War Wounded (The War Trilogy #2.5) (6 page)

“Duke, I haven’t ice skated since I was 15!”

“Me neither!” He laughs. “I hear it’s like riding a bike; you never forget how to do it.”

“Oh my god, I’m going to break my ass,” I mumble, which has Duke chuckling.

We rent skates and find a bench to put them on. Once we’re ready to go, we make our way over to the entrance to the ice.

“Crazy people first,” I tell him and gesture for him go in front of me.

Duke laughs then steps out onto the ice. He’s wobbly and has to grab the side of the rink so he doesn’t fall. Oh god, this is going to be a disaster. I follow him onto the ice and try my best not to fall on my ass…or my face. After a couple of minutes, we both get the hang of it and are able to make it around the rink without holding onto the side.

Duke grabs my hand as we skate around the rink. We continue to talk and laugh and actually have a really good time. There are a couple of times where one or both of us lose our balance and start flailing around, but neither of us has fallen yet.

~ Duke ~

I glance over at Arianna to bask in all of her beauty. She looks stunning. Her dark hair is swirling around under her cute little knit hat, her cheeks are flushed from the cold, and she’s smiling so wide that I’m afraid it might be permanently frozen there. I need to be careful because I can totally see myself falling for her, hard and fast. And we all know where that leads. Yep, you got it, heartbreak. I’m never putting myself in that position ever again. This thing with Arianna needs to remain a no-strings-attached kind of thing. And tonight, I just want to get her out and show her a good time because she looked so sad when I spoke to her earlier in the week. Her smile melts away.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Arianna huffs.

My smile slips, too. “What is it?” I ask.

“Kyle is here.”

“What? Where?” I ask without glancing around.

“He’s over by the side at your three o’clock,” she murmurs.

I sneak a glance over in the direction that Arianna said. Sure enough, there he is, standing on the ice by the boards watching us.

“Is he with someone?”

“Not sure. But I know he saw me because we made eye contact,” she says.

“Alright, just ignore him. We’re having a good time; he doesn’t need to ruin it.”

She nods. “You’re right.”

A few minutes go by without incident. Then out of nowhere, someone slams into my shoulder from behind, hard enough to spin me so that I’m now facing Arianna. The momentum has me crashing into her and tangling our legs together. We both go down hard with me on my back and her on top of me. Her forehead smacks into my cheek as we go down.

I groan and cover the side of my face with my hand. She also groans and touches her hand to her forehead.

“Shit, are you okay?” I ask her.

“Yeah, that hurt. Are you okay?” she asks, using her hand to cover mine.

“I think so,” I grunt. “Who the hell was that?”

“Who do you think?” she replies in annoyance.

“Seriously? I’m going to kick his scrawny little ass,” I snap.

“Hey, are you guys okay?! That was a nasty fall!” says an older man who stops next to us.

“Yeah, we’re okay,” Arianna tells him and takes the hand that he’s offering.

He pulls her up to her feet, and then both he and Arianna help me to my feet. The guy gives me a pat on the shoulder before taking off.

“Let’s get off the ice, I want to look at your face better,” Arianna says.

“Yeah and my ass really hurts,” I grunt.

We make our way off the ice and find a bench to sit down on. I hiss as I sit down on the end of it. Damn, I hit the ice hard. Arianna stands in front of me and bends down, taking my face in her hands. She tilts my face to the side so she can see my cheek that her forehead hit a little better. Then she does something I wasn’t expecting. She places a soft kiss on my bruised cheek.

“Is that better?” she asks breathily.

“Much,” I grunt. “Is your forehead okay?”

“It’s fine. You got the brunt of it.”

“Yeah, I think my tail bone is bruised.”

A devilish smirk curls her lips. “You want me to kiss that better, too?”

I bark out an unexpected laugh. “If you want to,” I tease.

“He’s watching us,” she whispers, her eyes meeting mine after looking around.

“Why not give him a show then?” I reply huskily.

I’d love to kiss her. And more than just on the lips.

Her brown eyes flash with desire before her mouth fuses to mine. I pull her down onto my lap and wrap my arms around her. A breathy sigh escapes her as she parts her lips. I take what she’s offering and kiss her deeper. Our tongues meet and I moan at how good she tastes. Her hands are still cupping my jaw and I love the feeling of her hands on my skin. If we weren’t in public, I just might’ve gotten carried away with her. But I know I can’t, so I slowly pull away, giving her a couple of lingering kisses on the lips before pulling completely away.

“I don’t think friends are supposed to kiss like that,” she breathes, her eyes still closed.

“What? Friends kiss like that all of the time on non-dates,” I joke.

She opens her eyes to give me a dry look. I give her my best shit-eating grin before planting another kiss on her lips and helping her to her feet.

“Do you see him?” I ask.

She nods and takes my hands to help pull me to my feet. “He’s looking pretty furious right now.”

“Good, and let him come say something to me so I can knock
him
on his ass,” I growl.

“I really don’t want you getting into a fight.” She sighs.

I give her a sideways glance. “He doesn’t have a chance in hell against me.”

“I’m sure. I don’t want you hurting him, is what I should have said.”

I grumble under my breath as we turn our skates in and put our shoes on. Instead of getting a carriage ride back to the car, we decide to take a walk through the park. I shove my hands into my coat pockets and hold out my elbow for Arianna. She gives me a sweet smile and slips her arm through mine.

“How old are you?” Arianna asks.

“35, you?”

“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to ask a woman how old she is?” She grins.

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to ask how much you weigh.” I laugh.

“That, too,” she chuckles. “I’m 31.”

“Really? I was thinking more like 25 or 26.”

“Aw, you’re so sweet,” she coos and bumps me with her hip.

I shrug. “I try.”

After a moment of silence, she drops the big question, “Are you really never going to get married again?”

“How long have you been dying to ask me that?” I snort.

“A while.” She shrugs.

I sigh, my breath fogging in the cold night air. “I have two failed marriages under my belt, I really don’t want a third. So, no, I don’t want to get married again. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do a long-term relationship if I found the right woman. But marriage? Nope, never again.”

“What if you find that right woman and she wants to get married?” Arianna asks softly.

“Then she’ll be very disappointed,” I murmur.

“Not all marriages end bad, you know. My parents have been together for 40 years,” she says.

“I know. Mine have been together for just as long. It’s just not for me. I’ve tried it twice and both times it’s failed me. I don’t need it to find happiness with someone; although, I’m pretty skeptical of that, too,” I scoff.

“I can’t understand why anyone would cheat on you. You’re sweet, attentive, caring, honest, handsome, pretty much everything a girl could ever ask for in a guy.”

I can feel the heat rise up my cheeks from her amazing compliment. “Thank you. I think you’re the first person to say anything that nice about me.”

She sends me a look as if I have two heads. “What? No way!”

“It’s true. I have a tendency to be an asshole.”

She gives me a dubious look. “Yeah, well, I find that hard to believe,” she says matter-o-factly.

"That's because you're making me go soft, damn you," I tease, but it’s kinda true. There’s just something about her that makes me want to do whatever I can to make her happy, and that means dialing back my douche-like tendencies.

Just then, snowflakes start to fall. We both look up at the sky then at each other.

“I swear, if this were an actual date, this would be really romantic,” she says with a soft smile.

A grin spreads across my face. I pull her against me and hold her in a Waltz type pose, one hand on her back while I hold her other hand in mine. I start to hum some
The Way You Look Tonight
by good ol’
Frank as I twirl us around in circles as the snow falls. Arianna is laughing and squealing in delight and it’s the best sound I’ve ever heard.

~ Arianna ~

I’m breathless from laughing and dancing in the snow with Duke. Damn, the guy is gorgeous when he laughs. He twirls me around one more time then dips me. I fling my arm out with flourish for our grand finale. When he pulls me back up, we’re both laughing so hard that we have tears rolling down our faces. I reach up to brush his from his face just as he does the same to me. Our eyes meet and our smiles fade away. Actually, everything else around us seems to fade away until it’s just Duke and me.

Duke’s lips crash into mine for a devastating kiss. His strong hands cup my face as he kisses me senseless. His tongue invades my mouth, taking possession of me. Do I care? Nope, not one bit. He can have whatever he wants. I hang on to the front of his coat for dear life because I’m sure if I let go, my knees might just give out.

“Arianna!” a familiar voice cries.

With an aggravated noise, Duke tears himself away from me and turns to the person interrupting up.

“You!” Duke snarls and starts toward Kyle, who is standing a few feet away.

I quickly shake off the after effects of the mind-blowing kiss and race after Duke. I get in front of him, walking backwards, and put my hands on his chest. “Stop. Stop walking,” I demand.

Duke halts his strides and clenches his fists. I can see that he’s livid because his jaw is clenched and the muscle on one side is ticking. Assured that he’s not going anywhere, I turn and cross my arms over my chest.

“What, Kyle? What is it that you want?” I snap. “How did you even know I was here?”

“I was at your shop when you left and followed you. I was hoping to talk to you.” He frowns. “It’s only been two weeks since you broke up with me and you’re already seeing someone else?” I can hear in his tone that he’s hurt by this.

“It’s really none of your business what I’m doing. You cheated on me, remember? That’s why we’re not together anymore,” I reply.

He doesn’t need to know that Duke and I aren’t actually together. Maybe this will get him to back off and leave me alone.

“But, baby, I’ve been trying to get you to talk to me. I want another chance. Please. Please give me another chance,” he begs.

I hear Duke scoff quietly behind me.

“And my answer is still no. We are done. I’m moving on and you need to, too,” I state firmly.

Kyle sighs. “I’m really sorry, Arianna. I never meant to hurt you.”

“It’s too late for that. I want you to leave me alone. Stop calling me and stop coming over to Jade’s to try and talk to me.”

Defeated, Kyle nods. “Okay, Arianna. I get it.”

He turns to leave, but Duke stops him.

“Kyle,” he calls.

Kyle turns back around to look at Duke and waits.

“You’re lucky she doesn’t want me to hurt you; otherwise, I’d be pounding your face into the asphalt for pulling that shit you did on the ice,” he barks in an obviously threatening tone and points a finger at Kyle from over my shoulder.

Kyle blanches then quickly turns and walks at a fast pace from the direction he came.

“You shoulda let me punch him,” Duke sneers.

“He’s not worth it.” I sigh.

“It would have made me feel better, though. My ass is still fucking throbbing,” he mutters.

“Aww, poor baby, let’s go back to my shop and get you a cupcake. That’ll make you feel better,” I coo as I turn around and stroke his face.

He eyes me warily. “You’re trying to make me fat, aren’t you?”

I give him innocent puppy dog eyes. “Never.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “Lies,” he hisses.

I can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out of me. He smiles, too, before taking my hand and leading me back to his car.

~ Chapter Six ~

~ Duke ~

When we get back to Arianna’s shop, she unlocks the door so we can go in. Once inside, she locks it behind us. She turns on the one set of lights over the counter as she rounds the corner and goes back behind it so she can get into the case holding the cupcakes left over from the day. I watch her. I’m on edge from that kiss in the park. To be honest, I’ve had a hard-on since the first kiss at the rink. Luckily, my coat is long enough to cover it. I want her. I want to go over and bend her over that counter and make her scream my name.

She opens the case and takes out four cupcakes. Yeah, she’s definitely trying to fatten me up. She puts them on a plate and brings them out to one of the small two-seater tables that are set up by the window.

“Take your coat off, stay a while.” She smiles as she starts taking hers off.

I inwardly groan and do my best to take my coat off while still hiding my raging boner. I sit in the chair across from her and discretely shift my dick in my pants so it doesn’t get strangled to death by my jeans.

“Two for you, two for me,” she says sweetly and reaches for one of the cupcakes.

I watch her as she peels back the paper and takes a bite. She giggles when the icing gets all over her top lip and the tip of her nose. She sets her cupcake down and wipes the icing off her nose. Her pink tongue darts out to try and lick it off her top lip, but she doesn’t get it all. Something snaps inside of me. It’s been building from earlier tonight, but my desire for her has reached its breaking point.

I shove out of my chair and move purposefully around the table to her side. Her eyes widen as she watches me. I grab her by her elbows and yank her to her feet. Her breath audibly catches. I capture her lips, sucking the icing from her top lip before diving my tongue into her mouth. My knees almost give out with how good she tastes, like the chocolate cupcake she was eating. I moan into her mouth and kiss her until she melts against me.

I wrap an arm around her waist and tug her closer, making sure that she can feel how much I want her. My other hand palms her luscious ass to hold her in place while I roll my hips against her. It’s her turn to moan. I drag my mouth down to her neck so I can kiss and lick the soft skin under her ear.

“Tell me now if you don’t want this. Because I’m going to need to go home and jerk off,” I rasp against her neck.

“I want this,” she breathes.

I swear I heard angels sing “
Hallelujah
” the moment those beautiful words left her lips.

“We better move to the back so we don’t get arrested for indecent exposure,” I murmur and nip at her earlobe.

“Okay,” she pants.

I let her go and she turns to head toward the door that leads to the kitchen. I grab the plate with the cupcakes because I have plans for the icing. Once in the kitchen, I grab her from behind and go back to kissing her neck.

“Not in the kitchen,” she says, rubbing her ass against my aching cock.

“Why not?” I pout.

She glances over her shoulder at me. “Health violations…let’s go to my office.”

“Fine,” I grumble.

We move into her office and I set the cupcakes down on her desk. The first thing I go for is her shirt. It gets yanked over her head and tossed away. Ho-ly fuck! I fight the urge to drop to my knees and worship at her feet. She’s wearing a dusty pink sheer lace bra, which is covering the most perfect set of tits I’ve ever seen. They are large and perky and just downright sinful.

“Jesus, Arianna,” I breathe, unable to tear my eyes away from her chest. “You are so fucking gorgeous.”

I let my eyes drift down to her slightly rounded stomach. She’s got meat on her bones and I fucking love it. She’s curvy, like Sofia Vergara. Not super skinny with bones sticking out like some of the women I’ve been with. She’s perfect. Her hands slide across her stomach to cover it from my stare.

I glance up at her face to see her eyes downcast and her cheeks red with embarrassment. I grab her chin and lift her face so she has to look at me.

“Hey, none of that. I love that you’re curvy; it’s sexy as hell,” I tell her, staring into her eyes so she knows that I’m serious.

“Really?” she asks hesitantly.

“Yes, really.”

She smiles slightly then reaches up to kiss me. The kiss quickly turns frenzied and needy. She starts unbuttoning my shirt while I work on her jeans. She makes an aggravated noise and pulls away from the kiss so she can see what she’s doing. She takes my shirt off then rips the T-shirt that’s under it off, too. She stares at me for a moment and runs her fingers over my abs.

“Wow,” she breathes. “You’re ripped.”

“I work out.” I shrug.

“Obviously,” she snorts.

“Alright, less talking, more touching,” I grunt and go back to taking off her jeans.

She kicks her shoes and jeans aside and I can’t help the strangled moan that escapes me. She has on matching panties. I have to give my dick a squeeze so I don’t fucking come in my pants at the sight alone. I grab her hips and lift her onto the edge of the desk.

“Lean back on your hands,” I tell her.

She does as I say and leans back on her hands. I shove her legs apart and step between them. She hooks her legs around me and tugs me so that I’m right up against her. I still have my jeans on but I can feel her heat through them. I skim my hands up her sides until I’m able to cup her breasts. My hands are pretty big, but they aren’t big enough to completely cover what she’s got.

Instead of taking her bra off, I slide the cups down under each breast. My cock pulses at the delicious sight in front of me. Arianna is practically panting and I’ve barely touched her. I glance up at her face to find her watching me, her eyes heavy lidded with raw desire and lust. I can’t help but kiss her again. She groans when her naked chest brushes against mine. Her back arches, causing her breasts to press more firmly against my hard chest.

Breathless, I pull away and grab a cupcake. She gives me a curious look but doesn’t say anything. I dip my finger into the chocolate icing then paint her pretty dark pink nipples with it. She gasps and whispers my name. Setting the cupcake aside, I lean down and leisurely lick and suck the icing off each nipple until she’s vibrating with pleasure.

“Duke, please,” she moans.

I let her nipple pop out of my mouth as I straighten up. I grab the cupcake again. This time I just turn it over and use the icing part of it on her nipples like I’m chalking up a pool stick. Arianna laughs. I grin as I set the cupcake aside once more.

“You have the prettiest boobies I’ve ever seen,” I murmur before bending down to flick one of her chocolate covered nipples with my tongue.

“Boobies? What are you? Twelve?” She snickers.

I chuckle and suck a nipple into my mouth, effectively cutting off her laughter. She gasps and drops her head back as I feast on the chocolate covering her nipples.

Her breathy little moans are going to be the death of me. I take a step back from her and unbutton my jeans. She watches me, her brown eyes looking almost black. Before shoving my jeans down, I pull out my wallet and take out the condom that I keep in there.

“Here, hold this for me,” I say and stick the edge of the condom between her teeth.

She giggles but leaves it there. She actually looks really sexy like that. I put my wallet back in my pocket then shove my jeans and briefs down to my ankles and step out of my shoes. I straighten back up and kick them aside. I look at Arianna to find the condom sitting on her chest because her mouth is hanging open, her eyes locked on my cock.

“Whoa,” she breathes.

I smirk and fight the urge to puff out my chest. I’m not a small dude. I’m 6’4”, for crying out loud. I never thought my cock was overly big or anything, so having her react like that does a lot for a man’s ego.

I give myself a couple of languid strokes. Her eyes flash heatedly as she raptly watches.

“You like that, Beautiful? Watching me touch myself?”

She bites her bottom lip and nods.

“Well, I’ll give you a show another time. Right now, I want to bury myself deep inside of you,” I growl.

She visibly shudders. I get rid of her panties and tear open the condom. She gives her full attention to my cock as I roll it on. I bite back a smile. I move back between her legs and wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her ass to the edge of the desk. She’s still supporting herself on her hands. The position puts her face only inches from mine. I brush my lips over hers lightly.

“You sure you want this?” I ask, giving her an out just in case she’s having second thoughts.

“Yes, I want you,” she whispers, kissing me harder.

I groan into her mouth and use my hand to guide myself into her, sliding into her in one smooth stroke. One of her hands comes up to grip the back of my neck as we both gasp and moan. I shove my now free hand into her hair and fuse my mouth to hers. Her legs wrap around me as I start to move. Her heels dig into my ass cheeks as she tries to pull me deeper with each thrust.

I tear my mouth away from hers because I need to breathe. I drop my forehead to hers. “Damn, Arianna, you feel so fucking good,” I rasp.

“Oh my god, so do you,” she whimpers.

I’m pretty sure that she was made specifically for me. We fit together so fucking perfectly. I guide her down to the desktop, covering her with my body. I bite out a curse when it changes the angle, making it possible for me to go deeper. Arianna’s arms wrap around my waist, her hands splaying across my lower back. I cradle her face and place soft kisses on her swollen lips.

Her body trembles under me and I can feel the tension inside of her building. She’s getting close, and so am I, but I’m going to hold out for her. I want her to come first.

“Duke, I’m close,” she mewls. Her nails bite into my back and it sends little shocks of pleasure straight to my balls.

“Good, I want you to come for me,” I pant.

“Go faster.”

“Anything you need, baby,” I tell her and snap my hips faster and a bit harder.

She cries out and arches her back.

“Fuck,” I growl and cover her mouth for a brutal kiss.

That must have sent her over because her body starts to convulse around me and our kiss smothers her screams. I drag my mouth away from hers to tuck my face against her neck as I find my own release. I slam into her one final time, shooting my load into the condom inside of her. I groan loudly against her neck. Goddamn! That was
A-MAZ-ING
! I’m so screwed.

~ Arianna ~

I peek over at Duke as we pull our clothes back on. He was incredible. He made me feel so sexy and wanted. He said that he loves that I’m curvy. I know I’m not the ideal super skinny kind of girl that a lot of guys look for. I’ve always been a little self-conscious of my body. But that melted away under Duke’s heated stare. Not only did he tell me that he loved my curves but I could see it in his eyes. I could tell by the way that he touched me. He found me sexy, so I found me sexy, too.

After we’re both presentable and ready to go, we walk out of the shop and I lock the door behind us. Duke walks me to my car. Neither of us has spoken yet. Not like there are really any words for how amazing the sex was. It was probably the best I’ve ever had.

I turn to Duke as I stop next to my car. “So, that was definitely the best only-friends-non-date I’ve ever had.” I smirk.

Duke throws his head back and laughs. “Yeah, I’d have to agree with you. Should we do it again?”

I search his eyes for a second. Should we do it again? Do I really want to date someone else so soon after calling off my wedding?

“I don’t know,” I answer honestly.

He nods in understanding. “Yeah. I don’t know either,” he says quietly.

I can see that he’s warring with himself. I know he doesn’t want to get close to another woman. Even though he said that he would do a long-term relationship, I think he’s still wary about getting involved at all. He’s been hurt badly and doesn’t want to put himself in the position of it happening again.

“How about we just say maybe and sleep on it?” I suggest.

He takes a deep breath and nods again. “Okay.”

I step into him and tilt my head back so I can look up at him. He’s much taller than I am. Duke leans down and places a tender kiss on my lips.

“Be careful driving,” he whispers against my lips.

“You, too,” I whisper back.

One more lingering kiss before we go our separate ways. It’s too late to talk to Jade by the time I get home; she's already sleeping, so I climb into bed, foregoing a shower because I want Duke’s scent on my skin just a little longer, and go to sleep. I’ll talk to Jade in the morning to tell her all about my non-date with Duke Tavish.