Married to a Marine Read online

  “Right,” Justice scoffed.

  “He’ll protect me, you know, so you better be careful.”

  “The aforementioned canine is no match for me.”

  “I don’t know. He’s pretty big.”

  “So now you’re insulting my size? Not real smart.”

  “Go get him Chocolate.”

  Woof. The dog leaped out of the soapy water and headed directly for…Kelly.

  “No, no, not me. Him. Go get him.” She pointed to Justice while backing up even further.

  Confused, Chocolate sat down.

  Justice was not equally immobile, however. He was definitely coming after her.

  Kelly turned and ran across the beach in front of them. Justice took off after her. She took a quick peek over her shoulder and that was her downfall. Literally. She stumbled and fell to the soft sand.

  Justice stood above her, lord of all he surveyed, staring down at her with masculine smugness. “This is the second time you’ve thrown yourself at my feet.”

  A second later Chocolate had knocked Justice off his feet and onto the sand beside Kelly.

  “Are you hurt?” she asked Justice in concern, moving closer to hover over his body.

  “I do have a terrible ache,” he admitted in a deep husky voice that rolled over her skin like black satin.

  “Show me where.”

  “You’ll have to come closer.”

  She did.

  “No, even closer than that.”

  She shifted, her legs becoming entangled with his, her eyes widening as she felt his throbbing arousal against her. Surely Justice wasn’t referring to that ache? Surely he wasn’t flirting with her. Surely he wasn’t cupping the back of her head with his good hand and lowering her mouth to his.

  Oh, but he was. And it felt so good. Beyond good. Incredible. She was blanketing his lean body like seaweed on a rock. There was no part of her anatomy that wasn’t touching some part of his. Like two parts of a jigsaw puzzle they fitted together in this horizontal position with meant-to-be precision.

  Somehow her braid came loose and her hair slipped down to cover them like a silken curtain. His fingers fondled the soft strands, gently combing through them from the crown of her head to her nape, over her ear.

  He was lying on his back, not on his side, which might have hurt his shoulder. She had the presence of mind to notice that much before she was carried away by a tide of forbidden pleasure.

  His kiss held some of the teasing lightness of their earlier exchange with the garden hose, along with the now familiar heated passion. How had she survived so long without his kisses? She could stay this way forever. And she might have if Chocolate hadn’t interrupted them by prancing into the ocean and then bounding over to them to shake himself off, spraying them with water.

  Kelly and Justice broke off their kiss, but she remained perched atop his body, his good arm pinning her tightly against him.

  “We have to stop doing this,” Justice said without sounding the least bit convincing and without loosening his hold on her.

  “So you keep saying.”

  “I mean it this time.”

  “Me, too.” She couldn’t resist, she just had to place a little series of kisses along his stubborn jaw.

  “I’m trying to be serious here.”

  “Me, too.” She kissed his chin.

  “Stop that.”

  “Yes, sir.” She saluted him, not easy to do from a horizontal position. Of course he had to kiss her for that, but then he sat up.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, wanting to make sure his shoulder wasn’t hurting him.

  “I’ve still got that ache,” he said, his deep voice still husky.

  “I’ve got one, too,” she admitted. “And it’s all your fault.”

  This earned a smile. “My fault, huh?”

  “Entirely.”

  “I seem to recall you doing your fair share in the kissing and seducing department.”

  “Really?” She was very pleased to hear this news. “The seducing department?”

  “Why the surprised look? Surely guys have called you seductive before.”

  “Oh, yeah. Millions of times.”

  He wasn’t buying her mocking reply. “You reacted the same way when I said you were incredibly sexy yesterday.”

  “And what way is that?”

  “Disbelieving.”

  “Disbelief is your thing, not mine.”

  “It takes one to know one. You clearly don’t believe that you’re a sexy, attractive, seductive woman. Why not?”

  “Because I’m not that kind of girl.”

  “What kind? The bad or good kind?”

  “The kind that gets the guy,” she said bluntly.

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  She couldn’t explain because that would mean bringing up her sister’s name, and Kelly didn’t want to do that at this point. Not when she and Justice seemed to be forging some new kind of path in their relationship here. How could she tell him that once a guy saw Barbie they never treated Kelly the same?

  “Are you telling me you haven’t had a guy in your life?”

  “Oh, there have been several guys. Most of whom viewed me as the girl-next-door, best-buddy kind of friend. And then there was Dave.”

  “Who’s Dave?”

  “The man I thought I could have a future with.”

  “What went wrong?”

  Kelly pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, keeping her gaze fixed on the line between the blue ocean and the blue sky, and away from the blue of Justice’s eyes. “He didn’t want to be married to the sort of cute girl next door.”

  “Sort of cute? What kind of description is that?”

  “A description of me.”

  “It’s not my description of you.”

  She turned to face him. “No? Then what is your description of me?” she whispered, half-afraid to hear his answer.

  “A woman who is unafraid, who has the strength of mind and the conviction to put up with me at my worst. A woman with caramel hair that catches the sunlight and throws it back, a woman whose smile makes me want her, a woman who smells so good I want to stay close to you every minute of the day.”

  His words touched her soul as surely as his kisses and embraces did. She couldn’t believe her Marine-of-few-words had suddenly become so eloquent. She couldn’t believe he was really talking about her.

  She was afraid to believe, so she used humor as a shield. “It’s really not me that’s sexy or seductive, it’s my soap.”

  “It’s you,” she thought she heard him murmur but couldn’t be sure since she leaped to her feet and brushed the sand off her fanny.

  She felt as jumpy as a cat on a hot tin roof, not an original analogy but an accurate one. Opening herself up further to Justice would mean being vulnerable in a way she’d never been in her life, a way that had the power to destroy as well as the power to heal. She didn’t want to rush this, she wanted to savor the possibilities here.

  But how to tell Justice that? She lacked the experience with men, lacked the words. So she simply said, “I better go get dinner started or we’ll starve.”

  Justice stayed on the beach while Kelly scurried off into the beach house. He hadn’t planned on kissing her, hadn’t planned on telling her what he’d told her, hadn’t planned on revealing that much of himself. But Kelly had a way of getting under his skin and through his defenses.

  A wet nose against his bare arm warned Justice of the fact that the aforementioned canine had taken up position on the beach beside him.

  “Chocolate. What kind of name is that for a canine?” Justice wasn’t talking to the dog, he was talking to himself, but the animal didn’t seem to know the difference because it turned its head and barked as if in reply.

  “She’s making you weak,” he told the dog. “You’re getting used to having her around. More than used to it, you’re depending on her presence. You can’t do that. It makes you vul
nerable, makes you weak. When you have nothing to lose, you’re at your most powerful. Remember that.”

  Had Justice been a fanciful man he might almost have thought the dog was looking at him with pity in his eyes, but he wasn’t fanciful, he was a Force Recon Marine, and the word weakness was not in his vocabulary.

  When you have nothing to lose, you’re at your most powerful.

  “Listen up, aforementioned canine. If you’re smart you’ll hightail it out of here on the double. Before she turns you into a lapdog, ready to do her every bidding. What kind of life would that be? A pampered life that would sap your strength away. Do not give in, do not surrender. Understood?”

  Woof.

  “Good. Dismissed.”

  The dog stood and trotted away into the twilight.

  Chapter Eight

  Kelly was basking in the sunshine on the deck the next afternoon, enjoying a rare peaceful moment that ended when Justice joined her. The word peaceful and Justice simply did not go together. She’d seen him in his shorts and T-shirt many times before, yet he still had the ability to make her heartrate shoot sky-high. She belatedly noticed that he was carrying his cell phone with him.

  “My mother insists on talking to you.” He handed her the phone as if handing over a loaded gun.

  “Hi, Kelly, how’s it going?” Mrs. Wilder asked. “Is my son driving you crazy yet?”

  “He accomplished that within the first five minutes,” Kelly replied with a grin.

  “What?” Justice was demanding. “What did I accomplish?”

  “He’s being his usual noncommunicative self,” Mrs. Wilder said. “When I asked him how his physical therapy was going, he said fine. That’s it. One word. Not that Marines are ever the most communicative men in the world, but one word is not enough for me. So tell me, how’s he doing?”

  “He’s impatient with his progress, but he is progressing. He has more range of motion with his injured arm.”

  Justice shot Kelly an impatient look, one she was coming to know all too well. “Big deal. So I can lift my arm a few inches, it’s still pitiful.”

  “Not the best patient, is he? I did try and warn you,” Mrs. Wilder said.

  “I know you did.”

  “Don’t let him get to you,” the older woman said.

  Kelly’s heart stopped. Had Mrs. Wilder somehow picked up the fact that Kelly was falling for Justice? Had Kelly somehow let something slip in the tone of her voice? Or even worse, had Justice said something to his mother, asking her to warn Kelly off? When she’d first arrived Kelly had promised Justice she wouldn’t fall for him. She’d always been a woman who took promises seriously. She’d honestly tried very hard to stay objective, to keep her emotional distance. That simply hadn’t worked.

  “I know his frustration and impatience can be hard to deal with,” Mrs. Wilder continued.

  Kelly relaxed. So his mom wasn’t talking about Kelly falling for Justice, thank heaven.

  She stole a look at him. He was watching her like a hawk, or like his nickname of Eagle, and had no doubt noticed the way she’d tensed up a moment ago because he said, “What’s my mother saying to you?”

  “She’s telling me all your embarrassing childhood stories,” Kelly replied with her customary sauciness.

  Mrs. Wilder took her cue immediately. “There was the time that Justice spread margarine all over his brother’s hair and all over the kitchen wall.”

  “She’s telling you the margarine story, isn’t she?” Justice asked with resignation.

  “He was a regular Picasso,” Mrs. Wilder continued fondly, “making all kinds of creative swirls on the wall.”

  “Now she’s telling you the Picasso stuff,” Justice added with a roll of his blue eyes.

  “Tell him to go away so we can talk,” Mrs. Wilder ordered.

  “Your mother says to go away,” Kelly dutifully told Justice.

  He didn’t budge. “No way.”

  “Tell him to give us five minutes of privacy,” the older woman instructed, “or I’ll tell you his childhood streaking story complete with photos.”

  “Don’t move,” Kelly told Justice with a grin. “If you stay put, your mom has promised to tell me your childhood streaking story.”

  Justice muttered under his breath and gave Kelly a dark look before reluctantly taking off for the beach.

  “Okay,” Kelly told Mrs. Wilder. “He’s gone. What’s up?”

  “I’m afraid I let slip about your sister’s upcoming marriage.” Mrs. Wilder’s voice was filled with regret. “I thought you’d already told Justice.”

  “No.” Kelly’s heart sank. “I was waiting for the right moment. And I wasn’t entirely sure that he didn’t already know.”

  “He didn’t.”

  “What did he say?”

  “You know Justice. He didn’t say anything. I’m sorry, Kelly. I should have taken a page out of my son’s book and not said anything, either.”

  “That’s okay. Is that why you wanted to talk to me without Justice overhearing?”

  “That and I wanted to get the straight story on his condition without you having to guard your words around him.”

  “I’ll tell you the same thing I told him, that there are no guarantees and that I can’t promise a miracle cure. His injuries to his shoulder were very serious and may require surgery at some point in the future. Even then, there’s no guarantee that the tendons can be repaired. He thinks the exercises I’m having him do are wimpy compared to what he’s used to in the Marine Corps.”

  “I’m sure they are wimpy compared to what he’s been through in the Marine Corps.”

  “All we can do is take things one day at a time.”

  “How long can you stay with him?” Mrs. Wilder asked.

  “I’ve got three weeks of vacation time accrued.” She watched Justice as he walked along the beach, his figure already a familiar one to her. Simply watching him gave her pleasure. “We’ll see how things go after that.”

  “You’ve already been there almost a week.”

  “And he’s made progress during that time. Hopefully that will continue.”

  “Is he still angry that I sent you out there?”

  “Not with you, no. Sometimes he still gets aggravated with me.” And other times he kisses me until I can’t think straight. The wayward thought streaked through Kelly’s mind.

  The older woman ended their conversation with, “Like I said before, don’t let him get to you.”

  Kelly couldn’t tell Mrs. Wilder that it was already too late—Justice had definitely gotten to her, big-time.

  “Tell me again how fooling around in the ocean is going to help my recovery,” Justice demanded an hour later.

  “We’re not fooling around,” Kelly replied, although that image certainly was tempting. Visions of her body tangling with his in the surf filled her head in a remake of the classic Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster scene from the movie From Here to Eternity.

  The day had turned downright hot. Kelly was wearing the lemon-yellow, two-piece swimsuit she’d brought with her. Aside from the brilliant color, there was nothing outrageous about her outfit, no skimpy top or thong bottom. Yet she was very aware of her body…because she was very aware of his body. He wasn’t wearing a thong, either. The wicked thought made her grin. He looked sexy enough in his briefest running shorts. Apparently, he hadn’t brought a suit with him, which was probably a good thing. Seeing him in a swimsuit would probably give her cardiac arrest.

  During her time at the beach house he’d often gone without a shirt, as he was now, because getting in and out of that piece of clothing was problematic with his injury. He often wore one of his friend Striker’s collection of short-sleeved Hawaiian print shirts left open or only partially buttoned. Again, doing up buttons with his left hand was not the easiest of tasks.

  Not that Kelly had ever complained about his casual state of undress. She’d simply enjoyed the view. Which was wicked of her, but there you had it. She was only hum
an.

  “We’re not fooling around,” she repeated, as much for her own benefit as for his. “We’re working.”

  “I don’t call this work.”

  “Well, I do, so listen up.”

  He lifted a dark eyebrow. “I love it when you go all bossy on me.”

  “You do not.”

  He grinned and her heart stopped. Wow. Talk about a secret weapon. That grin of his was lethal, transforming his lean features. He’d also forsaken his “secret” stare for an outright visual seduction as his gaze wandered over her body with leisurely appreciation. Her skin burned, and it wasn’t caused by the sun.

  “You know me too well,” he murmured.

  Did she? Did she really know him at all? Her heart knew him, knew he was the one man above all others who held the key to her soul. “You’re still a man with plenty of secrets.”

  “Women like a little mystery.”

  “Oh, so now you’re an expert on what women like?”

  “You don’t think I’m an expert?”

  “You show some potential,” she allowed, taking more pleasure than she should in teasing him.

  “Potential?”

  “Yes, but there’s always room for improvement.”

  “Improvement?” he repeated with mock indignation. “Okay, now you’ve gone too far.” He moved toward her.

  “I was just kidding.” She put her hand out, her fingertips brushing against the warm skin of his bare chest. The resilience of his flesh over the hard ridges of muscles and ribs reminded her yet again that this was a man in excellent shape. A whorl of dark hair tapered in an erotic motif from his chest down his stomach. He wasn’t overly hairy, he was just right. And he was right in front of her, gazing down at her with those incredible blue eyes of his, eyes that reflected a sexy gleam she’d never seen in them before.

  “You know what happens to women who kid a Force Recon Marine, don’t you?” His voice was deep with sensual promise.

  She shook her head, unable to speak.

  “I didn’t think so.” He trailed his left index finger down her cheek, past her jaw, and kept going to the hollow at the base of her throat and lower. “We keep that kind of information highly classified.” His erotic caress moved to the valley between her breasts. “Only those with special knowledge have access.”