Chapter Twelve
Drew draped himself over the back of a horse as Adam was hunched over, working on the hoof on the other side.
“I’m going to go look in on Hailey. She’s been avoiding me all day, and I don’t like it.”
“Try not to piss her off this time. It’s been over a week since she found out and, in that time, I think she’s been angry most of it.”
“All I’ve done is try to help her,” Drew said smoothly.
Adam looked up at his brother and snorted. “You think pinning her to the counter, her desk, and the wall is helping her?”
Drew grinned. “Sure, I was helping her stir in the kitchen, organize in the office, and I thought I saw a spider on that wall.”
Adam’s head tilted back as he belted out a laugh. After a moment, he took a breath and wiped his eye. “Those are good excuses, but you know she wouldn’t fall for that in a hundred years.”
Drew chuckled. “I figured I needed some kind of comeback for when she started grilling me.”
“You two are going to be fun to watch, that’s for sure.”
“I think I could have had her pants down the last time if you hadn’t come around the corner.”
“Yeah, I figured. Sorry about that.”
“Give me a little time today. I’m going to try to push it.”
“I think it’s time. I’ll be in for dinner, and if I don’t hear the two of you, I’ll eat with the guys.”
Drew nodded. “Thanks, man. Wish me luck.”
“Luck,” Adam said, and laughed.
Drew stopped in the office doorway and was disappointed when he didn’t see Hailey. It was as he was turning to leave that he caught sight of her on the sofa, napping.
Drew crouched down beside her and took a minute to study her face. To some, she might just seem attractive, but to him, there wasn’t a more beautiful woman out there. He swept a lock of hair out of her face and then rubbed the back of one finger against her cheek.
“Hey, kitten?”
She hummed but didn’t stir.
“Sweetheart, wake up for me.”
Hailey stretched out her legs as she opened her eyes. Drew’s rugged face was the first thing she saw. “Hi,” she murmured sleepily.
He grinned. “Hi, yourself. Are you feeling okay? You’re not one to take naps very often.”
She cuddled back down into the sofa cushion with both hands under her cheek as she faced him. “I’m fine.”
“That’s good. That’s very good,” he said as his voice grew gruff.
****
Her eyes snapped open at the instant lust-filled charge in the room. He’d gone from caring and worried to desire in a nanosecond. Hailey was frozen as a thrilling, but sharp, sensation raced through her body. Unable to do anything but stare at him as his eyes darkened.
He pinched her chin between his fingers to get her full attention. “I’m going to kiss you.”
She unsteadily licked her lips nervously and nodded, although he hadn’t phrased it like a question.
Her breath stalled in her chest when he swept her off the sofa into his lap as he crouched on the floor.
One of his hands held her tight against his chest, and the other fisted her heavy hair in his tight grip.
She gasped for breath right before he dipped his head.
There wasn’t anything soft about their first solid kiss. Drew took her lips like a man starved for something he hadn’t had in ages. Like a drunk who hadn’t had a whiskey in months. Or a person’s first drink of water after being lost in the desert for days.
Hailey’s arms crept up around his neck and held tight as her own need bombarded her senses.
A deep groan vibrated against her chest, making her already sensitive nipples peak into agonizing little bundles.
Drew broke the kiss. “If this isn’t going to go any further, I need to stop now.”
Hailey’s eyes widened when she realized he’d stood sometime during the kiss, and now, she was a long way down if she fell. She tightened her arms.
Drew saw the apprehension on her face. “I’ve got you. I’d never let you fall.”
“No, I know you wouldn’t,” she said and slowly shook her head, keeping her eyes trained on his face. “Take me to bed, Drew.”
His legs ate up the distance between the office and the master bedroom. He lay her down on the bed, ripped his t-shirt off, and dropped it to the ground before attacking her clothes. Within a minute, she was naked and spread before him.
Drew took a shaky step back. “Jesus Christ. I want to dive right into you and eat you alive, but I’m terrified I’ll hurt you.”
Hailey levered herself up on her elbows. “You’re not going to hurt me.”
He wiped an agitated hand down his face. “You’ve got to promise you’ll tell me if you’re in any kind of pain.”
“I am right now,” she said with a smile. “At least I’m looking at one ... a pain in the ass.”
She screeched as he dove for her and giggled hysterically. “Stop, Drew. I hate being tickled. Stop!”
Drew grinned and levered himself up on his elbows on either side of her shoulders and pinned the lower half of her with one of his legs. His smile slipped from his face. “God, you are so beautiful.”
Hailey’s hands roamed over his chest, tracing the tattoos that covered a lot of his chest, arms, and upper back as far as she could reach. “I think you're pretty, too.”
“Darlin’, you don’t call a man pretty that looks like me. There’s nothing pretty about me.”
Hailey ran her hand down his cheek. “But to me, you are. I could look at you and Adam all day. I love the way you both walk and move. You’re harder and bigger, but you’ve got a grace about the way you move,” she said, and then blushed.
Drew smiled. “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever told me.” His lips pressed against hers before she could reply. His tongue immediately took possession of her mouth, touching and tasting. Only when they were out of breath did he raise his head.
“Drew, why aren’t you taking your pants off?”
He bent to nibble on her ear and then slid down to her neck.
“Oh, God,” she whimpered.
Drew chuckled.
“Adam told me your neck was really sensitive.”
Hailey’s nails sank into the muscles of his upper back. “Drew, your pants?”
“Baby, if I take off my pants, I won’t last,” he mumbled against her upper chest as he made his way down until he got to her breasts. He’d wanted to suck on these for years. “I have to warn you. I have scars on one of my legs.”
Concern pinched her brows together. “Do you hurt?”
“Not hurt. I ache sometimes. I’m afraid that if you see them, it will disgust you.”
Hailey cupped his face with her hands. “That would never happen.”
Drew slowly lowered his head and pressed his lips sweetly against hers. “You’re amazing.”
“Not really. I’m so proud of everything you've done for our country. And I’m very glad you came back alive.”
“Jesus, woman, what you do to me,” he growled, and bent his head to her breasts.
He smiled when she withered under him as he licked, sucked, and tormented her nipples.
“Please. I don’t care if you last. You can make up for it later.”
Drew bit back a curse word as he stood and peeled out of his jeans, boxers, and socks, before landing on her again. He made sure he wasn’t laying his weight on her. He attacked her nipples again as one of his hands slid down her torso to delve between the lips of her cunt.
They both groaned as he pressed one big, blunt-tipped finger into her.
Oh, God. His finger was large. She could feel herself stretching to accommodate just that.
He slid out and added one more, gently stretching her as he went.
She’d only gotten a glimpse of his cock, and although she felt some trepidation, she knew he was only a little bigger than her husband, and she fit him inside her just fine.
“Come on! Please, Drew.”
****
Drew studied her expression and saw the savage need he knew was reflected in his eyes before he mounted her, spreading her apart wide enough to take his hips. “Remember, if you feel any pain...”
“I know you’ll be gentle.”
Drew aligned his cock with her opening and slowly slid forward. An inch in, out, and then he added some more of his solid, heated length until she was withering under him, and he was gritting his teeth at the sensation of her squeezing him just short of pain. How could she not feel any discomfort?
When he looked at her, he saw nothing close to pain.
She lay mewing and begging under him, digging her heels into his backside and poking her nails into his shoulders.
Jesus, he’d never had to work so hard to control himself before in his life.
His body demanded he start driving into her as hard, as fast, and as deep as he could go.
He bent to her ear, keeping his thrusts slow and shallow as she pleaded with him for more.
“Hush, kitten, I’ll take care of you.” He nuzzled his cheek against hers. “Just relax for me.”
Hailey breathed in and out and calmed under him. She seemed to know she wasn’t going to get him to do what she wanted at that moment.
Drew’s mind and body splintered when he felt her fully submit, and it almost blew his control. He gritted his teeth so hard, he was surprised they didn’t break. “That’s right, sweetheart. Just relax.”
He pushed in slowly and deeply until he had his cock seated as far as he could go inside her.
His curses grew when she could no longer hold back and went wild again.
The feeling of her pussy becoming even tighter broke his control.
He thrust desperately into her. One of his hands gripped the back of her head, and the other snuck in between them.
He needed to get to her clit and send her over because he was a minute away from losing it.
He pressed down on the bundle of nerves as his thrusts grew faster. “Come now,” he demanded.
A deep groan came from Drew as he pounded once, and another time, before he stayed locked inside of her. His head collapsed on the pillow beside hers. He took a few steady breaths before he gently pulled out, rolled to the side, and pulled her into his arms.
After a long moment of recovery, he reached the end of the bed, and her skin started to cool.
She shivered and pulled the blanket up over them.
He needed to get his mind on something else.
The scent and feel of her were driving him out of his mind and demanding he take her again and again until the hunger he’d lived with for so long was appeased in the slightest way.
As of that moment, it had just grown. He was betting he’d be able to calm the beast after he’d had her a few hundred times.
He waited for several minutes for her to say something. “Are you still awake?”
Hailey nodded her head and hummed.
He rolled her towards him so he could see her face. Something inside of his chest pinched at the calm, blank look on her face. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.” She hated this awkwardness, but she was at a loss for what to do in a situation like this.
“Then why are you so quiet?” he asked.
Hailey shrugged. “I’m not sure what you want me to do.”
He smiled, leaned forward, and kissed her forehead.
“I want you to lie in my arms and kiss me a few times before you fall asleep.”
She smiled and felt herself relax back into the mattress. “I can do that.” Her gaze shot up to his. “Wi ... will you stay with me?”
He bent and placed a sweet kiss on her lips. “You couldn’t drag me away from you. Not ever again.”
She tucked herself close to his chest.
“You know this changes everything,” he murmured against the top of her head.
She tilted her head back. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“If you think I’m sleeping alone anymore, you’re crazy. For over four years, I’ve dreamed of being able to touch you whenever I wanted, falling asleep with you, and waking up the next morning with you.”
Hailey’s fingers combed through his hair that had lengthened since he’d been home. “I wouldn’t want you anywhere else than beside me every night.”
“That’s good.”
Hailey traced one of the tattoos on his chest. “What does this beautiful-looking triangle stand for?”
Drew rubbed the tattoo over his heart. With help from a tattoo artist, he’d designed a three-sided decorative object to represent his family. “The three of us.”
Hailey gasped and looked up at him in astonishment. “What did you say?”
“I wanted you guys close to my heart. During stressful times or when I was missing home, I’d rub my fingers over it, and it helped me feel better. I know it was all psychological, but I would have used whatever I could to get through and back to you guys.”
Hailey cupped his cheeks with her hands and gazed into his eyes. “I’m so glad you made it home. I can’t imagine my life without you.”
Drew pushed her hair from her face. “From the first moment I met you, I knew you were meant to be mine. Mine and Adam’s.”
Hailey pressed her head against his shoulder and wrapped an arm over his chest. “I think I always knew it, too, but fought it because I thought it was something that could never really happen.”
Drew clutched the hair on the back of her head and tilted her face up to his. He pressed his lips down hard on hers. “It happened, and it’s going to stay that way for the rest of your life. Think you’re going to be able to handle us both?”
Hailey grinned. “Oh, I think so. I’ve got ways to get what I want.”
Drew’s balls tightened at the wicked smile on her face. He and his brother would always have to be on their toes with this one, and he looked forward to every minute.