Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
Reid made sandwiches while Maliea found drinks.
She chose two bottles of beer, found a bottle opener and popped off the tops.
After he layered ham, cheese and lettuce on bread, he slathered a layer of mayonnaise over the top slice of bread and laid both sandwiches on a plate, garnished with a healthy portion of potato chips.
He carried the two plates, and Maliea had the beer bottles as they climbed the staircase to the second floor and back to the suite Kalea had assigned them.
The first thing Maliea did was check on Nani.
Her daughter slept soundly, still curled up on the bed.
Maliea would sleep with her daughter, and Reid would have the room on the other side of the suite.
He hadn’t stopped thinking about Maliea and how good it had felt to hold her and tell her she deserved to be loved. The kiss on her forehead had ignited a longing he’d thought long gone, never to return. When his wife had walked out on him and taken Abby, he’d sworn he would never trust another woman again.
Maliea threatened to break through his promise to himself and make him believe there was still a woman out there who would give more than she took. A woman who would care how he felt and embrace the love he had to give.
Lana had done nothing but take, take, take. When she’d been pregnant with Abby, she’d complained through the entire gestation period, blaming him for everything that didn’t feel right. He’d done his best to make her comfortable, but he couldn’t always be there.
She’d blamed him for deserting her when she’d needed him most. What she’d needed was someone to listen to her whine and complain. She’d had a relatively easy pregnancy with no major complications.
Reid had been helpful when he’d been home and sympathetic to her pain and needs.
Lana had played on his concern to the point she’d made unreasonable demands.
Reid had put up with it throughout, even when she’d gone into labor. He’d done everything she’d asked and more, so aware of the effort it took to bring a baby into the world .
Still, he’d belonged to the Navy and had to deploy shortly after Lana delivered Abby.
He’d hated being away from his wife and baby daughter. But that was the life of a Navy SEAL. Lana had married him after he’d become a SEAL. She’d said she knew and understood the sacrifices families had to make for their SEALs to serve their country.
Ha!
Lana resented the military, claiming it made unrealistic demands on Reid and his family. She never had help raising Abby. While he’d been gone on a particularly long deployment, she’d informed Reid that she was divorcing him over an email. The woman hadn’t had the decency to wait until he’d come back from a particularly difficult battle in which he’d lost half his team.
She hadn’t asked him how he was or how he felt about the loss of his friends and teammates. Instead, she’d launched into everything that was wrong with their car, their house, their gardener and their neighbors.
Lana blamed Reid for the damage done to her pre-pregnant body. She’d used his money to pay for membership to the local gym with daycare facilities. She’d dropped Abby in the daycare and worked out for two hours a day.
That’s where she’d met her next husband. A man who made a lot more money than a Navy SEAL. A man with a big bank account who could lavish gifts on his wife throughout the year and never deployed to foreign countries at a moment’s notice for months at a time.
Lana had hired a personal trainer to help her get her pre-pregnancy body back in less than four months. She’d been even more beautiful than when Reid had met her at McP’s bar in San Diego.
Of course, Martin Harrington, the CEO of a tech firm making a high six-figure annual salary, noticed her. And she’d noticed him. Reid would bet she’d targeted Martin as soon as she’d seen the Lamborghini he drove.
The man could give Lana everything her heart desired: a new, expensive car, a fancy house and unlimited spending power on his credit card.
She’d filed for divorce before she’d locked down Martin’s adoration. He’d been happy to take her and Abby into his home and give them everything Lana thought they deserved.
Because Reid had seen so many of his teammates go through divorces after deployments, he hadn’t been surprised when Lana had hit him with the papers as soon as he’d returned from a mission in Afghanistan. He’d been at a low point in his life, having lost half his team in an IED explosion.
He'd left for Syria when Abby was only three months old and returned after her first birthday. She hadn’t known him and had screamed when he’d come to take her for his court-ordered visitation .
Abby thought of Martin as her real father and Reid as a distant uncle who tore her away from her mother every month for a weekend and two weeks in the summer.
He followed Maliea through the suite to the French doors leading out onto the balcony with its cushioned loveseat and low metal table.
The seat was small enough that he couldn’t keep his leg from touching hers.
Every time he leaned forward for the sandwich or beer, his shoulder brushed against hers. Each contact sent a spark of electricity shooting through him. He should have stood and moved away, but he couldn’t.
The woman had him knotting on the inside, his muscles tense, ready to spring into action.
To do what?
Grab Maliea and kiss her soundly on the lips?
Run his hands through her hair and kiss her until they were both restless?
Sweep her up into his arms, carry her to the empty bedroom and make love to her all night long?
Whoa.
Reid abandoned the last couple of bites of his sandwich and sat back in his seat.
What was he thinking? This was his client—a woman with a small child. A widow who’d only recently lost her husband. What kind of asshole was he to think of making a move on her?
“You’re frowning quite fiercely,” Maliea said, staring at his face, her own brow puckering. “What are you thinking about?”
“Kissing you,” he said before he could rein in his tongue.
Her eyes widened, and she swallowed hard. “Seriously?”
He pushed to his feet and stood with his back to her, staring out at the stars, the mountain and anything but Maliea. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to blurt that out. Forget I said it. You should get some sleep. I’ll probably leave you here tomorrow and maybe follow your father’s storybook to Niihau and find out whatever he discovered.”
Maliea came to stand beside him without touching him.
It didn’t matter. Her nearness sent his blood burning through his veins, headed south to his groin.
“If you’re going to follow my father’s storybook, I’m going with you,” she said softly, not making any mention of his other statement—the one about the kiss.
His fingers curled around the balcony railing in an attempt to keep him from pulling her into his arms and kissing her.
“You can’t go with me,” Reid said.
“Why?” Maliea asked.
“What about Nani?” he reminded her.
“You heard Hawk and Kalea; they want to look after Nani. They want to know what it’s like to take care of a small human.”
“You trust them with your daughter?” Reid asked.
“Do you trust them?” Maliea asked.
Reid nodded. “With my life.”
“And Nani’s?” she pushed.
“Absolutely,” he said.
“Then I’m going with you,” Maliea said.
Reid drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. We’ll let them know in the morning. And only if Nani isn’t freaked out by being left behind.”
Maliea nodded. “Agreed.”
When Maliea made no move to go back inside and rest for the next day’s activities, Reid bit out, “Go. Rest.”
“Why?” she whispered.
“Because we might have a long day tomorrow, and you’ll need the sleep,” he said, still not looking at her.
“No,” she said. “Why do you want to kiss me?”
He tipped his head backward, closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “This discussion has no purpose. Go to bed.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Maliea shake her head.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll go. Goodnight.” He turned to leave, but Maliea stepped in front of him, blocking his path.
“I told you I was sorry I said anything. Don’t make this anymore awkward than I already have,” Reid said.
“I hope I don’t.” Maliea wrapped her hand around the back of Reid’s neck, leaned up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.
That one kiss unleashed inside Reid what had been building all day and evening.
His hands gripped her hips. Instead of pushing her away, he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss until she opened to him.
Reid thrust his tongue past her teeth to claim hers in a sensuous caress.
Both her hands wove into his hair, urging him to get even closer.
His hips moved against hers.
Her leg slipped up the back of his calf, her sex sliding across his thigh, the heat burning through his jeans to his skin.
He lowered his hands to the swells of her ass and lifted.
Maliea wrapped her legs around his waist, her sex rubbing the ridge beneath the fly of his jeans.
He groaned into her mouth, his body on fire, his need all-consuming.
When he finally came up for air, his breaths were ragged as if he’d been running uphill. He set her back on her feet and leaned his forehead against hers.
“This is so wrong,” he said.
Her hands lowered to rest against his chest. “ Because I’m a new widow?” she asked. “Is it wrong for me to want to be desired after living with a man who chose his Teacher’s Assistant over his wife?” Her fingers dug into his shirt. “Is it wrong to act on a passion so strong I can barely breathe?”
Reid’s breath caught and held at the rawness in her voice.
She tipped her head up and captured his gaze with hers. “Do you really want to kiss me?” She sighed. “Because I really want to kiss you.”
“I do,” he said, weaving his hands into her thick dark hair. “But I’m afraid.”
Maliea laughed breathily. “You’re not afraid of anything.”
He stared down into her dark eyes, holding her head steady in his hands. “I’m afraid that once I start kissing you, I won’t be able to stop. I’ll want more. Already, I’ve stepped over the line. This is wrong.”
“Fuck the line,” she whispered, digging her fingers into his shirt and pulling him closer. “Fuck what’s wrong. Fuck me.”
She reached for the button on his jeans, flipped it free and lowered the zipper.
Reid sucked in a sharp breath as his cock sprang free into her hand. “What about Nani?” he said softly.
Maliea shot a glance toward the open door of the other bedroom.
Reid could see Nani’s small form exactly where he’d left her. Sound asleep .
“She’ll sleep,” Maliea assured him. “Or is it that you don’t want me?” She started to back away.
Reid swept her up in his arms, carried her into the empty bedroom and set her on her feet. “Are you sure?”
“Never more certain in my life.” As if to prove her point, Maliea pulled her T-shirt up and over her head, tossing it to the side. Then she reached behind her and unclasped the hooks on her bra.
Reid was there to capture her breasts in his hands as her bra slid to the floor.
Maliea’s back arched, pressing her breasts into his palms.
For Reid, there was no going back. He wanted this. He wanted her.
While Maliea kicked off her shoes and shoved her jeans over her hips, Reid toed off his boots, dug a condom out of his wallet and shucked his jeans.
Maliea stood in front of him naked, beautiful and too tempting to resist.
He gathered her close and bent to kiss her. As it deepened, he walked her backward until the backs of her legs bumped into the bed.
“Sit,” Reid said into her mouth.
Maliea responded immediately, dropping to sit on the edge of the bed.
Reid nudged her knees apart and stepped between her legs. His hand kneaded her breasts, pinching the tips of her nipples .
Then he dropped to his knees, his hands sliding down her chest to her inner thighs.
He parted her folds, his gaze locking with hers.
Maliea’s eyes widened, and her breathing grew ragged.
When he bent to take her clit into his mouth, Maliea moaned and clutched the back of his head, urging him to take more.
He sucked her there, then flicked his tongue across the bundle of nerves making her jerk and writhe in response.
Her hips rocked to the rhythm of his tongue. The more he flicked, the more she rocked until her body tensed, and she caught and held her breath. “There—” she gasped. “Yes—there.”
One last flick and she clamped his head between her knees, her body pulsing to her release.
Reid continued to lick her clit until she collapsed against the mattress, her fingers swirling jerkily around the nipple of her right breast. For a moment, she breathed in and out, regaining some of her composure. Then she sat up, scooted backward on the mattress and pulled him up with her.
Reid climbed up her body, settling his hips between her legs. He lowered his head to claim her lips in a long, hard kiss. It was good but not nearly enough to satisfy the desire swelling in him, turning his cock rock-hard.
“You can tell me to stop, and I’ll respect that,” he said, closing his eyes to focus on controlling his urges.
She reached up and cupped his cheek. “Look at me.”
He did.
“I want this,” she said clearly. “I want you. Please...make love to me.”
The condom he’d fished out of his wallet lay on the bed beside Maliea. She reached for it, tore it open, fit it over the tip of his shaft and rolled it down to the base.
Her fingers on his dick nearly made him come before he’d even gotten started.
She guided him to her channel with one hand, cupped his ass with the other and brought him home.
She was so tight, so hot and wet, Reid couldn’t catch his breath.
Maliea pushed him away until the tip of his shaft was all that was inside her. Then she pulled him to her, hard and fast, repeating the process several times until he took over.
Reid rocked his hips, driving into her over and over, gaining speed with each thrust. Soon, he was pumping like a piston in a race car.
The more he fucked her, the closer he came, rising to the edge where he teetered for a moment, holding back as long as he could to savor every second of their connection.
He flew over the edge, his release rushing through him, his shaft throbbing against her channel all the way to the end.
Still buried deep inside her, he dropped down onto her, loving the feeling of his naked skin against hers. Wrapping his arms around her, he rolled them both onto their sides and held her close for several more minutes.
She kissed his lips, his chin, his neck.
He kissed her eyes, her nose, her mouth and sighed. “What just happened?”
She lay against the sheets, a sleepy smile curling her swollen lips. “We proved we’re alive.” Maliea brushed her fingers against his cheek. “Don’t worry. No strings attached. This doesn’t have to mean anything more than a physical release. Nothing else has changed.” She smiled up at him. “Now sleep.”
He stared down at her, wondering if she’d lost her mind.
To Reid, everything had changed.