Her Secret Wish (13 page)

*     *     *

Dean relished holding
Rachel in his arms, but something niggled at him. It had been disappointment he’d seen in her eyes when she’d opened the box. He guessed if he was a woman who had been handed a jewelry box, he’d have wanted it to be something different as well. But it seemed too soon for an engagement ring. Or any kind of ring for that matter.

He loved that she was thinking about marriage, whether she realized it or not. Rachel seemed to be one of those types that would fight and fight and fight until they finally did a one-eighty. It was like the flying thing.

Dean had a feeling that Rachel would love to fly again, but she didn’t want to admit it until she absolutely had to, especially to herself. So there was no sense in pushing her before she was ready.

If he had anything to say about it she
would
fly again.

They settled into a quiet evening at home. Thoughts of the little girl on the bicycle and a family grieving popped up occasionally, but he would glance at Rachel fingering her earrings and things would fall back into perspective. This was what was important. He would file the details of the day into his heart and mind and be a better cop when he went back to work.

That night they crawled into bed and he just held her for a long time. Dean didn’t consider himself a weepy kind of guy, but he definitely felt he could be emotional with her if he needed to. There was no need to pretend that he wasn’t affected by what had happened. He’d seen the glimmer of tears in her eyes as well. His kick-ass Marine had a soft spot.

So, he held her against him, lightly rubbing his hand up the skin of her arm. He’d found that she loved to be lightly stroked this way, along her sides and across her back. It was no hardship to him; he loved touching her.

But that, of course, led to other things. And as he loved her into the night, he wondered if she was as affected by him as he was by her.

‡

R
achel didn’t see
Dean for a couple of days, though they texted fairly often. He sent her jokes about the military and she sent him fat cop jokes. It was all in good fun. Then he mixed in sexy jokes about stripping her out of her BDUs and shirt to check out her lingerie and it all went to hell.

As she headed in to work out before her shift, she wondered if he were getting ready for work as well. Their day shift hours were similar, but they lived too far apart to work out together. Maybe someday. Or maybe they needed to shift their workout times completely so that they could be together.

Rachel set her phone aside as she headed into the rec room to the free weights. It wasn’t until about halfway through her workout that she heard a strange sound. What was that?

Her phone giggled. Rachel wiped off her hands and snatched up her device, paging through her notifications. She looked around at the men in the room. “Okay, you jackasses, who did it?”

As soon as she said the words Chad laughed. She should have known. “What did you do to my phone?”

A message notification lit her screen and it giggled. Rachel fought not to smile. “You’ve been hanging out with your little girl too much. You have Minions on the brain.”

Chad laughed. “I think you’re right.”

Every time she received a text message a Minion giggled. John had glowered at the disruption to his workout, but even his hard mouth twitched when she got an alert.

Rachel punched Chad in the arm. “You ass.”

Chad grinned at her. “Darlin’, I just wanted you to smile more. Something’s got you down. That cop you’ve been seeing better be taking good care of you.”

That kind of rocked her back on her heels. Was she down?

Rachel looked around the workout room. It was a busy day. At least four of the guys were working out. Chad had just gotten off the treadmill from his fifty-mile run or whatever. Seemed like he ran forever, that damn blade on his left leg flashing. She wasn’t sure when he’d even messed with her phone. Oh, yeah, she’d gone to the bathroom at one point. That’s right. He’d probably snatched it up then.

Palmer sat on the curl bench, biceps bulging as he worked the weights. Gabe Carter, the new SEAL they’d hired, worked free weights a few feet away from her. He was quiet and a little sad but definitely seemed competent and had even spotted her a couple of times.

All of them had an ease to their expressions that she was sure hers did not. Why was she so on edge?

A Minion giggled and she looked down at her phone.
Can we get together tonight?

Immediately she could feel her expression change. She swiped the sweat from her hands and tapped out
yes, definitely!

As soon as they had plans to get together, some tension in her eased. Was it that simple? She’d been in a grumpy mood because she hadn’t seen Dean for two days? Maybe because they hadn’t made love in two days. She needed that connection again.

Sighing, she powered off the phone and turned back to her weights, suddenly feeling a lot more positive about the day. And night.

*     *     *

Dean had barely
finished knocking on the door before Rachel pulled it open. Immediately his eyes drifted down her shape, backlit by the living room lamps. Wait. Holy … What the hell was she wearing?

Stepping inside he looked down at her. Subtle make-up highlighted her eyes, making them seem bigger and clearer. And she was wearing a freaking dress. Something long and gorgeous and split on the side so that he could see her thigh. Immediately, a bolt of arousal arrowed down through him, waking up all parts of his previously tired body.

Before she could move out of the way, he leaned down to kiss her glossed lips. “You look stunning.”

Though it was dim in the hallway he thought his no-nonsense Marine might have blushed. She waved a hand and pulled him inside. “Whatever.”

She started to pull away but he put a hand on her elbow. “No, you are. You are beautiful. Maybe not in the conventional sense, but it’s all in the eye of the beholder, right? I paid you a compliment because you are absolutely stunning to me. You need to take it nicely and believe what I say.”

Damn, he wished there was more light in here. Now he thought he saw tears glinting in her eyes.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

When she turned he allowed her to lead him into the room. There was quite a spread on the dining room table; two different kinds of pizza and a big bowl of salad.

Dean looked at her in consternation. “How do you stay so damn fit? Do you eat fast food all the time?”

Rachel propped her hands on her hips and he forgot what they were talking about. She looked gorgeous in her flowing green dress. The damn thing cupped her yummy breasts, swept in at her tight waist and flared out, draping gently round her hips. It was the most feminine thing he’d ever seen her wear.

“…and why are you staring at me like that? Have you heard anything I’ve said?”

Dean blinked and stepped close, tilting her chin up with his finger. “No, I haven’t. I’ve been too busy drooling. Is this one of the things you bought the other day?” he motioned down to her dress.

“Y-yes.” Then she smiled. “And a few other things.”

Arousal hardened him even more as his eyes drifted down. “Oh, really? Like what?”

“Well, I bought some casual outfits. You know, something other than BDUs and t-shirts.”

He leaned into her, brushing his lips against her temple. “What else?”

“Well, I got some sandals to go with the dresses. I feel very naked with them on though.”

Dean chuckled. She probably did feel naked. He’d only ever seen her in boots.

“What else?” he whispered.

“Well, Shannon talked me into going to Victoria’s Secret, and I have to admit, there were some very… wow… um, kinda, um,
wild
things in there. I might have bought something…”

His erection pushed at the zipper of his pants. Holy hell, she was going to kill him. Just the thought of lingerie on her already fabulous body was the stuff of dreams. “What did you buy?” he demanded in a harsh, strangled, whisper.

Without answering him, Rachel nudged him backwards until he dropped to the couch cushions. “Wait here,” she ordered. She reached behind him to swing the drapes closed on the front windows, then she padded barefoot into the dim hallway.

Dean wrapped his hand around his dick, debating whether or not to strip down. No, he would let her do that. She could come out wearing a potato sack and he would still think her the loveliest thing, the most beautiful woman on the planet. She was leery of his compliments, though. He would have to remedy that. Or just beat her down with repetition. He would
make
her believe she was beautiful.

There was a thump in the hallway and he looked up in time to see her enter the room.

His heart melted, but he almost came in his pants. Rachel stood uncertainly in the living room doorway, unsure where to put her hands. And he could understand her problem.

Rachel wore a, well, he guessed it was a negligee. He wasn’t really sure exactly what it was called. A froth of off-white satin fell to mid-thigh. See-through lace held her breasts but certainly didn’t hide them. Actually, the pattern of the lace itself seemed to highlight her dark nipples.

Her dark blond hair was down around her face and he couldn’t see her expression, which worried him. Then she cocked a hip provocatively and started to walk toward him.

“So,” her voice was whisper soft and nervous. “What do you think?”

Dean barked out a laugh, surprised that he could actually speak. “I think I could come in my pants in about three seconds.”

His arms were spread along the back of the couch, clutching the cushions and his breathing had deepened. If she didn’t come over here soon, he was going to have to go after her.

Rachel seemed to understand that he was about at the end of his rope. Moving into the room, her tan legs looking miles long, she made her way to him.

Dean could see her face now and he hoped the look in her eyes meant what he thought it did. She went to her knees in front of him and wedged in between them, leaning into him as she started to unbutton his shirt. Dean cupped her shoulders in his hands, then ran a finger along the length of her clavicle and down her chest. He could feel the heavy beat of her heart beneath his touch. He wasn’t the only one affected.

When she reached his waistband, Rachel didn’t even hesitate. She unbuckled his pants, pulled apart the zipper then leaned back and gripped the fabric at his hips. Understanding what she wanted he lifted up enough that she could jerk his pants and underwear down beneath his ass. His cock sprang free, no worse for the rough handling. Dean found it incredibly exciting that she was so focused and driven. The two days apart had apparently been as hard for her as it had been for him. With a saucy grin, she lowered her head to drop a line of kisses down his belly to his groin.

Warm, wet heat enveloped the head of his cock and he was right back on the edge of climax. Rachel had a talented tongue and seemed to know how close he was. Or maybe it was the convulsive grip he had on her arms telling her how close he was.