MidnightInk-epub Read online

  There’d be time to discuss their problems later. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t want to experience their chemistry again, even if that’s all she got out of this not-so-chance meeting with the guy of her dreams.

  Burke swallowed hard as if waiting for her to invite him up.

  Chavon held out her hand, her eyes slitting as she noticed his uneven gait. He put one foot on the first riser then levered himself up before starting again on the next step with the same boot. So unlike the younger version of himself, who’d have hauled her over his shoulder and taken the stairs three at a time.

  He was hurt. Her stomach clenched.

  Before she could ask him about it, Sassy barked in her best no-nonsense tone, “Private Levine, report for booty!”

  “She’s been fucking dying to say that.” Shep rubbed his forehead.

  Burke unleashed his belly laugh, the one that had bubbled joy through Chavon’s insides the first time she’d heard it as they snuggled on her couch watching a dumb old movie together and every time after. When he could be serious for more than a moment, he saluted their matchmaker and said, “Yes, ma’am. Though technically, I’m a retired sergeant.”

  Chavon remembered him talking about his goals to rise in rank. It impressed her that he’d done it so fast. Still, she wondered at what cost. How long had it been since he’d cracked up like that? Maybe not since they’d done it together last. Some of his youthful innocence seemed to have vanished, replaced with a grim determination and a substantial limp she didn’t dare—for the sake of his pride—highlight in front of the rest of the partygoers, who clapped and whistled for them, riveted to their inadvertent show.

  “Wait. Did you say retired?” Logic caught up with her hormones.

  Then she didn’t have a brain cell free to wonder about anything but Burke, who obliterated her curiosity by charging toward her and rushing her up the rest of the flight with urgent gestures and raw power, if less grace than he’d been capable of before.

  Chavon wrenched open the door and flung herself inside the storage area turned romantic haven that awaited them. Candles in mason jars dangled from the exposed beams of the attic on the end of natural fiber ropes of various lengths. They looked like glass fireflies as they illuminated the spot carved out between document boxes and old furniture. A rickety table had been covered with a sample of lace she recognized as surplus from the boutique.

  Did that mean Nicolette had been in on this too? The woman had listened to Chavon cry into her wine over her lost soldier more than once. She’d have to kick both Sassy and Nicolette’s asses, then squeeze them to pieces. Later.

  Behind the innocuous meeting space, a mattress nestled in the corner. It was decked out in bedding she’d often eyed for herself from the boutique’s stock. The layered sheer cream fabric fell in elegant rumples that occasionally bunched, giving the impression of a rose. Silk petals dotted the interior of the duvet. The set evoked the vision of white flowers in a rural French field in her imagination. A place where petals fell as heavy as snow in a blizzard until they made the softest bed for an afternoon—or midnight—rendezvous.

  Luxurious, yet somehow informal.

  “Wow.” She gulped when she glanced behind her at Burke. Except he didn’t seem to see anything but her.

  “Yeah,” he murmured. “You’re even more beautiful than last time I saw you. And I want you more. Would it be the dumbest idea ever to roll with what works between us?”

  Chavon felt something stir and stretch within her as if waking from a long slumber at the idea of having him. Here. Now. Like this.

  She decided she had nothing to lose by being honest. No more games. This worked out or it didn’t. In any case, she would seize the moment.

  “Look, I’ve obviously slept with other guys since you left me,” she admitted.

  “Ouch.” He rubbed his chest. “I’m not surprised or anything. Any man would kill to have you. I just… It drives me crazy at night, thinking about it.”

  “Serves you right. But don’t worry. None of them made me feel like you did.” Chavon figured there was no point in hedging. This was either the real thing or her pride would be shredded regardless of the confessions she whispered in their artificial twilight. “Prove that I wasn’t crazy back then. Remind me what it was like. Show me my memories are true.”

  “I’ll do my best.” Burke blew out the candles on the table and nearest the bed, leaving only the ones at the entrance to cast faint shadows over their nest. He dragged her toward the mattress, undressing as he went. At least he got rid of his shirt. “It might not be quite as good as before. I’ve got some…issues.”

  “Show me.” She patted his chest, impressed at how he’d filled out even from the trim strength she remembered. He’d honed himself into a specimen of masculinity that would have awed her even if she hadn’t already craved his body and his heart. “We’ll work through them.”

  “Not yet.” He kissed her when she would have argued, and her insistence melted. “I want to be the man you remember. As much as I can be. Just this once.”

  “I’d rather you be the new and improved version of the guy who deserted me.” She tried not to wince.

  “Shit.” He groaned. “I’m sorry, Chavon. If you want me to say I was wrong… I don’t know if I can. I’m not trying to trick you or something. I know what you want to hear, but after what I saw…what I did… I’m glad you didn’t know anything about it. Don’t take me with some kind of blindfold on. I’m not the person you l—”

  “Yeah, say it.” She snarled at his pause. “Loved. I loved you.”

  Oh, hell. She still did. Or could, if he didn’t fuck this to hell and back.

  “Do you think I didn’t worry just because you’d left me in the dark?” Chavon didn’t mean to shove him. She’d never been a violent person. Still, she slapped her palms on his chest, enjoying the resounding crack. He tripped, maybe on the end of the makeshift bed, when she caught him flat-footed. He toppled onto the soft surface with a grunt.

  “I’m sorry. I do mean that.” He held his hands up, palms out in surrender.

  At least she thought they were from what she could discern. Lamplight from the street filtered through the single hazed window in the attic space.

  “That’s not good enough.” Chavon pounced on his supine form. He grunted when she sat on his waist and cupped his precious, clean-shaven face in her hands. “Make it up to me. Do this right. Show me that I wasn’t the only one lonely. Give me everything and promise never to steal it away again.”

  She gripped his shoulders and shook, not caring about the sudden aggression she unleashed on him. When he buried his fingers in her hair and yanked her to him, she went gladly, appreciating the outlet he provided for her tangle of emotions.

  Chapter Six

  Everything from fear to anger to urgency to lust frothed inside Chavon.

  She expressed the mélange through her hungry mouth on Burke’s. If he minded her nipping his lip or sucking on his abused tongue, he didn’t raise a single objection. Instead, he returned her fervor with interest, sliding his hands down her torso to her hips, where he insinuated them beneath her blouse. He whipped the fabric over her head, breaking their kiss only long enough to clear the obstruction and begin working on the catch of her bra.

  He had her breasts free in no time. She shrugged out of the lace and let it drop forgotten while she rubbed herself on his bare chest, moaning when the light dusting of hair there teased her nipples. They beaded, hugging the bars through them, which he’d always loved tugging on with his teeth.

  Burke knew her body better almost than she did. Either that or he instinctually responded to her developing needs. He wormed his hand between them to cup her heavy breasts. Flicking the peaks with his thumb, he teased her before pinching them less lightly than she recalled. He drew on them, making her spine arch and her pussy grind over the burgeoning hard-on she felt nestled between her thighs.

  A whimper flew from her throat when he nippe
d at the column then licked the dip in her collarbone. She shuddered in his hold, swearing he could make her come simply from extended petting, not that she intended to find out for sure.

  Chavon rose up enough to swipe her panties off, leaving her skirt in place. It didn’t impede them so she didn’t waste time removing it. Then she attacked Burke’s American flag belt buckle and the button fly of his jeans. Maybe later he’d take her over his knee and spank her with the supple leather as he had before, making them both forget about the emotional suffering they’d endured by replacing it with a sweeter kind of torture.

  He tipped her to the side so she tumbled onto the plush mattress Sassy had arranged for them. Squinting through the dim light, she watched him easing off his pants. The careful hitch he made of his hips before walking the denim down his thighs clued her in to his efforts. Was that where he’d been injured? What had happened to him? Had she almost lost him forever and not even been aware?

  “Want some help?” She offered as she reached for him, morphing her anger into compassion as best she could.

  “No, I don’t need assistance getting fucking naked,” he growled. Then he took a deep breath and another before mumbling, “I’m an asshole. Sorry. Again. This is hard.”

  “Stop being sorry and start making us forget.” She reached down and worked his jeans free of his feet, worried about the hiss he probably didn’t realize he released. On their sides, facing each other, they drew together and smothered each other in kisses, hugs, and far less innocent gyrations of their pelvises.

  “Damn, you are really hard.” She murmured between lip locks.

  “Tell me about it.” He groaned.

  She laughed. “I meant all over. You’re stronger. More built. But yeah, there too. Gonna do something about that?”

  “Eventually.” He rubbed against her again then pressed her to her back. Before she could insist that he fast forward, he painted her skin with his fingers and tongue, worming his way toward her pussy.

  Suddenly, she lost the will to hustle him. He’d excelled at blowing her mind with his oral proficiency, plus his complete gusto for eating her out. Who was she to deny them both the pleasure of one of his favorite pastimes?

  Chavon submitted to his desire, spreading her thighs around him, giving him plenty of room to work.

  “That’s right, baby.” He lapped the moisture from her inner thighs then nuzzled the delta above them, inhaling deeply and shuddering. “We were always so good at this.”

  “The best,” she whispered. Her palm slapped the cover when he laid his lips on her steaming core and sucked, gently at first.

  His tongue explored every dip and fold of her as if rediscovering the territory. Spiking her lust higher, he pressed a tender kiss to her clit before swirling his tongue around the engorged nub. Even that couldn’t distract her entirely from the press of his fingers at her core. He fed her two of the long digits, insinuating them so deep the knuckles of his other curled fingers nudged her ass.

  Chavon’s pussy hugged him. She wrapped her legs around his back, locking her ankles so that she held him there too. Her fingers massaged his scalp. Despite his status with the military, he’d maintained his close-cropped hair. She’d always loved the way the short strands felt, bristling against the sensitive pads of her thumbs.

  He encouraged her with increased pressure and the initial glides of his hand between her legs, supported by ancillary action from his mouth. He licked, nipped, sucked, and blew warm breaths across her enflamed flesh.

  Soon she couldn’t still the reflexive arcing of her hips, which allowed her to ride his face, maximizing the impact of his talented ministrations.

  But it was the glint of his eyes, staring up at her in the dusk as if the rapture painted in her every expression turned him on most, that pushed her over the edge. She’d swear he smiled against her pussy when she tipped into climax, dragging her nails over his shoulders as if she could weld them tighter than they already were.

  Crushing his fingers, she came in strong pulses that cut her screams of ecstasy short as they stole her breath. On and on, she clamped around his embedded digits as he delighted every bit of her he could reach with his tongue, lapping up the silky arousal he’d drawn from her effortlessly.

  Blissed out, her mind barely functioned enough to urge her to taste him too. When she tried to rearrange their sweaty limbs, he protested, keeping her hands from cupping the backs of his thighs or aligning her mouth with the head of his cock, which dripped musky fluid she couldn’t wait to consume.

  “No. I won’t last.” He tried again to dissuade her, but she refused to budge from her course. His quads quivered beneath her seeking fingers. “I need to be inside you.”

  Finally, she had all the power.

  “Not yet.” She rose over him, pleased with herself when he relented. “You can hold off. Let me taste you. A little at least.”

  “Seriously, Chavon.” His head flopped on the pillow. “You’re asking a lot. You have no idea how long it’s been. I have to have you. Fuck you.”

  “So start thinking about calculus or I’ll resort to tickling you. Either way...” She grinned as she recalled how much he hated having his sides teased. It would always make him jerk and laugh. He was so sexy when he did. She licked her lips. “I want to play. It gets me hot to suck you, Burke. You remember that, right? Get me ready again so I can enjoy our ride. You’ll do that for me, won’t you?”

  “Damn. Anything.” He entwined their fingers and squeezed.

  She felt a teensy bit bad about manipulating him, but not awful enough to stop before taking what she truly craved. Command. Of him. The way he’d always captivated her.

  His cock stretched her lips into a wide O. The hinges of her jaw creaked, and she tried to relax so he fit comfortably. For them both.

  While she adjusted, she rubbed the underside of his shaft with her flat, relaxed tongue. The tiny jumps of his cock at each contact made her hum around him. That only increased his girth and made taking it slow more imperative.

  So she snuck her hand between his legs, cupping his balls and rolling them lightly in her hand as a counterpoint to the suckling she couldn’t help herself from starting. His hips rocked upward before he groaned, this time not entirely in pleasure, she thought.

  When he softened a tiny bit in her mouth, she redoubled her efforts, stroking his flank with her free hand. The rough skin that met her soothing caress would have had her investigating, but he chose then to put his hands on her face and guide her deeper instead of letting the discovery derail her.

  Add it to the list for later.

  Determined to chase the pain from their lives for a few minutes at least, she showered her affection on his re-stiffening erection. Sucking, gliding her lips from root to tip, swirling her tongue and hollowing her cheeks, she almost got carried away.

  When he lifted her chin and refused to let her descend again, she knew she’d pushed him as far as possible. The heat spreading between her legs and in her belly would have called her a liar if she’d tried to pretend she didn’t need to be fucked as badly as he wanted to oblige her.

  “Are you still on birth control?” His wince was practically audible. She could see hints of it in the shadows of their hideaway. Because he didn’t like thinking of her prepared to have sex with someone else? Too bad.

  “Yes.” She reached between them and stroked his cock, aiming toward her soaking pussy. She’d never needed to be filled as badly as right then. “Are you still clean?”

  “You have no idea.” He sighed when the tip of his engorged shaft nudged her swollen folds. He rode the furrow of her slit a few times before she angled her hips, and he poked the barest bit inside her.

  Home. Where he belonged.

  They both cried out.

  Chavon lost her balance when the deep resounding pleasure echoed off every surface of her insides. Burke guided her to the mattress so that they faced each other. She was surprised when he didn’t cover her, mounting her and ridin
g her as he claimed to need. In the past, he’d already be buried balls-deep in her and grinding away. Was it a concession to her that he played less hard than she remembered?

  Why did she almost like this sensitivity better? Shit.

  Unwilling to be any more vulnerable than she already was, she reached around his hip and dug her nails into his ass. Tugging him closer and forcing him deeper, she roared. “Give me everything. You don’t get to choose what I can take or not. Got that?”

  “Loud and clear, baby.” He grunted as he tunneled through her slick yet tight channel. Clenching around him fiercely, she made him work for entrance. The beads of sweat she tasted on his upper lip satisfied her. “But I might not be able to… I’ll make it good like this. Promise.”

  When her hand began to wander, he gripped it and planted it on his hip. Something beneath her fingertips felt uneven and a little odd, but she couldn’t process the input when the nerve endings in her core lit up like an entire parade full of Mardi Gras floats.

  Part of her wished he’d blanket her and drive her into the mattress with powerful lunges. Then again, she realized he probably made concessions for her fresh tattoo by keeping the weight off the open wound. Damn him for always being so considerate and protective.

  She didn’t need to be treated like one of the fragile vases she’d picked up from an estate sale last week. Still, his chivalry impressed her as always.

  And before she could think to chastise him, he’d swapped raw power for finesse, gliding into her clinging sheath then out to her entrance with ripples of his abdomen more than plunges of his legs. The blunt cap of his cock locked against the ring of muscles at the cusp of her body, which prevented him from leaving her.

  Never again.

  Not when it felt so right to be here, wrapped in his arms, filled with him. He whispered pleas into her hair that she couldn’t quite understand. Maybe they were thanks to the universe for granting them a second chance. Either way, his cries turned as urgent as hers when they rubbed sinuously against each other, weaving themselves into one knotted being, questing together for release.