Chapter 15 #2
“That I’ve been an idiot,” Walker said gently.
“I was keeping you at arm’s length when I should’ve been doing everything in my power to tie you closer to me.
I know it’s only been one deployment, and it was a relatively short one at that, but do you think you can handle what I do?
Being left on your own for unknown periods of time without having any idea when I might be back or what I’m doing? ”
“Yes,” Gillian said simply. She wasn’t fond of being left in the dark, but if that was the only way she could have Walker, she’d deal. He was hers. She felt it in her bones.
“Fuck, I don’t deserve you,” Walker muttered before his head dropped.
Gillian didn’t have time to think about anything other than how his lips felt on hers. He physically tilted her head with his hands and the second she opened to him, he was there.
How long they kissed against the wall just inside his apartment, Gillian didn’t know, but when she felt his hands at her waist, pulling her shirt up, she gasped and pulled back.
“Arms up,” he ordered.
Bemused, she did as he requested and within seconds, she was standing in front of him in her bra.
His gaze immediately dropped, and she heard him groan before his hand came up, pulling one of the cups of her bra down, exposing her rock-hard nipple.
Then his mouth was there, sucking hard, making her back arch and her fingers spear into his hair, holding him against her.
One of her legs came up and Walker caught it in the hand that wasn’t at her chest. He pulled her into him, throwing her off balance. But she knew she wasn’t going to fall. No way would Walker let that happen.
His mouth moved up and he sucked on the fleshy part of her breast as his fingers pinched and rolled the nipple he’d just had in his mouth. She looked down and inhaled sharply at the eroticism of what she saw.
Walker’s slightly stubbled jaw was working as he sucked on her flesh. “Are you giving me a hickey?” she managed to get out between pants.
He lifted his head and grinned. “Yup.”
“How old are you?” she teased.
“Thirty-seven,” he answered as if she’d asked a serious question. “And I want to see my mark all over you. I’m claiming you right here and now, Gillian. Tell me to stop if you don’t want this. I’m a possessive and protective bastard. If we do this, you’re going to have to be all right with that.”
His eyes were serious and piercing in their intensity.
“Do I get to claim you right back?” she asked. “You won’t get upset if I put handsy bitches in their place when they try to touch you? Or have a stare-down with a pushy chick in a bar? Because I don’t share. If you cheat on me, I’m done. You’ll get no second chances.”
Instead of being concerned over what she’d said, Walker grinned.
“I can’t wait for you to get all possessive on me in public.
And as I told you before, I don’t cheat.
Why the fuck would I when I’ve got this?
” he asked, but it was a rhetorical question, because he once again lowered his head to her chest and ate at her nipple as if he were starving.
Gillian’s head fell backward against the wall with a loud thump.
“Ow,” she whispered, not really feeling the slight pain, but it was enough for Walker to move. He immediately brought his hand up to the back of her head and turned them so they were walking—more like stumbling—down the hall toward his bedroom.
The second they entered, Gillian inhaled deeply, smelling Walker’s unique scent, and she knew her nipples had just gotten harder. She’d fantasized about being in here with him.
At the edge of his bed, he stopped her and reached around for her bra clasp.
Within seconds, it was undone and falling to the floor.
He didn’t stop there; he undid the button of her jeans and lowered her zipper.
Then he put his hands against her sides and pushed both her panties and jeans down at the same time.
“Step out,” he whispered when they fell to her ankles.
Gillian managed to toe off her sandals and kick off her clothes without falling on her face. But then she realized that she was completely naked, and Walker still had on all his clothes. It was uncomfortable, but also kind of hot.
He stood a foot in front of her, completely immobile. His eyes ran down her body, from her head to her toes, then back up again. His chest was heaving with his breaths, as if he’d just run five miles.
Forcing herself to stand still, Gillian waited for him to say or do something. When he didn’t move, she began to feel self-conscious.
“Walker?” she whispered. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said with a croak. “Not a damn thing. You’re beautiful. Way too pretty for the likes of me.”
Gillian rolled her eyes. “Please,” she said. “If anything, the opposite is true.”
He put a finger over her lips and his gaze met hers.
“Don’t put yourself down,” he ordered. “I won’t tolerate anyone saying anything unfavorable about you, and that goes for yourself as well.
” His finger dropped from her lips, but didn’t break contact with her body.
He drew it over her chin, down her collarbone to her left breast. He swirled the digit around her hard nipple then down her side, where she squirmed away from him a bit when it tickled.
His lips quirked up, but he didn’t stop.
His finger traced her hip bone, then he brushed the curls between her legs.
Gillian locked her knees but couldn’t stop herself from inhaling sharply as he brushed against her clit.
She wasn’t sure if he’d done it on purpose or not, but when his smile grew and he did it again, she realized he knew exactly what he was doing.
Gillian reached for him and frowned when her hands touched his T-shirt instead of his skin. “If I’m naked, you should be too,” she complained.
His finger continued its teasing, and he used his other hand to reach behind his head to remove his shirt. One quick movement and the cloth was on the floor at their feet, forgotten.
Gillian was having a hard time concentrating as Walker’s finger had dipped lower between her folds, but she couldn’t help sighing at the sight of his chest. He was ripped, and had both the six pack and those sexy-as-hell V-muscles she’d fantasized about—but it was the large bruise on his side that caught her attention.
It was in the ugly green and yellow stage, but it was obvious something had hit him hard.
Without words, she ran her thumb over it gently.
“I’m okay,” he said quietly.
Gillian nodded.
“Look at me,” Walker ordered.
But she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the mark on his side. She kept trying to imagine what in the world could’ve happened to bruise him so badly, but couldn’t come up with anything.
One hand gripped her hip, and the other went under her chin to force her gaze away from his side.
“I’m okay,” he said firmly.
Inhaling deeply through her nose, Gillian nodded.
This was what he was talking about earlier.
“Okay. You’re good,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean that I’m happy.
It doesn’t mean that I don’t want to inspect every inch of you to see where else you’re hurt.
To kiss every bruise. Every scrape to make it better. ”
He smiled. “I’m okay with that,” he told her. “In fact, I think we should make it tradition. Whenever I come back from deployment, my own nurse has to do a very personal inspection of my body from head to toe.”
“Deal,” Gillian agreed immediately. “But I can’t do that if you’re wearing clothes. Strip, Army Boy.”
Walker barked out a laugh and Gillian smiled.
This was what had been missing from her relationships in the past. Laughter.
The few times she’d had sex, it had been quiet and serious the entire time.
Being with Walker was fun. It was exciting and nerve-wracking, but she’d never made a man laugh like this in bed.
Walker leaned over and pulled back the covers. Once again, his woodsy scent rose from the linens, and Gillian practically dove onto the mattress. She wanted to roll herself all over the sheets, imprinting his smell onto her body as if she were a wild animal, but she restrained herself. Barely.
Trying to figure out the best way to lie to appear the most seductive, she soon forgot all about positioning herself as Walker made quick work of his pants and stood by the bed, naked as the day he was born.
Inhaling sharply yet again, Gillian squirmed on the bed. She could feel her body readying itself to take him. She was so wet between her legs, and she wanted nothing more than to feel him inside her…finally.
“Walker,” she breathed.
He smiled, then slowly joined her on the bed.
Instead of lying next to her, he straddled her legs and hovered over her, his weight on his forearms on either side of her head.
She could feel his hard cock brush against the curls between her legs, and she immediately tried to shift, to open her legs wider, but his knees prevented her from moving like she wanted.
Whimpering, she ran her hands up and down his sides, wanting to touch him everywhere at once.
“Last chance,” Walker told her.
In response, Gillian moved one hand between their bodies and grasped his hard-as-nails cock. She realized that her hand barely closed all the way around it, and she only managed one quick up and down stroke before Walker had grabbed her hand and moved it away from his dick.
Gillian pouted. “Hey, not fair,” she complained.
He chuckled, and once again Gillian realized how much she liked hearing him laugh.
“There’ll be time for that later. If you touch me right now, I’m going to go off like an untried boy. It’s been thirteen long days for me, sweetheart. Cut me some slack.”
“I guess you can’t really masturbate while you’re on a mission, huh?” she asked.
“No. And I was too tired last night to do more than eat, shower, and fall into bed.”