“I thought I was going to end up in the brig for sure, but luckily, after hearing the story, the commander thought it was kind of funny. He declined to press charges and I was let go. But word got out about what happened, and people started calling me Mustang.”
“And did the other guy get in trouble?”
Mustang smirked. “Oh, yeah. The commander made him do extra duty for six months. He was cool with it though; he knew he’d gone too far with the prank, and we actually ended up becoming pretty good friends. When I tried out for the SEALs, we lost touch.”
“That’s hilarious,” Elodie said. “I guessed there had to be some sort of story behind your name, but I figured maybe you raised horses growing up or something.”
“Ha. Nope. So…how’d you become a chef?” Mustang asked.
Her smile slowly dimmed as she stared out at the waves. Mustang instantly regretted his question. He hadn’t wanted to talk about anything that would make her sad or depressed. “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s fine,” Elodie said immediately, looking up at him. “My parents always cooked together, and when I got old enough, I joined them. At first I was just doing measuring and chopping, easy stuff like that, but after a time, I got more into it and was trying complicated recipes on my own. I started watching as many cooking shows as I could, and before I knew it, I was obsessed.
“I went to the community college where my parents worked, after high school, and got my business associates degree, but I wasn’t all that interested in going on to get my bachelor’s degree, much to my parents’ chagrin. I headed up to Chicago and went to culinary school. I loved it. I worked in a lot of restaurants after I graduated, and was even a sous chef for a pretty famous chef for a while. But eventually the hours got to me and I wanted a change of pace.”
Mustang could see Elodie’s shoulders slump as she spoke, and he knew whatever change she’d made had somehow led to the problems she was having today. He reached out and slid his hand to the back of her neck.
She looked up at him in surprise.
“Not now,” he said softly. “I want to hear every detail about what happened when you left Chicago, but for now, I want to enjoy the evening on the beach with you. Please don’t think I don’t want to know what’s going on, I do, but I want to get to know you first.”
He saw her swallow hard before she licked her lips and spoke. “Okay.”
“Good.” Mustang couldn’t take his gaze from her lips. He wanted to taste them again. Wanted to nibble on that plump upper lip, and the vision of her taking his cock between those luscious lips sprang into his mind suddenly. He immediately got hard.
Shit, this wasn’t like him. He never thought about sex so soon after meeting a woman. But then again, he’d been thinking about Elodie for months now. Wondering where she was and if she was all right.
“How about a walk?” he blurted, needing to move. If he didn’t, he might pull her onto his lap and do some very indecent things on a public beach.
“I’d like that,” she told him.
Mustang didn’t let go of her for a long moment. He was warring with himself. Part of him wanted to slip his hand under her dress, and another part knew he needed to let go of her to get some of his control back.
“Scott?” she whispered.
“Yeah?” he replied just as quietly.
Her breasts rose and fell with her inhalations, letting him know he wasn’t the only one feeling out of control.
“This is crazy, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “But damned if I care.”
“Me either,” she said with a small smile. “But…I don’t do this. I mean, I have in the past. When I was in my early twenties. I was killing myself to make it as a chef and was stressed way the hell out, so occasionally I’d go to bars and find a guy and go home with him. But I’d always feel guilty afterward, and it didn’t make me any less stressed. Shit…now I’m babbling and you probably think I’m a whore.”
“I don’t think that,” Mustang said immediately. “I’ve done the same thing a time or two, and you’re right, sleeping with a stranger never really seems to be all that satisfying.”
“Exactly.”
“But you don’t feel like a stranger to me,” Mustang told her.
She nodded. “I know. Why is that? We’ve really only known each other for less than a day if you count the hours and minutes.”
Mustang tightened his grip and ran his thumb over the skin behind her ear. She visibly shivered under his touch, and it made him feel so damn powerful. She was responsive as hell; he couldn’t wait to see her reactions in bed. “I think it’s because we formed a bond on that cargo ship. I helped you, and you helped me. It was pretty intense and our guards were down. I’ve thought about you every day since then. Wondered where you were, if you were all right, what you were doing.”
“Same,” Elodie said as she blushed. “I was devastated when I realized I’d lost your number. It felt as if I’d lost something precious. It was silly to come here to Hawaii in the hopes I’d somehow be able to find you, but I didn’t know where else to go.”
“I feel as if a higher power had a hand in us not only meeting, but in me seeing you today. Midas suggested we go deep-sea fishing out of the blue. It’s amazing that we happened to be at the same harbor that you work out of.”
“I know,” she said.
Mustang watched as she licked her lips…then she leaned toward him slightly. He took the hint and met her more than halfway. He kept hold of her nape as he devoured her.
She melted in his arms, tilting her head back and letting him take what he wanted. How long they made out, he had no idea, but when he felt her hand slip under his shirt…then into the back waistband of his shorts…Mustang knew he needed to slow things down.
He wanted this woman with a longing that scared him. He needed to be naked with her, inside her, more than he’d ever needed anything in his life. But he wasn’t going to do something that might embarrass her, or get either of them arrested on this public beach.
After pulling back, Mustang realized that his own hand had made its way under the hem of her dress…and he was kneading her thigh inappropriately, considering where they were. She’d spread her legs just a bit, giving him access, and his fingers were dangerously close to feeling exactly how ready her body was for him. He could smell the slight scent of her musk, and he had to close his eyes to get control of himself.
“That escalated quickly,” Elodie said with a small laugh.
Opening his eyes, Mustang looked down at the woman in his arms. Her lips were even plumper now than they were before, flushed from his kisses. Her cheeks were pink and she seemed to be having a hard time catching her breath.
Both their hands were frozen, her fingers brushing the top of his ass cheeks under his shorts and his own on her inner thigh. Slowly and regretfully, Mustang removed his hand from under her dress. His cock jerked when she slipped her hand out of the back of his shorts.
“Still want to take that walk?” he asked.
Elodie nodded immediately. “Yeah, actually, I do. I’ve lived here for a month and a half and have yet to see a sunset from a beach. And it’ll keep me from pushing you down onto the sand and jumping you right here.” She grinned as she said it.