Touching Ghost (SEALs On Fire) (2 page)

He shook his head and swallowed the remains of his beer. “Want to get out of here and take a walk?”

Sadie could feel him pulling away from her, and she didn’t want that. For the first time in forever, she knew exactly what she wanted. The sad, scarred boy she’d known and loved was now a man. No less damaged but so perfect in every way to her that she wanted to fling herself against him, hug him tight, and never let go. The years since she’d last seen him yawned wider than the Grand Canyon, and when she’d learned he would be here in Key West, if only for a few days, she’d sprung into action and booked a flight. It would be a pathetic thing to not reach for what she wanted, to see if he might have feelings other than friendship for her. Sadie knew she was brave. She could do this. Deep inside, she believed she would forever regret not letting him know he was the only man she would ever truly love.

And what a man!

It was more than obvious that Navy SEALs had it all going on. Strength, brains, and a massive love of country. True heroes with enough sex appeal to make any woman’s heart go pitty pat. She certainly wasn’t immune.

That gangly young kid who’d climbed carelessly into her bedroom window when things got bad at home had grown into a beast of a man, all brawn and muscle. Easily six-three, he wore his black hair cut short and a layer of dark stubble covered his strong jaw line. His eyes, solemn and filled with secrets, were a sharp piercing gray rimmed with thick lashes. She wanted to ask him if he was happy. She needed to know if there was any softness left in him for the girl he’d left behind all those years ago. Instead, she reached out and laced her fingers with his. For now, it had to be enough.

“Are you happy?” she asked as they walked together and took in the sites. It was her first visit to The Sunshine State and Key West, and she wanted to take in every last detail. The fact that Ren was here with her was delicious icing on the cake.

Ren squeezed her fingers gently as he looked her way. “Yeah, I guess so. The work is hard but satisfying. Gives me a sense of purpose. It’s a dangerous world out there, and taking out just one more bad guy makes me sleep a lot better at night.”

Sadie shivered. She couldn’t think of a more dangerous and scary occupation. “It’s funny how most of us are worlds removed from what you guys do every day. We get up, go to work, and hang with friends, seldom thinking about how much it costs to keep us free to do those simple things.” She shrugged. “I know it probably sounds lame, but thanks, Ren. You are a real hero, and I personally feel a whole lot safer knowing you are out there doing such an excellent job.”

“It’s a nice thing to say, honey, but there is a world full of heroes out there. Including you. You take care of little kids. Not too shabby.”

Laughing, she stopped in the center of the sidewalk and hugged him. “You’ve always known just what to say to make me feel tons more important than I am.”

An hour later, the sun having brilliantly set over the ocean, Ren walked her to the high rise hotel where she’d booked a room. A restlessness had settled over him, and she was smart enough to pick up on it.

Sadie was the first to admit that she wasn’t an exciting woman. At heart she was a small town girl who lived a life that was far from adventurous. She was ordinary in every way. Why in the world had she so easily bought into the fantasy that she could be enough for a man like Ren? Dumb.

They rode up the elevator in silence, and an uncomfortable tension built between them. He was on leave, and she’d intruded on this precious time off by impulsively traveling here to meet him. Maybe Sadie had hoped Ren thought of her as she’d dreamed of him? Again, dumb! No doubt he was anxious to head off to meet his fellow team members to have some raunchy fun with the ladies. Blow off steam.

Fighting disappointment, she turned to him, trying for all she was worth to ignore the way her belly tightened. Her heartbeat sped up, and she hoped to God she didn’t just burst into tears and bawl like a baby instead of instituting the plan she carefully formulated before hopping a plane here. No, she was going to do it this time. She would lay it all on the line and see what happened. Sadie didn’t plan on becoming an old lady who looked back on her life wondering ‘what if.’

The time for action was now.

“It was good seeing you again,” Ren said quietly. “Want to have some lunch tomorrow?”

“I want more than that, Ren.” There it was. She’d done it. Nervous as hell, she licked suddenly dry lips. Her hands shook so she quickly balled them into fists, trying for all she was worth to shake it off. He cocked his head, his brows coming together in a quizzical little frown. Ren started to speak, but she headed him off at the pass. “I’ve been wondering about something for years now, and I aim to stop the speculating, here and now.”

“Wondering about what, Sadie?”

Now. Now. Now.

Moving into action before she could chicken out, Sadie stepped close enough to smell the clean scent of his body, stood on tiptoe, and settled her cheek against his. “This, Ren. I’ve wondered about this.” Turning her face, she glanced at his perfect mouth and brushed her lips to his. “Kiss me, Ren. If you don’t kiss me now, I think I’m going to die.”

Chapter Two

Sadie had only an instant to stare into his eyes and wonder when she’d turned into such a brazen hussy.

“You asked for it,” he muttered a single second before crashing his lips to hers. His savage kiss stole her breath as he tasted her fully, finally dipping his tongue deep into her mouth. “Pie. Damn it, you taste like pie.”

Going at her like she was a seven course meal and he was a starving refugee, Ren kept right on kissing her. She wasn’t about to complain. No siree. Never in her thirty years had she been touched this way nor had she enjoyed the delightful pressure of such a rock-hard body. Her nipples, flattened against his muscular chest, tightened into throbbing little knots that yearned for an even firmer touch.

Every sexy dream she’d ever had involving Ren coalesced in her brain, and she knew, from his response, he wasn’t going to say no. At least not tonight. Getting closer, taking advantage of the moment, Sadie somehow managed to lift one leg and wrap it firmly around one of his thighs to pull him closer to her sex-starved body. Hard. Was the man hard everywhere?

Oh, heck yeah, he was.

She didn’t have to be a MENSA member to know that.

The juxtaposition of their bodies changed, aligning a bit, but apparently it wasn’t enough for her badass SEAL. Muttering a low sound, he released his grip on her arms and moved it lower until he filled his hands with her butt. He lifted her until her damp pussy pressed deliciously again his cock, thick and hard behind the fly of his jeans.

“Wow.”

His breath swept the surface of her throat. “Yeah.” Ren emphasized the point by dragging denim-covered erection over the seam of her cunt. Then again and again.

Sadie caught her bottom lip between her teeth and clung to his broad shoulders as he dry fucked her. He sucked the flesh of her neck into his mouth and squeezed his fingers on the mounds of her ass. She’d worn a skirt tonight. Good judgment all things considered, and the miniscule panties, wet from her juices, were no barrier against the warmth of his palms as he tested the resilience of her skin.

As if from a distance, she heard the rumbling of the nearby elevator and her eyes snapped open.

Ren gave her ass a final squeeze then gave her a hard look. “Best not scare the chickens, sweetheart. Let’s take this inside.”

She could think of a lot of things she’d like to
take inside.
Namely his thick, hard cock. What evil imp had taken up residence inside her body to make her think these things? Sadie had spent most of her life being called wholesome and all-American. She was the proverbial freckle-faced, non-exciting type of woman but here she stood thinking about her best friend’s cock pounding deep into her pussy.

Shivering, she felt her feet touch the ground and looked on as Ren retrieved her handbag from the floor and started digging for her room key. Unable to speak or even to breathe as lust beat a quick path through her body, she watched him.

Ren plunged the plastic key into the door and glanced her way. His eyes were dark and mysterious as they swept over her. “Hold that thought.”

Sadie shoved shaking fingers into her tousled hair, pushing it from her forehead. “How’d you know I was thinking?”

“Honey, you’re always thinking. You are a scary woman.”

Scary?

Now there was a thought.

Silent laughter swam through her mind, but then he grabbed her hand and drew her into the luxurious hotel suite. Sure, it had been quite a thing to splurge on, but she figured she deserved it after living in a one-horse town since the moment of her birth. Besides, seeing Ren again was worth any cost, so why not do it in style? The lovely sitting room was shrouded in darkness except for the floor lamp she’d left on. It sat near a bank of windows and the French doors leading to a balcony that provided a glorious ocean view.

Of course, who cared about an ocean view at a time like this?

“Can I get you a drink?” she whispered as sudden uncertainty swept her.

Ren, looking dark, manly and intense, shook his head. “Uh uh.”

“Um. You didn’t have dessert. Want me to order something?”

His teeth flashed white in the semi-darkness, but the smile disappeared as once again he shook his head.

Sadie stared. She licked her lips. Honest to God, she felt herself twitching, and it wasn’t all from the lust his touch had sent coursing through her veins. Feeling like a thirteen-year-old at her first boy-girl school dance, she reminded herself that she was a grown woman and not a kid.

“Stop it, Sadie.”

“What?”

“Fidgeting. You started this business, but I’m going to finish it. Got that?” He stalked to her, scooped her up, and looked straight into her eyes. “Where’s the bedroom?”

She nodded toward the closed door across the room, and Ren headed straight for it. All she could do at that point was hang on for the ride. Giving in, she tightened her arms around his shoulders and leaned into him.

“That’s better,” he murmured as he stopped beside her neatly made bed. “I don’t want you scared and jittery, sweetheart. I want you to feel good.” Once he sat her on her feet, he settled his palm at the side of her face, tracing the corner of her lips with his thumb. “Just leave everything to me.”

Oh boy.

Yeah, she could do that, and Sadie suspected she was in capable hands. Ren was built to give a woman pleasure, and she could sure use some of that. Especially from him. He’d been the star of a gazillion delicious sex fantasies over the years, but this time she didn’t need a humming, battery-operated thingamajig to get her off. Ren was here in the flesh, and if the bulge behind the zipper of his jeans was any indication, he was ready to rock and roll.

Maintaining eye contact, Ren grabbed the small black pager attached to his belt and tossed it to the foot of the bed. “I’m always on call.”

“Hope the damn thing stays quiet tonight.”

One corner of his lips kicked up. “One of the requirements of being a SEAL, honey, but I figure we’ll just push that possibility to the back of our minds.” Then he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and sent a handful of condom packets sailing to join the pager on the bedspread.

“Optimistic.”

“Always,” he said.

Sadie didn’t let herself think of whom he planned to use all that protection with, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t her. Jealousy gnawed at her, but she was a realist. Before tonight they’d simply been friends—assuming anyone could call their relationship simple—and there was no doubt in her mind that Ren and his friends planned to blow off some steam while here.

Well, if Ren wanted to heat things up, call her a tea kettle and turn on the burner.

Nerves skittered down her spine to curl tightly in her belly. Just imagining him using all those condoms, one after the other, made her body cream. Little pulses of sensation coursed through her pussy, reminding her of how empty her life had been without him.

Her Navy SEAL yanked his tee shirt over his head and tossed it aside before going to work on the snap of his jeans. His expression was raw, savage, and intense, and Sadie’s mouth went dry as the rasping sound of a zipper slid through the sudden silence.

He had a body built for sin, and Sadie knew she’d be a gazillionaire if she could bottle all that wicked sex appeal. His chest was hard and strong, sculpted by the heavens just for her. Instinctively she wanted to walk straight up to him and test that resiliency with her fingertips and palms, but she simply couldn’t get her wobbly legs to move. Instead, she could only stand there like an idiot, taking in that beautiful chest and the ridges of his washboard abs. A light sprinkling of dark hair trailed from below his belly button to become lost in worn denim.

Ren removed his shoes and jeans and finally stood there naked. His gaze focused on her, and she had to force her tongue to move enough to speak. “You are so gorgeous, I could eat you up with a spoon.” It was funny how her nerves had suddenly disappeared, leaving behind a demented sex-starved female. Slowly licking every inch of his bronzed skin seemed a very good idea at the moment.

His erection rose high against his belly, thick and hard. Ren fisted his hand around the base, then dragged it slowly up then down. Sadie noted the diamond drop of fluid that seeped from the slit at the head. A muscle flexed in his stubble-covered jaw. Sadie had never seen a man so savage, so primal, and she wanted him more than her next breath.

I want to touch it.

Had she said the words or merely thought them?

“If you touch me right now, I’ll go off like a rocket. Can’t have that. Not yet.” Ren answered that question, obviously spoken, and moved to stand scant inches from her body. “As to eating me with a spoon? Later. Right now, it’s my turn and I’m downright hungry. Hungrier than you.”

Wanna bet?

Sadie shivered despite the waves of heat that swept her, then gasped as he settled his hands at the sides of her neck and kissed her again, deeper this time, harder than before. His tongue moved heavily into her mouth, slanting one way and then the other until she was breathless. Ren sent his hands into action, filling them with her breasts, teasing her tender nipples with the pads of his thumbs.