“I could’ve done that. I’ll only be in River Bend.” Hell, maybe he should grab Jenny and head that way, too.

“No, no, sweetie, it’s fine. You enjoy your weekend. I needed to get out of the house anyway. Make the most of this nice spring weather and whatnot.” In the background, his father griped about the cars braking in front of him and Brody smiled.

“How long are you staying? Until Sunday?”

“Probably. You?”

“Same.” He lifted his cap and scratched at his head as an unfamiliar, but not unwelcome, thought came to mind. “Maybe I’ll come up tomorrow.”

“Really, honey, you don’t have to. Grandpa won’t like us doting on him. Grandma’s already doing enough of that, I’m sure.”

Of course, she was, but... “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

As if the weird whirling sensation in his stomach wasn’t enough, his mother’s long moment of silence nearly did him in.

“Mom?”

“Are you seeing someone?” Jesus, was she breathing hard or what he hearing things? “Is that why you’re spending so much time in River Bend?”

Shit, she was gonna make a big deal out it, wasn’t she? “On second thought—”

“Don’t you dare, Brody James! Don’t you tease me like that and then try to back out! You bring her tomorrow or I’ll drive to River Bend and find her myself!”

Way to open your mouth, dumb fuck. Fist bump! “I’ll bring her.”

“Darn right you will. I’ll make brunch.”

“Brunch?” He didn’t plan on leaving Jenny’s bed until at least noon.

“Brunch. And don’t be late. Crepes are better fresh.”

Ahh, fuck. Not the crepes. “It’s not Christmas, Ma.”

“Nope—meeting your girlfriend is better than Christmas. See you in the morning, sweetie.” Click.

Well, hell.

***

Meeting him at the door naked was probably too presumptuous. Maybe a bra and panties would be a more subtle approach.

Jenny stared in the mirror, chewing the inside of her cheek and considering her options. Black or white? Either way, it’d end up on the floor, so did it really matter?

Yes, it definitely mattered. Being with Brody wasn’t only about sex—it was about pleasing him. Him, the first man in maybe ever who seemed to actually care about her more than her body.

That alone was worth the extra effort.

Suddenly, she froze. Were those tires crunching in the driveway? Crap!

She stuffed the lingerie back into the drawer, snatched up the first oversized t-shirt she could find and yanked it over her head in a frenzy. Panty-free would have to work. She’d do better next time.

She sprinted through the house, pausing just long enough to catch her breath and wet her lips before she flung opened the door. He met her on the porch with a wicked grin and the duffel bag slung over his shoulder hit the concrete with a thud.

“Jesus Christ,” he murmured. His eyes blazed hot as he lifted her off the ground and carried her desperately into the house, his hands seemingly everywhere at once. Her back hit a wall—which one she wasn’t sure, because she lost all sense of everything but him when his hungry mouth came down on hers.

He tasted like something sweet and she clung to his thick, sturdy shoulders, getting totally, unabashedly drunk on his kisses. She could live on them alone, she was sure of it, because nothing filled her up, made her feel more satisfied and complete, than Brody.

Somewhere in the chaos, he lost his shirt. And hers found its way up to her collarbone while he devoured her breasts. She moaned, he grunted, and when she worked his fly free and pulled out his erection, it took him seconds to hoist her a little higher, spread her wide, and seat himself inside.

“Ahh, baby,” she panted, her eyes locked on his while he jaw ticked and his face strained. Up and down he lifted her, wetting himself and sliding deeper with every stroke. The teasing glide of his piercing felt...unbelievable. Just right, and yet not enough.

“Condom?” The word rumbled past his tight-set mouth, but he never broke pace. Just filled her over and over again, skin on skin, so many unspoken promises shining in his eyes.

He didn’t need to say them, because she felt them. In her head, in her body, in her heart...

“I trust you.” She smoothed her hand along the side of his bristled jaw, her thumb parting his lips.

“You sure?” He lowered his forehead to hers and his tenderness stole her breath. But it was the quiet vulnerability in his eyes that did her in. He’d needed her to say those words as badly as she’d needed to feel them.

“You’re going to make me love you,” she whispered, and her voice broke with pent-up emotion she couldn’t hide any more.

His chest shook as he exhaled, and somehow his strong arms seemed to tighten around her and become gentle at the same time. “That’s the plan, sugar.”

God help me.

She cried out when he withdrew and drove home again, because this...this was what making love was supposed to feel like. No walls between them. No holding back. Just trust and faith borne between two people who had nothing left to lose.

“Come for me, baby.” He shifted the angle to free up a hand and rub little circles around her clit. His fingers shook, but he already knew her body so well. Knew just the right amount of pressure, just the right friction...

But she held back.

“You, too,” she pleaded. “Together.”

Dark haziness slid over his gaze and his hips began to piston hard. Lifting, pumping, totally claiming her from the inside out...

She slid her hands down his biceps and, gripping hard, she let go. He followed after, unloading with not an inch to spare between them. Watching the tension in his face turn to bliss was unreal. Majestic. Not just because he was a beautiful man, but also because he was her beautiful man.

She pressed her face into his perspiration-dotted neck and breathed him in. Mine. Every spicy, delicious, hard-muscled inch of him was hers.

They stayed there several minutes holding on to one another before he carried her back to the front door, kicked it shut, and took off at a jog down the hall with his pants falling off his ass and a goofy grin on his face.

“All the way to the end,” she laughed...and then harder again when he tripped and almost toppled them onto the bed. He kept going though, depositing her in the shower and making quick work of getting them both completely naked.

He turned her t-shirt toward her and pointed to the Marines logo. “A million times better than Victoria’s Secret, and the lack of panties was a nice touch, too.”

“I might’ve accidentally borrowed that...” The not-so-innocent heat in her cheeks flamed when he climbed in behind her and slid his hand down to cup her sex. Where the evidence of what they’d done couldn’t be missed.

“Thank you for this,” he spoke tenderly, his lips against her ear while he used his seed to paint her clit and build the fire once again. “I saw the pills when you were at my place, so I know we’re good that way. And, at the risk of sounding like a douche bag frat boy, it means a lot to me that you’d let me go in without. I’ve never done that before.”

“Me either,” she confessed, shivering when he brushed her hair off her neck and licked from the curve of her shoulder to the spot behind her ear.

“Why me, sugar?” he asked humbly. “I can’t be the first guy who’s ever wanted to.”

“No, but you are the first to offer me something better in return.”

“What’s that, babe?”

She turned in his arms and toed up to kiss him. “You.”

***

Sometime between their shower and another round of making Jenny scream, it began to rain. The curtains on her bedroom windows danced in the wind, carrying with them the fresh, earth smell of spring.

“Things are going well with Elena?” In nothing but his black boxer briefs, he stretched out his legs on top of her comforter and shoved a spoonful of butter pecan ice cream into his mouth. Beside him, sitting cross-legged in his Marines t-shirt, Jenny swallowed her bite and nodded.