Page 21 of Undaunted

She traces her finger down my chest. “Or maybe I need a longer trial period. You know, enough time to test everything and make sure it works.”

I chuckle. “Oh, everything works, alright. Need to do another test drive to be sure?”

“I have a better idea.” Claudia slides down the bed and positions herself between my legs, her hands warm against the inside my thighs. “I need to look under the hood again. I need to make sure.”

“About what?”

“That it’s as good as the first two times I got to try it last night,” she says, biting her lower lip. “After all, it’s always best to try things more than once or twice, if you can. Don’t you agree?”

“The more often, the better is my motto,” I murmur as her hand wraps around my waking cock, throbbing with need. “Maintenance is important, too, you know, to guarantee that everything works fine every time.”

Claudia lowers her face toward my cock. “Would you like me to do some maintenance right now, sir? Because it looks like it’s… requiring one really bad.”

“Oh, it… definitely… does.” The rest of the words get lost on my tongue as Claudia licks the tip of my cock. I gasp, pulling another pillow under my head so I can watch her take me in her mouth.

I love her playfulness, the way she allows herself to enjoy the moment as she runs her tongue along my length. I love her focus, how she wants nothing more than to drive me wild with her mouth, her tongue, her hands, driving me to the edge and back until I can’t take it anymore.

“My turn,” I murmur as I pull Claudia up to me and take over, rolling her onto her back and pinning her hands above her head as I kiss her and make love to her.

It’s the only thing I can do to stop myself from saying what I want her to know from this moment on, that I can’t get enough of her.

And I’ve loved her from the moment I met her.

* * *

“Earth to Horseman, anyone home?”

I look up from my monitor to see Quinn grinning at me from his desk. It’s another Monday and while I’ve been hard at work, this morning I have to admit I’m distracted. “What do you want, Ladykiller?”

“Just wondering where you were, man,” he says, chuckling. “Because you certainly weren’t here.”

I do my best to act nonchalant as I return my attention to the screen. But Quinn’s right. While my body might be at the office on a Monday morning, showing up bright and early in time for a general meeting, my mind is still back at my apartment. And up until the moment Quinn called my attention, in bed where Claudia and I spent most of Sunday. It’s where we’ve spent the last three Sundays since the hike.

Sure, we spend every weekend exploring Virginia Beach and its surrounding areas—the aquarium one weekend, a motorcycle ride to Corolla to see the horses the next, even a visit to the obstacle course on the base—the nights are always spent in my bed or hers up until we have to get up on Monday morning. Claudia and I have even reached the point where we had ourselves tested so we could ditch protection altogether since she’s already on the pill for period issues.

Some days it feels like we’re rushing through this, and with her internship coming to an end in a few weeks, it certainly feels like it. But I need to convince her to stay.

“Who is she?” Quinn asks. “The only other time I’ve seen you this distracted before was after that night we hung out at Hot Tuna and you met the girl of your…” His voice fades as he peers at me. “No way. Did you? But I thought you didn’t get her phone number.”

I glare at him but don’t answer even as I feel my face burning. I get that Quinn and the guys were there for me after my first marriage crumbled two-and-a-half years ago. Hell, they were there from the beginning when things were good for Kate and me, but I don’t want to jinx what I’ve got going with Claudia by blabbing about it.

No, I’m a changed man now. It took losing my damn leg but I want this thing between Claudia and me to work.

“No fucking way!” Quinn exclaims, raising his arms like he scored a touchdown.

“No fucking way, what?” Mark asks as he emerges from his office.

“The timing matches. Bennett told me he finally heard from that girl he met that night at Hot Tuna, right before our last deployment. And she had a real pretty friend with her that Trevor here couldn’t get enough of,” Quinn says. “Now it makes sense, you being on cloud nine the last few weeks.”

“You have been smiling more than normal,” Mark says. “And Natalie did say she heard you humming the other day.Heaven Can Wait, I think. Meat Loaf.”

My glare deepens but I know it’s hopeless. For someone who can dish it out, no problem, I sure can’t take it.

“What’s the big deal? They both live in my building,” I mutter as I close the file I’m working on… or was. No point now. I barely saw what was on the screen anyway.

Mark pulls up a chair in front of Quinn’s desk and sits down. “You gonna bring her to the barbecue with you next week?”

“I don’t know,” I mumble.

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