Redeeming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT Caribbean Nights #9) - Kat Cantrell Page 0,51

her.

By 5:45, she’d fixed her hair three different ways, brushed it all out, and left it down, applied and then wiped off at least seven different shades of lipstick, and changed clothes nine times. God, why was she so nervous? It was just a date with a man she’d slept with, eaten with, swam with. She’d brought him to a climax with her mouth, her hands, her body, her voice.

But this was something different than a two-week fling or Skype sex. It was more.

At the same time, she worried about the big railroad spike through her heart at some point in the future. History wasn’t on their side, and he’d practically promised that there would be more hurt in her future, but God, the way he made her feel… he was worth it.

Still. All of that swirled together to make her hands clammy.

Good thing she’d ducked out of work early or she’d never have been ready when Charlie knocked on the door at ten till six. Looked like they were both anticipating their date.

She swung open the door, and his smile almost knocked her knees out from under her. God in heaven, was a finer man ever built? His shoulders alone should get a national holiday. When you added ice-blue eyes, a body that turned simple slacks and a shirt mouthwatering, and a fistful of long-stemmed roses, he was a walking advertisement for perfection.

His gaze heated instantly as he did a slow inventory of her from toes to head, and she let him look because the effort to be pretty for him had been monumental. Men had no idea how hard it was to pencil on eyeliner when your hands shook.

“For you.” He nodded to the flowers and then swept into her apartment to drop them onto the credenza behind the couch instead of handing them to her. The door clicked shut in his wake.

All at once, he whirled her into his arms, and his mouth came down on hers, hot and needy, and she soared into the vortex. The press of his hard body pinned her to the door as he lit her up. Everything inside took flight as his hands raced to find the hem of her dress, and within moments, the indecision that had led to nine outfit changes became irrelevant when he whipped the fabric up and over her head.

All righty then.

“Sorry,” he said but didn’t sound all that sorry and then nuzzled her ear, his breath shooting little licks of fire across her neck. “That dress looked amazing on you.”

“Uh-huh. What color was it?”

He stalled by mouthing his way down her throat, sucking and licking every millimeter of skin he could get under his lips, and then slid two fingers under her bra straps, one on each side. “Red?”

The straps slid from her shoulders, and he followed the left one with little nibbles across her clavicle until his mouth hit the soft flesh of her shoulder. Which he branded with his hot lips.

She moaned. “Close. Blue.”

“I really meant to let you wear it to dinner,” he mouthed against her skin. “But I need you too much to wait.”

And then he yanked the bra down to her waist without unhooking it and took one nipple hostage, capturing it so thoroughly with his teeth that she gasped as her back bowed involuntarily. Desperately seeking more of his hot mouth, she leaned into it, eyes shut as she let the swell of lust wash through her.

He gave her what she sought with clairvoyant precision, suckling on her breast with a groan that vibrated deep in her core. On fire with need, she groped for his shoulders and went on an exploration of the wonders of Charlie’s back as he switched sides to lave at her other nipple with increased urgency.

Yes, yes, yes. What was wrong with her that she’d thought taking sex out of the equation was a good plan?

All of her uncertainty and nervousness melted under this oral onslaught. His mouth on her skin made sense, and she’d needed so badly for something to.

Her head lolled back against the door as he took her under in a sensual haze with his hands as they feathered across her stomach. All at once, he dropped to his knees. His palms drifted to her hips, then paused, fingers hovering near where she’d been hurt.

And then her heart fell out of rhythm as he gently kissed her bruise.

“I’ll feed you,” he promised as he kept going down her leg to cover