Brothers in Blue A Bryson Family Christmas - Jeanne St. James Page 0,23
was one way to get rid of her tears.
“What do you want, Marine?” she whispered.
“My wife.” He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his erection under his boxers, proving what he said was true.
She pinned her lips together so she wouldn’t smile. “You’re assuming your wife wants you right now at zero dark thirty after a couple hours of sleep at most.”
He lifted one dark eyebrow. “Does she not?”
“She might be able to drum up some enthusiasm,” she teased, sliding her fingers over the long, hard ridge. “Especially since you’re already at attention.”
He grinned and thumbed her nipples through the long-sleeved cotton nightshirt she slept in. The one that said, “Lay down the law, do a cop,” across the chest. He had bought it for her last Christmas as a joke. But she wore it all last winter and had dug it out again this year once it got cold.
She supposed it was fitting since she was about to “do a cop.”
The brush of his thumbs made her nipples turn to tight nubs, then he pinched the tips gently.
“Stay right where you are,” she ordered, walking past him toward the bed, pulling off the nightshirt as she went.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he answered.
She tossed it onto the nearby chair, knowing it would drive him crazy that she’d thrown it haphazardly. She slipped out of her panties and threw those on top, too, then turned to face him after rethinking climbing onto the bed. That could wait.
He had plans. Well, so did she.
She saw where his head had turned and noticed his shoulders had tensed. “My clothes are on the chair. What’s more important? That they aren’t folded, or that your wife is currently naked?”
Having a child would test his Post-Traumatic Stress-induced Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, so she was trying to work with him to let the less important things go.
A child was never going to be neat and orderly. Toys, clothes, food... Levi would create plenty of messes. He also wouldn’t understand that his father would struggle when seeing them.
“Now, get undressed and keep your back toward me. Your wife wants to inspect her Marine.”
She could imagine his grin at her words. His shoulders loosened and he crossed his arms over his abdomen, grabbed the bottom of his worn, loose olive drab T-shirt and slowly pulled it up his torso and over his head.
Without hesitation, he also dropped his drawers.
She let her gaze roam over him from his high and tight hair style, his corded neck, across his broad shoulders. It touched on the large Marines logo inked in black and grey into his back, the American Flag, and the words Semper Fi in a banner beneath it.
One thing her husband was, was loyal.
Dedicated to a fault.
The round globes of his muscular ass drew her attention next. He worked out like a fiend. Alternating running and weights, keeping his body sculpted like an Adonis. Unlike her, who was a bit soft around the middle.
But he needed to expel his anxiety somehow and going for a long run sometimes helped. Because of his routine, his thighs were powerful, his calves perfectly formed.
“Turn around.” She whispered the order, but he heard it. He was listening carefully for her commands.
He slowly turned and the first thing she noticed was his cock in his hand. The second was the raised scar along his ribs where he took a piece of shrapnel during one of his tours.
Proof he could have died serving his country. Carly couldn’t imagine never having met him and loved him, or helping him through his struggles.
The years he dedicated to the Marines left him a broken man. And once the Corps discovered just how broken he was, they sent him home against his will. He had felt betrayed after the years of loyalty, years of his life, he’d given. His heart hadn’t been ready to go, but his mind was too messed up to stay.
The Marine Corps gave him up damaged and Carly accepted him as-is.
Every day was a journey and some were more difficult than others. But the good days were worth dealing with the bad. And the man standing before her was worth it.
“Looking mighty edible there, Marine.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he barked softly.
Her lips curved in a slight smile as he folded both the T-shirt and boxers before stacking them neatly on the dresser. He probably would never be able to break that habit with his own stuff.