| Major Blayne Forbes felt like hell. He also had an attitude to match.
As he drove his small blue Ford Focus onto Fort Carson, an army post near Colorado
Springs, his head throbbed and his eyes burned with the need for sleep. He had
arrived back from his deployment after more than four months sweating, fighting,
and almost dying with his fellow soldiers in the desert. Instead of chilling at
his apartment with a cold beer, he’d felt wired and compelled to visit the
one person who could put things into perspective. Jumping into the car and heading
to the military post would cure what ailed him.
He hoped.
After countless hours in a military transport aircraft with less than first
class jump seats and then another flight in cramped coach quarters, his patience
had worn thin. Rigors of deployment didn’t bother him. Except for this last
time. The battle had been hell, the situation gruesome, and the pain extraordinary.
Most of all, the reason why he’d been sent back to Fort Carson instead
of fighting with his men irked him no end.
His hands gripped the steering wheel too tight, and his stomach lurched with
sudden nausea. Get a grip, Forbes. This isn’t the way a Forbes reacts
to adversity. Punch through it. What would Dad think if he could see you now?
Dad wouldn’t think any less of him. His father had never given him anything
but respect and support, even when he’d made some decisions in his life
that hadn’t rubbed Dad quite the right way. Like joining Special Forces.
An ache rolled through Blayne’s healing body. Maybe Dad had been right
all along. Perhaps Special Forces had done more than given him pride and purpose—it
had drained his soul and his energy until he had nothing left to offer. Blayne
didn’t quite believe Dad in that respect. After all, Dad had met and married
Mom. And he knew for a fact his warm, caring mother wouldn’t have married
a man who had nothing to give. He always admired his parent’s marriage,
even if he didn’t think he’d ever find the right woman for him.
Damn, a cold beer, a warm bed, and a hot woman might help what ails me.
Right now none of these things was an option. Beer would probably make the
lingering effects of his illness worse, and he needed to vent more than take a
woman to bed.
Talking to his buddy Graham Teagan would put his head on straight and his sight
on the goal. He could pretend he needed a few things at the exchange and the commissary,
and in reality he did. The refrigerator was empty. Plus, he needed shaving cream.
He pulled into the parking area near the building where Graham worked and got
out of his car. Winter intruded on the area this October, and although the day
sparkled with brilliant sun, a thick line of snow clouds already drifted over
Pikes Peak and threatened a significant snowstorm later in the day.
He stepped out of the car and cold frosted his breath. As he headed toward
the renovated offices, his head throbbed harder. He’d pick up a bottle of
aspirin, too. Just before he reached the entrance the door swung open and out
walked Graham’s sister, Jemma Teagan. He couldn’t repress a grin.
Every time he saw her, his gonads did a full stop and double take.
Scratch that.
This time he did more than a double take—his cock stood at full attention.
Didn’t matter he felt crappy, the heat poured straight into his loins and
demanded attention. Seeing her sweet face, sparkling eyes, and heart-stopping
smile did crazy things to him that would cure any illness on the spot. He swallowed
and reined the animal reaction into submission with difficulty. It wasn’t
like he could march right up to her and say, Let me fuck you until I get it
out of my system. In fact, he wouldn’t think of saying anything remotely
like this to Jemma.
Not if he wanted to live.
Graham would kill him if he knew erotic thoughts about Jemma bounced through
Blayne’s head every time she came within viewing distance. Blayne had wrestled
with his attraction to her more than once, and he could bludgeon his physical
interest into acquiescence if he tried.
Pfft. Right, asshole.
Who was he kidding? He wanted her under him, on top of him, any way he could
get her as long as he could part her thighs and slide deep inside her wet, tight
heat. At the same time, he knew he couldn’t screw her without becoming a
little too interested in more than her body. She was his best friend’s little
sister and a damn fine woman.
That was half the problem. The last thing in the world he would do is hurt
her. Plus, Graham was extremely protective of his baby sister, almost too protective
as far as Blayne could tell. Blayne couldn’t afford to become involved with
a woman who let her family dictate her social life.
So he shoved aside thoughts of making it with her, regardless of how much his
body craved her.
Think of the battlefield. That should do the trick.
When she turned and caught his gaze, her brilliant grin wiped thoughts of death
and destruction straight out of his head and launched him into full-on, raw sexual
need. Battle often left a residue, a powerful need to connect, that he sometimes
satiated with a willing woman. He’d never given into sexual need with Jemma,
but right now it sounded damn good. She looked so fuckin’ cute.
Sun caught the red highlights in her straight, waist-length light auburn hair.
She stood in the doorway dressed for winter with a black beret hat and long black
wool coat. He wanted to call out a greeting. Instead he felt a wave of dizziness.
Hell, this isn’t good at all.
Jemma saw the big man walking toward her with confident strides. Her heart
leapt in surprise and happiness, then thundered with excitement.
She couldn’t restrain how her breath quickened and her body hummed whenever
she saw him. It didn’t matter that months of separation parted them, or
that he traveled the world keeping freedom, hope, and democracy intact. No, she
responded to him with unadulterated pleasure and a full-on lust she couldn’t
control.
Then reality intruded. What was Blayne doing home? She almost called out to
him in greeting, until she saw his slight limp and the tired expression on his
face. Pale, with five o’clock shadow and a haunted look in his eye, he didn’t
appear like the tough, indomitable soldier she’d known for almost two years.
He caught sight of her and his trademark sultry smile started, then came to a
dead stop. His mouth opened but instead of greeting her, he put one hand out to
prop against the doorframe.
“Damn,” he muttered as his eyelids started to flutter.
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