Harder (The Unit #3) Read online

  She gave him a new appreciation for the world and everything in it. He wanted to experience everything with her, starting with the dinner she was cooking. He watched as she stood on her tiptoes, stretching to reach a bowl on a high shelf. She wasn’t short, but he appreciated the way her midriff showed when her shirt pulled up a bit. He watched her long, dark locks hang in loose curls against her back. The thought of pulling that hair before the night was over made him lick his lips.

  “I’m going to grill this with a sweet and spicy rub. I have a cedar board under there,” she said as she motioned with her hand to the cabinet. “Would you get out the plank? It has to soak for an hour before I put it on the grill.”

  Tony retrieved the board and positioned it in the water, making sure to cover the entire board. “Do you have a mug I can use to hold it under the water?”

  “Up there.”

  “There are some things I need to tell you. It’s been a while since I’ve been with anyone, but that’s been by my choice. I have certain proclivities when it comes to sex.” Tony’s muscles tensed under his shirt. “What did you want to have with the salmon?”

  “Rice,” she replied as she wondered what his proclivities could possibly be.

  Thank God, he needed something to keep his hands busy as he spoke. He randomly opened cabinets until he came across the rice. He pulled down the bag then absentmindedly starting going through drawers looking for a measuring cup.

  “No you don’t, mister. Spill. It’s me you’re talking to, remember? We never had any secrets growing up.”

  “And I don’t want any now,” he said as he grasped the measuring cup. “Look, I know if you give things—well, me—a chance, you’ll love it. I know you will.”

  “Well, you have to tell me, so I can make up my own mind.”

  “Come here,” he ordered. She didn’t hesitate. She moved to Tony’s side. He pointed in front of him and she moved there. Enough stalling.

  “I want to tie you up and blindfold you.”

  Jules choked on the sip of white wine she had just taken. “What?” she coughed.

  “And, I also want to spank you every once in a while.” There he said it. It was off his chest. Now she knew exactly what he wanted to experience with her. “Of course, I still want to make love to you, often. I’m not into anything way out there, just some light kink and a little roughness. When I turned my emotions off while on active duty, the only time I felt was during sex. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t feel feelings for the few women I was with, but I did feel. I liked the way it felt to have them at my mercy. I felt powerful and strong. I felt in control. And often times, in the field, that’s one thing I didn’t feel: in control.

  “I long to see my handprint on your ass. And I want you to love it too. I’ll make sure you love it. Just let me show you. Will you give me that much? If you don’t like it, we never have to do it again,” he promised, hoping her answer would be yes. “Now that you’re back in my life, so are my emotions.” He leaned his mouth closer to her ear and whispered, “Here’s my very secret confession to you. I truly enjoy blindfolding someone so they don’t know where I am or what I’m about to do. But, if you won’t have it, any of it, then I’ll take you any way I can get you.”

  “What makes you think I’m giving anything up so easily?” she asked with a wink.

  He couldn’t take it anymore. With one move, he closed the six inches separating them and firmly planted his lips on hers. She stilled, and then her lips softened to his. When he opened his mouth slightly, she followed him. He tangled his hand in her long locks and pulled her head back roughly. She moaned. He trailed chaste kisses to her jawline, working his way down her neck to her collarbone. His finger lazily traced between her breasts while his other hand still held her head back by her hair.

  “Tony,” she whispered, her lips parting. She brought her hand up to caress his face, but he grabbed it before she could touch him.

  “I’m going to take you now, Jules. And that isn’t a question.”

  Jules could do nothing but breathe. It felt so natural to follow his lead. She would do whatever he wanted. She knew it. He wouldn’t even have to ask. She’d wanted him for years, and the last few hours with him, without giving in to him, had been sheer torture.

  After pulling down her yoga pants and panties in one move, he lifted her out of her clothes and set her on the kitchen counter.

  “Tony, what are you doing?”

  “Bringing you pleasure, my love.”

  He pushed her legs open and bared her hair-covered center.

  Lowering himself to his knees, he spread her folds with his fingers before leaning forward to lick playful circles around her clit. He tortured her a bit by concentrating on the top of her clit, the most sensitive part. Her head fell backward as the pleasure overwhelmed her. He knew what he was doing, that was sure. How much experience did he have? Could she keep up with him? Maybe he wouldn’t want her after he found out how little experience she had in the last several years.

  “Fuck it,” she said aloud as she relaxed against his tongue. He continued to circle her clit as he placed a finger at her opening.

  “Are you wet for me, my love?”

  “Yes,” she moaned as he slid two fingers into her tight pussy. He continued his assault on her clit, lapping up and down, circling round and round, while he drove his fingers into her. She was getting close.

  “Tony,” she cried.

  That was what he’d been dreaming about for the last several years, hearing her gasp his name as he made her come. “Not yet. Can you hold out for just a while longer? I want it to be the best orgasm you’ve ever had.”

  “I don’t know if I can stop it.”

  “Try.”

  “Tony, I’m gonna come. Please, Tony. I can’t stop it.”

  He rammed his fingers into her harder as he suckled on her clit and gently bit down.

  “Oh my fucking God. Oh fuck. Holy fuck. Tony. I’m coming,” she screamed as her speech became incoherent. He helped her ride it out by moving his fingers in and out of her. When her pussy relaxed, letting go of his fingers, he knew she had come down. He stood and placed his fingers against her lips.

  “Open. Taste yourself. Tell me how sweet you are.” She opened, and he slowly slid his index finger into her mouth. “Close your mouth and suck, my love. Can you tell now why I ravished you? You taste amazing.” He allowed her to suckle on his finger for a moment before he slowly removed it from her warm, moist mouth and replaced them with his tongue. He kissed her passionately, longingly. And she kissed him back with her juices covering his lips.

  He did it. He brought her to her second orgasm. Little did she know there were many more to come, but dinner first. Lifting her off the counter, he set her on her feet before reaching down and grabbing her panties. She slid one foot in and then stepped in with the other. He pulled them up then repeated the process with her yoga pants.

  She smiled lazily at him.

  “That’s only a taste. As we proceed, you’ll experience more and more. It’s my job to bring you pleasure like you’ve never known,” he said as he placed a kiss against her cheek and another one against her ear.

  She turned from him, washed her hands, and went back to preparing the salmon.

  Once dinner was ready, she set the table, placing Tony at the head of the table. She placed her setting to his right.

  “I have a confession,” Jules said, lowering her eyes to the floor.

  With his hand under her chin, he brought her eyes to his. “Oh yeah, you love me too?” Tony quipped.

  She ignored that question.

  “That was the best orgasm I’ve ever had. Do you think you can top it?” she asked with a wink and a devious smile.

  “I hope to make each one better than the one before. I want you to crave me the same way I crave you. And I do crave you. I will make you mine. I’m not saying ‘mine’ to be mean but as a term of endearment. You are mine,” he said, wrapping his arm around her w
aist and pulling her in to him until their bodies were touching.

  “So, is that all you want, sex?” she asked, blinking rapidly. She wanted him to leave suddenly so she could withdraw into the safety of her home.

  “Jules, I love you. I have since we were kids, and if anything, I only love you more. I want it all with you. I want a relationship. An honest to goodness relationship with you,” he said with a wink and a smile that showed his half dimple.

  “A relationship? So, boyfriend, girlfriend?”

  “I want something more serious than boyfriend, girlfriend. I want you to belong to me. You. Are. Mine.”

  “I love the sound of that,” she said, attempting to keep a neutral facial expression. She didn’t want to show how incredibly happy his words had made her. She was still unsure he was for real. After all, he did shut her out for many years, and if it wasn’t for the terrorists kidnapping her, he still wouldn’t be aware she existed.

  After they finished eating dinner, Jules cleared the table and went to work on the dishes. Tony approached from behind and wrapped his arms around his Jules, giving her a slight squeeze and a chaste kiss on the side of the neck.

  “Here, I’ll wash, you dry,” he offered. Jules stepped to the side and handed over the sponge. This is always how she pictured things would be with him: equal. He would only take as much as he would give. They finished the dishes in comfortable silence.

  “Do you trust me?” Tony asked as pain overtook his voice. If her answer was no, that meant it would take him a long time to earn it—and even longer winning back her love.

  “I’m not sure. I trust you with my life, physically. But I’m not sure if I trust you emotionally yet,” Jules admitted in sadness. She wanted to trust him with her emotions, with her heart. More than anything, she wanted to trust him. “But a lot of time has passed, and you weren’t exactly there for me when you left me all alone.” She didn’t mean to give him such a hard time. Why did it always turn out that he was confessing while she felt like running. Her heart had been broken by him. Could it be that he was the only one who could fix it? Should she put her faith in him again?

  “You can trust me. Unless you tell me to go, and maybe not even then, you aren’t getting rid of me. You’re stuck with me. You are mine, and I am yours. As soon as you’ll have me,” Tony confessed with a shaky voice as he handed her the last dish.

  He couldn’t believe that he was actually here with her. He couldn’t believe that he got to bring her pleasure and that he was going to get to do it again in a minute or two. His lips parted into a wide smile as he shook his head in disbelief. He just couldn’t believe that, after all this time, she would have him, especially after the way he left her years ago. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Jules to gauge her expression. Did she feel the same? She hadn’t confessed her love for him yet, although he suspected it; otherwise, she would have let some man haul her to the altar by now.

  Like a madman, spontaneous laughter erupted from the pit of his stomach. He never remembered feeling as free and as light as this. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears, and if he didn’t know his body so well, he would swear he was weak in the knees over this woman. He went to say something but snapped his mouth shut. He would wait for her, even if it took forever.

  He grabbed the towel from her hand and placed it on the counter before taking her hand in his and leading her to her bedroom. With a grin, he asked, “Do you have a scarf?”

  “Yes, in the closet,” Jules answered suspiciously.

  He removed a black scarf from her closet and approached her.

  “What are you doing?” Her eyes widened as he brought the silk up to her eyes.

  “I’m going to blindfold you,” he said as he stood behind her. She tucked her hair behind her ears and he tied the scarf tightly.

  “Are you going to tie me up?” she asked with a quiver in her voice.

  “Not yet. First we work on trust.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Lie down on the bed. Be perfectly still. You aren’t allowed to move. You aren’t allowed to talk. You are allowed to smile. I just want you to experience what I’m going to do to you. Feel it. Let the sensations rush over your skin,” he instructed as he trailed a finger up her inner thigh.

  She hadn’t seemed to notice the glass of ice water he brought with him, either that or she hadn’t paid attention. He took an ice cube from the water and placed it in his mouth so that the tip of the cube was sticking out just a little. Starting at her right foot, he placed his lips with the cube to the skin of her ankle and was rewarded with a slight moan. He slid his mouth up her leg slowly, letting the drops of water run down her flesh. Climbing onto the bed, he continued moving the ice cube up her leg to the apex of her thighs. He proceeded his perusal of her skin by traveling past her navel up to her breasts, circling her nipples with the ice cube, causing both to become hard, pink nubs. When she moaned, he sucked in her nipple and the ice cube, pressing the coldness to her heat. Water formed in his mouth and he let it drip down her breast.

  “Oh my God, Tony. That feels amazing.”

  He didn’t speak. Instead, he removed himself from the bed. Going to the dresser, he removed a candlestick from the top of it. Reaching into his bag, he produced matches. He knew she heard the spurt when he lit it. He cupped his hand in front of the flame as he made his way to the bed. “This will be hot,” he whispered sensually. Standing to the side of the bed, he titled the candle and let the hot wax drip onto her body. She arched under the heat of the hot wax.

  “Mmmmm,” escaped her lips. The heat was exquisite. It didn’t hurt really. It felt more like she was being scratched. But this scratch was getting at the itch she didn’t even know she had. She lay still, but her lips turned up at the corners as she smiled. Her body wriggled; he had her squirming. He continued to drip the wax onto her breasts and down her torso. When he reached her navel, he stopped.

  He leaned forward and brought his mouth next to her ear. “Do you want me?” He needed to hear her say it.

  “Yes, oh my God, Tony. Yes, I want you.” She knew she loved him, but she wasn’t going to tell him that anytime soon. She wasn’t sure what it would take to get her to say the words. She felt so rejected after the last time they were together, and she never really got over him leaving her for the army. She’d felt used. But now, she felt loved. He was bringing her the most exquisite type of pleasure. Would he hurt her again? Still, somehow, she sensed that he would rather hurt himself than hurt her. She felt it in every drop of the wax.

  Feeling an overwhelming desire to taste her lips, Tony straddled her and leaned forward to brush his lips against her soft, lush ones. When she gasped, he took advantage and thrust his tongue inside her mouth. He licked her lips, and she arched her back. He brought his lips together on hers and kissed her with a passion and force that he had never felt before. And the best part, she was pushing back, kissing back. He felt the electric crackle inside his chest.

  “Do you feel that?”

  “Yes. I feel it.”

  He knew she couldn’t see the smile that lit up his face and reached his eyes. He bent forward and kissed her again before removing her blindfold and looking at her squarely in her beautiful eyes. He felt such a sense of yearning.

  Finally, as if a great weight lifted from her chest, she confessed, “I trust you, Tony.”

  Tony looked at her lying in that bed and had no power to stop his approach. He crawled onto the bed and settled in next to her. “I want to make love to you. Don’t get me wrong, I do want to own you. I want to be rough with you, but tonight, tonight I just want to love you.”

  She turned her body so she was face to face with Tony. Then she reached out and touched his face as she leaned in and kissed him softly, hesitantly. With one hand, Tony took hold of the back of her head. With the other, he grabbed her ass and pulled her close until he felt his hard cock pressed against her sweet spot. He needed to rid himself of his boxer briefs, but he didn
’t want to stop kissing her. He wrapped his hand in her long, dark hair and grabbed hold of it, pulling her head back from his.

  “I love that,” she said, grinning. Her hand gently caressed him. The dichotomy of his roughness against her gentleness was beautiful. He knew she would like it rough. Being so aggressive in her career was an indicator to him that she wanted it rough. She would love her hair being pulled. She would love being spanked. She would love being tied up. He knew exactly what her body craved. He knew her.

  He untangled his hand and said, “Just a minute.” He stood and pulled down his underwear, letting his large cock spring free. It had a slight curve to it as it pointed toward the ceiling. “Are you on birth control?” he asked as he climbed back into bed. Placing one leg on the side of her body and his hands near her head, he moved gently back and forth over her, waiting for her answer.

  “I have an IUD.”

  He grabbed her wrists with one of his and pinned them above her head. “I’m not going to wear a condom. Is that okay with you?”

  “Tony, I want you. I need you,” she confessed as she pushed her breasts into his chest.

  Finally, the words he had been longing to hear. Soon, very soon, she would say that she loved him. He just knew it. Keeping hold of her hands, he reached down and gently nibbled on one of her breasts. He sucked the nipple between his lips and squeezed it against the roof of his mouth, making her moan. He smiled before paying the same attention to her other nipple as he ground himself into her center. He rubbed his cock up and down her clit, tempting her with what was about to come.

  “Please, Tony.” Her words were his undoing. He lowered himself and, with one swift movement, slid into her. “Ahhhh,” they both exhaled at the same time at the feel of his cock finally inside her. Thrusting over and over into her. Again and again. Harder and harder.

  “Yes. Oh my God, Tony. Yes. Yes. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop,” she moaned as she wrapped her legs around his and ground herself against his thrusts. He knew she was getting close to coming, so he slowed down. “Tony? What are you doing?”