“Wanna check out my equipment?” Grady asked.
Ava arched an eyebrow. Oh she knew he was only talking about the electronics strewn about the room, but the sudden shy, Boy Scout act charmed her and she liked ruffling up that calm exterior of his. “Are you going to let me touch it?”
Chapter 4
Confused at the lift in her brow, clarity soon followed. Are you going to let me touch it?
Hot damn.
He winced once he realized what he said and how it must have sounded. Wanna check out my equipment? Real smooth. A real lady killer, aren’t you?
Are you going to let me touch it?
He had to tell his dick she wasn’t talking about him. Correction, she was joking about touching him, but his cock didn’t catch the humor in her voice. A triple threat of beauty, brains, and yes, breasts, Ava used all three to talk her way up here. Face it O’Flynn, you didn’t need much convincing. With the bed inches away, his brain channeled some primeval descendent.
“Only if you know how to work the equipment.”
Her laugh in response filled his insides with heat. Ava was the type of woman who made a man feel like a man with just a smile. He imagined Marilyn Monroe had the same quality. Grady pulled back his mind from the gutter and explained the various recording equipment. He did his best not to be distracted by her scent. As the minutes ticked by and the silence at the other end continued the tension in his neck subsided. Raul must already be asleep.
“So who are we casing?” Ava walked over to the window to peek out.
Grady pulled her back. “We aren’t. I am. And it’s better if you don’t know.”
“Maybe I could help.”
The serious expression on her face was damn cute and he had to hold back a laugh. For a moment Grady thought about answering her. What was it about this woman that made him want him to tell his secrets? He’d already taken her along, revealed too much. Now they were in this bedroom where the smell of sugar and spice and everything nice surrounded him, tempting his self-control. Screw Raul.
Stupid, stupid move. A move that could get him killed or worse, her killed. Complacency had no place in his world. For when it was the most quiet was when everything went to shit. A wave of exhaustion hit him hard.
He’d been too long without a woman’s company, never mind sex. Grady could go without sleep or food for days, turn killer within moments. But this woman he’d known for less than two hours had him nearly begging for not the release of sex but for the comfort of it. Dangerous. “You should go.”
“I’ve been here less than ten minutes. Your neighbors will think you’re a rotten lover.”
Grady laughed. “Can’t have them thinking that.”
“No, we can’t.” Ava reached for his belt buckle and had it undone and off in a flash.
“But—.”
“Shhh,” she whispered, zipping down his fly. “You said I could touch if I knew how to work it.”
Reaching into his boxer briefs, she pulled out his steel hard cock, which was way ahead of his brain on this development. Releasing her grip, she shoved him into the chair by the window.
“All you have to do is sit, watch the window, and come.”
His Navy SEAL training had prepared him for everything and anything. But they hadn’t met Ava Gardner who now knelt at his feet stroking his cock like it was her pet, commanding it expertly to full attention.
I can do this. Keep an eye on the window while she tortured him. No problem. Then her wet mouth surrounded him and it took all his effort not to look. Not to see that sassy mouth engulfing every last inch. He’d probably come from the sight. The sound of blood roared in his ears making it impossible to hear the steady static coming through the radio. Damn, it was hard to even think. But damn, his whole body drummed in blissful beats. Work it? No, she mastered it. “Ava,” he groaned
Chapter 5
Ava hummed her approval. God, he was huge. She loved the feel of him and how he settled in to let her do what she wanted. No hands tugging at her hair, no thrusts into her mouth, no instructions.
A loud noise cracked over the radio and she felt him tense—and not from the he’s-about-to-explode variety.
“Ava.” Instead of moaning her name, it was regret that laced his voice.
She lifted her head and he jumped out of the chair to zip up his jeans. He slid on a jacket without a word and checked his gun. Gun? Where had that come from?
Gone was the fun loving man she met hours ago. Gone was the man she nearly enslaved with only her mouth. Replaced by a man wearing a deadly mask of intent. “What happened? Where are you going?”
“Listen to me. Wait fifteen minutes then call a cab. Don’t leave anything behind.” He doubled checked the gun. “Ava promise me you’ll do as I say. It’s important. I need to know you’re safe.”
“Ye…yes.”
Sliding the gun into the band of his jeans he walked over to where she stood. She blinked and he turned back into the man in the bar.
“I’m sorry for getting you involved in this.” He kissed her hard and quick, stealing her breath. “Don’t worry. I’ll find you.” Walking to the door, he turned back with a sexy wink. “We have some unfinished business.”
And with that he stole her heart.
Ava stood stunned. From his kiss or from him leaving to catch a bad guy she couldn’t say. Could be either of those or the fact that she went down on him like a whore in an action flick. She’d been treating this little adventure like a movie. Now reality hit hard and a sense of dread seeped into her bones. But she did as she was asked, not wanting to be the stupid female who caused more trouble for the hero.
Arriving at her apartment she turned on the TV in case there was any breaking news. At four o’clock in the morning, only infomercials ruled the airways. Ava made herself a cup of Chamomile tea to calm her jittering nerves.
Who was Grady O’Flynn? And why did she feel so connected to him? Sure, he was handsome but she’d been around Hollywood’s finest and none of them came close to his larger than life persona. And none of them tugged at her soul the way he did.
The five A.M. news came on with the usual updates on yesterday’s happenings, the weather and commuter traffic reports. No news was good news, right? The tea did its job and two hours later she was woken up by a phone call.
“Ava, are you okay?”
Victoria’s voice full of fear filled Ava with the emotion. Looking up at the TV she spotted Grady’s picture, it was a still from a video. Her stomach lurched and she’d need all the tea in China to settle it. “I’m fine,” she lied.
“I was up with Brianna when I turned on the news. I think that hottie from the bar shot a terrorist in front of the Empire State Building.”
“Is Grady okay?”
“Grady? Yes, yes I think so. Grady, huh? What the hell happened last night?”
Ava caught Victoria up on most of the night’s events.
“What was he thinking? You could’ve been killed!”
“I was in no danger.” No physical danger anyway. His kiss did more to rattle Ava than anything else.
“I should’ve never left you at the bar.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. We’ve done that sort of thing before.”
“Ages and ages ago, when we were silly, stupid girls.”
“Gezz, Victoria. He was the perfect gentleman. I on the other hand…” Ava let her friend guess the rest.
“Oh my God. Are you going to see him again?”
“Yes.” She said it without thought. He said he’d find her and she believed him. How hard could it be anyway? She was the only agent in this city named Ava Gardner. She heard the baby start to cry. “I better go. Give Brianna a kiss from me.” Hanging up, she turned up the volume on the TV. But there was limited information as reporters scrambled to find out who the man with the gun was. Ava didn’t care any longer who he was, only that he found her.
Chapter 6
Ava changed into a cream-colored pencil skirt
and a red blouse, but decided to work from home and kept busy by answering texts from her clients and calling on auditions. Clarice, her receptionist, thought Ava must be on her deathbed since she had never taken a sick day. Perhaps she should have gone into the office where she’d be easier to find and where he’d probably look first.
A firm two knocks sounded and butterflies took flight in her stomach. Please, please be him. It had to be him; anyone else would’ve use the buzzer. Running to the door, she turned the lock and opened it without checking the peephole, something she always did. Already breathless from excitement, the sight of him stopped her heart.
As yummy as Grady looked in pressed khakis, a black polo shirt, and his hair still damp from a shower, he didn’t look like the hero who shot a man and saved the day hours earlier. With a sexy smile she’d never forget, he looked like a man ready for fun. “How did you find me?”
“Easy. Too easy. I already hired a friend to shore up your social media sites and add other security measures.”
“Maybe you could be my personal bodyguard?” She grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him into the apartment and right into a kiss. His beard, now trimmed and neat, tickled her lips while other parts of her body tingled.
Grady kicked the door closed behind him. “I think you mean slave.”
“Only for sex.”
He bent his head placing his forehead against hers; his hands lightly squeezed her shoulders. “I have two weeks of leave left and I want to spend them giving you as many orgasms as possible.”
“Two weeks?” It would have to do. By the look of disappointment on his face he must’ve thought she was about to throw him out. “Then we better get started. Down the hallway on the left.”
The smile reappeared. He turned and locked the door before scooping her up into his arms. “At your service Ma’am.”
“So you’re a military man?”
Grady maneuvered down the small hallway and Ava leaned forward to turn the handle. “Navy SEAL.”
“Impressive.” She wondered what he thought of her bedroom. When it came to fashion, she was a bit of a purple freak but her apartment designed in hues of soft yellows reflected her need for sunshine in this city of towering steel. As he threw her onto the queen sized bed, she giggled inside for even thinking he noticed the décor.
“But you already know that, don’t you Ava?” He rubbed the hard outline of his erection.
In response she licked her upper lip, then tugged at her bottom lip in anticipation of feeling him in her mouth again. His groan of distress had her reaching for his zipper, but he pushed her hand away, and she arched an eyebrow.
‘We’ll get to that later. Much later.” He straddled her hips. “Right now you have too many clothes on.” He unbuttoned her blouse to reveal a lacy red bra. “Hooyah.”
Instead of the mighty yell she heard in countless war films his voice filled with reverence and awe spoke directly to her hoo-hah. She smiled at the thought but he quickly erased it with his kiss; slow, deep, and filled with passion. Leaving her breathless, he moved on to her neck, then trailed thick, wet kisses along her collarbone. Through the skimpy fabric of the bra he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked. Her back arched in pleasure and he took advantage of the movement to reach around to unhook the bra. They both maneuvered it off along with the blouse. Returning his mouth to her breast, he laved it with attention. Her other breast ached for the same. As if he knew his hand rolled the other nipple between his fingers. Her pussy tingled and she rubbed her legs together to ease the need to feel his lips down there.
A moan escaped her mouth when his hands drew up her skirt up, taking the panties with it as he reached the waistband, tugging both off in one swoop. Naked before him she reveled in his heated gaze that told her this was so much more than a romp in between the sheets.
“You’re so beautiful.” He ran a hand down along her curves. “Tell me Ava, why aren’t you the actress or the model?”
“My talents lie elsewhere.” Despite her mother giving her the name of a famous actress, Ava knew she wasn’t Hollywood beautiful or even talented but she came to terms with that a long time ago. Being an agent she made a name for herself in the business and made a lot of money doing it.
“Mmm, I’ve already sampled one. But now it’s time for you to sample one of mine.” He leaned forward and licked her belly, then lower and lower. He placed small kisses on her toned inner thighs, his beard tickling her pussy until he finally reached her inner lips and swirled his tongue, replacing the tickles with tingles.
Grady slipped two fingers in, curled the tips and found the magic spot which he massaged as his tongue fluttered along her clit, sending wave after wave of pleasure cresting and crashing until she thought she’d be swept under and away. “Grady,” she screamed with what she thought would surely be her last breath. As she came down his fingers slipped out but the motion of his tongue slowed to long, flat licks and she shuddered one last time.
He wiped his mouth with his forearm and the smile left behind radiated male pride. He got up and reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of condoms and tossed it onto the bed. She opened one as he shed his clothes. Damn, he even had the abs of a superhero. She trailed her fingers along the cut lines causing his body to jerk in response.
“Like that, do you?” She caressed his abs again.
“You’re playing with fire.”
“Mmm, but I want the burn,” she said in a low seductive whisper.
Grady’s eyes darkened with intensity. Threading his fingers through her hair he slowly drew her up into a smoldering kiss. His other hand feathered across her body, reaching the apex of her thighs. She pushed him away before he slid those magic fingers inside her again. She needed more. She needed all of him. Taking the condom, she slid it onto his cock. “We are going to need a lot more of these.”
“Tons.”
Grinning, she laid back and he followed her down and slid right in, filling her up. Gently rocking inside her, a warm rush of pleasure pooled inside her, but it still wasn’t enough. She squirmed beneath him.
“Ava, baby.” He grounded out. It sounded like he needed more too.
“Harder,” she pleaded. Gripping her hips, he pulled out and drove back in. Ava gasped, “Oh, yes, yes.”
“Tell me what you want.” He plunged in again. “And I’ll give it to you. Anything.”
“More,” she half ordered, half begged.
He repeated the motion again and again until she tried to speed things up.
“Tell me.”
“Faster.”
Increasing the pace he pumped in and out of her. “God, Ava…you feel like heaven.”
His cock harder, thicker, pulsed inside her and she knew he was close. Right on the edge she stood, so afraid to come, scared it was going to change her forever. She opened her eyes to see him gazing down at her in awe. The orgasm released inside her like a champagne cork sending bubbles of bliss running throughout her body until she started giggling uncontrollably while continuing to come. Grady joined in with his own laughter as he pumped in one last time.
He wrapped her up in a big bear hug and then kissed the tip of her nose. “I don’t think the Navy is going to want me back after you’re through with me.”
She dared a return kiss to his nose but didn’t risk saying what was on the tip of her tongue. I’ll never be through with you.
Chapter 7
The morning sun shone into Grady’s eyes. Immediately he missed the softness of Ava’s body against his. He rolled over to pull her into hug only to find the other side of the bed empty. How did she get out of bed without him registering the movement? Then he noticed the time. 11:00 A.M. Holy crap!
He shook his head in disbelief. He hadn’t slept this long or deeply since the day after Hell Week during BUD/S training. If last night was anything to go by then he was in for two weeks of Heaven. He hoped he had a parachute for the plunge back to Earth. Right now though the warm yellow on the walls and gener
al cheeriness of Ava’s bedroom reminded him of her smile. He forced himself out of bed and into the bathroom. After taking care of his morning routine he put on his boxer briefs and left the room when he heard Ava’s voice down the hall.
Not wanting to disturb her, he patiently waited by the archway leading into the living room as Ava spoke on the phone. She wore a gray t-shirt and pink pajama bottoms but even they couldn’t hide the swell of her backside.
“Emergencies only….They’ll live, Clarice...well you tell Rodger that I’m his agent not his slave. If he wants better roles then he should take rehab seriously this time around.”
She catered to her celebrity clients while he trained and fought for team and country. The worlds they lived in couldn’t be more different.
“Thanks Clarice. Maybe when I get back you should take a vacation too…okay, bye. Oh, and remember, emergencies only.” Ava ended the call and he stepped into the room causing the floor to creek and Ava to whirl around. “Oh, Hi!” Blushing, she pushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.
Grady didn’t do the awkward morning afters, leaving well before dawn to avoid it. But this was different. Ava was different. Still it was wrong of him to only take when he had nothing to give beyond these two weeks. “Look, if you have a meeting to attend, I’ll understand.”
“Oh, I see.”
The frown on her face nearly broke his heart and he cut the distance between them. “No, you don’t see, not all.” Grady pulled her into his arms. “The morning doesn’t change a thing. But it’s not fair of me to expect you to stop your life when I have to leave soon.”
“You’re not stopping anything.” Ava’s blue eyes gazed up at him. “In fact, for once I’m living my life.”
Grady was a goner. Her eyes wide and deep as the ocean where he always felt at home with the SEALS. Even the color reminded him of swimming up from the depths to the surface, the shaft of sunlight creating an aurora like he was swimming toward Heaven.
They may live in different worlds but in some ways they were the same. Didn’t he just spend part of his leave tracking down Raul? If Ava hadn’t approached him at the bar, he’d be killing time waiting for the next mission.