Last Virgin In California (Mills & Boon Desire) (8 page)

She pushed her damp hair back behind her shoulder and said stupidly, “I’m finished. Shower’s all yours if you want it.”

“No. I’m fine.”

Yes, he certainly was, she thought, her gaze sweeping up and down those long legs of his. Her stomach jittered nervously, but she ignored it. “Well, the hot water felt great,” she said. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his well-worn jeans and said, “Your stuff’s drying. Shouldn’t be long.”

“No hurry.” She was warm and cozy and completely naked under her borrowed robe, but no hurry.

She walked around the edge of the sofa and took a seat in the corner, curling up, tucking her bare feet beneath her. Then looking up at him, she noted his gaze and followed it. The edges of the robe had gapped, giving him a tantalizing peek at her breasts. Lilah swallowed hard and pulled the gap closed.

“I made you some tea,” he said, pointing to the cup waiting on the low table in front of her.

“Thanks.” She reached for it, took a sip, then gasped, blinking. “Wow. That’s some kind of tea.”

“Rum. To take the last of the chill off.”

“That ought to do it,” she assured him as a fire crept down the length of her throat to settle in the pit of her stomach.

“We should probably talk,” Kevin said and Lilah lifted her gaze to his.

She knew that tone, Lilah thought. And the words. It was the beginning of the “Gee, I think you’re swell, but let’s just be friends” speech. Heck, she’d heard it so often, she could deliver it for him and save him the effort.

Just for a little extra courage, she took another healthy sip of the rum-laced tea, then set the cup down on the table again.

“Sure, why not?” she said, then added, “what say I get you started?”

“What?”

She folded her hands at her waist, tipped her head to one side and staring at the ceiling, said, “You’re a terrific woman, Lilah. But I’m (a) not good enough for you, (b) seeing someone else, (c) being transferred to Greenland, (d) all of the above.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The speech,” she said, shrugging as if it didn’t mean a thing to her. “I’ve heard it all. Whatever you’re about to say has already been covered. Trust me when I say that no matter what excuse you have lined up, I’ve heard it. Up to and including, ‘You’re just too weird.’”

Suddenly, she couldn’t sit still. Hopping up from the couch, she walked toward him and stopped just in front of him. Lifting one hand, she poked his broad chest with the tip of her index finger and said, “A little while ago, you were talking about seducing me. And now you want to back off fast.” She threw her hair back when it fell across her eyes. “Well, trust me, Marine. I’ve seen sparks fly from the heels of guys getting away from me. So you can’t surprise me.”

And then he did.

Grabbing her, he pulled her to him, planted his mouth across hers and gave her a kiss that singed the ends of her hair. His fingers dug into her upper arms and he literally swept her off her feet, lifting
her from the carpet and drawing her close enough that her heart pounded against his.

She couldn’t breathe.

And even better, she didn’t care.

K
evin wrapped his arms around her and held on tight. His good intentions fell by the wayside as he felt her breasts push into his chest. He parted her lips with his tongue and at the first taste of her, his blood boiled and his heart staggered.

Better, he thought. Better than he remembered. Kissing Lilah was enough to feed and sustain a man for the rest of his life. Groaning, he shifted his hold on her and swept her up into the cradle of his arms. He held her fiercely as if someone might rush into the house demanding that he let her go.

And just now, with his mouth on hers, with her breath brushing across his cheek, he knew he couldn’t
do that. If a full battalion came crashing through that front door, he’d find a way to stand them off.

He had to touch her. Had to have her.

Walking to the sofa, he sat down and settled Lilah on his lap. Her arms came up around his neck and held on tight. She gave as good as she got, kissing him with an abandon that threatened to rock his world. And still it wasn’t enough.

He tore his mouth from hers only to trail his lips down the line of her throat. He paused at the base of her neck to taste the rapid thump of her pulse beat, then went on, moving down into the V of fabric caused by the parting robe.

She sucked in a gulp of air as he slid one hand beneath the blue terry cloth to cup one of her breasts.

“Kevin,” she whispered, her voice straining, rising.

“I’m right here, baby,” he assured her, then took her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, tweaking, tugging, pulling gently at the sensitive flesh until she was squirming on his lap. Her bottom ground against his arousal until Kevin was nearly afraid he’d explode like some hormone-driven teenager. Finally, he held her still, clamping one arm around her waist and hips. The delicious pressure of her body nestled so closely with his drove him wild even as he dipped his head to taste her nipple.

The moment he took her into his mouth, she groaned and pushed herself into him.

“Kevin, yes,” she said, swallowing hard after choking the words out. “Oh, yes, do that some more.”

He planned to. He planned to taste and lick and suck on her flesh until neither one of them could think rationally again. But the best-laid plans were bound to come undone.

Her eager responses raged inside him, making him impatient and too hungry for her to wait another moment.

Sweeping one hand down her body, he found the juncture of her thighs and with his fingertips, gently parted the delicate flesh there. She planted her feet on the sofa cushion and rocked against his hand. He watched her eyes glaze, her mouth open, her tongue dart out to lick her bottom lip.

He slipped a finger into her warmth and almost came undone. So hot. So wet. So tight. Her legs parted, granting him access and he looked down, enjoying the sight of his hand on her body. She rippled in his arms like a ribbon cut free of its spool. He dipped in and out of her body, teasing, taunting, pushing her to the edge of sanity and then pulling her back, refusing to let her find the release she was chasing.

“Kevin, help me…oh, my…it’s so…”

“Come, baby,” he said, slipping inside her again,
rubbing that one small, sensitive nub with the pad of his thumb. “Let go and come.”

“I can’t—” Her head twisted from side to side. “I can’t—oh!”

He knew it the moment the first tremor claimed her. Her interior muscles clamped around his fingers and he felt each tiny convulsion as it rolled through her. Her breath gasped in and out of her lungs, she clutched at his shoulders, her fingers digging into his body like talons.

Emotion, raw and rich filled him and Kevin realized that he was finding as much pleasure in giving to her as he would have in taking. That fact stunned him. He’d never felt this before. Never enjoyed so much bringing a woman to a staggering, mind-numbing climax.

But Lilah was different, as he’d already guessed. Her emotions, her feelings were right out there for all to see. She held nothing back. There was no coyness. No false embarrassment. No shyness. No lies. There was only her and the incredible fascination he had for her.

And just when he thought he could watch her pleasure forever, it was over and she lay limp and spent on his lap. Gently, he shifted her in his grasp and tugged the edges of the robe together across her body. Lilah turned into him, burying her face in his chest.

“That was…”

“Good?” he asked, running his fingers through the soft, silky strands of her hair.

“Oh, there’s got to be a better word than that.” He smiled down at her and she tipped her face up to his. Passion colored her eyes. “I’ll let you know when I think of it.”

“You do that,” he said and bent to kiss her. As his lips came down on hers, she ran the flat of her hand up his chest and even through the red sweatshirt he wore, he felt the heat of her touch. Her palm settled over his flat nipple and he crushed her to him, to ease the flash of need that rose up inside him.

Breaking the kiss, he stared down at her and knew he’d never wanted a woman more. He had to have her. Had to be inside her.

“Make love to me,” she whispered, reaching up to cup his cheek in her palm.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. All doubts, all worries were banished to a dark corner of his mind. There’d be time enough later for recriminations. For regrets. But for now, all he needed was to be able to feel her skin against his. Feel her warmth surround him, and take him into her depths.

And he needed it more than air.

The phone rang and Kevin swallowed hard, muttered a curse and shot a glare at the damn thing lying on the table beside him. He thought about ignoring it. But duty was too well ingrained.

He snatched it up and brought it to his ear.
“Hello?” he barked, just a shade more aggressively than usual.

Lilah had scooped her hands beneath his sweatshirt and he felt her touch singing along his skin like tiny electrical pulses. He fought to concentrate, when all he wanted to do was pitch the phone through a window and carry her off to his bed.

Then the voice on the phone registered and it was as effective as a bucket of cold water crashing down on his head.

“Colonel Forrest, sir,” he answered sharply, sitting up straight.

“Gunnery Sergeant Rogan,” the other man said and his voice was like a buzzing in Kevin’s ear. “I don’t mean to disturb you at home, but I was wondering if Lilah might be there with you.”

Dammit.

Easing Lilah’s bare legs off his lap, Kevin stood up, putting as much distance as possible between him and the nearly naked woman.

“We had a dinner reservation at the club tonight and—”

The Colonel’s voice droned on, but Kevin hardly heard him. His gaze fixed on Lilah, he watched as she tugged the robe into place and stood up in front of him, smiling. How in the hell she could smile was beyond him, though. Hell, it felt to Kevin like the Colonel was right there in the room with him. That
he could see them both. And knew damn well what Kevin had been doing to his daughter.

There was a thought.

“Yes, sir,” Kevin said, letting his gaze slide from Lilah to something a lot less hot. The fire. “She’s here. I was just about to bring her home and—”

“Fine, fine,” the Colonel interrupted. “Just wanted to make sure. I’ll see you both soon, then.”

“Yes, sir, Colonel.” Kevin hung up, setting the receiver back into place then turning to face the woman watching him.

“That was your father.”

“I got that much.”

“Something about a dinner reservation?”

“Oh, my,” she said and shot a look at the clock hanging near the front door. “We’re going to be late.”

“That’s the impression I got.”

She turned back to him and gave him a slow, secretive smile that he would have been willing to bet one female taught another, generation to generation. It was a powerful thing, that smile, designed to bring even the strongest man to his knees.

“It was worth it, though,” she said and walked up to him, sliding her arms up until she could wrap them around his neck. She went up on her toes and brought her mouth to within a breath of his own.

He figured she knew what she was doing to him.

And by the looks of it, she was enjoying it.

He set his hands at her waist, lifted her and then set her down again, at a distance. “Your clothes should be dry by now,” he said, hoping to God he was right. A few more minutes with naked Lilah and he would forget all about the dinner reservations, the Colonel, and anything else that wasn’t soft, warm, Lilah.

Dammit.

“Just like that, huh?” she asked, tipping her head to one side and looking at him.

He shoved one hand along the side of his head, mainly to keep his brain from exploding. “No, not ‘just like that.’”

“Seems that way to me,” she pointed out. “You darn near saluted the phone.”

“It was your father.”

“On the phone,” she told him. “Not actually here.”

“Don’t even say that.” He was having a hard enough time as it was.

“You’re amazing,” she said, tossing her hands high, then letting them fall to her sides. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?” he muttered, wishing she’d just go get dressed and put him out of his misery.

“Go from hot to cold so fast,” she said.

“Trust me,” he managed to grind out, “I’m a long way from cooled off. If you think it’s easy for me to just stop what we were doing,” he snapped, “you’re wrong.”

“Then why stop?”

“Because,” he pointed out as he stalked across the living room toward the kitchen, “none of my sexual fantasies include having an armed Colonel break in and shoot me for sleeping with his daughter.”

“What kind of fantasies
do
you have?”

His steps faltered, but he didn’t turn around. If he looked at her now, he was a goner. “Never mind.”

“No, there’s something else going on here besides my father calling.”

“Nope. That’s it,” he called, opening the dryer and rummaging around inside. Her clothes weren’t completely dry yet, but they were better than they had been and they’d just have to do.

“Are you sure this isn’t about your ex-wife?”

“
What?
” Stunned, he stood up and looked at her, the clothes momentarily forgotten.

She picked up the terry cloth belt and worried it between her fingers. Dipping her head briefly, she looked up again quickly and watched him as she said, “I, uh, heard that you and your wife, well—”

Bitterness charged through him, but he choked it off almost instantly. “I can imagine what you’ve heard.”

“I don’t listen to gossip.”

“Really?”

She ignored the ring of sarcasm in his tone and said, “I was just wondering if maybe you’re pulling
away from me because you’re not entirely over your ex-wife.”

“Alanna and I were over a long time ago,” he said flatly. “This has nothing to do with her.”

She stared at him for a long, silent moment before nodding. “Okay then,” she said, and Kevin was grateful that she was apparently going to drop it.

Bending down, he grabbed her clothes and walked back to the living room. Tossing them at her from a safe distance, he said simply, “Get dressed.”

She clutched the pile of warm clothes to her chest, snapped him a salute and clicked her bare heels together. “Sir! Yes, sir!”

Then she laughed and left the room. And he was alone with a rock-hard body screaming for release and no end in sight.

A week later, Lilah was still kicking herself.

She never should have mentioned his ex-wife. She still wasn’t sure why she had. But it had seemed pretty reasonable at the time. Although looking back now, she could admit that her brain had been so fuzzy, she wouldn’t have known “reasonable” if it had strolled up and bit her.

She sat at her father’s dining room table, cradling a cup of coffee between her palms. Staring out at the windswept base and the gunmetal-gray sky hovering over it, she really wasn’t seeing any of it. Instead, she
saw a strong jaw, narrowed green eyes and a mouth that looked stern until you kissed it.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she let it slide down her throat and ease away some of the chill within. He hadn’t called. Hadn’t come by. And was probably determined to stay far, far away from her.

And a part of Lilah knew that would no doubt be for the best. Unfortunately, a bigger part of her wasn’t about to let that happen. She’d found something in Kevin Rogan. Something she hadn’t been looking for. Something she’d given up hope of
ever
finding. She’d be a fool to turn her back on it now. She had to at least take it as far as she could, discover if there was more out there just waiting for her.

For them.

“’Morning, honey,” her father said as he came into the room.

She jumped, startled, then turned her head to give him a smile. “Hi, Dad.”

Taking a seat opposite her, he glanced at his wristwatch, then looked at her. “So what’s on your agenda for today?”

Well, she was thinking very seriously about hunting Kevin Rogan down like a dog. But she didn’t think her father would want to hear that. So instead, she said, “I thought I’d go over to the base school. Look around.”

“Uh-huh,” he scanned the stack of papers in front of him and took a gulp of his coffee. “And
Gunnery Sergeant Rogan? Will he be taking you to the school?”

“I don’t know. Haven’t seen him in a few days.” Look at me, she thought, willing her father’s gaze to shift to her. A moment later, she was almost convinced she had psychic powers when he did just that.

“You two have a disagreement?” he asked, frowning. “Already?”

Already
. Naturally, he’d have expected trouble. Hadn’t every Marine he’d ever set her up with eventually run for cover? But this time it was different. This time, the Marine in question wasn’t running because he couldn’t stand being around her—this time it was exactly the opposite.

“No,” she said, setting her cup down onto the table, she wrapped her arms around her up-drawn knees. “Surprised?”

He drew his head back and looked at her. “Why would I be surprised? You’re a lovely woman.”

Just a little flaky, she silently finished for him. And once again, she wished he could love her for who she was, not who he wanted her to be. She wished she didn’t feel the sting of his disappointment in her. She wished she had the guts to come flat out and ask him what she had to do to make him proud of her.