CHAPTER ELEVEN
Moose chuckled, shaking his head at Grayson. Striker gave a knowing smile to his son while the other men nodded, understanding his pain.
“Stubborn, pig-headed, unbelievably na?ve woman!” he spat.
“Careful. She’s my daughter,” said Moose. “But you’re right. She’s just like her mother. Lucky you. She’ll be a good partner in life, Grayson.”
“Please tell me you don’t agree with her staying,” he frowned.
“The father in me doesn’t agree. But the SEAL, the man does. I’m scared to death for her safety. Scared that Lacroix will find her. And I’m terrified that she might be hurt, again. But I know that you, me, your father, all of these men will risk everything to keep her safe.”
“Son,” said Striker stepping forward. “She deserves the chance to take out Lacroix. This isn’t just about the nuns and the kids.
This is about the man that stole something precious from her.
Her innocence, her virginity. He made her change from an innocent college kid into a skeptical, suspicious young woman. For that alone I’d kill him.”
“I know. I know but I’ve just now professed my love for her. Told her that I’ve wanted her for so long and she’s going to risk that. She’s willing to throw all that away.” He ducked his head in his hands, running his fingers through his hair.
“Grayson,” said Gunner to his nephew, “she’s not throwing anything away. How many members of our family, wives, sisters, nieces, cousins, all female, how many have risked their lives for us, for what’s right?”
“I-I don’t know. Dozens? Hundreds?”
“Damn, your women are something else,” smirked Rowe.
“Shut up,” growled Grayson.
“I meant no disrespect, Grayson,” said Rowe. “You don’t know this about me but my father was in a car accident when I was sixteen. He lost the use of his legs and, well, and other things. My mother didn’t even wait to see if he could rehab. She left. Said that I was old enough to take care of him.”
“Fuck, brother. I’m sorry,” said Grayson.
“Don’t be. It taught me a lot about my father and a lot about women. Good women and bad women. My old man fought back. He walks with a cane now but he walks. And, he’s remarried. Met an amazing woman, a nurse that helped him recover.
“When my mother found out that he could walk and perform again, she was knocking on the door. He turned her away because all she really wanted was her share of the lawsuit money from the accident.”
“That’s fucking cold, Rowe,” frowned Kai.
“Yep. But my old man knew who was worth keeping and who wasn’t.” Rowe just looked away, not saying anything.
“That girl. The one in South Carolina. That’s why you walked away from her,” said Grayson.
“I overheard her conversation with her friends. She was staying to see if I would be killed in action. Too bad she was too stupid to realize if we weren’t married, she’d get nothing. I walked out the next day. Blocked her calls.
“See,” said Rowe, “Jennifer is a good one. She doesn’t want to hurt you, Grayson. She wants to feel capable enough to take care of the man who stole her life and then allow you to give that life back to her.”
“When did you all get so fucking smart about women?” he laughed.
“Oh, we’re dumb as a box of rocks, as Mama Irene would say,” laughed Hunter.
“Who’s Mama Irene?” asked Jethro. The older men just laughed shaking their heads at the younger men.
“You’ll find out one day. Just know that if she tells you something, it’s gospel. Believe it all,” said Moose.
Jennifer was walking back toward them. She stopped in front of Grayson but stared at her father and the other men.
“I-I’m sorry, Grayson. I didn’t mean to just walk away. I know that you need to keep me safe. I understand that. All I’m asking is that you understand what I need as well. I need you to understand what I’m feeling.”
“I do,” he said pulling her against his chest.
The other men smiled, slowly walking away from the couple. He rubbed big circles around her tiny back, brushing the hair off her shoulders.
“Can I ask you something?” he whispered. She nodded. “When it happened, when he… Were you hurt? Did he harm you?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “But I’m recovered. I’m fine now and there’s no reason to believe that we can’t have a normal, healthy sex life.”
“I wasn’t worried about that, Jennifer,” he said pulling back, holding her face between his big hands. “I was worried I would hurt you, too. I would rather shoot myself than to harm you or make you have memories of that night.”
“I-I don’t think I will. I mean, I don’t know, Grayson. I’ve not been with anyone since then. I kept hoping that one day I would come home and you’d be there for me. Waiting.”
“I’m here for you baby but I’m not waiting. You and I need to make this real. You need to see me, Jennifer. I don’t want you afraid of me.”
“I’m not afraid of you. I know you’re a big man. I could feel it, I could see it when we were in my room. But how do we do this with all these men around us?” Grayson laughed, kissing her sweetly.
“If you haven’t noticed, all those men have discreetly disappeared. Maybe we should too.”
Jennifer could only smile as she led Grayson to her room again. He shut the door, locking it and then set his weapon on the small desk. He kicked off his boots, then his shirt.
She stared at him, the rippling muscles of his chest making her suddenly warm from head to toe. He had a sexy patch of hair in the middle of his chest and several tattoos she’d never seen. She pulled her t-shirt over her head and smiled at him as he stared at the lacy black bra.
“Fuck,” he growled. She slid the jeans to the floor, stepping out of them only to reveal the matching lace panties. His mouth was suddenly as dry as the desert.
Jennifer’s small hands fumbled with his trousers, then he held them still, kissing her ear lobe.
“Let me,” he said breathlessly. He unzipped, pushing the trousers down, then his tight boxers. He could hear her breathing more rapidly from across the room. She held one hand over her left breast, the other instinctively touching herself lower.
“Fuck, baby,” he moaned. “You are so fucking beautiful.”
“Make love to me, Grayson. Not sex. Not fucking. Make love to me.”
“That’s the plan, baby girl.” He lifted her and gently lay her on the small bed.
It was a good-sized bed for her but not for the two of them.
She wasn’t sure when it happened or how it happened, but her bra and panties were flung across the room and the cool air-conditioning kissed her skin causing goose flesh to appear.
She reached out to touch his hot cock, stroking him, feeling his size and weight in her hands. He was big. Really big. As if in concert, Grayson’s only thought as his fingers felt her flesh was how tight she was.
“I’ll go slow. Tell me to stop and I will,” he said with effort. She nodded as the head of his cock slid up and down her opening, making her wetter and wetter. When the fat head slid inside her, she had a brief second of panic.
“Open your eyes, Jennifer. Look at me. It’s me, baby. It’s Grayson,” he whispered softly. She opened her eyes and the panic was gone. It was him. Finally, it was him.
“Grayson,” she said breathlessly.
“That’s right, baby. It’s me,” he said gently pushing forward. She was strangling his dick and he was loving every second of it. Worried he would go too fast, he rolled to his back, taking her with him.
“You control this. Go as fast, as deep as you want,” he said sweating as he was trying to control himself. She nodded, lowering herself a little at a time. She was certain she would never be able to take all of him but was shocked when she was fully seated.
She looked down, staring at the place where they were joined and smiled. He smiled back, brushing the hair from her face. The long tendrils tickled his chest, her almond eyes filled with tears of relief and joy, not fear and hatred.
“You feel so wonderful. Like this is where we should be,” she said kissing his chest.
“Because it is,” he said taking her mouth. His hips thrust upward and she gasped. Slowly, she found the rhythm, rocking back and forth. His hips thrusting upward, hers forward and then back.
Grayson was gripping her hips tightly, hoping to regain some control. But this woman was removing any control, any restraint he possessed. Suddenly he stopped.
“Fuck. Jennifer are you on birth control?” he asked. She nodded.
“I got on it after the, the incident,” she said breathlessly. “But I haven’t needed it. Until now.”
“You won’t fucking need it for long,” he said thrusting hard.
She gripped his pecs, squeezing, her nails digging into his flesh as she rode him harder and harder. His own hands massaged her breasts, twisting and turning her sensitive nipples.
“Gray- Grayson,” she gasped.
“That’s it baby. Cum for me,” he growled. Jennifer’s back arched, her whole body bent awkwardly away from him, shaking with excitement as explosions happened above her head.
Grayson gave four quick thrusts, finally able to release inside of the woman he loved. He pulled her to his chest, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, and finally her lips. It was a tender, sweet kiss.
“Will the others be waiting on us?” she asked.
“No. I think they know that we’ll be hidden for tonight. They’ll wait for more intel and we’ll leave after breakfast. Tonight, you’re mine,” he said pulling the sheet over them. “Tomorrow we chase the demons away.”
She smiled up at him, kissing him sweetly.
“I think you just did that.”