SEALs Honor (5 page)

"I'm
not into incest." She sighed, caught his wrist, and held him there, her
eyes closing as she pressed her breast into his palm. "Does that answer
your question?" Her voice had gone all husky and sexy like when they were
making love. Then her eyes opened and she stared, challenging him, sparks
flying between them.

Tuck
took her key from her, twisted it in the lock, shoved her through the door, and
slammed it behind them with his foot. Then he tossed her over his shoulder and
marched toward her bedroom.

"Put
me down, Tuck. I'm not a sack of potatoes." She pounded his back with the
flat of her palm.

He
patted her fanny. "I know you're not a sack of potatoes. But this was the
quickest way I knew to get you into bed." Once inside her bedroom, he
tipped her over and tossed her onto the mattress.

She
lay in the middle, skirt hiked up to her hips. "You could have tried
asking."

Shit.
Even her frown was sexy.

"What
time did you say you’re bugging out?" He yanked his shirt over his head
and threw it against the wall.

Delaney
licked her lips, her gaze raking over his naked chest. "Five thirty. I
have to be at my unit, packed and ready to go."

His
cock hardened in an instant. "How much time do you need to pack?"

"At
least an hour."

With
the barest of glances at the clock on her nightstand, Tuck ripped open his
button fly and shucked his jeans. "It’s midnight. That gives us four
hours. Let’s rock this boat."

Delaney’s
hand hesitated on the hem of her shirt. "What about Cory?"

Tuck
grabbed her foot, and slipped the strap of her sandal off her heel, then flung
it to the floor. "I’m not into ménages."

She
pulled her shirt over her head, her breasts bobbing with her movements. "But
he may still think I’ll say yes."

"Will
you?"

"He
makes good husband material for a girl interested in that kind of commitment."

Tuck
growled, advancing on her. "I seem to recall you telling me you didn't
care about commitment. In fact, you gave me the brush off on more than one
occasion."

Her
lips twisted, then slid upward in a smile. "I did, didn't I? And see how
much good it did?"

He
placed a hand on her leg, his fingers skimming up the insides of her thighs to
the hem of her skirt. "Our relationship is purely physical."

"It
won't last." Her breathing hitched as he skimmed his hand across her damp
panties. "No...it...won't...laaast." She bit down on her lip, her
knees parting to give him better access.

"With
you leaving tomorrow, we don't have much time left in our short-term
relationship."

She
shook her head, her chest rising sharply on a gasp as he flicked her favorite spot
again. "Then stop wasting time."

One
last, teasing stroke, then Tuck ripped the zipper down on her skirt and tugged
it over her hips and thighs and off her legs.

Delaney
lay on the sheets in her underwear, biting her lower lip, her hand sliding into
her panties. "God, I’m wet."

Those
words made him want to rip off her panties and drive into her, hard and fast. A
thin swatch of silk was all that stood between him and doing just that. But he
wouldn't let their last night together be all about him. He wanted her to be
just as turned on as he was at that moment. More so, if he did it right.

He
couldn't believe he'd gotten this far with Delaney, and thanked his lucky stars
he had.

When
other members of his team had hit on her, she'd shut them down in a heartbeat,
earning a reputation for being frigid and unapproachable by most. But when
Delaney was alone with him, she was as wild in bed as she was in the cockpit of
her Black Hawk. She knew exactly what to say and do to make him hard enough to
drive nails with his dick. He lunged for the nightstand and the stash of
protection she kept there.

"Losing
it, frogman?" With her thumb, she hooked the elastic of her panties and
slid them just far enough down until the soft curls of her mound peeked out.
For a moment she held them there as if challenging him. Then she slipped off
the panties and rolled onto her belly, her legs dangling over the side of the
bed. "Three hours and fifty-eight minutes."

He
fumbled the packet and dropped it on the floor. "Damn it, Del, you drive
me insane."

She
glanced over her shoulder, her brows hiking and a smile lifting the corners of
her lips. "Insane with lust, I hope?"

"You
know it." He ripped the retrieved package with his teeth, rolled the
condom over his rock-hard erection and let go of the breath he'd been holding. "Let's
shake this boat."

"Bring
it." She arched her back, her damp entrance glistening in the light
shining in from the other room.

Tuck
grabbed her hips and positioned himself behind her, his member nudging her
slick opening, then waited. "Promise me you'll come back." He didn't
add what they both knew was on their minds. Come back
alive
. Not in a
box.

"Oh,
please." She leaned back, trying to make their connection more intimate.

He
pulled away. "Promise."

"I
promise to do the best I can. But if you deploy, too, you have to make the same
promise."

"I
promise to do the best I can."

"Deal.
Now are you fucking me, or should I start that packing I need to do? Three
hours and fifty-five minutes, frogman."

He
thrust into her, long and hard. Her channel clenched around him, dragging him
deeper. Hands on her hips, he pumped in and out of her, smacking her buttocks
for the loud clapping sound she so loved.

"Damn
it, Tucker. Harder!" She rocked back, their combined motion forcing the
bed to rock on its legs.

When
he thought he was getting close, he slowed, bending over her back to cup her
breasts, tweaking the nipples.

"Holy
hell, Tuck, don't stop now."

"I
want you with me." His hand slipped down to her sex, parting the folds to
find the swollen little strip of her clit. He rubbed it, eased himself out,
coated his finger in their juices, and slammed back into her, then slathered
the moisture on the nubbin of her desire.

Her
breath caught, her body tensed and her fingers curled into the comforter. "Now.
I'm coming now." Her voice hitched as her body arched and her head tipped
back.

Tuck
gave her a moment to ride the first wave of her orgasm. Then he backed out of
her, scooted her up the bed, and climbed between her legs, sliding back in to
take her. He wanted to see the way her green eyes darkened as she came apart.

Smooth,
strong, athletic legs wrapped around Tuck's waist and Delaney dug her heels
into his ass, forcing him as deep as he could get. The pressure erupted in an
explosion of sensations that spread in waves outward from his cock to the tips
of his extremities. He stayed buried inside of her, his dick throbbing his
release. When he could draw in a new breath, he collapsed on the bed beside
her, rolling her over to face him, maintaining the connection.

As
they lay in each other's arms, Tuck stroked the swell of her breast, bringing
the nipple to a hard little peak. He wanted to say it. The "L" word
perched on the tip of his tongue. He bit down to keep from letting it slip out.
Passion was one thing. Love was entirely different. What was it he felt for
Delaney? He wasn't sure, but his own track record with that elusive emotion
hadn't given him much hope of finding it. Still...Delaney had come the closest.
"Del, you know how I feel about you, don't you?"

She
sighed, snuggling her face against his chest. "Umm. You think I'm hot in
bed, and that I'm a good helicopter pilot."

He
snorted softly. "More than that."

Her
eyes opened and stared up into his, a smile playing at her lips. "What
more does a woman want?"

"What
with Reaper asking you to marry him..."

After
a long pause, she said, "I'm not getting married anytime soon."

"And
I'm not a good candidate for the institution."

She
leaned up on her elbow and stared downward. "Tuck, you can't judge
yourself by your parents' lack of commitment."

"Yeah,
and what's your excuse for avoiding tying the knot with some poor schmuck?"

Her
eyes darkened. "I have my reasons."

Reasons
she hadn't wanted to share. A jab of anger pinched his chest and he stiffened.
He wanted to demand she tell him why she was against marriage. She knew his
rationale. Why didn't she trust him with hers?

"I'm
leaving tomorrow." Her hand smoothed across his chest. "Don't be mad
now."

Delaney
was right. He didn't want her to leave angry at him for pushing an issue that
shouldn't be an issue at all. They weren't committing to each other, so why
should he care if she didn't tell him her reasons for avoiding marriage? "Fair
enough. Just know this. Despite my feelings on long-term commitment, I care. I
don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"And
accepting Cory's proposal would be bad?"

Tuck
let out a sigh. "Reaper's a good man and he'd love you to his dying day.
But he's not the man for you." He stroked his finger along her arm,
letting it trail over the side of her breast. "You wouldn't be with me now
if you thought you had a chance to make things work with Reaper, would you?"

"No."
She dropped her gaze.

"Then
why string him along?"

"You
have a point. And you care." Her hand slipped down his chest to his cock. "Why
don’t you show me how much you care, big guy?"

"Before
I do, what are you going to tell Reaper?"

"Nothing
until I get back from deployment."

"You'll
let him suffer that long?"

"You
didn't tell him about us." She gripped his cock and slid her hand to the
base, relenting. "Maybe by the time I get back, he'll be in love with
someone else."

Reaper
did have a reputation for rushing into things before thinking about them. If
Tuck hadn't been so immersed in keeping his relationship with Delaney a secret,
he'd have seen it coming. "I should have made our relationship more
public."

"No."
She shook her head. "It’s hard enough maintaining a tough-gal persona in
front of my peers. Most of the men in my regiment resent me being there."

He’d
been just as hesitant to let on that they’d been together. Problem was that
he’d had such a deep distrust of women from a very young age. Delaney was the
first woman he'd ever told about his crappy family life. Perhaps because the
three of them had started out as friends, he hadn't wanted to reveal how far
past friendship they'd progressed, afraid if he committed to their
relationship, it would fall apart. Like his parents’ had.

Delaney
sighed, her hand rising to cup his face. "Look, I know you have issues
with marriage and commitment. And it's understandable, given your family. But
not all marriages end in divorce."

"You're
saying my father, who's been married three times, and my mother, going on her
fifth husband, isn't normal?" He laughed without humor. "Why Cory
would be idiot enough to propose is beyond me. Aren’t there studies to prove
more than fifty-percent of marriages end in divorce?"

"That
gives people a fifty-fifty chance of it working." She shook her head. "Sometimes
you have to take chances. Sometimes they pay off."

"Or
get you killed."

Delaney
laid against the curve of Tuck's body, committing to memory the male, musky
scent of their lovemaking, the feel of his hard muscles against her softer
ones, and the way his breath warmed the back of her neck.

Four
o'clock in the morning and she hadn't slept a wink, preferring to savor every
last moment with Tuck. She hadn't packed, hadn't notified her landlord, hadn't
done anything to prepare for her deployment.

She
was headed to Afghanistan. Not that she was borrowing trouble, but she might
not come back. As a member of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment,
she'd be flying into enemy territory to deposit and pick up the Special
Operations forces, be they Army, Navy SEALs, or marines, on some of the most
dangerous and highly classified missions imaginable. The chances of being shot
down by the Taliban were high.

Meanwhile,
her heart would be back in Virginia with Tuck.

She'd
known from the start that Tuck had commitment issues given his family
background plus he was a Navy SEAL first, anything else came second. Including
her. But sometimes she dreamed of hearing him say those three words she'd
longed to hear.

I
love you.

Three
of the most powerful words in the English language dictionary, as far as
Delaney was concerned. As she headed into the warzone, she'd have to content
herself with the knowledge Tuck cared about her. Possibly loved her, but wasn't
willing to admit it and jinx their bond.