Bound by Trust Read online

  “Hey, Rafe,” a grating voice called out over the crowd. “Buy me a drink?”

  The tall blonde was approaching and he looked around for an escape route. Finding none, he was face to face with her in a matter of seconds.

  “Hello, Jill,” he greeted her, stepping sideways around her and heading for the bar. “What are you drinking?”

  “You know what I drink,” she whined and slapped his shoulder.

  How in the hell had he not seen how damn shallow this one was sooner? Too smitten with what was between her legs, he’d failed to take notice of what was between her ears.

  “Vodka martini, dirty.”

  “You know it, baby.”

  With her drink secured, and carrying a bottle of Corona with a wedge of lime stuffed down the neck for himself, he followed her off in the direction of one of the clusters of women huddling near the dance floor. A few other Marines and soldiers had joined their group and waved at him as he and Jill approached. Disgusted with the whole scene, he realized that retirement looked like a pretty good option right now. Get out and go back to Montana, take his father up on the offer of the north pastures, and raise cutting horses for a living like he’d wanted to before joining the Corps.

  “Gunny!” Staff Sergeant Aiden Matthews raised his glass of whiskey in salute. “Nice to see you finally made it out. These ladies were beginning to fret over your absence.”

  “Really. I’m sure the world wouldn’t quit turning from lack of my presence.” Rafe’s usual jovial demeanor was lacking in expression.

  “Wow, Rafe. Did someone marry your favorite groupie?” Aiden grinned. Everyone knew Rafe was infamous for his following of hot women and his inability to commit to any of them.

  Rafe shot him a glare and turned to survey the growing crowd. It was then that he saw someone he didn’t recognize across the room. He hesitated, enthralled by the woman’s frosty green eyes. Eyes he was sure he knew, but couldn’t quite place. She was petite, only standing a few inches over five feet, and that included the heels she was wearing. She was a good foot shorter than he was. But he noted her small stature didn’t leave her lacking in curves. Her dark hair lay in big curls around her peaches-and-cream face and was a stark contrast to her blackberry-colored minidress. Its intense color only served to make her bronzed skin look all the more exotic, and he found himself wondering if she had anything on underneath it. It fit snuggly to her body and he couldn’t detect a single line from a garment that might be lying between the dress and her skin. Surrounded by a swarm of other females, she laughed, smiled, and accepted hugs from all of them.

  As if sensing she was being watched, she looked up and caught him staring at her. For a few seconds their eyes locked and her smile faded. It seemed that the whole place was quiet in that moment. Then she smiled directly at him, turned her head, and went back to whispering in the ear of one of the women standing near her.

  He continued to watch her and her entourage float across the room to take up residence at a series of tables along the wall. Why he was even vaguely interested in her was beyond his comprehension. She was the complete opposite of his archetype. He normally gravitated toward the tall blondes with acrylic nails and make-up, like Jill, who was now shaking his arm.

  “Are you paying attention to me?” she whined. “I said I love this song, I want to dance.”

  Without any great amount of interest, he led her out on the floor and took her in his arms. All the while he watched the short, dark-haired beauty sitting on the edge of one of the tables chatting with a very attentive young Marine with dirty blond hair. When she threw her head back, fully laughing at something he’d said, her throat became elongated as if offered up as a sacrifice to some demonic being. He would have loved to oblige her by running his teeth the length of it. Her legs were crossed and the already short hemline of that dress was riding up so high on her thigh, he knew if she moved just right, he would definitely know if she was wearing anything under it. But before that happened, she hopped down and the lucky suitor soon had her in his arms just a couple of feet from where Rafe was swaying with Jill’s head on his shoulder.

  He could still see them over Jill’s head and when the man she was dancing with turned her, he discovered the dress was also backless. It revealed more bronzed skin, the only mar a series of black music notes gracing one shoulder. He found her choice of tattoo odd, yet intriguing, and he wondered if there were any more etched on her. Her partner dipped her and Rafe’s chest constricted at the sight of her taut nipples straining against the richly colored fabric. How easy it would be to slip his hand under it and feel what he could so easily see. Feeling Jill smile into his shoulder, he knew she was unknowingly misplacing her amusement at his growing hard-on thinking it was her own body making him that way. If she knew the truth, she’d probably slap him and leave. Although, as unsavory as the thought of being slapped was, that would definitely relieve him of having to get rid of her and give him room to move in on the woman commanding his attention from the arms of another.

  When the song ended, he escorted Jill back to their table, picked up his beer bottle, and walked away toward the patio. He needed some air. Going home with Jill was the furthest thing from his mind tonight and he had to figure out how to make sure she understood that.

  “So, Madi, have you seen that hottie Marine checking you out?” Her friend Donna’s eyes were lit up and following him out the door.

  “Yeah, do you know him?” Madi turned and watched him as well.

  She’d noticed him when she first came in. What wasn’t to notice? He towered over her by at least a foot, had jet-black hair and eyes such a dark blue they were nearly black too, and he had chiseled features made even more rugged by a tiny scar above one brow. His low-slung jeans hugged his tight ass and hard thighs, and his plum-colored polo shirt clung to his rippling muscles. Their eyes had locked for a few brief seconds and something akin to electricity had flowed through her, dredging up a feeling she hadn’t felt in so long, she wondered if she had perhaps imagined it. She’d hoped he would ask her to dance, but some tall blonde was obviously his master as she was reluctant to turn loose of him even as he dumped her at a table and left to go out onto the patio.

  “Not personally, but I know he makes the rounds, frequently.”

  “Really? Maybe that’s just what I need, someone experienced who won’t hunt me down in the morning.” She smiled wickedly at her friend and glanced out the patio door to see him leaning on a post, tugging on his beer.

  “Madi, are you serious?”

  “As serious as I’ve ever been…”

  Before she could finish her less than ladylike thoughts, Jared came back from the bar with her wine.

  “How are you doing?” He handed her the glass and set his drink down.

  “I’m good.” She smiled widely. “Better than I have been in a long time.”

  “What’s she up to, Donna?”

  Donna glanced at the patio door. “I don’t think we have to worry about what she’s up to.”

  Jared eyed the older Marine standing on the other side of the glass door. “You need to be careful, Madi.”

  “Yes, Daddy. I think I remember how to do that.”

  “That isn’t what I meant.”

  For the next couple of hours Madi tiptoed around the idea of asking him to dance while entertaining several other men, even affording Jared a couple of dances, but every time she worked up the nerve that blonde Lilith dragged him out. Madi watched disgustedly at her hanging on him like he was a leaning pole instead of a man. Finally, just before midnight, the woman who seemed more interested in him than he was in her, picked up her purse and disappeared. Seeing it as her in, Madi hopped up and walked over to the table full of Marines most of their eyes on her the whole time. The primitive beat of a hip hop song was echoing out across the room and she was determined to know what it would be like to feel his body against hers pulsing in unison to such a heady sound.

  “Well, Gunny, there she comes.”
Aiden had one corner of his mouth turned up taunting Rafe. The whole table had been taking bets as to how long it would take them to hook up. “You better jump on that before Jill gets back, and if you don’t, I’m going to.”

  “Hi.” Madi leaned in close to Rafe, her hair brushing against his cheek and the fresh scent of mint wafting off her. “I was wondering if you would like to dance with me?”

  Like a man possessed, he wasted no time leaving his seat and leading her to the floor. She backed up to him grinding on him rolling her hips in tandem with his in complete harmony with the song that emanated around them.

  He twisted his hand in her silky hair, pulled her head back, and nuzzled her throat. “You’re good at this,” he whispered in her ear.

  “This isn’t anything.” She turned her head and looked up at him. “You should see me on a pole.”

  He raised his eyebrows and stopped moving for a minute.

  “I’m kidding.” Her eyes lit up and effervescent laughter trickled out of her at his reaction.

  Running her palms down the outside of his legs, she twisted from side to side easing down into a half-squat in from of him. She then spun around working her way back up, sending her hands up his rippled chest while straddling his hard thigh. The friction of soft denim against the sensitive flesh between her legs sent tingles rushing over her confirming the feeling that had swept over her earlier as perfectly real and not imagined. Pheromones mixed with the woodsy tones of his after shave drifted off him, heated by the warmth of his body. The intoxicating concoction pricked at the fibers of her senses and caused her heart to palpitate. She wondered for a moment if she was brave enough to go through with what she had already set in motion. Quickly, she was being dragged under a swiftly moving current of desire, and the only thing there to save her was the man she’d chosen as her partner in this dangerous game of impersonal mating.

  With the last note hanging in the air vibrating between them, she knew the last chance to change her mind was slipping away and instead of extracting herself from the hard lines of his body she melded closer giving over to his strong arms drawing her in. Another slower song rose around them only to glance off the impervious bubble cocooning them, shutting out the laughter, the sounds of beer bottles smashing behind the bar, the bright white spots of light sweeping around the room. With her cheek pressed to his chest, the only thing she heard was his heart racing as fast as her own. The only thing she felt, his fingertips running the length of her spine sending invisible tongues of flame along her skin.

  * * * *

  Heat radiated off her satiny, bare flesh under the gentle touch of his fingertips. He wanted to feel all of her beneath him, skin on skin, touching, licking, smelling until he’d memorized every inch of her, imprinted her signature across his senses. Running his hand under her hair, he stroked the base of her throat. Her pulse fluttered under the pad of his thumb. He leaned down and ran his tongue along the line his thumb had taken. She tasted salty and honey sweet, nothing artificial. Just the pure essence of woman teased the back of his throat as he consumed her. Musk rose off her, mingling with the mint he’d detected earlier, further heightening his realization that a hunger he didn’t even know existed gnawed at him, lending a void only she could fill.

  Chapter 2

  Madi barely noticed that they had stopped moving when he turned her loose and took her hand firmly in his. He led her off the floor, and through the patio doors, and quickly found a darkened corner, spun her facing him, and backed her into it. It had cooled down significantly and the sky was clear with thousands of stars shining down on them as his body pressed into hers. Placing his hands on the wall on either side of her head, he leaned into her, possessing her mouth with a fervor Madi hadn’t quite expected. Taking her breath when he pried her lips open, he invaded her mouth with his tongue, driving it forcefully along hers. She moaned and ran her hands up his chest. Her insides coiled, releasing thick moisture between her legs that threatened to slide down her thighs. Breaking the kiss, he moved on to her ear, nipping the lobe and running his tongue along the edge of it, sending a ripple through her and causing her to shiver.

  “Are you cold?” he teased.

  “No, in fact, quite the opposite.”

  Urgently she ran her hand down his middle. It landed on his throbbing engorged cock. She found the buttons that kept him contained, and started to undo them when he reached down and stopped her.

  “Maybe we should take this somewhere else.” His voice was low and rough.

  “If you feel what I do, it can’t wait that long.” A trembling voice floated out of her.

  He eased his hand up her thigh and between her legs, then pulled his head back and gave her a wicked smile. “That’s what I thought.” He ran a finger between her lips and found her clit pulsing and slick. “You’re right, you can’t wait.”

  Even in the darkness, now that his eyes had adjusted, he could see that her eyes weren’t just green, they were multifaceted with golden flecks shooting out from her pupils. As he forced her legs further apart and began to circle her swollen nub, they grew dark with need. Struggling to breathe, she tugged his shirt from his waistband and ran her hands up his back, digging her nails in as he continued his sweet assault. On weak legs she leaned on him for support as he dipped into her, drawing her moisture to the place she needed to be touched. She gasped biting her lower lip, trying to contain the feral noises threatening to erupt from her.

  “Does that feel good?” Still leaning on one arm on the wall, he bent his head, licking her throat.

  “God, yes,” she whispered.

  “Pull the top of your dress down for me,” he murmured in her ear.

  With his body covering her, any curious eyes that might wander by would be deflected from her half-dressed state. Only he would be able to see what she was offering him.

  A tremor ran down her spine as his warm breath caressed her ear. With shaking fingers, she reached around her neck and unsnapped the clasp that held the cloth firmly to her breasts. She pulled it down exposing them to the crisp night air that immediately caused her nipples to pucker. He removed his hand from the wall and pressed into her so she could feel his cock against her belly. Reaching down, he took one of her creamy breasts and squeezed ever so slightly, then descended on it, taking her rosy nipple under his lips sucking and laving it. Between the feel of his mouth on her breast, and his continued circular motion around her clit, the most wonderful heat she’d ever known built under her belly button. It spread up her stomach and down her legs, and she began to pant into his shoulder. Her insides clenched and pulsed. She felt so good she ached from it. Then, before she could tell him she was coming, it happened and she took his collarbone in her mouth suppressing a scream into him as waves of delicious sweetness ran through her rendering her helpless beneath his touch.

  With the initial urge to cry out past, she released his flesh from her teeth and leaned back against the wall, trying to catch her breath as he reached in his front pocket producing a condom. She unbuttoned his pants and watched as he ripped open the package, withdrawing its contents. Quickly he sheathed himself, then put his hands around her waist and lifted her up.

  “Put your legs around me.”

  Following his instruction, she wrapped herself around him just as he thrust himself inside her. With her back grating against the stucco wall, he began to move inside her, holding her up with his hands along the backs of her thighs where they met with her firm cheeks.

  “Oh my God, you feel good,” he rasped into her hair.

  Sweat was beading on his forehead, falling on her breasts, and rolling down her stomach only stopped by the purple fabric that was bunched up there. He could not fathom what possessed him to take her right there except that something in him demanded he mark her as his. He could have, and should have, stopped after he brought her to orgasm and waited until they were in his bed to satisfy his desires. But like some beautiful witch from Grimm’s fairy tales, she’d managed to cast a spell ove
r him, stripping him of his common sense. Thus he found himself buried deep inside her, knowing that this one brief encounter would never be enough to assuage his hunger for her. Something about her tore at him and he realized as he drove into her soft tightness over and over, that for once in his life he wanted more from someone than a one-night stand.

  Madi loved the sensation of him filling her up. She’d felt that hollow ache for so long she’d almost forgotten what it was like to have a man inside her. Running her arms around his neck, she clung to him, never wanting to let go, wanting to give as much as she was getting. She didn’t know what it was about this man, but nothing Gage had ever done to her had ever made her feel so good, and she didn’t think it had just been so long that she’d forgotten. She heard the night sounds around them singing a harmonious accompaniment to their symphony of groaning and labored breathing and felt herself floating away again. Pulses of energy flew out of her, combining with his, binding them across the plane of their juncture, and before she could smother the roar escaping her throat with another mouthful of his body, he possessed her lips with his. He swallowed her noises along with his, as he drove himself into her one last time, shuddering and pulsing with her. His stifled growl reverberated down her throat and cast a shiver across her skin.

  Leaving her mouth, he touched his forehead to hers as he held her aloft until their breathing returned to normal, savoring the essence of sex that wafted around them. Withdrawing from her depths, he lowered her back to her feet. She pulled her skirt down and reclasped her bodice, hiding her breasts once more while he buttoned his jeans and wiped the sweat from his brow.

  Before taking her hand to go back inside, he brushed the back of his fingers along her jaw and kissed her again. “I’ll just run to the men’s room and then we can get out of here.”