The Commander: Red, Hot, & Blue, Book 12 Read online

  She didn’t need to look up to know it was Hank. A tearful half laugh escaped her. “Are you sure you want to be seen with me? I’m a mess.”

  He leaned in closer. “Happy tears make a woman more beautiful.”

  Her heart sped at the feel of his breath against her ear. “You’re quite a liar, Hank Miller, but thank you anyway.”

  “I never lie.” He brushed a thumb over her wet cheek then offered her his arm. “Shall we?”

  Lois looked up and once again appreciated what a handsome man Hank was. She nodded.

  “Oh, and just a warning, the bride and groom get the first dance, but I intend on having the second dance with you.” Hank said it matter-of-factly and led the way to the reception.

  Lois wasn’t sure how she would be able to dance. It was all she could do to breathe when she was anywhere near this man.

  Slow dancing with Lois as the sun set amid a blaze of color behind the trees was very different than their first dance of the reception in broad daylight. Hank wasn’t even certain what they were doing could be called dancing. He rocked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he held her close. Running his hands up and down the back of her silk dress, he felt the warmth of her body beneath the thin fabric.

  He shouldn’t have pulled her so close. And when she rested her head on his shoulder, he shouldn’t have laid his chin against her hair and inhaled the sweet scent of her. He paid for doing both when his body reacted to her closeness. He knew he was in trouble when he didn’t force himself to move away. They were pressed tightly together. She’d feel his erection. That he wanted her to so she knew what she did to him proved Hank had lost his head over this woman. This off-limits woman who made him say and do things he shouldn’t.

  The song ended and he still didn’t let her go. She raised her head and their eyes met.

  “Lois…” He swallowed. What the hell was he going to say? Come back to my motel room at the Hideaway? Real romantic.

  Though it wasn’t as if he could sneak away upstairs to her bed and hope no one noticed. Seven men trained to observe all, two of them her sons, would notice them running upstairs for a quickie. There were too many problems with that scenario to even contemplate, not the biggest of which being Hank did not want a quickie with Lois. She was the kind of woman a man wanted to spend time with, both in and out of bed…and he was leaving tomorrow.

  She waited as all these thoughts careened through his head.

  Jimmy walked up to them with his bride and Hank dropped his hold on Lois and took a step back, angling his body behind hers so at least the bride and groom wouldn’t see his arousal.

  “Mama, Lia and I wanted to say good night and thank you. We’re heading to the city with Lia’s family in the limo.” Jimmy grinned at Hank. “The governor is letting us have the presidential suite at the Hilton for the next couple of nights.”

  “Very nice. Enjoy.” Hank smiled, remembering how much Jimmy liked hotel suites.

  “Love you.” Lois teared up again as she kissed Jimmy and then Lia goodbye. “Love you both.”

  Hank knew Lois had said goodbye to Jimmy as he left for far more dangerous trips than his honeymoon, but he supposed this departure was different. Her boy was embarking on a new life as a husband and a father. Hank could only imagine what he’d be like at his own daughter’s wedding, whenever that time came. Hopefully not for a while yet.

  As Jimmy and Lia left, Hank itched to pull Lois into his arms, but Jack had crossed the dance floor on his way toward them. He hugged his brother and new sister-in-law along the way and then came to Lois and Hank. “Mama. Commander. It’s early still, so the rest of us are heading on over to the bar for one last drink. Y’all wanna come?”

  “Thanks, Jack, but I think I’ll stay here and see what the caterers have done to my kitchen,” Lois answered.

  “Commander? You coming?”

  This was it. The moment of decision. Hank could agree to go to the bar, the last thing he wanted to do, but also the safest. Or, he could remain behind, alone in the house with Lois.

  His heart pounded inside his ribcage. “Thanks, Jack. I think I’ll help your mother clean up a bit and then head over. If you’re still at the bar, I’ll stop in.”

  Jack nodded. “A’ight. See you later. Night, Mama.”

  After a few more goodbyes, the last remaining guests were gone. Even the caterers had left. Hank and Lois were alone.

  Lois paused just inside the kitchen door. She was nervous. Hank could feel it radiate off her. Hell, he was so nervous himself he was shaking.

  “This house has been so full of people lately it’s strange it’s so silent now.” She glanced up at his face.

  He raised his hand and trailed it down her bare arm. “You must be exhausted. Would you rather I left so you can go to bed?”

  “No. I’d rather you stayed so we can go to bed.” She turned to face him and smoothed the lapel of his dress uniform, concentrating on staring at the fabric, the buttons, his medals, everything but his face.

  With one finger, Hank raised her chin so she had no choice but to look up. Her gaze skimmed his lips and finally rested on his eyes as he lowered his head toward hers.

  With both hands splayed on his broad chest, Lois leaned into Hank’s kiss. She undid the buttons on his coat, slipped both arms under it and clasped them behind his back. He groaned and pulled her closer, kneading her waist through the thin silk of her dress.

  She parted her lips for his tongue and he was lost. He backed her up against the wall of the kitchen as he ran both his hands up her torso, brushing his thumbs over the sides of her breasts.

  Her breath caught in her throat as she pulled away. “Hank.”

  He took a step back, dropped his hold on her and ran his hands over his face. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry? No. Don’t be. I just wanted to say we should go upstairs where it’s more comfortable.” She fisted her hands on each lapel of his jacket and pulled him toward her. “I know my mother, rest her soul, would never approve, but I don’t care. We don’t have the time for flirtations.”

  She was right. Hank was leaving for the base tomorrow and the one thing he knew for sure was that he wanted to be with her tonight. He brushed his thumb over her cheek and leaned in for another kiss. “Lead the way.”

  Upstairs, Hank concentrated on controlling his rapid breathing and heartbeat as Lois opened his shirt one button at a time. When she parted the fabric and lowered her mouth to his chest, he decided control was a lost cause. He wanted her, needed her, far too much.

  She gasped as he picked her up and laid her on the bed. Had the staircase been wider, he may have been tempted to do a Rhett Butler imitation and carry Lois up the stairs. Instead, they’d had to walk. It didn’t matter how they’d arrived there, as long as they ended up exactly where they were—in a room with a bed and together.

  Hank slid out of his jacket, toed off his shoes and kneeled next to her on top of the quilt. Her skin was as soft as her dress as he started at her ankles and moved his hands up her legs and under the hem to end at her thighs. He was nervous. He hadn’t been with anyone since his wife. He couldn’t tell Lois. It was complicated and this was not the time to bring up another woman.

  How could he explain that after twenty years of marriage, they’d divorced and then continued for a year after the papers were signed to have more and better sex than they’d ever had during their marriage? Right up until the day he decided he couldn’t inflict that torture on himself any longer and had made a clean break. Now, she was remarried to a co-worker who—to quote his ex-wife—didn’t routinely leave the country to try to get himself shot. Hank hadn’t bothered to correct her and say he never tried to get himself shot. It just happened sometimes.

  No, this wasn’t the time for talking about the past. He wanted Lois undressed and under him. Spread wide as he thrust inside her. The problem was, he wasn’t sure what she wanted.

  “Hank, what’s wrong?” Lois must have noticed his hesitation. />
  “I’m afraid I’m moving too fast for you.”

  Lois blew out a breath. “I was afraid you’d decided you didn’t want me.”

  “No.” He laughed. “That’s not a problem. Not at all.” How tight his pants had gotten in the crotch was visual evidence of that.

  A small smile bowed her lips. “Then you aren’t moving fast enough for my liking.”

  That was all Hank needed to hear. He slid his fingers beneath the elastic of her panties and pulled them down her tanned, toned legs. As Lois’s underwear landed on the floor, Hank appreciated the view.

  Hank was contemplating his next course of action when Lois reached and ran the tip of one finger over the bulge in his pants. If she continued stroking him, he’d come with his clothes still on and this encounter would be over much too soon.

  He pulled his pelvis away from her. “We’ll get done a little too fast if you keep that up.”

  “I guess you’d better distract me.” Lois was no longer the quintessential Southern hostess, not a mother or a grandmother or the baker of prize-winning pies. She was all woman, and she wanted him.

  “That I can do.” Hank slipped the hem of Lois’s dress up and pulled it off over her head. She was filled out and well-rounded in all the right places like a woman should be. Shapely, not like those skinny models in magazines.

  Hank intended to show Lois his appreciation of her body with everything he had, beginning with his hands and mouth. He pushed the lace of her bra down and scraped his teeth across one pebbled nipple. She shuddered beneath his touch.

  While kissing his way over to give the other breast equal treatment, he slid one hand down her body. When he found the wet heat between her thighs, Lois moved her legs farther apart. Hank accepted the invitation. He spread her with his fingers and found the tight bundle of nerves that made her gasp at his touch.

  As he circled her clit with the tip of one finger, Hank brushed his lips against her ear. “Just so you know, after this first time, we’re breaking out that vibrator.”

  She sucked in a sharp breath and raised her hips to press harder against his hand. He slid a finger inside and her breath quickened. Lois fisted the quilt as Hank doubled his efforts. She looked so beautiful, breathless and squirming beneath his hands. He watched her face, loving how she reacted to his every touch. Her eyes closed as her breath sped.

  She cried out as she came with a body-shaking orgasm. He didn’t let up until she was a quivering mass on top of the covers. Hank realized even though he was supposed to be distracting her, he was the one distracted, clear out of his mind.

  Lois opened those eyes that never failed to capture him, and he saw the expression of wonder in them. He ran his hands over her body and braced himself above her, wanting to sink his cock into her so badly he could barely control the urge.

  In the dim light from the lamp across the room, he saw her face was flushed, her eyes unfocused as she whispered, “You’re overdressed.”

  He couldn’t argue with that, so he corrected the situation, figuring it would bring him one step closer to what he wanted. His socks, pants and shirt landed next to her dress on the floor. Hank was usually more careful with his uniform, hanging each piece up after he took it off even if it was headed right to the dry cleaner. Not tonight.

  His briefs did nothing to hide the massive erection, but he kept them on anyway. Call it a security blanket. Yes, he was in his forties and nervous as hell about making love to a woman. It was ridiculous. His only explanation—Lois was no ordinary woman.

  Chapter Six

  Lois trembled half with the aftershocks of what Hank had done to her with only his hands, half with anticipation of what else he could do.

  Hank stood next to the bed wearing white cotton briefs and nothing else, his body all lean muscles and hard angles. There was one hard angle she’d like to get to know better.

  “Come here, darlin’.” She reached a hand out toward him.

  He smiled and kneeled on the bed. “No one’s ever called me that before. I like it.”

  “You’re going to like this even more.” Lois sat up and ran her tongue over the whorls of his ear. “Make love to me, darlin’.”

  Hank’s muscles weren’t just for show. While kissing her, he tumbled them back onto the bed and hoisted her on top of him. Supporting her with two large hands on her hips, he lowered her onto his erection and then stopped.

  “Shit.” He pushed her off and cringed. “Sorry.”

  “What’s wrong?” Lois frowned.

  “I was married for a long time, and I haven’t been divorced for all that long.” His lips formed a tight line as he shook his head. “I’m not in the habit of carrying condoms.”

  “Oh, is that all? Don’t worry. I’ve got some.” Lois couldn’t help but grin at the shock on Hank’s face. She reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out a handful as his brows rose higher. “Don’t you dare start thinking what I know you’re thinking, Hank Miller. Millie gave these out as favors at the party.”

  “Millie?”

  “My friend who sells the sex toys.”

  “Ah, that’s right. The grandmother with the box of dildos.” Hank bit his lip and Lois could see he was trying not to laugh as he took in the colorful array in her hand. “So what shade are you in the mood for? Pink, purple or green.”

  “Hmm, well they’re scented, so I guess that depends on if you want cotton candy, grape or apple.”

  He swallowed visibly and looked up at her. “Are they flavored too?”

  “I guess we’ll have to find out.”

  Hank drew in a deep breath at her answer. “Guess we will. Later.”

  He tore into the purple one and slid it on. Then he was over her. Lois’s leg rested on his thighs as he plunged inside, sending tingles from the point of entry all the way up her spine until she could swear fireworks exploded behind her eyes. He hovered above her, watching her face through every stroke of his body into hers.

  Hank was a powerful man, and every thrust moved Lois up the bed. He lifted her torso toward him and supported her weight in his hands. Her legs wrapped around his back as he knelt. He held her close and stroked inside her, once, twice, three times more before he let out a strangled groan.

  Lois clung to him, neither of them moving for what seemed like a long time while they both regained their breath. She tried to move her legs from around him and felt how stiff and wobbly they were. She wasn’t going anywhere. At least, not without help.

  “Just when I thought I was in pretty good shape, I can’t even move after a little sex.”

  Hank’s laugh vibrated through her. “That was not just a little sex. But how’s about a little more? How many of those condoms you got?”

  The tiniest movement, a slight rotation of his hips beneath her, had his cock growing hard within her.

  “About half a dozen.”

  “That might be enough.” The look in his eyes told Lois he wasn’t joking. He scooped her up as if she weighed nothing and carried her across the room, sitting her on the big desk in front of the window.

  Her eyes opened wide. “Hank, on my great grandfather’s desk?”

  “Don’t fool yourself, sweetheart. I’m sure this isn’t the first time this has happened on this thing over the years. It’s big and sturdy and the perfect height.”

  He rested each of her legs on his shoulders and plunged into her to demonstrate his point so convincingly, there was no way to argue it. Hank worked her with his thumb while he loved her until she grasped at the well-worn wood along the edge. Every one of his strokes sent waves of pleasure through her.

  “So, where you got that vibrator stashed?” His grin was positively evil, and Lois knew after tonight she’d never look at this old desk the same way again.

  Chapter Seven

  Lois opened her eyes as the morning light and memories of the night before swept over her. Some days everything seemed right with the world. The sun shone, the birds sang, and she was sore in all the right places.


  Her one regret was that she was alone. Hank had stayed as long as he dared, until they knew the bar would be giving last call and her two boys would be on the way home. Before leaving her, he had kissed her so thoroughly she hadn’t wanted to let him go. That kiss made certain she couldn’t fall asleep for quite a while.

  It was a good thing he left when he did. Not ten minutes later, she heard the boys, along with Nicki and Mandy, trying to sneak up the stairs none too quietly.

  She’d had sex with a man she hardly knew on most of the family heirlooms in the room and she was turning a blind eye to both Jack and Jared having their girls overnight in their bedrooms. No doubt about it, both her mother and her grandmother—great-grandma too—were not only rolling in their graves, Lois would be shocked if they hadn’t popped right up out of them by now.

  Glancing at the clock, she knew it was time to get out of bed. The team and their dates, and most importantly Hank, would be at the farm for brunch in a little less than two hours. Then they would leave for the drive back to the base. Hank was leaving too soon. She’d just found him and now he was going away.

  Most days Lois would wash her face, throw on some face cream and lipstick and be out the door. This morning, she found herself staring into her reflection in the bathroom mirror, tempted to apply the full face of makeup she’d worn to the wedding simply because she’d be seeing Hank again. She was in deep trouble. She was falling for Hank—no, she’d already fallen, as hard as hail on a tin roof.

  Tearing herself away from the mirror, she threw on jeans and a simple cotton shirt. She refused to change her normal routine over one night of sex. Just as she wouldn’t miss him when he was gone or wonder what he was doing.

  Lying to herself wasn’t working, so she pushed all thought of saying goodbye to Hank out of her mind and jogged down the stairs. She had to start the coffee and pull together brunch. Maybe she’d be able to use up some of yesterday’s leftovers in addition to the frittata she had planned.

  Good old Southern hospitality always did keep her mind occupied when all else failed to. Today, with Hank here for brunch while they were both under the watchful eyes of everyone near and dear to them she would need the distraction more than ever.