Derick (Delta Forces #3) - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,17

forehead. “Let’s go pick tomatoes. I think there are some cucumbers that the turtles are getting into as well.”

She nodded, but the worry remained in her eyes. Thankfully, as soon as they stepped into the garden, her playfulness returned and she smiled as they harvested the latest bounty. When she picked up a particularly large cucumber, he watched her stare thoughtfully down at it.

“What’s wrong with it?”

She shrugged, hefting it as if weighing it. “Nothing.”

He saw the teasing glint in her eyes. “So, why are you holding it like that?”

She looked over at him. “Well, if you’re going to be away, then…” she looked down again. “Just contemplating your competition.”

Derick stared at her for a long moment, trying to understand. When her meaning came to him, he dropped his trowel and moved purposely towards her, a matching glint in his eyes. “Don’t even think about it,” he growled.

Carrie giggled, backing up, but being careful not to step on any of the plants. “But…you just said you may be gone a few days and…I might get lonely!”

Derick stomped towards her, his intent clear. A moment later, Carrie laughed and sprinted away, hugging the cucumber “competition” to her chest as she went.

Between his longer legs and her inability to stop laughing, he was able to catch her easily and scooped her up in his arms, her legs flying as he swung her around. This time, he didn’t hesitate. He headed inside, pausing occasionally to nibble on her neck exactly where she liked it, which caused her to laugh even harder. When he had her in his bedroom, he tossed her playfully into the bed, and pulled his shirt off. “You’re not going to need that cucumber, Jolene,” he growled, even as she continued to hug the thing closer.

Fortunately, she couldn’t stop laughing long enough to reply and he was able to toss her work boots away and even had her jeans off before she realized what he was doing. By that point, she didn’t care anymore and was fully on board. Especially when he kissed his way up her legs, spreading them as he moved closer and closer to his goal. “Do you think that the cucumber can do this?” he asked, and closed his mouth over that pink, swollen nub.

“Derick!” she gasped, lifting her hips entreatingly as he teased that sensitive nub. In no time at all, she’d tossed the cucumber to the side so she could use both hands to hold his head in place, guiding him. And then she was screaming his name as her first climax poured over her.

In the aftermath, he stood up and stripped off his jeans, grabbing a condom before returning to his favorite position. “I see you’ve abandoned the competition,” he said as he pressed deep into her body, moving slowly at first. When her legs shifted, her knees bending to take him deeper, he moved faster, pressing against her the way he knew she liked. Bringing her closer and closer. Her fingers inched around his shoulders, almost as if she were afraid to break her concentration as her body climbed closer to that beautiful peak. But he knew her now. He knew what she liked and gave it to her.

When she screamed again, her body arching against him as another climax hit, Derick felt her body tense, then the beautiful shivers came over her. He felt her fingers move from his shoulders to his hair and he groaned at her soft touch. That was always the trigger that pulled him over the edge and he tried to hold back, to savor this moment with her, but her fingers! Damn, he loved her fingers in his hair! So sexy and…she knew him just as well as he knew her now.

Carrie smiled when she felt Derick’s hands on her back, sliding up and down her spine. “You’re tickling me,” she whispered, her mouth moving against his bare chest.

“You’re awake?”

She laughed, snuggling closer. “I wasn’t asleep.”

“Could have fooled me,” he grumbled.

The sheets were tangled around their legs, but only because they hadn’t pulled them up over their bodies. Carrie might have done so in the past, but she knew that Derick liked to touch her afterwards, so she didn’t bother with the sheet anymore.

“We left the harvest out in the heat.”

“They’ll be fine for a bit longer.” He didn’t move, but Carrie sensed a change in him. Sure enough, he touched her hair. “Why did you dye your hair again?”

Every muscle in her body went from