Off Base(47)

He supposed he should count it as a blessing that he was so wrapped up in her and how pretty she looked in her dress that he could barely concentrate on what else was happening. Even when the ceremony began, he found himself staring at her sitting there in her coral-colored dress with the heart-shaped bodice that showed just a hint of cleavage, but it was enough. Enough to make him want to haul her somewhere private where he could tug down the little cap sleeves and bare her for his hungry mouth.

Suddenly he noticed Beck was talking behind the podium, accepting the Silver Star. He listened to Beck’s words, listened as he dedicated the medal to Xander, and felt something loosen inside his chest. A small measure of peace maybe.

He also noticed the woman sidling up beside him. He glanced at her and then away before his gaze jerked back. It was Mary, Beck’s ex-girlfriend. He’d met her a few times before Beck deployed. Beck looked equally surprised to see her, pausing as he descended from the stage. Cullen’s gaze sought out Huntley. She looked shocked, as well, and decidedly not thrilled to see the girl who stomped all over her brother’s heart. In fact, she looked like a mama bear ready to tear Mary apart as she intercepted Beck. She rose from her chair and stormed in their direction.

Cullen grabbed her arm, stopping her as Beck and Mary slipped out through one of the auditorium’s exit doors.

She tugged on her arm. “The nerve of her coming all the way here after what she did—”

“Give them some privacy.”

She glared at him. “Let me go—”

“Are you going to go after them?”

Her mouth pursed mulishly.

He shook his head down at her. “Your brother is a grown man and can fight his own battles.”

“I know that, but Mary just isn’t some girl he dated. They’ve been together forever. She was my friend first. Did you know that? Since kindergarten. She betrayed us all when she betrayed him.”

Cullen held her stormy blue gaze for a moment before nodding and letting go of her arm.

She looked toward the door where they departed and then back at him. “Fine.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned against the wall beside him. “I’ll give them a couple of minutes and then nothing is stopping me from following and giving her a piece of my mind.”

A smile twitched his lips.

“What’s so funny?” she snapped.

“I’ve never seen you like this.”

“Like what?”

“Mad.” Before he could consider it, he added, “It’s kind of hot.”

Color flooded her face, and suddenly all the tense awkwardness of last night was between them again. They were in his bed and his hands were on her skin, sliding her thighs apart, sinking into her satin heat, wringing soft little cries from her lips. He inhaled and smelled that fruit shampoo of hers. His gaze slipped down and he got caught up in the way the coral dress made her skin look lush as peaches. Lust slicked through him and he dropped his hands to disguise his sudden hard-on.

She stared straight ahead, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “That’s enough time.” Turning, she made a beeline for the exit, the hem of her dress flirting around her knees.





Chapter Six




Huntley rounded the hallway and stopped hard. She didn’t see Mary anymore. No. There was only her brother lip-locked with a dark-haired girl in a white lace dress. Well, that would explain the absence of Mary. He wasn’t kidding when he said he was over his ex.

Not that it was hard to imagine him getting over Mary when he had this girl to help him along. She was vaguely familiar and Huntley thought she might have seen her around town. Maybe on base. She was beautiful. Edgy, even in white lace. Beck looked like he was going to pull her deep inside himself and never let go. Her hands crawled over Beck’s massive shoulders, and it was clear she was all for that plan.

This girl was the reason for that elusive expression on her brother’s face on the drive over. He was in love with her. She knew this about him just like she knew he loved banana and peanut butter sandwiches and spent the first eight years of his life with a Rambo poster on his wall.

Cullen came up beside her. She was assailed by his scent. That faint hint of soap and laundry sheets and man. And something else. That thing she had smelled in his bed with him. A pheromone that belonged to him alone. Whatever it was, it shot a bolt of lust straight through her.

God. It was like she was a victim of her body. For a brief moment she was on her back again, his hand between her thighs, the salty musk of his skin swirling all around her. She salivated as though she was hungry. Starving. Only not for food. For him. For what he could give her. Last night had been a sample. Sometimes it gets a little rough. She knew there was more. So much more to be had. His body was built for pleasure, and she knew he would have sex like he did everything else. With focus and intensity and power.

“I don’t think he’s going to need a ride home,” he murmured beside her.

“No,” she said evenly, glad her voice came out normally. “Looks like he’s got that covered.”

Whatever was going on with her brother and this girl, it wasn’t meaningless for him. Her chest hollowed out a little watching Beck make out with a girl whose name she didn’t even know.

With Cullen beside her, she shifted nervously. She tried not to think about them. About them yesterday.