Chapter 35
June was nervous as she led them into her house. She didn’t know why; it wasn’t like he’d never been inside before or they hadn’t had sex. It still felt new though.
“Would you like something to drink?” she offered as she set her things down.
“No, thank you.” Rob followed her inside and took a seat on the couch while she went into the kitchen and made herself a glass of water. Her throat felt suddenly parched.
She came back out into the living room, debating where to sit. Was it too soon to sit with him? Did they just pick back up where they’d left off? This was all so new to her.
“June, just sit down wherever you want. There are no expectations,” he said as if reading her mind.
June took a seat on the couch next to him. “I just don’t know where we go from here.”
“Wherever you want. If you want us to take our time getting to know each other again, that’s fine. I’m not going to rush this. I know I have work ahead of me to get you to forgive me.”
“I told you, I forgive you,” she assured him.
“Here, yes, you have.” He pointed at her heart. “But here needs time.” He pointed to her head. “I’m sure there are some lingering doubts in that beautiful head of yours that will only go away with time and reassurance.”
He was correct that there were a few lingering doubts, but not enough to make her change her mind. “What have you been doing the past week?” She opted for an easy conversation. It was easier to start with building up to something more intimate than just jumping right in.
“Hanging out at my house mostly.”
“Not working?”
“We don’t have set schedules like most jobs. We get together to plan when something comes up. We also always take a small break in between missions to regroup. Which we needed after this one.”
“Was it bad?” She knew he couldn’t go into detail, but maybe he could tell her something about it.
She was curious to know more about what he did.
It sounded similar to what Liam did. She wondered if it was just as dangerous.
June hadn’t considered that. He could be killed overseas, and she would never know.
At least if something happened to Liam, she would know.
“Not bad per se, but nothing was going to plan. That’s why it took me so long to come home. I thought I would only be gone a few days.”
Which turned out to be three weeks.
“Does stuff like that happen often?”
“No, usually we’re only gone for a few days at a time. We only do small missions not full deployments.”
Thank goodness for that. She couldn’t imagine him gone for months at a time. She had hated the three weeks apart.
“How often do you have to leave?” It was nice they could actually talk about this now without the shroud of mystery behind it with half-truths.
“It’s always fluctuating, but like I said, we at least get some downtime between missions. Sometimes it can be months and others a few weeks.”
“You said you only go to work when you have to plan and such, so forgive if this is insensitive, but how do you pay your bills? Do you have another job?” She turned on the cushion to face him, and Rob mirrored her, their hands grazing at the back of the couch.
Rob started stroking his fingers over the back of her hand, causing goosebumps.
A memory flashed in her mind of the last time Rob had touched her and how magical his touch was, along with his tongue and other things.
Was it getting hot in here?
“No, I have my military pension from being medically discharged, and our boss Nick makes sure that we are paid well. I’m by no means a millionaire, but I live comfortably and as you have seen, I don’t need much.”
No, he didn’t. His home was as basic as a military barrack.
“It must be nice you don’t have to work much and get paid.
” It would be nice if she didn’t have to put in the hours she did to pay her bills.
June loved her job, but she didn’t like the long hours—especially the ones she had been putting in lately.
If she could go back to eight-hour days, she would be happy.
“I may not work as much, but I think what I do now is more strenuous and dangerous than before.”
She could see that. Rob had mentioned that he did covert work that wasn’t recognized by the US government. It had to be even more dangerous than what he did before.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to make light of what you do.” It was incredibly brave for him to do what he did. On top of that, he did it with partial hearing and assistive devices.
“I know you weren’t,” he assured her with a genuine smile.
“Do you find it more difficult to do your job with your hearing loss?”
“It was an adjustment, but I’ve learned to adapt.
In the beginning, it was hard, but Dr. Shane is amazing, and technology has come so far.
I can probably hear better now out of my left ear than before my accident.
Maybe with time, I can be like Superman and hear from great distances. ” He chuckled at his own joke.
That would be helpful, but it could be bad too.
Hearing wasn’t just a pinpoint. If you were going to hear something far away, you were going to pick up everything in between.
Sounded like a headache to her. “I’m sorry for what you had to lose, but it seemed to work out where you can still serve in a different capacity. ”
“I am grateful, and I will tell you one thing.”
“What’s that?” Her breath stuttered when his fingers coasted up to her elbow and back down to her wrist. She was having trouble remembering what she had asked him. The man was deadly in the art of distraction.
“I’ve never been gladder in my life for my accident.”
She hadn’t expected him to say that. “How can you say that? You loved being in the army. I’ve seen how upset you get when you talk about losing your career.”
“If it hadn’t been for my accident, I never would have met you.”
June’s heart skipped a beat. Could this man have said anything more perfect to her? “Rob,” she whispered his name, not knowing what else to say.
Rob interlaced their fingers as he looked her deep in the eyes.
“I was angry and bitter about it for a long time, and when I was given another chance to serve, I was grateful, but something always felt as if it were missing. I lacked the same passion that I had before. It was you, I was missing. Someone to share my life with. I felt a connection the moment I first laid eyes on you, but I ignored it. I’m not ignoring it anymore. I love you, June.”
June had a Jerry Maguire moment of he had her at hello.
June pushed forward and fell into Rob’s lap. He easily caught her and gathered her in his arms and devoured her mouth like a starved man with her the banquet.
June tore at his clothes, needing to feel his bare skin. It had been three weeks. She wanted to know if sex the second time would be just as amazing as the first.
Rob separated their lips and looked deep into her eyes again. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure about anything.
I love you; now make love to me.” Rob scooped his hands under her butt and stood up with her.
June wrapped her hands around his neck, not that she was afraid to fall; she knew he would never drop her.
She held on as an anchor as she licked and nipped his neck.
Rob groaned and almost lost his footing, having to brace a hand on the wall, but he managed to get them to the bedroom and set her down on her feet at the side of the bed. Rob looked out of breath as his chest heaved in and out, his eyes filled with lust.
June smiled up at him, feeling feminine satisfaction she had managed to fluster him.
She wanted to take it up a notch and have him out of his mind like he drove her.
She reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing it on the floor, uncaring of where it landed. Her bra followed.
It took a will of strength, but June stood there with her hands at her side, letting Rob look his fill. He had seen her naked before but never standing in front of him.
His eyes skated down her chest; she could feel it like a caress. Her nipples pebbled under his gaze as if they remembered what it was like to be felt by his hands and tongue.
“You are so damn beautiful.”
“Are you going to just keep standing there gawking at me, or come over here and do something?” She threw down the gauntlet, not knowing where this naughty side of her was coming from.
It had happened the last time they’d made love. She had been vocal and making demands when she was not normally a dominant person. Rob just brought something out of her.
“And what it is you want me to do exactly?” jhe challenged with a raised eyebrow.
June gulped. Could she tell him what she wanted him to do? “Touch me.”
Rob took a step closer. His clothed chest brushed against her sensitive nipples. “Touch you where?”
He wanted her to go into more detail. “My breasts,” she said quickly before she could chicken out.
Rob’s gaze went back down to the breasts in question. His hands skimmed up her sides, then around to the front of her breasts. June leaned back to give him greater access. His thumb stroked across the engorged nubs, then his finger was added, rolling and tugging the nipples between them.
June reached forward and found Rob’s erection pressing firmly against the front of his shorts. She tore open the button and lowered the zipper to reach inside and grip him firmly.
Rob hissed out a breath as his hips pulsed forward. “Damn, you’re going to kill me.”
“I think you’re made of sterner stuff than that.” He was like putty in her hands as she stroked him from stem to root, smearing her thumb over the slit where pre-cum leaked.
June didn’t know if she was doing it right. She was following the guidance of Casey and the romance books she’d read. After they’d made love the first time, she had wanted to learn everything she could about the act.
“I wouldn’t be too sure. I want you so bad, and it’s been four weeks.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”