A SEAL's Courage (Military Match #1)(32)

Lauren let out a nervous laugh and dropped her gaze, smoothing a hand over his chest. “I’m sorry. That was really out there. I got caught up in the moment. Steph told me once men like it when you talk dirty.”

Great. Here he was, too caught up in his own damn thoughts. Pull your shit together, man.

He smoothed his hands up her back, gathering her closer. “I’m sorry about my reaction. You just surprised me. I’ve never heard you talk like that before.”

Her mouth now inches from his, Lauren traced a fingertip along his bottom lip. “Is that good or bad?”

He skimmed his hands up her thighs and over the curves of her ass, tugging her the tiniest bit closer, so that she could feel for herself what her words had done to him.

“It’s good. Steph’s right. It’s a huge turn-on, especially coming from you.” She shivered, her eyes falling closed, and he bent his head, trailing his lips along the cord of muscle where her neck met her shoulder. “Tell me something. Is that what you want? To fuck?”

A soft, serrated breath left her, and her fingers curled, nails scraping his skin as she fisted his shirt in her hands. “I honestly don’t know. You said you wanted to go slow. I liked the idea, but…”

The hesitation in her voice stopped him. He lifted his head and stroked his thumb along her cheek. “But what? Be honest with me.”

Her eyes opened, heavy-lidded, full of a desire that still filled with him awe to see. “But I’m really out of my element with all of this. I don’t know where to start or where to touch you.”

He was every bit as lost as she was when what she really needed was someone to take charge. Firm in the thought, he pulled up the Navy SEAL. The side of him that knew what to do and wasn’t afraid to take charge. Then he slid his hands up her stomach, skimming the undersides of her breasts.

“For what it’s worth, I thought we’d start with kissing and then take it from there. Keep the clothing on. For now at least.” He arched a brow, aiming for playful. “That okay with you?”

She blinked at him. “A first step.”

“Exactly. As for where to touch me, that’s completely up to you. You told me recently you think about me when you’re alone at night. What do you imagine?”

Lauren rolled her eyes, the flush in her cheeks deepening. “I told you that because I was angry with you.”

He couldn’t help his grin. She hadn’t a damn clue telling him that was a fantasy he’d pondered a lot over the last nine months.

“I like the thought of you touching yourself while thinking of me. I think about you, too.” He leaned in, catching her bottom lip between his teeth. “Now answer the question.”

She drew a shaky breath, her gaze flicking to his, hot as hell itself. “Think about me how?”

He swallowed a groan. He was going to come in his jeans before this night was over. That question right there, along with the hooded desire in those gorgeous eyes, only served to add fuel to the flame raging through his blood.

“This. All of it. Your warm, soft skin against mine. The taste of your breath. What part of your body’s the most sensitive.” He skimmed his hands up her thighs again, letting his thumbs graze her heat. “I often find myself with my cock in my hand, wondering what sounds you make when you come.”

A full-body shudder moved through her, a quiet, shaky breath leaving her. “God, that’s so damn sexy.”

His fingers flexed against her thighs with the frustration winding through him, with the effort it took not to touch. He drew a breath and forced his fingers to relax. “Answer the question, doll. How?”

This time she held his gaze, bold as brass. “I think about you at night, when I’m lying in bed and I can’t sleep. Thought about you just last week, actually. And my hands wandered into my panties.” She glanced down, fingers skimming the hairs on his arms. “I like to imagine your hands. I don’t have any reference for sex, or what it should feel like, but you have fantastic hands. I like to imagine that it’s your fingers touching me instead of my own.”

A deep groan finally made its way out. He dropped his head back against the sofa, unable to resist sliding his hands to her ass and tugging her the slightest bit closer. Until he was sure he could feel the moist heat of her against him. “You’re killing me here, you know.”

Her hands stopped moving then, coming to rest over his pecs and burning his skin through his shirt. Those eyes filled with mischief, one corner of her mouth quirking upward as she leaned into him, pressing her breasts into his chest. Her nipples were hard as diamonds, and her warm breaths whispered over his mouth. “You did ask.”

He rolled his eyes and parroted her earlier words. “So I did. Now shut up and kiss me.”

He meant the words as a tease, but her soft smile faded. She studied him for a moment, gaze working his face. That sweet, fiery tension filled the air around them, until he was dragging in labored breaths, his heart hammering an erratic beat.

She leaned in, brushing a timid kiss across his mouth. He let his hands wander up her back, smoothing slowly over her as he luxuriated in the simple ability to touch her, to feel her body. He was content to let her take her time and kissed her back the same way, a tangle of lips, a flick of his tongue.

Whatever nervousness they’d begun with slowly evaporated. She let out a soft moan and tilted her head, her soft lips slanting over his. Her mouth opened, and damned if he could resist flicking his tongue out to taste her. When she reached back, a needy groan ripped out of him. He gripped her head in his hands and pulled her to him. Shaking now with an unquenchable thirst, he spent long minutes drinking her in, drowning in the hot, heady wetness of her mouth.