SIXTEEN
Bran couldn’t believe he was actually doing this. He’d put it mildly when he’d told Jessie this wasn’t his kind of thing. He was a man and she was a woman, and that’s the way he liked it, especially in the bedroom.
But Jessie meant a lot to him, and he had a feeling she just needed a little help to get her head back on straight.
He started by turning on the bathroom light and partially closing the door, leaving it open enough to illuminate the room in a soft yellow glow.
Taking a condom from his pocket, he tossed it up on the nightstand, sat down on the edge of the bed, and took off his low-topped leather boots. Standing to unzip his jeans, he slid them down his legs, leaving him in his white cotton briefs. He made no effort to hide his erection. He’d told her he wanted her. He just didn’t want to scare her by telling her how much.
“You ready for this?” he asked. She nodded, but he couldn’t miss the trepidation that had crept into her eyes. Leaning down, he kissed her long and deep, then stripped off his briefs, lay down on his back and stretched out on the mattress. Reaching up, he grabbed the post at the end of the padded headboard.
Jessie’s hand shook as she looped the zip tie around the post and his wrists. Bran spread his hands a little as she tightened the loop, a trick to give him enough room to get free whenever he wanted.
Hell, no way he was actually letting anyone tie him up. He was a soldier and Jessie’s bodyguard. That wasn’t going to happen.
Didn’t matter. All that mattered was giving her the illusion of control. It would work or it wouldn’t. He prayed to God it would and inwardly groaned to think how bad he was going to ache if it didn’t.
Jessie stood next to the bed staring down at him.
“Be nice if you took off your clothes and joined me,” he said. “I’m beginning to feel a little self-conscious.”
That made her smile. She took off her clothes one piece at a time, and with every inch of her lovely body she revealed, his lust expanded. Her pretty breasts and tiny waist, the perfect little ass that had intrigued him from the moment she had dived into the warm pool water. Jessie must have sensed the effect she was having because she removed each garment with more and more confidence.
Or maybe it was the perspiration she saw on his forehead just thinking about what she might do to his body.
Naked at last, she settled herself on the bed beside him, leaned over and kissed him. Her silky hair tumbled around her, enveloping him in a fiery cocoon and driving him crazy.
The kiss went on and on. He was beginning to wonder if he had miscalculated and she didn’t have the courage to do more than kiss when her hands began to slide over his chest. His abdomen contracted as she explored his biceps, his pecs, the indentations over his ribs. When her tongue ringed his navel, he bit back a groan.
Her lips followed her hands, pressing soft butterfly kisses across his heated skin, making him so hard he hurt. She paused when she reached the scar from the knife that had plunged into his abdomen, pressed her mouth there, then kissed the scar near his spleen.
There was something about it so tender it made him want her even more. When she returned to kissing him again, it took every ounce of his will not to free his wrists, lift her up and settle her astride him, surge into her until he found release.
He called on his Delta training in a way he had never imagined, fighting the overwhelming need to take her.
Just when he thought he couldn’t stand a moment more, Jessie tore open the condom and gently sheathed him. He closed his eyes at the rush of pleasure and clenched his jaw to stay in control.
Jessie straddled him, raised herself up, and took him deep. Brandon’s eyes slid closed on a wave of bliss. Sweet Jesus, nothing had ever felt so good. He let her set the rhythm, fought not to move until his body rebelled and he had no choice. She was riding him now, taking what she wanted.
He clamped down hard on his control until he felt the first ripples of her climax and heard her moan. Triumph burst through him, followed by a rush of incredible heat. Unable to stop himself, he freed his hands and gripped her hips, surged up into her and began to take what he so desperately needed.
Bran took her and took her, drove her up to a second peak, before his muscles went rigid, a fierce groan escaped, and he followed her to release.
Long moments passed with Jessie slumped over his chest, her silky hair spread out around them. Still hard inside her, he ran a hand down her back, praying he hadn’t hurt her, praying she had enjoyed it as much as he had. Praying she was okay.
When he felt the wetness of her tears on his chest, everything inside him constricted into a hard, tight ball of regret.
He drew in a ragged breath. “Jessie, honey. I’m so sorry.”
Instead of the sob he expected, Jessie shot into a sitting position, a huge grin on her face. “We did it!” She wriggled, still astride him. “We did it!”
They were tears of joy, he realized. Joy, not sorrow.
Relief hit him hard. Swallowing past the knot in his throat, he managed to smile. “Yeah, baby, we did.” Easing her off him onto the mattress beside him, he leaned over and very softly kissed her. “You were amazing.”
He left her long enough to dispose of protection and returned to find her still smiling.
“It worked,” she said as he lay down beside her and curled her into his side. “We made new memories to replace the old ones. I might have a relapse once in a while, but next time I have a problem, I’ll just close my eyes and see you. I’ll remember how good it felt when we were making love.”
