Real Men Don't Drink Appletinis (3 page)

Ava changed into a
cream-colored pencil skirt and a red blouse, but decided to work from
home and kept busy by answering texts from her clients and calling on
auditions. Clarice, her receptionist, thought Ava must be on her
deathbed since she had never taken a sick day. Perhaps she should
have gone into the office where she’d be easier to find and where
he’d probably look first.

A firm two knocks
sounded and butterflies took flight in her stomach.
Please, please
be him.
It had to be him; anyone else would’ve use the buzzer.
Running to the door, she turned the lock and opened it without
checking the peephole, something she always did. Already breathless
from excitement, the sight of him stopped her heart.

As yummy as Grady
looked in pressed khakis, a black polo shirt, and his hair still damp
from a shower, he didn’t look like the hero who shot a man and
saved the day hours earlier. With a sexy smile she’d never forget,
he looked like a man ready for fun. “How did you find me?”

“Easy. Too easy. I
already hired a friend to shore up your social media sites and add
other security measures.”

“Maybe you could be
my personal bodyguard?” She grabbed a handful of his shirt and
pulled him into the apartment and right into a kiss. His beard, now
trimmed and neat, tickled her lips while other parts of her body
tingled.

Grady kicked the door
closed behind him. “I think you mean slave.”

“Only for sex.”

He bent his head
placing his forehead against hers; his hands lightly squeezed her
shoulders. “I have two weeks of leave left and I want to spend them
giving you as many orgasms as possible.”

“Two weeks?” It
would have to do. By the look of disappointment on his face he
must’ve thought she was about to throw him out. “Then we better
get started. Down the hallway on the left.”

The smile reappeared.
He turned and locked the door before scooping her up into his arms.
“At your service Ma’am.”

“So you’re a
military man?”

Grady maneuvered down
the small hallway and Ava leaned forward to turn the handle. “Navy
SEAL.”

“Impressive.” She
wondered what he thought of her bedroom. When it came to fashion, she
was a bit of a purple freak but her apartment designed in hues of
soft yellows reflected her need for sunshine in this city of towering
steel. As he threw her onto the queen sized bed, she giggled inside
for even thinking he noticed the décor.

“But you already know
that, don’t you Ava?” He rubbed the hard outline of his erection.

In response she licked
her upper lip, then tugged at her bottom lip in anticipation of
feeling him in her mouth again. His groan of distress had her
reaching for his zipper, but he pushed her hand away, and she arched
an eyebrow.

‘We’ll get to that
later. Much later.” He straddled her hips. “Right now you have
too many clothes on.” He unbuttoned her blouse to reveal a lacy red
bra. “Hooyah.”

Instead of the mighty
yell she heard in countless war films his voice filled with reverence
and awe spoke directly to her hoo-hah. She smiled at the thought but
he quickly erased it with his kiss; slow, deep, and filled with
passion. Leaving her breathless, he moved on to her neck, then
trailed thick, wet kisses along her collarbone. Through the skimpy
fabric of the bra he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked. Her
back arched in pleasure and he took advantage of the movement to
reach around to unhook the bra. They both maneuvered it off along
with the blouse. Returning his mouth to her breast, he laved it with
attention. Her other breast ached for the same. As if he knew his
hand rolled the other nipple between his fingers. Her pussy tingled
and she rubbed her legs together to ease the need to feel his lips
down there.

A moan escaped her
mouth when his hands drew up her skirt up, taking the panties with it
as he reached the waistband, tugging both off in one swoop. Naked
before him she reveled in his heated gaze that told her this was so
much more than a romp in between the sheets.

“You’re so
beautiful.” He ran a hand down along her curves. “Tell me Ava,
why aren’t you the actress or the model?”

“My talents lie
elsewhere.” Despite her mother giving her the name of a famous
actress, Ava knew she wasn’t Hollywood beautiful or even talented
but she came to terms with that a long time ago. Being an agent she
made a name for herself in the business and made a lot of money doing
it.

“Mmm, I’ve already
sampled one. But now it’s time for you to sample one of mine.” He
leaned forward and licked her belly, then lower and lower. He placed
small kisses on her toned inner thighs, his beard tickling her pussy
until he finally reached her inner lips and swirled his tongue,
replacing the tickles with tingles.

Grady slipped two
fingers in, curled the tips and found the magic spot which he
massaged as his tongue fluttered along her clit, sending wave after
wave of pleasure cresting and crashing until she thought she’d be
swept under and away. “Grady,” she screamed with what she thought
would surely be her last breath. As she came down his fingers slipped
out but the motion of his tongue slowed to long, flat licks and she
shuddered one last time.

He wiped his mouth with
his forearm and the smile left behind radiated male pride. He got up
and reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of condoms and tossed
it onto the bed. She opened one as he shed his clothes. Damn, he even
had the abs of a superhero. She trailed her fingers along the cut
lines causing his body to jerk in response.

“Like that, do you?”
She caressed his abs again.

“You’re playing
with fire.”

“Mmm, but I want the
burn,” she said in a low seductive whisper.

Grady’s eyes darkened
with intensity. Threading his fingers through her hair he slowly drew
her up into a smoldering kiss. His other hand feathered across her
body, reaching the apex of her thighs. She pushed him away before he
slid those magic fingers inside her again. She needed more. She
needed all of him. Taking the condom, she slid it onto his cock. “We
are going to need a lot more of these.”

“Tons.”

Grinning, she laid back
and he followed her down and slid right in, filling her up. Gently
rocking inside her, a warm rush of pleasure pooled inside her, but it
still wasn’t enough. She squirmed beneath him.

“Ava, baby.” He
grounded out. It sounded like he needed more too.

“Harder,” she
pleaded. Gripping her hips, he pulled out and drove back in. Ava
gasped, “Oh, yes, yes.”

“Tell me what you
want.” He plunged in again. “And I’ll give it to you.
Anything.”

“More,” she half
ordered, half begged.

He repeated the motion
again and again until she tried to speed things up.

“Tell me.”

“Faster.”

Increasing the pace he
pumped in and out of her. “God, Ava…you feel like heaven.”

His cock harder,
thicker, pulsed inside her and she knew he was close. Right on the
edge she stood, so afraid to come, scared it was going to change her
forever. She opened her eyes to see him gazing down at her in awe.
The orgasm released inside her like a champagne cork sending bubbles
of bliss running throughout her body until she started giggling
uncontrollably while continuing to come. Grady joined in with his own
laughter as he pumped in one last time.

He wrapped her up in a
big bear hug and then kissed the tip of her nose. “I don’t think
the Navy is going to want me back after you’re through with me.”

She dared a return kiss
to his nose but didn’t risk saying what was on the tip of her
tongue.
I’ll never be through with you.

The morning sun shone
into Grady’s eyes. Immediately he missed the softness of Ava’s
body against his. He rolled over to pull her into hug only to find
the other side of the bed empty. How did she get out of bed without
him registering the movement? Then he noticed the time. 11:00 A.M.
Holy crap!

He shook his head in
disbelief. He hadn’t slept this long or deeply since the day after
Hell Week during BUD/S training. If last night was anything to go by
then he was in for two weeks of Heaven. He hoped he had a parachute
for the plunge back to Earth. Right now though the warm yellow on the
walls and general cheeriness of Ava’s bedroom reminded him of her
smile. He forced himself out of bed and into the bathroom. After
taking care of his morning routine he put on his boxer briefs and
left the room when he heard Ava’s voice down the hall.

Not wanting to disturb
her, he patiently waited by the archway leading into the living room
as Ava spoke on the phone. She wore a gray t-shirt and pink pajama
bottoms but even they couldn’t hide the swell of her backside.

“Emergencies
only….They’ll live, Clarice...well you tell Rodger that I’m his
agent not his slave. If he wants better roles then he should take
rehab seriously this time around.”

She catered to her
celebrity clients while he trained and fought for team and country.
The worlds they lived in couldn’t be more different.

“Thanks Clarice.
Maybe when I get back you should take a vacation too…okay, bye. Oh,
and remember, emergencies only.” Ava ended the call and he stepped
into the room causing the floor to creek and Ava to whirl around.
“Oh, Hi!” Blushing, she pushed a loose strand of her hair behind
her ear.

Grady didn’t do the
awkward morning afters, leaving well before dawn to avoid it. But
this was different. Ava was different. Still it was wrong of him to
only take when he had nothing to give beyond these two weeks. “Look,
if you have a meeting to attend, I’ll understand.”

“Oh, I see.”

The frown on her face
nearly broke his heart and he cut the distance between them. “No,
you don’t see, not all.” Grady pulled her into his arms. “The
morning doesn’t change a thing. But it’s not fair of me to expect
you to stop your life when I have to leave soon.”

“You’re not
stopping anything.” Ava’s blue eyes gazed up at him. “In fact,
for once I’m living my life.”

Grady was a goner. Her
eyes wide and deep as the ocean where he always felt at home with the
SEALS. Even the color reminded him of swimming up from the depths to
the surface, the shaft of sunlight creating an aurora like he was
swimming toward Heaven.

They may live in
different worlds but in some ways they were the same. Didn’t he
just spend part of his leave tracking down Raul? If Ava hadn’t
approached him at the bar, he’d be killing time waiting for the
next mission.

Two of her fingers
walked up his chest and with a sly smile challenged, “Unless, of
course you can’t keep UP with your promise of to give me, in your
words, as many orgasms as possible.”

“Up?” Grady mocked.
“You’re going to regret that.” He easily lifted her over his
shoulder and didn’t waste any time smacking her shapely ass as he
made his way to the bedroom for another round. “I was born standing
at attention.”

The naughty giggle in
response fired up every cell of his being. Grady threw her onto the
bed. “You might want to save us some time and just stay naked.”
Tugging off her pajama bottoms, he revealed white panties with an
embroidered pair silver angel wings strategically placed. Sweat broke
out across forehead. “Are you wearing the matching bra?” he
managed to ask. The smile on her face answered him in spades. He
knelt on the bed.

Ava scrambled to her
knees and scooted to the other side of the bed. “No wings though,’
she teased, playfully lifting the shirt by sliding the hem across her
body inch by inch but stopping before exposing the bra.

Even though he knew
what lay beneath he still licked his lips in anticipation. “Off.
Now,” he ordered.

“You have to guess
first.”

Grady stared at her
t-shirt and concentrated on all things angels. “Halos?”

Biting her lower lip,
she slowly raised the shirt up and off. No halos, just white and
silver material threaded together to create a feathering effect so
that Ava’s breasts appeared to be floating on a cloud. The sight in
front of him was a true masterpiece of God and art coming together.
And lingerie was an art.

“Grady?”

He forced his gaze up.
“Come here,” he growled like a half man, half beast.

Placing her hands on
her ample hips she said, “Listen sailor, this isn’t the
military.”

Ava may be in the mood
to play, but until the urgency racing through his body was sated,
playtime would have to wait. His long reach spanned across the bed,
dragging her up against his body. Running a hand down her curves
while the other dove into in her long hair. Her arms wrapped around
him in a welcoming embrace. Tenderly placing his lips, he kissed her
slowly, holding back the torrent of pure lust filling him. Control.
Patience. Her pleasure first and several times after that. Then, and
only then, his.

He’d memorize every
inch of her body, every breathless moan, and every smoldering look.
Whenever the darkness crept into his dreams, he’d recall each one
to keep him company until dawn. For now, this woman was his. Soon
he’d return to the grueling training schedule to prepare for
another mission, but he’d always have Ava’s womanly softness to
remember.

Two weeks later Grady
drew a razor along his cheek. The guys teased him about his baby face
but tomorrow’s trip to Washington DC required a clean shave. He
wondered if Ava would prefer it. Maybe, she’d decide to ditch the
party and take him back to bed. Other than a trip to the drugstore
for more condoms they’d been in bed making love or watching
marathons of Homeland and Modern Family. Thank God New York City had
a tons of restaurants and delis that delivered otherwise they
would’ve starved. Ava said she could cook, but he didn’t want to
waste one second with menial tasks with the clock ticking down until
he had to leave—
Oww!
Grady dabbed at the cut on his face.
It’d be dangerous if he thought about her while on a mission. It
would be an adjustment coming off a sex laden two weeks in which he
tried to fit in a whole years worth of lovemaking. Because even
though he knew it was wrong to ask her to be his, there was nothing
stopping him from coming back for more when he returned from his next
deployment. What if another man had stolen her heart?
Damn it.
Another cut.