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  She wrapped her arms around his head and held him close and the shivers of cold were soon replaced by ripples of desire. Heat built between their bodies at every point of contact.

  He urged her to wrap her legs around him and found her center with his one hand, caressing her and building her passion. Playfully nipping at her breast as he said, “I was the last one in. Tell me what you want, Nickie.”

  “You. All of you, inside me. Now, Jase. Now,” she said and he grasped her ass and positioned her for his entry. He drove in with one sharp thrust.

  Chapter 7

  Nickie cried out at his rough entry and the almost pleasure-pain it brought.

  She hadn't realized just how tender she was from their lovemaking, but there was no avoiding that every inch of her body was agonizingly sensitized.

  Thankfully he didn't move, but let the gentle ebb and flow of the ocean around them slowly carry them upward until the sensations crested and sent waves and waves of pleasure through their bodies.

  He continued to hold her long after and she didn't let go, keeping him tight to her with her arms and legs and kiss after kiss until it was no longer possible to ignore the frigid water and the first blush of an early summer dawn on the horizon.

  They hurried back to the blanket where she slipped on her cover-up and he tucked the blanket around them to dry and warm their bodies.

  Their hips bumped against each other as they climbed the steps to the boardwalk cutting through the dunes and onto the lawn. At the edge of the flagstone terrace, she stopped and he faced her, a questioning look on his face.

  She cupped his cheeks, rose up on tiptoes and kissed him, her heart swelling and almost bursting at the thought the night was over. That he’d be leaving soon.

  “It’ll be okay, Nickie,” he said and swiped his thumbs across her cheeks and the tears there.

  She hadn’t even realized she was crying.

  With a sniffle and a hesitant smile, she nodded and dropped a quick kiss on his lips. “It’ll be okay,” she repeated and laced her fingers with his.

  As they sauntered across the terrace and into the house, the muted sounds of activity came from the kitchen.

  It was probably Rosie, their housekeeper. She raised a finger to her lips, warning Jase to keep silent as they avoided the kitchen, scurried up the steps, and back to her room.

  He tossed away the blanket and she shivered again, this time from the cold of the air conditioning on her damp skin.

  “I need a hot shower,” she said and quickly added, “Will you join me?”

  At his doubtful look, she said, “Just a shower, Jase. A quick one to warm up and wash away the salt.”

  With a quick sexy grin, he said, “Now that's a promise I wish you wouldn't keep.”

  “Come on.” She grabbed hold of his hand and hauled him into her bathroom. She shucked off her cover-up and stood by the immense shower stall to get the hot water running through the multiple shower heads.

  “Is this a car wash or a shower?” he teased and nestled behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he waited with her.

  “Very funny, Jase. You'll thank me when your squeaky clean and deliciously warm.”

  He chuckled and nipped the crook of her shoulder. “I think I'm already getting warm, Nickie.”

  “Yeah, I can tell. I guess Marines can always rise to the occasion,” she teased since despite his earlier comments, he was gradually hardening against the small of her back.

  “Oohrah,” he huffed playfully and rubbed his hips against her.

  Waving her hand through the water spewing from the shower heads, she was satisfied it was hot enough and opened the stall door. Together they stepped beneath the cascade of water and she turned to face Jase.

  “Mmm, that water does feel good. Hot. Wet.” His voice was low as he skimmed his erection back and forth across the slick wetness of her belly.

  “Amazing thing about water. It’s wet,” she kidded.

  He grinned and her insides twisted at that little boy smile, but even as they did, she had to admit to one little problem. “Jase, I'm a little – ”

  “Sore? I'm sorry about that, babe. I know this is all probably too much in just one night.”

  Her heart stuttered painfully and her stomach clenched at his words. She smoothed her hands across his damp shoulders and down his arms to his hands. She twined her fingers with his and said, “Is that all this is or ever will be? Just one night?”

  * * *

  Jase knew the answer he wanted to give, but didn't yet trust that she was ready for a full out admission of love. Maybe he wasn’t ready for it either. Or if he was being totally honest with himself, maybe he wasn’t ready in case she decided to reject him.

  “That's up to you, Nickie,” he said hesitantly.

  She met his gaze, hers suddenly clouded and filled with doubt. She worried her lower lip with her teeth and he leaned forward and kissed that spot. Whispered against her lips, “No regrets, remember?”

  “No regrets,” she whispered back and answered his kiss, opening her mouth to him and accepting his every lick, bite, and taste. Exploring his mouth with hers until he was nearly ready to come just from the pleasure of her kiss.

  He held back his release, wanting just a little more of her to remember for when he was gone.

  Bending, he caressed her breasts and helped himself to the taste and feel of her delicious tits, smiling against them at her urgent cries of need.

  He moved lower, kneeling before her and as his gaze skipped up to hers, there was no doubt about what she wanted.

  He parted her gently, mindful of her tenderness. Softly he brushed a kiss across her clit as the warm water streamed down her body and between her legs.

  She moaned and shifted against him. She grabbed hold of his shoulders and her nails bit into his skin as she held him tight.

  The sharp sting of them made his balls hard and he groaned against her clit from his need.

  She gasped his name and urged him up, parting her thighs as she did so. Guiding him to her and he eased in slowly. Carefully. Stood there joined with her as the water rained down on them and against them. Warmed every inch of their bodies that wasn't already heated from their caresses.

  He locked his gaze with hers as he braced his hands on the shower stall behind her head. Her long hair was seal black from the wet and plastered against her head and shoulders, exposing her heart-shaped face and long elegant neck. Her expressive hazel eyes were almost cocoa with desire and so alive with everything she was feeling at that moment.

  God, but she’s beautiful and she’s mine, he thought.

  She cradled his cheek and skimmed her thumb against his rough morning beard. “Jase,” she began hesitantly, but then something came over her. He could see it in her features as she plowed on, all doubt gone.

  “I love you, Jase. God, I so love you and if you don’t love me back, please don’t say another word, ‘cause I don’t think I could handle it right now.”

  He dug his fingers through the wet strands of his hair and grinned broadly. “God, Nickie. I love you, too,” he said and emotion overwhelmed control.

  He came inside her, spilling himself deep within and a moment later, her release exploded around him, milking him. Drawing him ever deeper.

  For long moments they stood there, holding onto satisfaction for as long as they could. Forgetting the world around them for as long as they could.

  But as his watch alarm beeped in warning, it was impossible for them to face the inevitable.

  Their one night together was over.

  Chapter 8

  Nickie leaned against her door, her arms trapped behind her body to keep her from doing something stupid, like begging him not to leave.

  She bit her bottom lip to keep from crying – again – as Jase approached, dressed all in black once more. Leaving her exactly as he’d come to her for their one night together.

  Maybe not exactly. She didn’t think that either of them could ever
be the same again after tonight.

  He paused in front of her and started to speak, but then his normally mobile and smiling lips snapped closed and into a harsh thin line.

  She understood.

  What other words could they possibly say to each other? What words could possibly make any difference in what they both knew had to happen that morning?

  She inched higher on her tiptoes and kissed him, a hard and urgent kiss that she hoped communicated all that she was feeling.

  When they broke apart, she sniffled back her tears, scrubbed her face with shaky hands, and offered him a watery smile. She didn’t outright cry, but she couldn't speak past the tightness in her throat and was thankful that he remained silent as well.

  With a quick, almost curt nod, and another hard urgent kiss, he rushed out the door, leaving her behind to deal with the emotions swirling around in her brain. Emotions she didn't have time to fully explore because she knew that she had to be downstairs soon for the big bye-bye breakfast that her parents had planned for the Hart family.

  Only she wasn't sure she was ready to say goodbye. Not when she’d confessed her love to the man of her dreams. The man of her fantasies who had turned out to be so much more than she ever could have imagined.

  She hurried to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face to keep away another bout of tears. She had no energy or desire to do much with her hair, so with a hurried brushing and a few quick twists she put it up in a messy top knot.

  Ignoring the quick glance of the pale strained face of the woman in the mirror, she rushed back into her bedroom.

  She grabbed the suitcase where she'd carted home her clothes for the weekend, snatched a pair of faded low-rise jeans and panties from it, and put them on. Without much care, she grabbed a bra and a pale blue and white baby doll t-shirt that Tommy had gotten her at the university store just before graduation.

  Fortifying herself with a deep inhalation, she hurried from her room and down to the kitchen. She breezed over to where Rosie was working at the large island peninsula in the middle of the room. Hugging the plump woman who was almost like a second mom, she asked, “Is everyone down for breakfast already?”

  “Everyone's down and you're dad is giving Jason a very determined glare. He seems to think Jason is the reason you're not at the table yet,” Rosie said and glanced back over her shoulder and toward the dining room.

  She plucked a ripe strawberry from the plate Rosie was preparing and earned a lighthearted slap on the hand. “Can’t you wait until you’re sitting down at the table like everyone else?”

  Nickie craned her neck and peered through the doorway to the dining table where her family and Jase’s was gathered and where her chair next to her dad sat conspicuously absent.

  “Why would my dad think that Jase is the reason I’m not there yet?” she asked, dragging a sharp chuckle from Rosie. Her laugh was followed by her hushed whisper as Rosie leaned close and said, “Your dad was up early and came down to make himself some coffee just as I arrived.”

  Which meant that he might have seen her and Jase sneaking in from the beach.

  “Shit,” she muttered.

  “Yes, I think that's what he said when he saw you and Jason heading up the stairs together.”

  Rosie put the finishing touches on the large platter of fruit salad and eyed her, the glance thoughtful and surprisingly supportive. “It's time to face the music, Nickie.”

  Yeah, it was, but she hoped the music didn't turn out to be a funeral dirge.

  She followed Rosie into the dining room, a bright smile on her face, not that she was feeling all that happy. She hugged her dad, mom, Tommy, and Jase’s parents before taking her spot at the table at the empty chair beside her dad. The spot beside her was normally reserved for her brother, but he was sitting next to their mom and Jase's mom. As she met his gaze, hers questioning, he winked and then shot a quick glance at Jase, who was sitting in Tommy’s normal spot.

  “You're late,” her father said, a combination of anger and annoyance dripping from every word.

  “I’m sorry, dad, but I couldn't sleep last night,” she said and avoided looking at Jase, although as she sat, he placed a comforting hand on her thigh. His actions were hidden from view by the table.

  “Funny thing, but I had trouble sleeping as well,” he said and glared at the two of them, but said nothing else as Rosie stepped between them to place the fruit platter on the table.

  Her family had never been big on formalities, especially not with the Harts who had shared so many good times with them.

  “Well, I'm starving,” Tommy said and grabbed the spoon from the fruit platter to serve himself.

  “Dig in,” her mother urged and whatever her father might have wanted to say was forestalled by the exchange of plates from one hand to the other as people served themselves from the pastries, bagels, eggs, bacon, and fruit that Rosie had prepared for the meal.

  She wasn't very hungry. Her stomach was twisted up like a pretzel as each second ticked by and became one second closer to the time Jase would leave with his parents. But she also knew her father and eagle-eyed mother would know something was up if she didn't eat.

  She’d always had a healthy appetite and breakfast was her absolutely favorite meal. There was no way she’d skipped it unless some major shit was going down.

  She loaded her plate with eggs, bacon, a bagel and some of the fresh fruit, and forced herself to start eating.

  “Would you like some coffee?” Jase asked and offered to pour from the carafe in his hand.

  “I'd love some, thanks,” she replied, maybe a little too formally. Anyone watching them would hopefully never believe that they'd spent the entire night fucking each other's brains out, but as she grabbed the carafe from him, their fingers brushed and a salvo of desire and heat exploded through her body.

  With a shaky hand, she poured coffee for her dad, managing to spill a good amount into his saucer.

  “Are you sure you haven't had too much coffee already, Nickie? You seem kind of jittery,” her father said and steadied her hand with his.

  “Not enough, actually.” When she finished pouring and set the carafe on the table, she fixed her coffee with a few spoonfuls of sugar and cream and took a big swallow. “Heaven,” she said and ignored her brother's snicker.

  “Heaven is Rosie's French toast,” her brother said and then called out to the housekeeper, “How come you didn't make your world famous French toast, Rosie?”

  Rosie came in a second later with a plate heaped with blueberry walnut pancakes which she took right to Jason. With a wry grin at Tommy, she said, “Because these are Jase's favorites and I wanted to make something special for him before he left.”

  She dropped her fork at Rosie's words, but Jase's reassuring touch on her thigh provided the strength for her to pick it up and try to act as if everything was normal.

  Only it wasn't.

  The man of her dreams was sitting beside her and he'd be gone in a few short hours. After that, who knew how long it would be before he would be back home, only home wasn't New Jersey anymore. Not since his parents had moved away months earlier.

  She grabbed her coffee cup again and took a bracing swallow, hoping the heat of the coffee would help warm the chill that had suddenly seized her heart.

  It didn't.

  Somehow she managed to eat, not that she was hungry. Especially not as her dad decided to pile on with the reason for this special meal. He raised his juice glass and said, “To Jason on his commission and deployment. We hope you come home soon, as well as safe and sound.”

  “Thank you, sir,” he said respectfully and lifted his coffee cup to clink it against those being offered by everyone except her. She somehow couldn't muster the strength to raise her cup at first, but then managed a hasty tap against his to avoid scrutiny.

  The rest of the meal passed in relative silence as everyone ate. Every now and then someone would ask Jase a question about his assignment and she listened
intently, trying to picture how the time would pass. What he'd be doing. What she'd be doing. How long it might be until they were together again.

  “So you're not set to ship out until next weekend? You have this whole week off?” Tommy asked Jase while gazing at her directly.

  “I have the week off, but there are some things I promised my parents I’d do this week,” he said and forked up a big mouthful of pancakes.

  “Jase and I have work to do on the new house,” his dad chimed in.

  “And we haven’t really seen him all that much since we moved down to North Carolina,” his mom added and looked at her son with love and pride.

  “Right,” Jase said around the mouthful of food, but squeezed her thigh beneath the table as if to say, “I’m sorry. I’d rather be with you.”

  But he couldn’t be with her. In that second, though, it came to her what she had to do.

  It was something that was illogical and so not like her.

  It would risk her heart even more than she already had by giving him his one night.

  But it was the right thing to do.

  She laced her fingers with his and brought their joined hands to rest on the table in full view.

  Everyone’s attention zoomed to that spot, including Jase’s, as she said, “Would you mind very much if I went with you? I’m off from school and even if I get the summer intern position, I don’t have to start until next month. So I’m free to go and I’d like to spend some more time with Jase.”

  Her dad’s dark bushy eyebrows shot up high, looking like two crow’s wings about to take flight on his forehead. Her mom brought a shaky hand to her mouth and her eyes watered. Tommy grinned from ear to ear, obviously pleased and let out a loud “Oohrah.”

  Jase’s parents were obviously surprised, but smiling in approval.

  “Are you serious, Nicole? Do you know what that means?” her father asked, but his voice lacked the bluster and upset she had expected.

  She glanced at Jase and her gaze lovingly swept across his face. She smiled and said without any doubt, “I know what it means, Dad. I love Jase. I want to be with him.”