Chapter 5

Five

" I 've wanted you since I turned seventeen and you marched through the front door in your dress blues. Your eyes were shadowed under your hat, but I didn't need to see them to know something happened between us when we first touched. Like Greek fire meeting water. An inferno that can't be stopped."

He dipped his head as she talked, but her words hit a loud gasp when the heat of his tongue touched the slick wetness of her center.

She arched and panted when he did it again.

"Fuck, the sweetness, baby." She could hear the strain in his voice. The control it took for him to not ravish her quickly and instead take his time devouring her from head to toe. She knew because she was right there with him.

"I've wanted your taste on my tongue longer than I can remember."

"What made you so sure?"

There went that Marine Corps cockiness again. He wouldn't be Nathan without it.

"Your stance. You stood in front of me as my brother introduced us just like you are now. Well, not like now, with my wet pussy in your face."

"And want a sight."

Even now her heart raced at the memory.

Holy hell he looked hot that day.

She quivered and shuddered as he pinned her legs higher and dipped his tongue lower until his tongue stroked over her ass. He nibbled on each cheek before laving a slow burn from hole to hole and not stopping until he wrapped his warm lips around her clit.

She cried out, digging her heels into his bare back, her nails into the flesh of his hard shoulders.

She panted her next words. "You stood…all…all…attention on me. Your gaze locked on mine, seeing all the way through to me it seemed. Like you knew I would belong to you." She eased her hand over his heart before adding, "As if seeing your soulmate for the first time." His silence said everything she wanted to hear. Kind of funny how at that moment the man's strong suit for being silent gave his emotions away.

"I might not have understood all the whys behind what made me crazy for you, but there's no denying everything about you called to me. Still does," she added with a sigh as he slipped a finger into her drenched opening. All the hurt and fear of rejection now replaced with acceptance. She loved him, too. No amount of time or distance would change the fact.

This close, he couldn't hide behind the wall he kept around his emotions. His pupils dilated, and the tic in his jaw kicked up a notch from the normal rhythm he kept when something bothered him.

Amazed she managed to crack his hard exterior to expose the softer inside, Willa pushed her luck further. "You felt it then, too, didn't you, Nathan? We connected that day in a way neither of us expected. And my brother stepped in, as always."

"Your brother meant well. Don't blame the man for caring for his only sister." He pinned her in place with a hand to her stomach, his shoulders pushing her legs wider.

He dragged his tongue over her, kissed and sucked her pouty pussy lips until all thought nearly left her.

She thrashed her head from side to side to clear the lust-filled haze that swarmed her thoughts. "You have to listen, Nathan. You need to know why. You stepped in and made sure I was safe in a world where I would have been completely alone. You made sure I had a place here with your father's company. And don't think I don't know about your phone calls with him every week or so. You looked after me. Now it's time to listen to your heart and do what will make you happy. I want you. I want that family you talked about and I want you to fuck me. Hard. Right now."

There. She said what she had to say.

Her heart pounded.

She'd given up on controlling her stomach a long time ago.

Words. Gah, what was she saying?

She clutched a handful of his hair and gasped as he nibbled the soft lips of her pussy. She had more but the rest could wait. Before she gave herself over to him, he had to know how much he meant to her.

Had to know he was her world.

And always would be.

He stood and leaned over her, pinning her to the table, his expression intense. "I've gone to war. Survived bombings and buried loved ones, but what you just said has left me gutted and has filled me with hope. You're what makes me live." He gathered her in his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. Her attention honed in on him until the world no longer existed.

"Marry me, Willa."

She froze, unable to look away from the intense power of his gaze.

Her emotions waged a war between her head and her heart.

"Do you remember what I said to you the day we first met?" His words played in the hair against her neck while he settled his hand on her stomach. Chills tickled down the length of her spine in anticipation of the pleasure his tone promised.

She nodded once and wrapped her arms around his neck, her hard nipples pressed against his chest. "That when you close your eyes at night all you'll see are my emerald eyes looking at you." Her voice cracked on the last note.

In even, slow strokes he ran the tips of his fingers up and down her spine, soothing her.

His touch was light, but the fire from the simple contact infused her skin and set her libido ablaze. Her heart softened a fraction more for the man and the power his touch held over her.

As she spoke, he pressed his forehead against hers. "And I meant it, baby. I'll never forget the way you look at me. The way you have touched my soul. The way your sweet mouth fits around my cock so perfectly as if made for me alone. We might come at this from different angles, but there's no denying what we feel for each other. Not any longer."

"Seems love should be easier than this, don't you think?"

Nathan purred in her ear. "Nothing this good ever comes, baby. I let your brother down once. Before tonight, I saw the promise I made as my penance. Something I had to live with for the rest of my life."

His lips found her neck and he sucked on her pulse point, jacking her need to feel him in other places of her body tenfold. Hands cupping her ass cheeks, he pulled her tighter against his hard body and his quickly hardening cock between her thighs. "All that changed today when I thought I'd lose you forever. There's been too much loss around here and this…" he squeezed her just a little harder, "… is all about you and me now."

She liked that.

A lot.