He blinks a few times. “All right. Once again, you stun me.”
“I’m good at that.”
“Clearly.”
I smile and let out a long sigh. “I told you that I like to know what’s coming whenever I can, that’s all.”
“I get it—kind of.”
I’m a headcase, but it’s necessary here. I have to keep my feelings in check, and for that to happen, there needs to be lines drawn. “Okay, maybe we don’t need a definition as much as we need boundaries. Parameters to work inside of. Like, we have sex once a day.”
“I don’t like that idea.”
“You don’t?”
“Hell no. I would like to carry you inside that house and already be halfway undressed with my hands all over you. So, no, I think sex once a day is a terrible rule.”
My heartbeat spikes because I want what he just offered, but I shake my head to come back to myself. “It can’t be a free-for-all.”
“Why not?”
Why not? Hmm, I don’t really have an answer for that. It just seemed sensible. “Because . . . we need to avoid getting caught up in it.”
Oliver steps forward, and I have nowhere to retreat. “Maren, we had some fantastic sex, and I have been fighting a raging hard on all day with you in the car. I want you in every way as many times as you’ll let me have you. If you want boundaries, we can find other ways, but I want you. I want you, and I am pretty sure you want me just as much.”
My throat goes dry, and I nod, unable to deny it. I want him, which is why I was hoping we could have the rules. “I do, but . . .”
His body presses against mine, and my hand grips the doorknob behind me. “But?”
I lift up a little, no longer caring much about rules or boundaries and very much caring about Oliver’s body touching mine. My fingers slide against the strands of his hair. “We can make the rules up later.” I pull his mouth to mine and kiss him deeply.
Oliver pushes the door open so we stumble inside. Then he shoves me against the wall, pulling my shirt over my head. Our mouths find each other again as the frantic need builds faster.
We kiss, only stopping to remove an item of clothing for the other.
His hand hooks under my leg, lifting it as he shoves my skirt up. “No underwear?” he asks as his mouth finds my neck.
“I told you, I don’t wear any.”
“I’m going to enjoy this.”
I very much think that’s true for the both of us.
Smiling, I pull his mouth back to mine as he slips his finger into me. I moan when his thumb grazes my clit.
Oliver pushes me higher, not playing or teasing. It’s frantic, hot, and I am desperate for him.
“Please,” I beg.
“I can’t . . .” he says, almost regretfully. “I can’t fucking wait.”
“Don’t wait.”
It doesn’t matter that we’re in the foyer, I need him so much. I want to lose myself in him—in us.
“Maren, I—”
I take his face in my hands, staring at him. “Take me, Oliver. Now.”
He lifts me a little and then slams into me. My head falls back against the wall as he sets an unrelenting pace. He fucks me so hard that, before I can grab ahold of any semblance of restraint, the orgasm hits.
I scream his name, clawing at his back as he pumps deeper.
As I’m coming down from my high, he lets out a deep groan and follows me over the edge. He shudders a second before his legs give out and we sink to the floor with him still inside me.
“That was . . .”
“Reckless,” I finish for him, feeling the stickiness between us.
He looks down, realizing the same thing that I just did. “Fuck! Shit! How the hell could I—”
“It’s okay. I have an IUD, so we don’t have to worry about that, and I’m clean. I get tested religiously.”
“I’m clean too.”
I sigh. “Good, then we have nothing to worry about.”
“Let’s get dressed and . . . see the house.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Once we’re cleaned up, we grab the bags we left by the door and go deeper into the house. The view from the living room is breathtaking. There are floor-to-ceiling windows that take up the entire back wall of the house, giving an almost uninterrupted view of the ocean.
“This is amazing,” Oliver says, standing beside me.
“I love this house. She had it redone about two years ago so it was more in line with current trends. Even before she did that, this place was special. There’s something so calming about the ocean. It’s probably why I love where I live now.”
“My family owned a beach house in North Carolina my whole life. I didn’t spend a ton of time there. We went once a summer, but I’ve always felt more at home in the mountains.”
Another thing we’re opposites on. I tuck that little fact away for later when I try to remember why I shouldn’t want more.
“I loved the resort, but I can’t imagine not hearing the waves.”
He shrugs. “I can’t imagine not being in the forest. However, this, being here now, is really great.”
I lean my head against his shoulder. “Why is that?”
“Because I’ve been killing myself with the resort. All of us have been going nonstop for months, trying to get things done. Since I’m the only one who isn’t married with kids, I’ve had a heavier load to bear.”
Almost everyone at Cole Security Forces is married with kids. Jackson and Mark have growing families and put a lot of emphasis on how important it is to balance. Natalie works from home a lot of the time when Liam is deployed or when she just needs to be there for her kids. Gretchen and Ben are on rotating shifts so one of them is always home with the kids, and there are no set hours, so everyone just does what works best for their situation. The only thing they ask is that we show up when we’re needed.
It’s great, and I fully support their priorities, but being single—it sucks. I’m always there. I work a lot, and sometimes it feels like the expectation for me to fill the gaps is greater because there is no one relying on me at home. I can be available to the company.
“It’s hard when people think all you have is work, and that, because you’re single, you should always be the one to sacrifice.” I understand that sentiment all too well.
“They never say it is that way.”
“But you still feel it.”
He laughs once. “We’re a pair, huh?”
“Overachievers with a high sense of responsibility?”
“That’s one way to put it.” He wraps his arm around me, pulling me against his side. “How about for the next five days we don’t think about work or family or anything but having a good time?”
I look up into his blue eyes. “Do you think we can?”
“I think I can focus on much better things.”
My stomach flutters at the lusty look in his eyes. “And where would you direct all that attention?”
He shifts me so I’m standing in front of him, looking up at his face. “You.”
“Me?”
“You.”
“Well, I think I can get on board with that.”