RULES OF LOVE (A Navy SEALs Romance) (11 page)

“The way you move, the way your cold eyes light up when you see me, how you lick your lips.”

She caught herself doing just that and forced herself to stop. “Natural reaction to an attractive man. I don’t see the point.”

“The point,” he said, biting off the words as he moved closer to the bed, “is that you feel the same attraction to me that I do to you. It’s more than me caring.” His eyes zeroed in on her, taking in every inch of her body he could see, and she felt it like a caress on her skin, even from this distance. “I want you, Naomi, and I will do whatever I have to do to make that happen.”

Eddie’s stomach twisted, but not in a sick way. She couldn’t deny Beau was damn sexy, and having him near her stirred a longing she thought long killed by the events of her past. She got out of bed and drifted closer to him. His chest heaved as she closed the distance but remained outside of his arms’ reach.

“I can’t just hop into bed with you,” she whispered.

“Then we’ll take it slow,” he told her. “I won’t even move if you don’t want me to.”

She pushed her tongue behind her lip as her icy stare narrowed on him. A question formed in his eyes, and before he even asked it, she knew what he would say.

“Whoever this guy was, he hit you, didn’t he?”

A violent flash of memory shot through her mind, and Eddie took a deep breath to steady herself, feeling a ghost of that first hit. Just the first one, not the many that had followed. “If you want to do this, I can’t talk about it,” she said quietly. “I can’t. For now, just let it go. Please.” She saw his jaw clench and his hands curled into fists. “Beau, please?”

He let a breath out through his nose and visibly relaxed. “For now.”

She accepted that answer and took another step towards him. He was not the man who had hurt her. He wasn’t even close. The man before her was Beau Savage, and he would not hurt her. No one could hurt her like that other man had managed to.

“Naomi?”

“Taking it slow,” she assured him. “I’m not sure what to do.”

“Whatever you need to.”

She needed a drink, that’s what she needed, but it was out of the question at the moment. If he left her room now, she’d lose her nerve, and the pang of regret at the thought of never giving them this chance stung. No, she would attempt to be a normal woman again. She’d wanted that for the past three years. To feel something again.

Eddie’s eyes roamed over his features to his muscled neck and shoulders. She absorbed every twitch of his body under her careful study. She asked him to take off his shirt, and he did it without question, tossing it aside so she could see his bare chest. Her feet moved forward of their own accord until she was barely a foot from him. Her fingers reached out, hesitant, and she rested them on his skin.

Beau’s chest was warm to the touch, and her hand stayed there for a long moment, enjoying the feel of it beneath her palm. She didn’t flinch, a good sign. Delicately, she dragged her fingers over his pecs and lower to his abs, perfectly outlined. His body stiffened as her touch moved lower, and she smirked. His body was a near-perfect v, and a trail of soft brown hair disappeared into his pants. Eddie circled him languidly as her hand moved to his arms and shoulders. Her other hand soon followed, and she stared at his back, ripped as much as his chest with dimples near his waist. There were a few scars here and there, the pale flesh standing out against his tanned skin. She recognized them as knife wounds. Several of her own scars matched.

When she came back around to his front and glanced down, she saw the bulge in his pants and stepped back immediately. He caught her hands and held them to his chest.

“I… uh, I think I may have caused that.”

“You’ve been causing that since the day I met you,” he said roughly.

“We can stop. I don’t want to leave you like this if I can’t… if it doesn’t work out…”

Beau leaned down so he was eye level, still holding her hands to his chest so she could feel his pulse hammering. “Do you want to stop?”

“No.” Her voice was hoarse as she stepped closer. Their bodies were nearly touching, but Beau did not move, as promised. Eddie closed her eyes, and her lips found his.

Just as before, the kiss was tender, and Eddie kissed him again, not wanting her lips to leave the warmth of his. She adjusted her hands so she held his and very carefully placed one and then the other at her hips.

“Are you sure?”

She left her hands over his for a moment and felt the familiar flutter of panic in her chest, but she stared into his eyes until it was nothing more than a nagging voice in the depth of her mind.

“I’m sure. Kiss me again.”

His hands massaged her hips as he bent down and slanted his mouth across hers. For the first time in years, Eddie didn’t feel the need to run away and hide. Longing flooded her body as heat kindled between her legs, so hot she feared it would burn her up from the inside out if not quenched. Beau’s tongue moved hesitantly against her lips, seeking entrance. Eddie obliged with a sigh and leaned into him as the kiss deepened. Her hands slid up to hold his shoulders, and when his moved to her back, the urge to pull back diminished further. Being in Beau’s arms was different. Here, she was safe, and she knew it. Her whole body knew it. Here, she didn’t have to fear what would happen next.

Beau’s touch was tender and strong at the same time, holding her up when she was sure her legs would give out from the onslaught of intense desire. Not letting his lips leave hers, Beau moved them so they were near the bed. He sat down and stared up at her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, his lips swollen from her kisses and his eyes dilated with his own need. His pants bulged in the front, and Eddie wondered how long this man could last without getting what he was after. She second-guessed what they were doing and pulled back, but Beau caught her hand. “Stop thinking whatever you’re thinking.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking?”

“I can see it in your eyes, and I can tell you right now, you’re wrong about whatever it is.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed each knuckle. “I’m not him, Naomi. You can trust me to take care of you.”

“How can I do that?”

“What do you feel when you’re with me?” He placed her hand on his bare chest near his heart. “What do you want from me?”

“That’s not how this works.”

“With me, it is,” he promised huskily. “Naomi, what do you want?”

What did she want? The sudden need to experience a moment of insane pleasure shot through her body, but she couldn’t ask him to give her pleasure, could she? It sounded insane, and no man would do that without trying to get something for himself. She tried to pull away again as her cheeks burned, but he didn’t let her.

“Naomi, look at me. You can trust me.”

“It’s fine, really.”

“No. Talk to me. I’m not going to run for cover, no matter what you say.”

She bit her lip, and without looking at him, she muttered the words she couldn’t believe she was saying out loud to a man she hardly knew yet somehow trusted with her life, with her past. “Pleasure. I haven’t felt pleasure in years.” There. She’d said it, and she couldn’t take it back.

Beau stood and turned her face tenderly back to his. “Do you trust me?”

Eddie nodded solemnly, and her gaze didn’t leave his as he maneuvered them so the bed was behind her. No ideas popped into her head of what he was going to do, but she hadn’t lied. She trusted him.

Beau wrapped his arms around her and lifted her onto the bed, laying her back. He kissed her languidly, his tongue exploring her mouth as his hands worked up under her sweatshirt. She sat up long enough for him to pull it over her head, revealing a tank underneath with no bra. He cursed at the sight of her nipples through the white fabric, and Eddie sucked in a breath as they hardened under his hungry gaze.

Beau’s hands pushed her tank up slowly, his lips leaving a trail of heat as they followed until his fingers brushed the undersides of her breasts and moved higher.

“Still fine?” he asked, voice rough as he glanced up at her face.

“Perfect,” she whispered when she felt the cool air on her nipples. They tightened even more. She waited for the panic to set in, as it always did, but her heart pounded with a different type of nervous energy when his mouth covered one of her nipples and sucked it, gently at first, then harder until she groaned.

A spring tightened low in her gut, and her back arched. His hands set to work, massaging her other breast as he gave them the attention they hadn’t experienced in years. An angry voice shouted in her mind, and Eddie stiffened suddenly, forgetting the pleasure coursing through her body.

“Naomi, take a breath,” he ordered and moved away to give her space. “You’re with me, not him.”

She nodded fiercely as the voice shouted again. Beau raised himself and smoothed her hair from her face and spoke quietly to her. She didn’t even hear the words, but his voice calmed her, and after a minute, she managed to force the voice to be quiet and opened her eyes to stare up into his.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, but he placed a finger on her lips.

“No, you never have to be sorry, not with me. Do you want me to stop?”

As he spoke, his right hand smoothed over her flat stomach to the top of her knit shorts, pulling on the string. His eyes were locked on hers as he undid the knot and slipped his hand beneath the fabric. If she could keep her eyes on his, know it wasn’t another touching her, maybe this would work. Beau seemed to know exactly what she needed, and the only thing that moved was his hand.

And God, what that hand did to her.

It cupped her over her panties, holding her in his hand as his fingers gently massaged her sensitive, wet lips. His eyes darkened as he felt her arousal, and her mouth twitched in a smile at his reaction, even more than his erection pressing against her leg. His hand pulled back enough so he could touch her, bare skin to bare skin.

She gasped the moment his fingers closed around her clit, a shiver running through her body.

“Naomi?”

“Don’t stop,” she whispered. Just one touch caused her to quiver with need.

He licked his lips when his fingers moved lower and spread her folds. One slipped inside her, and Eddie sighed at the sensation. An echo of the former yelling came back, but Beau’s gaze remained on hers and it vanished again. She and Beau were alone.

“Trust me more?”

“Why?”

“Keep watching me,” he commanded and slid down her body. “Don’t look away. It’s just us and no one else, Naomi. Just me.”

She watched him as he tugged her shorts off and kneeled at the foot of the bed. He pulled her down towards him and, after removing her panties, too, lifted her legs to rest on his shoulders.

“Savage, what are you doing?”

“Relax, Naomi. Trust me.”

She did—God how much she trusted this man as he lowered his mouth. His breath was warm against her, and when his tongue licked her clit, she groaned. When he sucked, her hands reached for the quilt, needing to hold onto something, anything. His hands held her hips loosely enough that she could move but hard enough to massage them as his tongue worked along her folds and penetrated her. His tongue moved slowly at first, but as her breathing grew ragged and her eyes found his once again, they grew faster. His fingers moved inside her, searching for that one spot to send her over the edge as his mouth sucked and nibbled at her clit and inner thighs.

“Let go,” he whispered. “Let it all go, Naomi.”

When his mouth returned to her, the wall she put up years ago burst and she cried out, her heart racing as her back arched off the bed, ripples of agonizing pleasure flowing over her, caressing her as his hands did before. All the years of pent up anger and rage that this type of pleasure was replaced with, all the pain and nightmares, vanished at Beau’s touch.

He kissed her gently as shivers coursed through her body, and he moved to rest on the bed beside her. “How do you feel?”

She glanced over, still dazed, saw his smirk, and her eyes widened in surprise. “Better than I have in a long time,” she said. “Now it’s your turn.”

“No,” he said surprising her. “I don’t want to overdo it. The things that happened to you… They might seem like they’re gone, but the last thing I want to do is start something and send you over the edge in a bad way. This was for you.”

“But what about you?”

“Trust me, an erection is the least of my pains,” he said and kissed her lips. It grew deeper until he pulled away with a smile. “Now, I really have to do a check. I’ll be back soon enough. You should rest.”

She stretched on the bed as he found his shirt and, with a wink, left her, closing the door behind him. Eddie watched it for a long time, enjoying the ecstasy of his touch as long as possible. Beau’s words rang true. When she sat up and dressed, the familiar feelings of bitterness and rage welled up within her, and her hands shook at being touched.

Her skin prickled as memories of another touch entered her mind, and she was unable to stop them. She scrunched her eyes shut and thought of Beau’s hands, his lips, of the smoothness of his skin and his husky voice in her ear. When her hands stopped shaking, she let out a deep breath and reached for her cane.