22
I pull up outside the house, the two of us darting inside as a torrent of rain pelts us, the wind making every raindrop feel like needles against my skin. The wind batters the windows, and the sound of thunder rumbles in the distance.
Sierra leads me into the open plan kitchen/dining area and sits me down in one of the chairs at the dining table before disappearing to the kitchen.
She returns a moment later with a first aid kit from under the sink and a damp washcloth. She pulls out a chair to sit opposite me, both her knees sandwiched between both of mine.
Taking my injured hand, she begins wiping away the dirt and the dried blood from the cuts.
“This really isn’t necessary, princess.”
Her eyes flick up to mine. “You’ve always taken care of me, now it’s my turn to take care of you.”
I was gone two fucking minutes to find that little prick way too close to her, his hand on her arm. I could see her physically trembling all the way across the bar, the fear in her eyes, how her body crumpled in on itself and like a raging bull, I saw red.
“Well, tonight was a bust. You were right. It was a stupid idea to go,” she says, still swiping the cloth over my knuckles.
“No, it wasn’t. It was brave of you for wanting to go in the first place after everything. It would’ve been perfect if not for that little prick.”
“But that’s just it, Alec. He didn’t do anything. He just wanted to buy me a drink, but I freaked out on him, he even asked if I was okay. I could understand me acting how I did if he’d said something to trigger me or he’d touched me inappropriately, but he didn’t. I was stupid.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t invalidate your feelings. Whether he meant to or not, he made you feel uncomfortable. Did you like his hand on your arm?” I ask. She shakes her head. “Did you ask for him to let go?” She nods. “And did he? No.”
She drops the washcloth and reaches for some antiseptic ointment and begins rubbing it into my broken skin. “Is this what it’s going to be like from now on? Am I going to react the same way every time a guy comes near me?” she asks.
I bristle at the idea of any man coming close to her. “I don’t know. You can never measure post-traumatic stress or put it on a timescale. Everyone deals with it in different ways, some people not at all. It’s subjective, but I think it helps to talk about it, not keeping it bottled up inside.”
She begins bandaging my hand, wrapping it carefully around my torn knuckles. “You sound like you know the feeling.”
“I was in counselling for a few years after I got out of the Marines. After serving for nine years, the things I saw were enough to haunt me for a lifetime, and occasionally they still do, and I’m ashamed to say it got to a point in the beginning when I thought there was no other option but to end it all,” I admit.
She gasps, her eyes widening as they meet mine as the full weight of my words hit her. “What?”
“Seeing people die, seeing my friends die and coming within an inch of losing my own life a few times, it fucks you up beyond measure. And coming from that world, back to civilization, back to normality… I struggled. I just needed it all to stop, Sierra.”
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t go through with it, because I’d never have met you.”
I smile. “I’m glad too.”
“All done.” She pats my now neatly bandaged hand. “Would you ever go back given the chance? To the Marines?”
I shake my head. “No, I wouldn’t. I did enjoy my time there. I felt like I’d accomplished something, that I was contributing something to my country. I felt proud to serve, but no. I enjoy my job now much more.”
“What? Babysitting an emotionally damaged girl with a cargo plane’s worth of baggage?”
“No.” I take her hands in both of mine. “Protecting a woman who has endured too much trauma than she ever should’ve had to and come out the other side of it, still living, still fighting.”
I go to tell her she’s one of the bravest people I’ve ever met, but a huge clap of thunder rumbles overhead, cutting me off, as lightning splits the sky.
She screams, leaping out of her chair so fast that it topples over behind her.
Don’t ask me why I do it, but I reach for her and pull her down into my lap. “It’s just a little thunder,” I reassure her.
She breathes out a long, shaky breath and her entire body seems to deflate as her eyes rest on her hands. She fidgets with the hem of her shirt. “I’m tired of this.”
“Of what?”
“Being scared and jumpy all the time,” she clarifies, flicking her gaze up to me. “I want to go back to being the girl you kissed on my birthday.”
My mind returns to that night, my dick twitching with the memory of her mouth on mine. “You are.”
“No, I’m not. The old Sierra was fearless, and funny. Carefree. She loved life. Now I’m… broken. Miserable. A shell of who I was. The old Sierra is long gone.”
“She’s still there.”
Her chin trembles as her eyes lift to mine. “Is she? I can’t find her.”
There’s another loud clap of thunder and Sierra flinches.
“I say this for no other reason than because every word is the truth. You are so strong. Look at everything you’ve been through and you’re still here. Never mistake your fears for weakness, they are a reminder of your strength and your bravery.”
“I don’t feel very brave,” she says.
A tear tracks down her cheek and I reach up to swipe it away with my thumb. “You are still that same girl I kissed on your birthday, and you’re still as beautiful as the day I first met you. I’m in awe of you, Sierra. You… You’re incredible.”
Before my mind registers, she’s pressing her lips to mine. It’s soft and gentle and hesitant, unsure.
Not wanting to spook her, I let her take the lead as her fingers reach up to brush against my cheek before cupping my face, deepening the kiss.
I kiss her back, gripping the nape of her neck as my tongue teases the seam of her lips. She opens for me and her tongue darts out to meet mine.
I shouldn’t be entertaining this. I’m wading in dangerous waters with no life vest, and I must have a death wish because there’s nothing that can stop me from drowning in her kiss.
I can’t fight it. It feels so right.
I reach down for her hip, while my other remains at the back of her neck as I tug her closer, her denim-covered pussy rubbing against the erection that strains against my jeans.
She moans into my mouth, free falling into the kiss as hard as I have.
Sierra’s desperation to rid herself of the memories and fears that plague her fuel me forward. I’m the only one who’s touch doesn’t seems have fear coiling through her veins, so if I can be the one to quell them, then I’ll be that guy for her, even if I’m taking a nosedive into hell for touching her.
“Alec,” she moans against my lips, her fingers threading through my hair as I continue to move her over me, my fingers sinking into the flesh of her ass.
There’s another sharp clap of thunder that startles her and we break apart, staring at each other breathlessly.
“So what was that if not brave?” I smirk, running my thumb along her swollen lower lip, peering up into those beautiful hazel eyes that have held me captive since the first time I saw them.
“I guess there’s still some of the old Sierra in here somewhere after all.” A coy smile creeps up into her mouth.
I’ve never been in denial of my feelings for Sierra, they were never in question, but I resisted from acting on them out of my deep respect and friendship for her brothers, but I can’t deny myself from touching her any longer.
I need her just as much as I think she needs me.
I squeeze her hips. “I’m not gonna fuck you, princess, but I’ll gladly make you come so hard you see stars.”
She sucks in a breath, her eyes flaring with desire and I get the go ahead when she slams her mouth back down onto mine, and that’s the only green light I need.
I get her to turn around so her back is to my front and she settles against me, her legs dangling either side of mine, her head against my chest.
I trail kisses down her neck, sucking on the sensitive skin below her ear as I toy with the waistband of her jeans.
“You’re so beautiful, Sierra,” I whisper, my lips brushing her earlobe and she shivers. “I don’t think you realise it, but it’s true.”
“Maybe once, not anymore.”
“Why? Because of your scars? Because of this?” I trace the scar from her hysterectomy with my finger, and I feel her body stiffen. “They’re nothing to be ashamed of, princess. They’re battle scars that prove how strong you are.”
“They’re repulsive.”
“No. Nothing about you could ever be that.” I tilt her chin so she’s facing me and seal my lips over hers.
My tongue slides past her lips, the kiss igniting an inferno in my heart as she whimpers into my mouth. It’s a kiss I feel everywhere, a feeling that goes bone-deep, so strong I feel it in my knees.
“I’m going to touch you, is that alright?” I ask, breaking our kiss.
She nods and I dot kisses down her neck and shoulder as I undo the button and pull down the zipper.
I slip my fingers into her panties, feeling the short tuft of hair there as I slip my hand in further. As soon as I graze her clit, she shudders, her head tipping back against my shoulder as a moan escapes her lips.
“You like that, princess?” I rasp.
“Yes. Don’t stop.”
I rub circles over her clit with the pad of my finger, feeling her grow wetter with every second before pinching it, and she cries out.
Her hand reaches back and locks at the back of my neck as she turns her face to me and brings my head down enough for my lips to meet hers.
She begins rocking herself against me, grinding her clit against the heel of my hand as I slip a finger inside her. She’s warm and wet as I move in and out of her tight channel, curling my finger against the spot I know will have her coming undone soon.
“You’re such a good girl, princess,” I praise, my voice a whisper at her ear, feeling her walls contract around my finger at my words. “Let me take care of you…”
She’s panting now, her movements getting faster and becoming desperate as she searches for release.
I add another finger into her pussy and the sounds she’s making shoot straight to my aching dick that I’m sure is weeping in my boxers, but this moment isn’t about me. It’s about her.
It will always be about her.
“Is this what you did last night? Were your fingers buried in this pussy while you thought of me?”
She nods and my dick jumps.
“Good, because you know what? I thought of nothing else but you when I fucked my hand in the room next door.”
“Oh God… Alec, I’m gonna come,” she moans.
I keep up my pace, and a few more strokes of my fingers have her gushing over my hand, her pussy gripping my fingers like a vice.
“Fuck, Alec!” she cries as her orgasm crashes over her.
She tries to squeeze her thighs together, but I hold them open, letting her ride out her high on my fingers as I press kisses over her face, tracing my lips over the scar on her face as her head drops to my chest.
I pull my hand out of her panties, and I can’t help but bring my glistening fingers that are still wet with her juices into my mouth, sucking the sweet taste of her release off of them.
She tastes divine.
I peer down to find her eyes on me. I press a kiss to her forehead. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve never been better.” She smiles up at me, that one look shooting straight to my heart.
“I’m playing with fire by touching you, Sierra. Your brother’s definitely going to have me castrated now, but you know what?”
“What?”
“It’ll be worth it.”