Chapter 9

9

Three wonderful days later, Elena smiled at herself in the mirror as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail. It had been the most wonderful seventy-two hours of her life. She was even including the first time she got in a cockpit to fly. Spending time with JT alone had been amazing. She knew him so well, but Elena felt as if she had ripped another layer of complexity away and knew him even better. Granted, the sex had been mind-blowing, but there was more to it than that. Even in the short time she had with him, she had found out so much more about him.

She’d decided to go ahead and take the entire rest of the week off. After a call to her commander, she had gotten one more day added to her leave. She had so much leave and time was running out to use it. With an inspection this fall, she knew they would have a lot of work ahead of them. At least now, she wouldn’t just have the leave dissolve. And well, JT was definitely worth a little leave.

They were finally leaving the apartment; although, she would have been perfectly happy to stay there until Monday morning. JT said they needed sun and since was a beautiful day, she suggested the beach

She grabbed her cover up and tugged it over her head as she walked into her bedroom. Since she’d gotten home Monday night, they had spent every moment together. They hadn’t even left for food. They had just eaten what she had, then started to order out. And, they always seemed to find themselves in bed. Not just for sex. They ate in there too. And talked. They did so much talking. Not anything serious, just little things like regular couples did.

But she could almost feel JT’s need to set things right with her family. It irritated her on one level. She was a grown woman, and the United States Marine Corps trusted her with millions of dollars of hardware every day she went up in the air. So, the fact that he thought they needed to tell her family about her relationship didn’t make sense to her. On that level.

On another level, the one that encased her heart and drew her even closer to him, she admired it. He respected her and her family. It was the only reason he wanted to clear the air. Plus, it also spoke of his commitment to their relationship.

That word made her pause for a second. Relationship . She realized she was standing there grinning at herself in her dresser mirror, and she looked like a fool. But she didn’t care. She was in a relationship with Jethro Thomas, the man she had been in love with for most of her adult life.

So, she needed to be careful. They needed time to get to know each other better without the scrutiny of her family. If things went bad, she knew they would blame JT, and she didn’t want that. She knew they considered him family, and she couldn’t bear it if something ruined that.

She shook those worries away. She made sure she had her sunglasses in her bag, as she practically skipped out into the living room. It had been a long time since she’d been to the beach and even though there would still be a lot of tourists, she was okay with that.

JT smiled at her. “I thought you said you didn’t want to leave. You look pretty happy to me about it.”

“Truthfully, I am pretty happy about the beach. And although it will make me sound like a goofball, I’m just happy to be going with you.”

His eyes warmed and his smile widened as he walked toward her. “Is that so?”

He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. “Maybe we should forget going to the beach.”

He finished the sentence the moment before he brushed his mouth against hers. He didn’t close his eyes. By the time he pulled back, her body was humming with need and excitement, and she couldn’t remember why they thought it was a good idea going out.

“Let’s stay here,” she said, pulling him back to her mouth. She kissed him as if her life depended on it. By the time he pulled back, they were both breathing heavily.

He shook his head. “No. We’re going. We need some vitamin D, and maybe we should make sure this isn’t just about sex.”

She wanted to tell him it wasn’t. She knew without a doubt she loved him. But, guys freaked out about things like that.

“Plus, I’m not sure I can keep up with you. I am getting a little too old for this.”

She let one eyebrow rise as she slipped on her flip-flops. “Is that so? Do you mean you used to make love more than four or five times a day when you were younger?”

He chuckled. “What can I say? You make me feel young.”

She smiled. “Well, that’s good.”

She walked past him and he shook his head. “I should have known you were going to be trouble.”

“Just remember that when I irritate you.”

* * * *

JT had just settled on his towel as Elena pulled off her cover up. It had been hard to force himself out of that apartment, especially since she didn’t want to go, but now he was going to have to see her like this. Damn, the woman was practically naked.

Okay, it wasn’t any worse than most of the woman on the beach, but she was wearing a bright blue bikini that barely covered all the important parts.

She handed him some sunscreen lotion. “Do me.”

He studied her for a second. Her sunglasses hid her eyes, but her smile told him she was daring him to say something. The woman had a warped sense of humor. He could tell from her smile, she was daring him to say something. He said nothing and waited for her to sit down on her towel.

“It’s not as crowded as I thought it would be,” she said as he poured the lotion in his hand and rubbed it on her back.

“Middle of the week.”

“But it’s summer. I thought there would be more tourists.”

He said nothing to that. He couldn’t. It was hard touching her like this on a public beach and not being able to do more. Inwardly, he scoffed. He had said he was worried it was all about sex. He knew for himself, that wasn’t true.

JT wanted forever. The fact that he still wasn’t freaking out about that had him itching to call her father. But they hadn’t really dated, not for long, and she had been right. They needed time together before they had family intruding. There was one thing the Santini family was good at and that was intruding. Secondly, he needed to talk to Anthony. His friend needed to know up front that he had fallen in love with his sister.

“So, I guess we proved this isn’t about sex.”

He sighed and leaned forward so he could whisper in her ear. “It is taking all my control not to pull you down on the towel and ravish you.”

She laughed. “Sure.”

“Seriously.”

She turned and looked at him. The smile she wore did little to cool his need for her. In fact, that sassy grin made her even more attractive. He loved confident women, and Elena had confidence in spades.

“I believe you, but that doesn’t matter,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter?”

She shook her head. “Nope. My parents are still like that. And so embarrassing at times.”

“What do you mean?”

She sighed and settled on her towel. “At Dante and Madison’s wedding reception, my parents couldn’t keep their hands off each other. It was embarrassing that they were getting more comments than even the newlyweds. They danced the Tango, and there was little doubt that Dante wasn’t the only Santini getting lucky that night.”

“I think it’s nice.” And it was. The fact that her parents had been married for so long and still adored each other was comforting. He’d wanted that all his life. Some kind of woman who could stand up to him as much as she attracted him.

Until now, he just never thought it would be Elena. But he knew without a doubt, he would be just like her father—like all the Santini men for that matter.

“Well, it would be okay if they weren’t my parents. Jesus, they have six kids. You would think by now they would know how to behave.”

“They did have six children. There’s a reason.”

She made a face. “I don’t want to think about it.”

JT smiled and settled back on his towel. With a sigh, he enjoyed the feel of the sun on his skin, and the fact that he was spending time with the woman beside him.

Life couldn’t get better than this.

* * * *

By the time they got home that afternoon, Elena was more than happy to just pick up a pizza and then eat it in bed. JT had different ideas. He made her go shopping with him. Apparently, big, bad NCIS agent liked to have fresh fruit, and he decided to make her dinner.

After both of them showered, she watched him make her dinner. It was a novel thing. Not that a man was cooking, but that a man was cooking for her. Other than family, she didn’t know any man who had offered to do that for her.

“Now, where did you learn to cook?” she asked as she took a long sip of her wine.

He smiled but didn’t look up. “Your brother taught me this particular recipe.”

He spread the pizza sauce on top of the naan bread, then grabbed the bag of cheese. He sprinkled a generous amount on both of the pizzas and looked at her.

“You wanted mushrooms, onions, and pepperoni?”

She nodded. He had even sautéed the mushrooms just the way she liked them. Lifting her foot up on the chair, she settled back.

“You know, a girl could get used to this. It would be much more interesting if you would have just worn the apron and nothing else like I suggested.”

He opened the oven and put the pizzas in. After he shut the door, he smiled at her. “We would have never eaten. And while the apron does protect me a bit, I’m not too keen on having my important bits around a hot stove.”

She laughed, enjoying him and stood up. She gave him a long, hot, wet kiss.

“Let’s just go to bed,” she said.

He groaned. “No. We need to sit here and eat.”

She pouted.

“Okay, we’ll take it to bed and eat it there.”

“Aww, look there, a compromise.”

She gave him another fast kiss, then grabbed a couple of plates down from the cupboard. Now, she just had to get them through dinner as fast as possible, so she could get her hands on the man again.

* * * *

Terror clogged his throat, as he stood there in the kitchen where he’d had more than one dinner.

“You bastard.”

It was his father’s favorite name for him. JT used to take it, but now, he was eighteen and he refused. He was leaving, and he wasn’t ever coming back.

“You think I am going to let you walk out that door?”

“I’m eighteen now. I can do whatever the hell I want.”

“The fuck you can,” his father said, coming at him with the two by four he’d been holding when he walked into the kitchen. His father raised it up and swung it towards his head.

Elena woke up the moment she heard JT yell out. She sat up, her heartbeat a tattoo against her chest as she tried to figure out what the hell was going on and where she was. Drawing in huge gulps of air, she felt someone thrashing against her.

JT.

She looked down at him. His face was twisted in pain, his head back as if someone was hurting him. He was murmuring something she couldn’t understand, but she knew it was something that was scaring the living hell out of him.

“JT, wake up.”

He shook his head, too lost to the pain that was going on his head. She shook him and he lashed out. He barely missed punching her jaw. She stumbled back just out of reach. He blinked and sat up.

“What?” he asked, his gaze still unfocused. He looked like he had one foot in reality and one foot back in the dream.

“You were having a bad dream.”

He shook his head as if trying to clear it. He looked up at her. Even in the dark light, she saw his face pale.

“I almost hit you.”

She heard the tone, the self-loathing. His father was on his mind again. Something about this mission had brought it up for him.

“You were having a nightmare, and I should have known better. Dante would have them sometimes and lash out if anyone tried to wake him up.”

“I’m sorry.”

She scooted closer and cupped his face. “You were having a bad dream. When I woke you up, you struck out. A lot of people do it. Do you remember what you were dreaming about?”

He nodded, but she knew he didn’t want to talk about it.

“I take it you would rather not talk.”

“It was the last time I saw my father.”

When his father had beaten him for standing up to him. He’d ended up in the hospital.

“Oh, Jethro.”

“Don’t pity me.”

She shook her head. “Never. I would never pity a man who came from that situation and made a life for himself. I admire you and I hurt for you, but I don’t pity you.”

She didn’t know what else to say. So she did the one thing she knew he needed. Leaning forward, she kissed him lightly, then deepened it. He hesitated at first, then groaned. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her on top of him. He rolled them over so that their positions were reversed.

Without hesitation, she gave herself to him. Their lovemaking was fevered and fast…and perfect. He needed this from her, and she needed to give it to him. Moments later, as they both crested over the edge into pleasure, she felt as if she had been stripped bare.