Page 50 of Keeping Laryn
“Stop thinking so much,” he ordered as they walked toward his car.
“I can’t,” Laryn said honestly.
Tate walked her around to the passenger-side door. He took a long look around the parking area before turning his attention to her. He backed her against the door until she had to tilt her chin to look at him.
“I’m thirty-four years old, and I’ve never been turned on simply by watching a woman eat like I was with you just now.”
Well. Alrighty then. That was blunt.
“And I’m thirty-five, and I feel the same.”
“The way I see it, this can go one of two ways. We can go back to your apartment, say good night, and you can go to your room and get a good night’s sleep while I crash on your sofa.”
“Or?” Laryn worked up the courage to ask.
“Or, we can go back to your apartment, and you can take me to your bed and have your wicked way with me. We probably won’t get a lot of sleep because once I see you, all of you, I’m going to want to make up for lost time…my fault, not yours.”
Oh, Laryn wanted that. So much. But…“Is this because we’re being deployed? If this is a matter of you scratching an itch, I’m going to have to pass. I’m not the kind of woman who sleeps around. I’ve got a vibrator and I know how to use it, thank you very much.”
“Damn,” Tate said under his breath, moving a hand down to his crotch to adjust himself. It was somehow the hottest thing Laryn had ever seen. He was uncomfortable because of little ol’her.
“This is not a one-night stand. I wouldn’t disrespect you like that. There’s something between us, Laryn. Something that I should’ve seen way before now. I’m an idiot, I already told you that. I’ve finally opened my eyes, and I have a feelingwheneverwe do decide to take our relationship to the next level, it’ll change both our lives for the better. But I can wait. Things on deployment are going to be intense, as always. We won’t have any privacy or a chance to see where things might go between us. But I’m telling you right now, things are still going to be different this time around. No more going our separate ways all the time on the ship. I want to eat with you, check in and see how you’re doing, talk about the helicopters, and hang out with you and my fellow pilots whenever possible. Is that okay?”
It sounded like heaven to Laryn. Deployments had always been a bit lonely for her. She didn’t fit in with the sailors and soldiers onboard. Since she wasn’t an officer or even in the military any longer, people were reluctant to say too much around her. They certainly weren’t going to go out of their way to befriend her, since it was likely they’d never see her again. So having Tate say he wanted to spend more time with her onboard was actually something she was looking forward to. It should make the deployment less boring and more bearable.
“That’s more than okay,” she reassured him.
“Good. So? Door number one or two? No pressure. Seriously. Just as you’re an expert with your vibrator, my hand does the job when needed.”
The thought of him masturbating in her shower, or even on her couch when she went to bed, made Laryn’s nipples harden under her coveralls.
“Two,” she blurted.
His pupils dilated before her very eyes.
To his credit, he didn’t ask if she was sure. Didn’t try to talk her out of her decision. He seemed just as anxious as she was to open door number two and see if their physical attraction was as intense as it seemed.
Before she knew it, she was buckled into her seat and Tate was driving like a bat out of hell toward her apartment complex. Neither of them spoke, but Laryn took a chance and reached out and placed her hand on Tate’s thigh.
He immediately covered her hand with his and gripped it tightly. Holding hands with this man was more exciting, more arousing, than anything she’d done with anyone else. It was overwhelming and almost scary. But in a good way. An I’m-at-the-top-of-a-roller-coaster-about-to-fly-down-that-first-hill scary.
Laryn had no qualms about his driving abilities. The man was a highly trained Night Stalker pilot…if the Army trusted him with multimillion-dollar aircraft, not to mention the lives of the SEALs and Deltas he routinely transported in and out of some seriously nasty situations, she could trust him behind the wheel of his car. Even while sporting the hard-on that was tenting his flight suit.
Seeing it made Laryn squirm in her seat. She might be making a huge mistake, sleeping with Tate, but fuck it. She’d wanted him forever, and she wasn’t going to pass up the chance to see if all the sleepless nights thinking about him were worth the buildup in her mind.
Tate let go of her hand after he parked, but only long enough to walk around his car to her side, then he reached for her once more. He didn’t speak, the anticipation building around them both as he walked up the stairs, towing her behind him.
He stood at her side as she unlocked her door, then he spoke for the first time since the parking lot of the restaurant. “Wait here,” he ordered gruffly.
Confused, Laryn did as he asked and watched as he quickly searched the kitchen and living area of her apartment. She heard him open the shower curtain in the bathroom and open and close the closet door in the hall. She assumed he went into the second bedroom that was more like a junk room, which she used to hold stuff she didn’t know where else to put, and then her bedroom, before he materialized in front of her once more.
“All clear,” he said matter-of-factly.
It dawned on her then that even fully aroused, and anticipating a sure thing, he’d taken the time to make sure her apartment was safe.
Had anyone put her safety above their sexual needs before? No. The answer was definitely no. In her experience, once men had sex on the brain, that’s all they could think about. Anything else was secondary. But she should’ve known Tate would be different.
He stepped into her personal space and gently cradled her head in his hands. Laryn felt his erection against her once more.But he didn’t grab at her, didn’t immediately start stripping off her coveralls.
