Navy Justice (Whidbey Island, Book 5) (20 page)

Yet the quiet voice inside her heart told the truth—if they’d met elsewhere, at a different time, if they’d both been free, they might’ve become a couple. Might, by now, have been a couple for years. Now that he stood in front of her, so close to her, she heard that small voice again.

You’ve been waiting for this your whole life
.

She pushed against his shoulders until he sat up, giving her space to stand.

“Brad, please tell me this isn’t your idea of a joke, or a quick tension reliever in the middle of...of battle.” Because they were in a battle. A battle that would decide whether they were willing to even consider changing their lives.

Her heart was at risk here.

He stood and took her hands. “I’m not joking, Joy. No playing around.”

His hands moved to her shoulders, and she closed her eyes as his lips touched the side of her throat. He applied a soft suction to her skin and she groaned.

“Don’t stop now, Brad.” She grasped his upper arms and reveled in the sheer strength under her fingertips. He hadn’t let his Bureau time soften his physique. She could hardly hear his breath over her pounding heart, but she felt their chests rise and fall in unison. She’d dreamed it would be like this with him.

His hands cradled her face. “You’re so beautiful.”

She opened her eyes to see the intensity in his gaze.

“I’ve wanted you since the moment I met you. This isn’t a way to get off at the end of a stressed-out op, Joy.”

“I hope not.”

“I know not.”

He lowered his mouth to hers. And kept her waiting, wanting, ready to beg. “Brad, please.”

“No more words. Feel it. Do you feel it?”

He closed the gap between them, and with this kiss ended the months and years of waiting. The knowledge that their lovemaking was near and that it was going to be better than either of them had fantasized.

They fit together with an ease usually reserved for longer relationships. The lasting kind. The kiss deepened, and he pulled her up against his erection while his hands kneaded her buttocks.

She drew back and whispered, “Let’s go to your room.”

“Roger that.” He lifted her into his arms as if she were as light as the backpack he’d carried downrange and made his way toward the stairs at the back of the house.

“Wait—the candle.”

Still holding her, he walked to the coffee table and leaned over. “Grab it,” he said.

She took the votive from the table, intending to blow out the flame. It flickered between them as Brad straightened and walked back to his room. When he finally set her down next to his bed, she placed the candle on the nightstand.

“Leave it burning, Joy. I want to see you when I make love to you.”

* * *

B
RAD
WATCHED
THE
flush creep over her cheeks. The hair that tumbled across her forehead rose with each breath. He wanted to brush that lock of hair away and not stop until he held her head in his hand, his tongue touching hers.

She had to say yes. It had to be mutual. Because the insanity of the past few days, the reality that he was up against a wall until the unknown terrorist was apprehended—it all spelled disaster for a new relationship. He wanted to protect any chance they had.

“Do you want this, Joy?”

No blinks, no sighs, no biting her lower lip. Just her calm, steady stare. The slight tremor that made her shoulders shake a little. If he hadn’t been so close, he would’ve missed it.

“Hell, yes.”

His hands clasped her waist the same instant her lips met his. The firmness of her physique under his hands seemed at odds with the softness of her mouth. She still had a warrior’s body, still kept herself combat-ready. And it’d been over a year since she’d been on board a ship.

They’d known each other almost two years, and he’d never dreamed he’d have her in his arms without the pressure of their jobs. The prim Navy JAG she’d been gave way to a hot, volatile lover who demanded everything from him.

Everything.

“Get undressed,” she told him. She pulled her hoodie off and drew her silky tank over her head in measured tugs. Her breasts were perfect, spilling out of a black lace bra.

She shimmied out of her leggings as Brad whipped off his belt, shoved his jeans down, along with his boxer briefs, and took his shirt off.

They faced each other. He, naked with a raging hard-on, and she, in that ridiculously delicate bra and matching thong.

He brushed his fingers down past her waist to the creamy skin of her buttocks. “You’re still dressed.” His voice sounded choked, as if he’d just emerged from sleep. But he hadn’t felt more awake since the day they’d saved Farid.

“Take them off if you want to,” she said.

He wanted to rip them off, but Joy deserved respect and gentleness. This was the woman of his dreams, and he wasn’t going to screw this up.

He’d make it good for her.

“Turn around.”

She complied and he was against her back, pressing into her and reaching around her to hold her breasts. He leaned down and while his teeth nipped at the nape of her neck, he unfastened her front bra clasp.

He felt that her shudders and trembling were more reward than the piles of gold or the ancient treasures he and his team had found during their earlier battles.

“Is that some SEAL technique?”

“Shh.” He spun her around and, finally, they were skin on skin. Now he began to tremble.

She reached up and grasped his shoulders, urging him closer. He took her lips with no apology, no warning. Driven by pure need for Joy, he gave himself over to the passion he’d always known they shared.

Joy murmured as she kissed him, sucked on his bottom lip, traced around his mouth with her tongue.

“This will be over too soon if you keep doing that.” He wasn’t kidding. She had him at the edge, and they weren’t even horizontal yet.

“We have all night, remember?”

Unable to wait any longer, he lowered them both to the bed and lay next to her, breathing in her scent, surrounding himself with her essence.

“Maybe even some time in the morning, before you have to leave for work.”

“Shut up and keep kissing me, Brad.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

* * *

J
OY
HAD
TREMBLED
like this once before, when she’d made love with her high school sweetheart during their first break after freshman year in college. The newness, the sheer awe at the power of hormones.

Brad wasn’t her first love or lover; making love with him was something far more profound than that. He was the only man who’d ever made her feel every nuance of every gesture. Each kiss deepened their connection. It wasn’t some sappy pop song; it was gloriously real. This was how it was supposed to be.

He shifted over her, and she almost screamed in her need to have him inside her.

“Brad, don’t make me wait any longer.”

“Uh, one thing...”

“Yes, yes!” She slid out from under him as he reached for the nightstand drawer. She’d brought protection, too, but was glad she didn’t have to get up and go to her purse for it.

“Here. Let me.” She took the condom from his hands and quickly put it on him. Before she could say anything else, he was inside her.

Fully.

“Oh...”

He stilled above her. “Am I too heavy?”

“Too heavy? No.”

“Too, too...”

“Big? Just big enough.” She moved her hips, raised her knees to allow him in farther.

Sensation after sensation rocked her as her mind tried to keep up with the sheer pleasure of being as close as she could possibly be to the man who’d haunted her dreams for the past two years.

“Come with me, Joy,” he groaned. And then she stopped thinking.

Their words turned into gasps as perspiration slicked their skin. Brad’s hips moved with hers, meeting her where she was.

“Don’t hold back, Brad. I won’t break.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice. With the same intensity she’d seen in him when he was working a case or an op, he brought them both to the edge of complete abandon, not allowing his own release until he heard her cry out.

Joy hung on to the feeling of complete union as long as she could. Their breathing slowed to normal and their bodies, still connected, cooled. She didn’t want to let go.

With a man like Brad, you never knew what was going to happen next—and slam the ecstasy right out of you.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

B
RAD
SAT
AT
the kitchen island, determined to savor every second of this first real “morning after” with Joy.

And not pay attention to the fact that there was so much they still had to work out.

“You look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders,” she said. He inhaled Joy’s lavender scent as she placed a kiss on his lips and put a hot cup of coffee in front of him in one graceful gesture.

He pulled her close, until she was straddling his lap.

“I’d rather have
your
weight here.” He kissed her thoroughly. Too thoroughly. If he didn’t stop he’d have her back in bed.

And he needed to save both their jobs.

“Don’t stop now. I don’t have to be at work for another three hours. It only takes two hours to get to Whidbey.”

“That’s issue number one. Do you have to go to work today?”

“I do. It’s still my first week. My boss is giving us tomorrow off, to make this a long weekend. But I’m still the new kid on the block. I have a job to do, remember?”

“Okay, so you’ll go to work.” He leaned in and found himself lost in kissing her again.

“What’s the other issue?” Her breath was short, and he loved the way his kiss did that to her.

He eased her off his lap. “The other issue is, when do we see each other again?”

* * *

J
OY
DIDN
’
T
WANT
to squelch the rosy glow of this new part of their relationship, but she needed time and space. Even if she thought everything was going to work out between her and Brad, she needed to talk to Helen.

Because of Brad.

“I’ve got plans for this weekend.”

A brief flicker of disappointment flared in his eyes before Brad had his game face back on.

“That’s fine. I need to rest, anyway, according to Mike.”

“He’s right, you know. You’ve hardly slept at all since the explosion.”

As she uttered the words, it was as if the reality of the past five days finally hit her. A wave of grief blindsided her as she realized what they could so easily have lost. This time they were sharing could just as easily never have happened. If Brad hadn’t followed his instincts and used his professional skills, they could both be dead.

Her eyes filled with tears and he reached over to brush one off her cheek.

“Don’t, Joy. It’s over. We’re safe.”

“Yes, but I can’t help feeling...overwhelmed. I kept my feelings to myself through that whole damned trial. All those days working side by side in Norfolk—I never asked you for more. I never let you know. And now that I know you care about me, too, and that we might have a chance together—I’m not giving up.”

“Joy, you’ve turned my life inside out since the minute I met you. But if we don’t look after ourselves, there won’t be anything left to make a relationship with. We can afford to take this slow.”

“Nothing about last night was slow.” The words were out, and she didn’t regret it. They were past the point of holding their thoughts back, weren’t they? Of keeping secrets?

So why won’t you tell him that you’re going to see Helen? To see if she can help, professionally and personally?

Brad’s eyes widened, and he brought her close again. “If we’re going to get you to work on time, we’ll have to hurry.”

When his lips met hers, she forgot about telling Brad anything.

* * *

B
RAD
SLEPT
SOUNDLY
as Joy got ready for work in his bathroom. She didn’t want to wake him.

They’d made love again with the ferocity of lovers reunited after a long separation. As if they hadn’t made love three times last night. Her skin still hummed from his touch, and she smiled at the whisker burns on her neck. She’d packed a scarf with her outfit, not realizing she’d need it for subtle camouflage.

Her cell phone buzzed, and she stopped applying her makeup to see who it was.

Serena.

Will you still be late?

She’d texted Serena last night, giving her a heads-up just in case she did drive back to Oak Harbor past eight-thirty or so.

No, on time. See you soon. You’re up early. :)

Besides Emily, Serena was the only person on Whidbey who knew she was off-island.

With Brad.

It was going to take some getting used to, adding him to her life. Officially and openly.

Dressed and with her overnight tote on her shoulder, she tiptoed into Brad’s room and leaned over to kiss his cheek. He smiled, and his arm shot out to wrap around her thigh.

“Sure you have to go?”

“Yes. And I’m more than sure that you need to rest. I’ll call you later.”

“Bet you tell that to all the guys.” He pulled her down for a lingering kiss before she stood up again and walked out of the room.

At the front door, she remembered she’d left her bracelets and watch on the kitchen island and went in to retrieve them. Her gaze landed on a tray with a stack of letters. Brad seemed to be as organized as she was; she, too, had a tray she kept her letters in.

They might just make this work, the two of them.

She let herself out and drove toward Whidbey, toward her new life. A life she might be able to share with Brad.

* * *

J
OY
READ
THE
same family court case file for the third time in half an hour. Nothing.

She finally had what she’d wanted, as recently as Monday morning. A new job, a new life. She’d made love to Brad after believing it’d never happen.

No anchors were holding her back, dragging her down, not anymore.

“Joy, you okay?” Serena asked.

“You probably think I’m crazy, don’t you? I’ve only been here for one week, and I think you’ve asked me that every day.”

“It sounds corny, but you remind me of myself. I was a bit lost when I came to Whidbey, and more so when I applied for work here. I thought I had it all together, all planned out, and then... I didn’t.”

Serena’s happiness was evident as she simultaneously smiled and sent Joy a look of genuine concern.

“I’m fine. It’s always a challenge, getting into a new routine. I’m not complaining. This is the nicest place I’ve ever worked, and I believe I can make a difference.” She glanced down at her file. “But these child custody cases are a little sad, I must admit.”

“You didn’t do those in the Navy, did you?”

“No. I did more in the line of defending clients who’d gotten themselves in trouble, either administratively or criminally. I also helped prosecute, depending on the tour. It was usually a lot clearer who the bad guy was. In a custody case, no one’s the real winner, and my heart breaks for the kids.”

Serena nodded. “You speak like a mom.”

Joy laughed. “Nope. I don’t even have a dog. But I’d like a family someday. That’s why I’m settling down here.”

They both went back to their work, and Joy hoped her doubts didn’t show on her face.

Her doubt at her own words. Her convictions. Because if Brad walked through the door of her office right this minute and asked her to follow him, to give up her new life, she wasn’t certain what her answer would be.

Only five days ago, she was absolutely certain that putting an end to her frivolous fantasies about a Navy SEAL she’d only known professionally was for the best.

How quickly things changed.

She needed to talk to Helen—and not just about the domestic terrorists and their actions.

* * *

“G
OOD
MORNING
, E
MILY
.” Ben walked up to her Thursday morning as she looked over her charts in the Labor and Delivery area of the Naval Hospital.

“Hello, Dr. Franklin.” She purposely kept her gaze fixed on the charts, which was pathetic. They had no laboring patients at the moment—although that wouldn’t last—and only two women who were due to deliver in the next few days. It was their lowest caseload in weeks.

“Really? We’re back to that?”

Her face grew hot. His voice reminded her of the way he’d sounded after he’d kissed her on Tuesday night.

“We’re at work.” She risked a glance at him and was rewarded by the warmth that emanated from his eyes. He smiled as he touched her arm briefly.

“Yes, we are, and we will be after we’re together for good.”

“Together for good, Ben? In case you haven’t noticed, it’s the twenty-first century and we live in the United States of America. A kiss is not a declaration of anything other than...than—”

“Than letting you know I’m interested in you. And that I’ve wanted to ask you out since I got stationed here over a year ago. That I was trying to see if I’m alone in my interest, which, I’m happy to remind you, I’m not.”

“You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

“I’m humbled that you kissed me back the other night, Emily.”

If she were fifteen years older, she’d swear she was having a hot flash. Since she wasn’t, she knew it was her body’s involuntary response to his attention.

“I don’t know what to say, Ben.” She looked around the nurses’ station and was relieved that no one else was near. The other nurses and Navy Hospital Corpsmen were either on break or helping mothers preparing to take their babies home.

“Say you’ll go out with me, and this time you’ll let me buy you dinner. Tomorrow night.”

“I don’t know,” she said again.

“Listen, Emily. You’ve been alone for a long time, and you need to have some fun of your own.”

She bit her lip and wanted to laugh
and
cry, but wasn’t sure which would come out.

“What?”

She couldn’t tell him that she’d just given her best friend on the island the same advice she should be taking herself.

And she’d never be able to face Joy with any sense of integrity if she ran from her chance at a relationship.

“Yes.”

“Yes?” He stared at her blankly before a huge grin broke across his face.

“I’ll pick you up on Friday, tomorrow, at five-thirty. Dress casually.”

He walked away, and as the hospital doors automatically clicked open to let him out of L&D, she wondered if she’d done the right thing.

As she turned back to her work she realized she was fingering the rings she wore on a chain around her neck. The wedding rings from her first marriage. She hadn’t thought of Peter once during her conversation with Ben.

That had to be a sign.

* * *

“W
HAT
’
S
IT
FEEL
like to admit you’ve had a hot man in your house for the past week?”

Joy looked across the sofa at her friend and wondered when their Thursday night girls’ nights had turned into an inquisition.

Emily went on knitting as if she’d commented on the weather instead of asking Joy about something she considered private. Sort of.

“It’s...hard to say.”

Emily put her needles and yarn in her lap. “You were with him last night, weren’t you?”

“Yes. I took your advice.”

“You must be exhausted, since you got to work on time this morning. With a two-hour drive.”

“Serena told you!”

“No, not Serena. But she told Jonas, who may have mentioned it to Ben, who—” Now Emily looked like a mouse in a trap.

“Ben? You mean the man you’re only
friends
with?”

Emily blushed. Beet red. “Yes.”

“Emily, I’ve never seen you blush over anything. But since Ben’s come into your life, it’s all you seem to do.”

“There’s nothing to blush over, not...yet.”

“Don’t tell me there’s nothing to get excited about and then reveal that you’ve considered a future with him in the same breath, Em.”

Emily glanced up from her knitting.

“Do you have any wine?”

* * *

H
ALF
A
PIZZA
LATER
, Joy leaned back on her sofa and gazed up at her ceiling.

“The thing is, I miss Brad. He wasn’t here more than a night or two, and it feels like he always lived here. And I felt comfortable at his place, too.”

“You’re so screwed, Joy. The perfect lawyer has fallen for a man with a very messy job. Have you thought about what you’ll have to do with this whole new life you’ve planned for yourself?”

“That would be getting ahead of ourselves. Brad and I agreed we were keeping it simple.”

“So when will you see him again?”

“Not too soon. I’m flying out tomorrow for an overnight in Texas.”

“Texas? What’s in Texas? Wait—don’t tell me you have to let some other guy off the hook first!”

“No, no. I’m too controlling to bother with a long-distance relationship, remember? No, I’m going out there to see a friend of mine. We worked together and she’s been a mentor to me. I have to run some...stuff by her, and I didn’t want to do it over the phone.”

“Maybe it’s a good idea for you to get out of here, even if it’s only overnight. This has been a crazy week, and it’s not over yet. You were all set to have the perfect life with the perfect new job and—no pun intended—it all blew up in your face on Monday morning.”

“Yes, it’s a mess.” A bigger one than Emily realized. Joy loved her but didn’t want to share all her observations. She couldn’t. Not until she saw Helen and got the validation she needed.