense that despite the fact he worked as part of a team, he was a little bit of a loner.

“You visit a lot of friends at the hospital,” she finally said, breaking the silence. “So what about when you’re home?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you said you’re on leave for a couple of weeks, and I just wondered who visits you when you’re home.”

He gave her a knowing smile as he maneuvered his way through the streets. “Are you asking if I have a girlfriend?”

Sara started, appalled. “No! Of course not.” She looked suspiciously at him. “Why? Do you?”

He laughed and shook his head, and Sara felt a wave of relief at his response. He didn’t have a girlfriend. Realistically, she knew she didn’t have any claim on this man—even she wasn’t naive enough to think that one night of incredible sex meant anything—but after spending the afternoon with him and seeing the time and care he took with the injured soldiers, she realized she wanted to know him better. And yes, she had been jealous when the nurse had tried to flirt with him.

“Okay, well that’s good. I mean, I can’t imagine a girlfriend would approve of you inviting me—a complete stranger—to spend the week with you.” Never mind the hot sex.