Strategic Engagement (Wingmen Warriors 5)

He was doing this for her.

Then the flash in her eyes shifted, she shifted, changing into a different woman, a steely, determined woman who may have visited some of those hells he'd seen. He saw a different Mary Elise, but one who still sent jolts of awareness rocking through him until his gut clenched with need, his pulse now echoing hers. Hard and fast.

Definitely hard.

Mary Elise gripped his wrist and pulled his hand down, trailing his fingers over her collarbone until his palm flattened over her heart. "There are plenty of reasons a woman's heart rate speeds up, Danny."

Chapter 9

Desperation chewed through her. Mary Elise wrapped her hand tighter around the warm strength of Danny's wrist, his fingers riding the beginning curve of her breast. Heat seared silk.

It had to be desperation and fear of her past being uncovered, of others taking on the risk and danger of her foolish mistakes. She wouldn't allow the emotions burning through her to be anything else.Still, why hadn't she opted for a different distraction from Danny's persistence? Like a leg cramp? She'd walked off the real cramps and backache, but why hadn't she faked they were back again? Even a mad dash in the opposite direction would have made more sense than this.

Touching. Wanting. Needing. And there weren't nearly enough people on this patch of beach to offer chaperoning, a lone dog walker already disappearing around a dune.

At least she had the satisfaction of knowing she'd shocked Daniel as much as herself because the man stared down at her with dark eyes, stunned silent—but not moving away. Desire curled smoky paths through her veins.

She wanted to believe the pulsing heat came from abstinence. Except she knew better. Never had she wanted a man's touch as much as she wanted Danny's. Now. Right now, with a surety that if it didn't happen soon, she would spontaneously combust.

Danny's brows lowered and his hand twitched back, away, callused fingers snagging on silk. Involuntary muscles held his hand firm with a strength she hadn't known she possessed.

And suddenly, more than ever, she wanted something to take with her when she left in four days. A memory. A kiss. The question answered about whether her imagination had exaggerated the impact of his mouth against hers.

She couldn't stay, so what the hell did it matter now if she blew any chance of friendship? Her peace of mind was already shot. Yes, even fleetingly, she definitely deserved something. This. Him.

"You should know what you do to my heart rate, Danny. And I think maybe I do the same to yours." Mary Elise arched up, into him, against him, not a far stretch as he topped her by no more than four inches.

Surprise nipped. This new man seemed so much larger than the young lover from her memories. But in her arms, he was her Danny. She took comfort in that as she leaned in to take his mouth.

And then he wasn't her Danny at all.

A hungry growl of possession rumbled low in his throat. His mouth took hers right back in the kiss of a man. Not a hungry youth who, yes, had style and exuberance. But a man of intensity, strength.

Experience.

All man. And he made her feel all woman. A sensation she hadn't experienced in so long she'd forgotten the heady rush of being wanted. Desired. Even while sex with Kent had been physically satisfying at the beginning, all too soon any mating had become just that. Mating. She'd been nothing more than a vessel to bear his child, and somewhere along the way had lost the wonder of being a woman.

Danny reminded, reassured her with the bold possession of his mouth, tongue, hands traveling down her back to urge her closer to the undeniable proof that he desired her. A precious gift she hadn't realized she needed, and now she couldn't face losing it.

Losing him?

She shunted that thought away, too much, too dangerous, and focused on his kiss, the warm play of muscles under her hands. The roar in her ears swelled like ocean echoes in a conch shell. Somehow she knew that in years to come she would listen to a shell whisper reminders of passion.

Mary Elise hooked her leg around Daniel's bare calf and gloried in the gentle rasp of his bristly hairs and sand against her sensitive skin. Reveled in the masculine growl the rub of her heel elicited low in his throat.

Drinking in the taste of him tinged with beer and memories, Mary Elise clung to his broad shoulders and the moment. A moment so much hotter than her memories, and her memories of wrapping herself around Daniel Baker had been mighty damned hot. Keeping her awake and hungry and longing on more than one night.

And now after just one kiss from the adult Daniel, she feared she might never sleep again.

Daniel gathered a fistful of Mary Elise's hair, anchoring her sweet mouth to his, and wondered how he was going to sleep through another night on that damned sofa. Then thought about how much he didn't want to sleep tonight, wanted to spend the night peeling those silk shorts down Mary Elise's long legs.

What the hell was wrong with him? He couldn't freaking control his shaking hands or the consuming drive to possess this woman. Now. Here. Who needed a wide inviting stretch of bed where a couple of nosy kids might spring in on them anyway?Kids.

The boys. Responsibilities and life and a woman with problems she wasn't sharing and plenty of his own she didn't need to shoulder.

He tore his mouth from hers, a tougher proposition than slipping past enemy radar in a combat zone. Her foot glided down his leg back into the water, moonlight sparking fiery glints in her hair. His forehead fell to rest on hers and he inhaled the scent of her honeysuckle shampoo. Of her.

His arms draped over her shoulders, their h*ps still grazing a tantalizing dance against each other as his libido defied his reason. "Good God, Mary Elise. What was that about?"