Burning For Nero (SEALs Going Hot) Read online

  “Hey. You okay?” Tony stood in front of her on the deck, staring down at her.

  “Yeah.” She snapped to. “Fine.”

  “I’m finished here.” He was naked to the waist, perspiration dripping over his rippling perfection. Desire pooled in her mouth. “Jon wants to go swimming.”

  “Okay with me. Just don’t let him dive. He wants to dive all the time. Ray introduced him to it and Jon goes too fast, barrels off the sides of pools. But the river? I’m scared of it.”

  “I’ll take care of him, sweetheart.”

  “Flippers and a board for him, too.”

  “You got it.”

  She smiled at him, gulping back the need to touch him, caress his lips. He looked so damn appealing, sweat beading down his temples, his deep brown eyes absorbing her.

  “Why not come with us?” He let his brows do a little hootchy-kootchy dance.

  “Trying to seduce me right here on the deck in front of god and country?”

  He made an animal sound in the back of his throat. “Anyway I can get you, lady.”

  “Tonight.”

  He turned away, at an angle to her to squint out to the river, his mouth tight. “That a promise?”

  “Are you up for it?” she teased.

  He threw her a quelling look. “Up? You have to be kidding. I am up at the moment.”

  She made a little squeaky sound of despair.

  “What if I can’t wait, Cass?” he whispered so low she barely heard him.

  She scanned the lawn, the prospect of having him inside her again making her head spin and her insides melt. “We have to. Too many people. Too much to do.”

  “I have to make you come again.” He locked his gaze on hers. “Before tonight.”

  She hooted, then stepped backward to the wall as he moved toward her. “If only!”

  “Need me, huh?” He drifted so close she could feel his body heat.

  She chuckled, her palm flat to his marvelous chest. “You can’t.”

  He licked his lower lip. “Want to bet?”

  “What? No. I—” She swallowed hard. The predator before her mesmerized her, consumed her. Paralyzed, unable to glance away to find out exactly who might be looking at them, she fought for sanity.

  But he focused on her tits. Her nipples, to be precise. “Love your breasts. They’re getting hard as we speak. Need them in my mouth.”

  She yelped. “Stop this. Someone will—”

  “They’ve gone inside. And I’m remembering about how pretty in pink your pussy is when I eat you.” His bass voice slid over her like a bath of hot sticky syrup, making her insides sweat and swell. “I need to kiss that fat little clit of yours. Soon.”

  She pushed against him to ward him off, seeking respite from the pulsing in her core. His words were addictive. His tone alluring. His pursuit of her oh-so endearing.

  “You want me drinking up your cream. The boathouse. At one,” he said against her ear. Nipped her lobe.

  “Stop!” She laughed, outrageously delighted, electric desire zinging through her. She was a fool for his charm.

  “Be there.” He nailed her to the wall, driving two fingers up under the cuff of her shorts, past her wet panties and into her starving pussy. “Come for me now.”

  Shuddering, she did as he asked. Pulsing around him, she bit her lip to keep from keening. She came and came—oh, baby—in a big mind-blow. And when he pulled out of her, she couldn’t tear her eyes away as he put his fingers in his mouth and sucked them dry. She whimpered. Helpless, she stood plastered to the wall.

  “One o’clock.” He winked at her. “Don’t be late.”

  Chapter Five

  The kid was a natural. Wading into the river from the shore, Jon had been fearless. Yeah, he shivered in the cold water. Even Tony got a few goose bumps from the temperature. A Canadian storm last week had dropped the temperatures all the way down into the Delmarva, so this chill in the water was to be expected.

  “Okay, one more lap around the edge of the dock here and then we go in,” he told the boy.

  “No, no! I want to stay out, Tony! Look! Look how good I am.” The kid splashed around, floating on his back, his little red arm floaties helping him stay up.

  “You’re gonna freeze, buddy. Can’t have your mom mad at me.”

  “She won’t be mad.”

  “This water is cold, man.”

  “I’m big. See.” He did a strong kick and maneuvered out of Tony’s reach. “Mom likes you. She’ll let me if you do.”

  “She likes me, huh?” Terrible to pump a child to reveal his mother’s secrets, but Tony was listening to his heart this weekend and he was liking it.

  “Said you’re good.”

  Even before I got her in the sack. “Well, that’s nice.”

  “She said you’re her friend.”

  Got that right. Now if I can just be more than that, I’ll be a happy man. “I have been for a long time.”

  “And mine.” Jon let his floaties and his kickboard support him as he went quite still in the water. His eyes, so verdant like his mother’s, pleaded for more than a simple agreement.

  “I’m that, too.” He reached out to cup the little boy’s chin. “I’ll always be your friend.”

  “And visit me?” Tears dribbled down his little cheeks.

  “Oh, Jon. Come here.” This sorrow Tony couldn’t bear. Hugging Jon tightly to his heart, he kissed the crown of his head. He loved this child who was his best friend’s son. He loved this boy who looked like a tiny replica of his mother, all blond hair and adoring green eyes. “I will visit you. I’m so sorry I didn’t. I was sick. Hurt, really.”

  Jon’s little arms squeezed Tony as he spoke against his chest. “You’ll visit us? When we move. Can you?”

  Travel was always a challenge for him. For any SEAL. Deployments had multiplied in the past four years as the president used special ops to take down terrorists in controlled situations. Stand-by for missions was more the norm than leave. His longest rest between ops had been these past two months since he’d injured his arm and hand. “I will do the best I can, Jon. You know my job is like your dad’s.”

  The little boy leaned back in Tony’s arms and looked up at him. “But you won’t die.”

  That socked the breath from him. “I take good care of myself. I—”

  “Mommy says you won’t die.”

  “Does she?” As a mother’s reassurance to a grieving child, it was useful. But the biggest question was what if she ever turns out to be wrong?

  “She says you’re too good to die.”

  “I see.” He didn’t. But hell, he had no idea how to get out of this discussion. Death rates among SEALs were high. He knew the odds going in to any mission of surviving it. But how to reassure this child who had already paid for the loss of one SEAL that he wouldn’t grieve for the loss of another? Tony had no intention of paying the ultimate sacrifice, but his job was the most unpredictable one a man could choose. Anyone around him had to know that, accept it. To ask a child to do it was a tough order. “Time to go in, pal. You are shivering now.”

  “Can we dive? From the dock?”

  “Tomorrow. If you can swim from here in to shore now.”

  “O-kay!” Jon wiggled in the water, then took off, his little arms and legs going like a mechanical toy.

  ****

  Cass glanced at the clock on the dresser. Primed for Tony in body and soul, Cass stood up and paced the floor of the boathouse.

  What in hell am I doing?

  Getting laid. Very well. And often, too.

  She snorted.

  Clutching her arms, she shook her head, shocked at how she’d fallen into bed with Tony. How she’d responded to him over and over again. She had loved Ray when she married him. He had been the first man she’d gone to bed with and he’d been a gentle lover at first. But as years wore on, he grew to like his sex brief and silent. Missionary became his favorite do. Twice and done was his usual mode of operation. Suspectin
g he had affairs or one night stands, she’d wondered why. When she had asked him, he’d given her an occasional sixty-nine, but nothing like the passionate ballet of bodies she’d had with Tony in a bed, a chair and a shower stall.

  Her eyes fell shut. Visions of Tony Nero in his ardor flooded her mind. The way his eyes lit, the way his hair fell over his brow, the way he talked to her, caressed her with a devotion that melted her heart and seared her mind. That kind of hunger, that sort of lust filled her with pride and an urge for more.

  But more with him meant more of other kinds of intimacy. Lives intertwined.

  A man in her life who consumed her. A military man like a SEAL did that to a woman. Filled her life, ordered it, shaped the hours and the days, the months until he was home and available to be hers. Could she live like that again? Could she even date Tony? Did she want him not just in the sack but in her daily life and her son’s? Did she have it in her heart to want Tony so badly that she could live with the rigors of the military life, the challenges of regular separation and the fear that in the crucible of those, Tony, too, might change as Ray had?

  She sank to the mattress and waited for him, searching for an answer that would serve them all well.

  ****

  Escaping his parents’ house was worse than doing mission recon. He marked time in the kitchen, while the world marched past him. Grinding his teeth, he felt an uncharacteristic anxiety grow that Cass was waiting for him and he was late.

  But his mother was holding her own in the kitchen and had corralled Tessa and her two girlfriends into helping her with the cooking. The one co-ed who had tried to sink her talons into him last night was still coming to terms with his rejection. Earlier, she had waylaid him as he exited the hall bath after his lesson with Jon. He had firmly told her, he was otherwise engaged and not interested in any kind of hook-up. Now or later.

  She had sulked. But accepted his dismissal.

  Then his brother, Gil, had surprised them all by walking in the front door, courtesy of three days leave. With hugs and greetings all around, Tony joined in the family conversation and watched the clock tick past one. He loved his little brother, was proud of him and couldn’t abandon the welcome party without arousing suspicion.

  Tony decided he’d delayed enough when he saw Tessa’s friend—who had set her sights on Tony—now latch onto his little bro. A jarhead, Gil had joined the Marines out of high school. That had been four years and two tours in Afghanistan ago. The kid was tall, buff and to Tony’s shock and awe, entertained the advances of the girl who had stalked him.

  Finally, Tony saw an opening. He drifted out of the kitchen, down to the rec room and out the side door. Hoping no one watched from either house, he hurried to the boathouse, climbed the deck, pulled open the door and saw Cass sitting on the edge of the bed.

  She was frowning when he stepped inside, but when she saw him, her face lit up. Then she grinned, relief etching her features. She rose, tossed her head of golden curls in laughter and walked right into his open arms. “I thought you deserted me.”

  “Never. Gil showed up. Sorry. I had to stay for a while,” he said as he cradled her close and kissed her forehead, her nose, her warm lips. “I missed you.”

  “Mmm,” she crooned as she snuggled into him. “Ditto.”

  “Had a great time with Jon.” He needed to talk about that with her. The little boy’s conversation had touched him and awakened a familiar tenderness in his heart. That love of Jon blossomed into a larger devotion now that Tony was intimate with his mother. Tony took it on as a new responsibility.

  “I’m grateful. He loves you.”

  “I get that. He talks about Ray, too, but in a way that makes me think he was afraid of him. Am I wrong?”

  “No. Ray was larger than life.”

  “A big man. But in size, I’m even bigger and I don’t want to frighten Jon.”

  “You don’t. He idolizes you. Thinks of you as his friend.” She stepped backward out his arms, smiling at him but wary. “We should talk about that. About a lot of things.”

  Someone walked up the steps of the deck and banged on the door. “Cass? You in there?”

  “Tessa,” Cass whispered to him. To his sister, she called, “Just a minute.”

  Tony sank to a far corner, hating that he was hiding from his own flesh and blood when what he wanted was to shout that he was really here and Cass was his.

  Cass cracked open the door, and she and Tessa talked about tonight’s music. Cass always brought a track to run during the dance so that everyone—young and old—could have a turn on the floor with songs from their era.

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes, Tessa. My iPod is up at the house. Left it there last night. So I’ll bring it to you in about half an hour, okay?”

  “Sure. Not a problem. See you later. Bye, Tony!”

  Oh, hell. Caught. “One point to you, Tessa.”

  “Not counting, big brother. I am leaving you two now.”

  “Good riddance,” he told her.

  After Cass closed the door, she sank against it. She shook her head.

  He laughed as he strolled forward and gathered her against him. “Busted.”

  “Do you think they all know?” Cass asked as she sank against him.

  “Guess we were obvious last night. My folks noticed.”

  “Peg and Tom know, too.” She sighed.

  He didn’t like her tone. Sorrow? Regret? Her expression told him she was conflicted. Why? “What gives here?”

  “I don’t want anyone to get any big ideas.”

  He stilled. Fear was an alien to him, but it clawed at him like a fiend. “Does that include me?”

  She shook her head and locked her eyes on his. “I never thought you and I would ever do this.”

  He inhaled the fragrance of her hair. Honeysuckle. Hell, he was a fool for honeysuckle. “Me, neither. But now that we are…”

  He tickled her and she squealed as he pulled her to the bed.

  “I wanted you so badly that I feel wicked. Like I’m ten years younger,” she said, her lips moving on his as she ran her hands up under his shirt. Her moves reflected an urgency that alarmed him as much as they thrilled him.

  “Works for me, baby.” Confused, he didn’t want to douse her fervor but let her peel off his shirt, then unbutton his cut offs. As they thudded to the floor, she cupped his erection. Already hard and tight, his dick had been fired for her since he had left her in bed at dawn.

  “Commando—and ready,” she said, her eyes half-lidded and sultry with desire. “I love it.”

  Glad he had her enthralled again, he went with the moment. He traced his fingers up the inside of her shorts to her moist slit. This morning when he had fingered her on the deck, she wore panties but by god, she had taken them off. So, whatever her conflict, she’d come here anticipating that they’d make love. His heart thumped in joy. He delved inside and she threw back her head, her eyes closed. She was already sopping wet for him and flexing her core muscles to keep him there. “Taking my cue from you, baby.”

  He watched her swallow hard. Christ, she was so beautiful and he wanted to please her, make her pound, make her want him now, every minute. He tugged her shirt over her head, spread his hands over her firm breasts and rubbed her nipples through the lace of her bra. Moaning, she wriggled and he stripped her of her shorts.

  She rose on her toes, wrapping her fingers around his neck. “All morning, I rolled dough, and shaped hamburgers, and all I thought about was you.”

  The idea tickled him. “Not sure I like the analogy, but I’ll go with it.”

  “No dough on your bod, honey. But patting meat into nice neat shapes?” She raised her brows while she tormented him, stroking his cock. “Watch me do my stuff.”

  He hustled her to the bed and followed her down to it. Hovering over her, dark fears nagging at him, he peeled off his brace. He was going to love her with every ounce of his being, no restraints. She deserved that. Besides, her eyes grew limpid w
ith need. “You put me into nice neat shapes, huh?”

  She snorted as she spread her legs under him and circled them around his hips. “That shape needs to slide right inside me.”

  He arched a brow. “Wow. Ready to come again already?”

  “Already? You look at me and I’m a screaming mess.”

  He slid along her seam, her wet heat a torrid lure. “I know how to cure that.”

  “Better hurry up.”

  Smiling, he sank his cock right down inside her core. She gripped him so hard, he caught his breath and thrust deeper.

  Her mouth formed an O. Her body melted. Her hips arched in invitation.

  He gave her what they both wanted then. A long sweet fucking that rocked him. Burned him. Transformed his craving for her into a need to do this more than once, more than this. Purposely, he brought her to the edge, watched her pant, heard her moan, felt her pussy clutch him.

  And he pulled out.

  “No!’ She cuffed him, angry he’d gone.

  He caught her by the wrist and hauled her up against him. Her hair stood out, wild around her oval face. Her breasts grazed his chest, her nipples rock hard. “Bet your pussy is dripping for me.”

  “And empty, damn you.”

  He laughed. “So come here.”

  He led her to roll over, kneel on the bed and stick that ass in the air. He bent behind her, the musky fragrance of her cream clouding his reason but enflaming his senses. That way, he ate her. Sucking on her fat little folds, he took his time, then found her clit and broke her up into a crying orgasm.

  His cock throbbed, wild to be inside her. But he wanted more from her, all of her for him to be exact. No fears, no worries, no realities, not now, not yet. At the moment, the only way he knew how to get her to agree was to love her longer and harder than any man ever had.

  His fingers in her pulsing channel, he waited until her muscles stilled. Then he caught her by the waist and whirled her to stand on her feet. She stumbled, but he turned her and bent her over a table. There, he put her hands to the far edge, smoothing her fingers over the edge, then he covered her naked body with his own and let his cock find his own way home.