Chapter 13 #3
The ring obviously didn’t have any monetary value, but emotionally, it was priceless. Kenna knew she’d remember this day every time she saw it on her finger. It was a daisy, and probably made in China, but Kenna treasured it.
Their morning had been a wonderful surprise.
She hadn’t meant to sleep so long, but when she’d woken up in Marshall’s arms, she’d felt amazingly good.
She hadn’t meant to touch herself while in his arms, but she couldn’t help it.
Marshall’s mouth on her breasts had felt incredible, and it had been so long since she’d let down her guard with a man that before she’d even realized it, she was touching herself.
It turned out to be one of the hottest moments she’d ever shared with a man.
Looking into Marshall’s eyes when she’d come had been…
earth-shattering. Even through her pleasure, she could see his own reflecting back in his eyes.
He enjoyed seeing her come, and hadn’t been concerned about getting himself off afterward, which was quite a change from most men she’d been with.
When he’d brought her to orgasm again, his touch was so different from her own. She always backed off touching herself when she felt her orgasm approaching, but he’d been forceful, dominant, refusing to let up and making her pleasure seem to go on and on. It felt…incredible.
Kenna didn’t even feel guilty about basically asking him if she could spend the night at his place. She wanted this man. All of this man. Yes, things were moving fast between them, but she didn’t care. Being with Marshall—in every way—felt right.
“What are you smiling about over there?” Marshall asked.
“This morning,” Kenna said without hesitation.
She loved seeing the satisfied smirk on her man’s face at her words.
“About how good breakfast was?” he teased.
“That too,” she told him.
Glancing at his lap, Kenna saw he was half hard. She loved having that effect on him.
“Shit, you’re gonna be the death of me, woman,” Marshall groaned.
“For the record, I like sex,” Kenna explained. “And this morning was…” She struggled to find the right word. Then decided to just say what she felt. “The best I’ve ever had…and we didn’t even have sex.”
“Shit, you would decide to have this conversation now, when I’m driving,” Marshall grumbled, shifting in his seat and adjusting his cock in his shorts.
Kenna merely grinned. “Sorry,” she said, knowing she didn’t sound sorry at all.
“Look, here’s the thing. Women are judged because of sex all the time.
If we like it, we’re easy. If we have too many partners, we’re whores.
We’re supposed to be virginal and chaste until we get married, while a guy can fuck as many people as he wants and society doesn’t think twice about it, as if it’s expected.
It’s never made sense to me. I’m thirty years old, I like orgasming, and even though I haven’t had a boyfriend in a while, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been taking care of myself.
“But what you did today…it made me realize that I’m still a little clueless about my own body. You making me come a second time when I thought I was done…it was enlightening. And hot. And now I want to know what else I don’t know about myself when it comes to sex.”
She could see Marshall’s jaw flexing, and she scrunched her nose in contrition. “Sorry, too honest?”
“No,” he said in a low, rumbly tone that made Kenna shiver. She hadn’t heard him sound like that before.
No—she had.
That morning…when he’d said “one more.”
“You’re right. Society is way harder on women than men when it comes to sex.
I like how open you are about your sexuality.
How you aren’t afraid to go after what you want.
And I can’t fucking wait to get you in my bed and learn everything you like and don’t like when it comes to being intimate with each other. ”
Kenna smiled. “But you’re going to feed me first, right?” she teased.
“Fuck, you really are gonna be the death of me,” Marshall complained.
“But you love it.”
He turned and met her gaze then, and Kenna inhaled sharply at the intensity she saw in his eyes. “I do,” he agreed, then looked back at the road in front of them.
Kenna was turned way the hell on. She totally wanted to jump this man as soon as they were inside his condo, but she also loved foreplay. And they were engaged in the longest and most intense foreplay she’d ever experienced.
She was still smiling when they pulled into the Coral Springs parking lot. For a second, she was embarrassed all over again about everything she’d said while trying to “sneak” onto the beach. But she pushed it away. That was over and done.
“I’m sorry,” Marshall said after he turned off the engine.
Kenna shook her head. “You’ve already apologized. And we’re past that now. I want to see this amazing penthouse. And the view. I’ve heard a lot about it.”
“You’re too good to be true,” Marshall said. He picked up her hand, kissed the palm, then turned to get out of the Jeep.
Kenna swore she could feel tingles all the way to her toes with just that short kiss. Oooh boy, sex with this man was going to ruin her, she just knew it.
He met her at her side of the Jeep and grabbed the bag she’d packed. He left the things she’d bought at the swap meet in the car to take back to her apartment later.
Marshall took her hand in his as they walked toward the entrance. He stopped at the security desk and greeted the man who was sitting there. “Hey, Robert.”
“Good evening, Mr. Smart.”
“I want to introduce you to my girlfriend, Kenna Madigan,” Marshall said.
Kenna reached out and shook the security officer’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Same. I hope you had a good time last weekend when you were here,” he said politely.
Kenna smiled and nodded. It was now obvious that they never would’ve made it past this man if Marshall hadn’t lived there.
“I’d like to add her to my approved visitor list,” Marshall told him.
“Of course. If I can just see your ID, Ms. Madigan,” Robert said.
Kenna had no idea Marshall was planning on adding her to anything. She looked up at him, and he smiled and nodded. Reaching into her purse, Kenna took out her driver’s license and handed it to the security officer. He filled out a piece of paper with her information, then stood.
“I’ll need to take your picture for our records,” Robert said.
“Oh, um, okay,” Kenna said, taken aback at the level of security in the place.
“It’s so the other security employees know what you look like,” Robert said, obviously noticing her unease.
“I’ll input your picture into our system and that’s it.
No one else has access to our files. The next time you come, you won’t even have to stop.
We’ll know you’re allowed to access the property. ”
“If you’re not comfortable, we can do this another time,” Marshall said.
“No, it’s fine,” Kenna said. “I was just surprised.” She posed for Robert and he took the picture without fanfare.
He handed her a piece of paper and said, “These are the rules and regulations for Coral Springs. Even though you’re a guest, you’re expected to comply with them. Read it at your leisure, sign, and return it back here to the desk when you’re done,” Robert told her.
Kenna nodded and folded the paper, putting it, and her ID, into her purse.
“Ready?” Marshall asked.
“Ready,” Kenna said with a smile.
“Have a good afternoon and evening, Robert,” Marshall told the security officer.
“You too.”
As they got into an elevator, Kenna turned to Marshall. “I wouldn’t have gotten two steps past that desk if you weren’t with me, would I?”
“No,” he said with a small smile. “Robert and the other security officers are very good at what they do.”
“What did your teammates think about having their pictures taken and having to sign the rules?” she asked.
Marshall shrugged. “They aren’t on my approved visitor list.”
She frowned in confusion. “But they’re your best friends.”
“Yup. And when they come over to visit, I add them to a daily visitor log. They’re allowed to come in for the day, but not to come and go as they please.”
Kenna stared at him in disbelief. “Seriously?”
“Yes. You’re the only person I’ve ever added to my list.”
Kenna swallowed hard. “You’re so getting lucky tonight, sailor,” she told him.
Marshall burst out laughing and tugged her into him. “Yeah?”
“Oh yeah.”
He bent his head to kiss her right when the elevator dinged to let them know they’d arrived on his floor. “Later,” he muttered, more to himself than to her.
Kenna couldn’t get the smile off her face. She loved surprising this man. She didn’t think it happened very often.
He kept his arm around her shoulders as they walked down the hall toward his condo. He placed his palm on a bio-reader next to his door, and she shook her head in disbelief. “Really?” she asked.
“Yup,” he said. “It’s easier than having a key, especially when I go on missions. I don’t have to worry about losing or misplacing it.”
“You take your keys on a mission?” she asked, her brows shooting up in surprise.
He laughed. “No way. They stay back at the office.”
“Whew. I was just imagining some terrorist in the wilds of a desert somewhere finding a Jeep key in the sand and wondering how the hell it got there.”
Marshall grinned. “Exactly. Give me your hand.”
She did without hesitation. Kenna had a feeling she’d do whatever this man said without thinking about it.
He pushed a series of buttons on the bio-reader, then pressed her palm to the screen. “There, now you can get in whenever you come over.”
Blinking in surprise, Kenna stared at him. “Did you basically just give me a key to your place?”
Marshall shrugged. “Are you gonna come over and rob me?”
“No.”
“Then, yes.” Marshall turned to open his door, and Kenna did her best to get her reactions under control.
This man was nothing at all like she thought he’d be when she first hung out with him on the beach at Duke’s. He was so much…more.