The Lonely Hearts 06 The Grunt 2 Read online

  She knew that look of lust. It caused her heart to flutter. “I thought maybe you didn’t want me; you know that you didn’t find me attractive anymore since the baby.” Hence the big t-shirt to cover up the little after-baby bulge.

  His eyes darted back to hers. Then suddenly he chuckled and then sighed. If she only knew. “Baby,” he said, shaking his head and pulling her closer with an iron grip. “I want you.” Sliding his hand down her back to her small waist as she crawled on top of him, he looked up at her. He needed her to understand what he had to say, because it was the truest thing that he could explain. “I want you so bad until it literally hurts inside. If you think for a moment that baby fat of any kind on you is going to turn me off, you’re crazy. You gave me my daughter. You’ve raised our son.” He shook his head emphatically and tried to find the words. “Woman, I’m crazy about you. And I’m attracted to you, more than you know. And you look amazing.” He scanned her body. “Every sensual curve. Every little mole. Your skin color. Your eyes. Your lips. Every single part of you is beautiful just the way it is. You’re the woman that I fell in love with. Nothing has changed.”

  Courtney wiped another tear. “It feels good to hear you say that.” A smile curled her lips.

  That’s what he wanted to see. A smile. Everything in his life up to this point had been shit…everything except her. If she was okay, then maybe he would be too.

  He smiled back playfully. “Yeah?” Pulling her down closer to his face, he looked at her plump lips. “It feels good to hear me say that I want you?” he asked in a near whisper. He could feel himself coming alive at just the thought of taking her.

  His smooth voice sent zingers up her spine and goose bumps over her body. Straddling him, she bent to him and kissed his lips. “Yes,” she whispered into his mouth. The first kiss was quick and playful.

  “I want you,” he said with finality.

  As he uttered the words, everything changed. The room suddenly became electrically charged and what started out as caring and gentle was slowly becoming carnal and visceral.

  The second kiss was slow and passionate. His velvety tongue slipped into her mouth and tasted her hidden desires. Her fingers lingered on his chest, clawing at him as she kissed him deeper.

  His warm hands felt so good on her skin, finding their way under her shirt and up her torso. Massaging her aching muscles, caressing her skin, he relished in the sight of her. Her silky skin. Her tempting curves.

  How in the hell could she think that he didn’t want all of this? Hell, he’d kill for it. He had killed for it.

  She looked so vulnerable right now, so in need of being taken care of. He had been away an incredibly long time from his new wife, and she had been so alone. Now, it was up to him to make up for all the time that had been missed, and it was a job that he would do with all the passion that he could muster.

  “Come here.” Brett slowly sucked on her bottom lip and pressed his fingers down into her skin. “Can you feel me?” he asked, thrusting upward and at the same time cupping her round breasts and pinching her nipples.

  Courtney sucked in a ragged breath. It had been such a long time, but his touch was so familiar. “Yes. I can feel you. You’re getting harder.” Her hair fell over on his shoulder. Closing her eyes, she opened her legs wider, aching to have him inside of her.

  He inhaled her perfume. “You’re making me harder,” he said, clenching his square jaw. He undulated under her, watching her face. “You do this to me. You make me so hard until it hurts.” His hot breath singed her skin.

  “I need you,” she begged.

  “I need you more.” Brett slipped both hands around her waist and grabbed the sides of her lace panties. He liked these. Pity.

  Ripping them off, he grunted and flung them across the room. “I’ve thought about you every day since I left.” His heart raced in his chest. Sliding a digit over her tender clitoris, he watched her body blossom. If her pheromones had been visible, they would have lit up the room like embers from a fire. “Every single day, I dreamt of you.” Her wetness slipped over his hands. Pulling his fingers away from her, he slipped them inside of his mouth and made her watch him taste her essence.

  Courtney’s sex instantly clenched tight. She missed his lips there. Just the thought made her even wetter, and the sound of her rubbing against him became more audible as her sex became slicker.

  “The taste of you,” he whispered as he sucked his fingers. “The feel of you.”

  Moving her hips downward with his grip, he pushed the tip of his engorged penis inside of her. “Coming inside of my wife.”

  Courtney’s head flung back and her eyes closed tight. Heat burned through her body into his as she waited for the connection to be made. Legs trembling with desire she felt her breath get caught in her throat.

  “Take me,” she muttered.

  “Take this off,” he ordered, pulling her shirt off. “Don’t ever be ashamed around me. You’re beautiful.”

  Bobbing full breasts emerged; nipples erect and begging to be tasted. The sight of her long torso, her wide hips and thick thighs drove him insane. Turning to steel, he moved his veiny shaft between her legs, teasing her.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, knowing it had been a long time since he had been inside of her. He had to remember to be gentle, if not a gentleman.

  “You won’t,” she bit out. “Do it!”

  Courtney planted her hands firmly on the broad caps of his shoulders. Taking in a deep breath, she adjusted to the sudden thrill of him entering her body, one slow, tortuous inch at a time until he was buried to the hip. Her body pulsated around him, tightening around his throbbing shaft. It was pleasurable pain and she welcomed it gladly.

  He hissed, muscles tightening all over his body. “Slow,” he said, holding her down. His nostrils flared. “It’s been a long, long time and you feel so good.” He would have to walk himself through this first session, lest he make a fool of himself. She had been waiting nine months; surely he could give her more than nine minutes.

  “You feel so good too,” Courtney said, moving her hips and keeping her eyes on his.

  He watched her torment him with slow pumps for a moment. Trailing his hands all over her body, he finally gave in and clasped her perfect ass. The need inside of him began to build to a thunderous level and he could feel himself giving in to her pleas. “Fuck it,” he said, thrusting harder inside of her. “I. Can’t. Stop.”

  Courtney moaned aloud. Her voice, audible and sexy, turned him on even more.

  His back arched as he pushed deep into his wife over and over again, making her his once again. Moving his hips in circles, he made sure to feel every single part of her soft brown temple. The motions became mindless and they melted into each other. Slow then fast, hard and then soft. In and out. He focused, eyes narrowed on her body.

  Courtney bucked against him. Skin against skin, her nails dug into his chest as he held on to her by her hips. He watched himself slip in and out of her as she rose up off of him and then plummeted back down to his hips.

  Grabbing her by the back of her head, he pulled her down into his eager kiss and then trailed his lips down her neck to her breasts. Sucking on her nipples, he speared into her, feeling himself moved from one wave to another of complete bliss.

  Releasing her mouth, he let out a sigh. “Damn,” he said as sweat rolling down his chest. He had forgotten how good it was.

  “Harder,” she screamed, grinding her hips. “Harder!”

  “Not yet,” he said to himself. But just the sight of her pushed him to the brink.

  He ground harder like she commanded. Their bodies slapped against each other madly. Taking deep breaths and closing his eyes, he let out a growl. Wet sex pooled between them as she came hard with her body going rigid as her eyes flashed open and her mouth parted.

  “Brett!!” she screamed as her orgasm exploded, releasing her from the bondage of her first concerns. He did want her!

  Forgetting abo
ut his leg, he pushed up in the bed, back arched, slamming into her over and over until finally, heart pounding, he felt himself release. The veins in his neck protruded as he let out a loud unmistakable moan. Alas, he emptied himself inside of her ounce by ounce until he was left twitching and weak under her.

  Collapsing on top of him, Courtney’s heartbeat against his own. Sweat dripped from her forehead onto his neck.

  “Was it good for you, baby?” he asked, out of breath. He wiped the sweat off his wet marble face and rubbed it on the bed.

  “Yes,” she mumbled. Rising up, she looked him in the eye. “You?”

  “Oh yeah,” he said, feeling his leg throb. “But can you…get off me? My leg is killing me,” he said mock crying and tapping her bare bottom.

  Courtney’s head snapped toward his leg and then rolled off of him. “I’m sorry, baby.”

  “It’s okay,” he said, laughing and out of breath. “Just for a minute.”

  “And then?” she asked, lying on the pillow beside him.

  “And then, I want you again,” he said, reaching for the glass of water on the nightstand. Glancing over again, he grabbed his bottle of pain pills. He was definitely going to need those.

  Chapter 10

  And the winner is…

  After weeks of being around each other with no intimacy, it seemed that all they could do when they finally touched each other was make love. Hours of endless, mindless sex had left the pair, exhausted, naked and wrapped in each other’s embrace well past the alarms that sounded, the blaring sun shining in on them from the bay windows or even the constant phone calls.

  Courtney hadn’t slept so well since before Brett had gone to Afghanistan. In a near coma, she nuzzled in the middle of her husband’s chest, between his legs, and melted into him.

  Somewhere in the morning, Brett had found a comfortable spot in the middle of the bed and dug in there to sleep. He had drifted away feeling Courtney’s heartbeat against his own. It hypnotized him along with her enchanting smell. With his hands planted on her firm, round behind, he slept without a care in the world. No dreams of war. No dreams of death. No dreams at all.

  At 11:00 on the dot, Kevin Daugherty and his team of two lawyers pulled up in the driveway of the Black family home as promised. Armed with pens, documents and laptop, they moved with a purpose up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

  As soon as the doorbell sounded, Courtney’s head popped up from Brett’s chest. She looked around in a daze, trying to figure out what time it was. Wiping her mouth, she slowly tried to ease off of Brett, but his strong hands grabbed her and pushed her back down against his bare penis.

  “Where are you going?” he asked without opening his eyes.

  “I heard the door,” she said, narrowing her gaze on the alarm clock.

  “Whoever it is can go away,” he said, rubbing her back. “Come back to bed.”

  “It might be Mom,” she knew it was not, but what if it were.

  Brett knew better. “It’s not your mom. She wouldn’t come over without calling.”

  She looked over at her cell phone on the nightstand. “She probably did call. We just didn’t hear it.” Then it hit her. “Shit!” she exclaimed, heart racing.

  “What?” he said, now fully awake.

  His eyes batted quickly as he adjusted to the sun. With a groan, he pulled himself up as he watched her leap off the bed and run to the bathroom.

  “Who is it?” he asked.

  “It’s the Airlines people!” she screamed from the bathroom. Slipping on her pajamas, she pawed at her hair as she made a quick exit out of the bedroom.

  Brett laid his head back down on the pillow and blew out a breath. Hearing her feet halt on the hard wood floors in the hallway, he sat up as she ran back toward the bedroom. “Get dressed,” she ordered, sticking her head back into the door.

  “You first,” he said, looking at her attire.

  Snatching the front door open moment later, Courtney looked at the well-dressed group of men from Southern Atlantic and gave a side-smile. “Gentlemen,” she said, stepping to the side so that they could enter her home. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” Oh God, I forgot my bra, she thought to herself as she tried to smile.

  “Mrs. Black, how are you?” Kevin asked, removing his shades as he walked past her. He knew better than to comment on her afternoon wardrobe. Evidently, she had overslept.

  Courtney couldn’t even muster a lie. “I’m well…actually,” she said, closing the door and leading them to the dining room table. “We’ll be ready in a minute. I’m just going to go up and change really quickly. I do apologize.”

  “Don’t apologize, ma’am. Take your time. Thank you for seeing us on such short notice,” Kevin said, looking around the table at the men. It was show time. There was no way in hell that they weren’t going to do this deal today.

  When Courtney arrived back at the bedroom door, she saw Brett still lying in bed, naked and groggy. She came in and closed the door loud enough to wake him. “Rise and shine, sleepy head. I need you dressed in like five minutes.”

  Brett grunted. “Like five minutes, which could be more like 10 minutes, or exactly 300 seconds.”

  “Three hundred seconds,” Courtney answered, slipping out of her pajamas. They dropped to the floor, and Brett’s eyes popped open. Her brown temple had him immediately transfixed.

  “Now we’re talking.” He stroked his penis. “A little early morning incentive.”

  She couldn’t help but blush. Moving her hair out of her face, she pointed at the door. “Those men are downstairs waiting. So, no sex. Not until you’ve taken care of this.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Don’t they know how early it is?”

  “It’s 11:00,” she said, pulling her top dresser drawer open. Fishing through her folded panties, she sighed. “God, I smell just like sex.”

  “What do you think we did all morning? Take a shower. Make them wait.”

  She snapped around and looked at him with her most serious glare. “Two hundred and forty seconds, now Marine. So move your ass.” Slipping on her panties while she looked at him, she raised a brow. “And I won’t take a shower and leave them down there. That’s rude. Plus, you said that you wanted them to come. So get dressed.”

  Brett finally pushed up out of the bed and grabbed his crutches off the floor. “I hate these things.”

  “Well, you can’t walk without them,” she said, pulling a pair of his PT jogging pants out and throwing them on the bed.

  “Shit, if I can’t.” He popped his neck. “I’ve been shot before. I’ll be on my feet in no time.” As he tried to stand up, a pain ripped through his broken ribs. Sitting back down, he grinned. “Okay, maybe it’ll take a little longer than normal.”

  Courtney quickly wiggled her jeans up her legs by bouncing up and down and then grabbed her soft white lace bra off the top of the dresser. Slipping it on, she grabbed a cotton white t-shirt and her thong sandals from beside the dresser. “See, it didn’t take that long,” she quipped while pulling her hair up in a ponytail.

  Brett frowned. “Why don’t you ever get that dressed that fast when we have somewhere to go?”

  “Because it doesn’t involve a few hundred thousand dollars,” she said, walking over to the bed. She picked up his pants and then bent in front of him.

  “I can’t get those over my cast. I’ll need shorts.” He rubbed his hand over his five-o’clock shadow. “Just give me a shirt, baby.”

  She did as he instructed and in a few minutes she had him dressed in black Nike basketball shorts and a black USMC t-shirt.

  “Do you think that they will at least offer us $500,000?” she asked hopefully.

  “If they offer us half a million dollars, then we’ll accept it,” he said, walking with her to the bedroom door.

  “Promise me,” she said, stopping in her tracks. She turned and looked up at him with her arms wandering around his waist. Her voice was pouty. “I’m tired of haggling with these people.�
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  He made a cross over his heart. “I promise. Half of a million dollars, we agree, but not a penny less,” he said, stomach growling.

  “You sure? Because you sound like you’d settle for a cheeseburger right now.” Winking at him, she turned and took a deep breath. “Okay, baby. Get your game face on.”

  As the lawyers sat down at the table, Courtney and Brett slowly made their way down the staircase. It looked trickier than it actually was for Brett, but he took it slow as to not worry the wife.

  “Good Morning, Mr. Black,” Kevin said, popping up. He immediately glanced down at Brett’s leg in a cast and noticed the bruising still visible on his face and neck. “Welcome back, sir.”

  “Thank you.” Brett shook his hand and the hands of the other men as they neatly filed in line to do the same. “But we can leave the sir off. I work for a living.”

  Not for long, Kevin thought to himself. He gave a clever smile. “I brought our best lawyers. This is Trey Donovan and Mike Dell,” Kevin introduced them quickly before taking a seat again. They couldn’t waste any more time. There were still other families that they needed to see.

  Both men nodded and greeted Brett as he sat down at the head of the table with Courtney at his side.

  “Thank you so much for seeing us. Mrs. Black told us about your injuries sustained while in the line of duty. Your service is truly appreciated.” Kevin made his introduction to the conversation as amicable as possible.

  No matter how many times he heard it, Brett always shied away from being thanked. “No problem,” he said, darting his eyes over at Courtney.

  She raised a brow at her husband and then shifted her focus on Kevin.

  “I know in the past, we’ve haggled about the final benefit amount that Southern Atlantic was willing to pay you for your loss,” Kevin said, looking over at Brett. “But we finally feel that we have something to offer that you’ll be more comfortable accepting. We want to offer with this, our truest and sincerest condolences. And while we know that this won’t take away your pain, we hope that it can provide you some closure.”