Matty: A Navy SEAL Romance Read online

  Not before a taste.

  When he placed one hand on her belly and moved his head between her legs, her skin was already blazing hot. Her stomach rose and fell with her breaths. The wild scent of her arousal made him groan as his already eager shaft hardened to steel.

  He traced the apex of her thighs with his tongue, teasing her, before delving in between her wet folds. Her breathless sigh was musical, a secret sound he wanted reserved just for him. Her female musk, that taste off limits to him for so long, was addictive.

  If he had more time, he’d spend the day savoring this forbidden feast, but they had precious few minutes before she had to leave this bed. Still, he’d use every moment he had to draw out her pleasure, not letting her leave the bed until she was satiated. And once they returned to her bedroom, he’d take all the time he craved, satisfying every lust denied to them until now.

  He circled her clit with his tongue, tormenting her until she bucked beneath him with incoherent pleas. He slid his tongue as deep as he could inside her and then pressed it against her sensitive nub. She arched beneath him, rising and falling with the varying pressure. With his other hand, he added a finger, exploring her hot sheathe, finding what made her shiver or clutch the sheets.

  She undulated beneath him, releasing sighs of pleasure that were better than any song. He kept her hovering close to the apex, rising, climbing, sweating, and trembling.

  “Please,” she begged.

  He moaned in acquiescence, unable to hold off himself any longer, and brought her to the edge.

  She cried out with her climax, holding on to his shoulders, and bucking beneath him. Her delicious honey coated his tongue.

  After her moans died down and movements slowed, he pulled away, all too desperate to feel her again.

  “Don’t go,” she pleaded.

  “Just getting ready.” He quickly found a condom from the end table.

  She watched him from under lowered lids as he sheathed himself and then bit her lip.

  He hurried back to her welcoming arms. “You taste so good.” He kissed her, letting her sense the aroma still on his lips.

  Then he slid into her hot, wet sex, slowly reveling in the tight sensation of her body around his. She pulled him against her, holding on to him like she’d never let him go. Once he buried himself fully inside, he moved in and out at a slow pace, savoring each thrust.

  The gentle movements soon turned wild and feverish. He was unable to get enough of her. She raised her lower body and arched against him. The sounds of slapping flesh and pleasurable moans filled the room. She felt so good, and he was already on the edge of detonating.

  Not yet.

  He slowed his thrusts to prevent this paradise from ending too soon.

  “Let me on top.” She moved out from beneath him.

  Jenna straddled him and the vision alone was enough to set him off. Her rapturous expression as she slid down, taking him fully inside her was one he’d never forget. He held on. The tightness as she clamped around him was enough to make all the agony of suppressing his desires worth it.

  He caressed the soft satin of her breasts before he leaned forward and took one nipple in his mouth. As she increased the tempo, he had to release the succulent flesh. The slow driving tempo rose and with it, his need to rock into her. He grabbed her hips and matched her pace, pumping into her from below.

  She was rising, climbing, craving more. Right there. She arched her body back and uttered his name with a breathless sigh before she cried out. Her inner muscles pulsed around him as she shuddered with her climax.

  A blinding drive roared through him, a raging desire to mark her as his. He thrust into her with a feral abandon as he lost control of holding back any longer. Hot streams jutted deep inside her before he settled back and pulled her on top of him.

  Their bodies were both slick and hearts pounding. Her quickened breaths were inches from his ear.

  He held her in his arms. “Can I convince you to stay in bed with me all day?”

  “After I go to the cat shelter.” Her voice was breathless.

  He traced his fingers down her back. “I can go with you so we can get back here sooner.”

  Jenna

  Jenna rode the high from her weekend with Matty through work on Monday morning. She might as well have rented space in the clouds. How could sex affect her outlook so positively? She’d had sex before. She’d had orgasms.

  But never with Matty.

  He went with her to help out at the cat shelter where he often touched her or whispered something naughty in her ear about how he couldn’t wait to get her back into bed. That’s where they spent much of the day.

  Tonight they’d be going out to dinner—a real date this time—before going back to her place. She practically skipped through the office, smiling with pure glee rather than professional courtesy as she greeted each client.

  In between clients, Sophia glanced at Jenna with question. “Did somebody have a good weekend?”

  Jenna gave her a sheepish look. “Is it that obvious?”

  Sophia laughed. “Your emotions are plastered across your face. Let me guess—the hot SEAL staying at your place?”

  Jenna grinned and nodded.

  Sophia snapped her fingers and joked, “I knew it! I should have put money on that happening.”

  Jenna was still giddy as she stepped out for lunch. That morning she hadn’t eaten breakfast as they’d lingered too long in bed and had only had a granola bar a couple of hours ago.

  By lunchtime she was ravenous. She walked down to one of her favorite cafés to get a sandwich. After she picked up a southwestern wrap, she wandered into the park. March had turned into April. Although it could be finicky, the sun was shining and the temperature hit the sixties. She might as well take advantage before one of April’s vicious storms kicked in, reminding her that she lived in New England with its erratic weather patterns.

  She wasn’t the only one enjoying the park, and it took her a couple more minutes before she found a free bench under the shade of a maple tree. Perfect.

  As she approached it, a voice stopped her.

  “I’m getting tired of you screwing around with this guy.” Roberto stepped beside her and took her forearm.

  “It’s none of your business.” She pulled her arm back, but it didn’t break his hold. “Let go of me.”

  His sharp glare could cut glass. “We took a vow. One in which we promised to love and honor each other—for life.”

  She groaned. “And how does cheating on me fit into that vow?”

  He released her arm. “Everyone makes mistakes,” he snarled. “Like you’re doing now.” He exhaled through flared nostrils. “But I’m a fair guy. I’ll forgive you for it.”

  Her mouth dropped open. Was he insane? She stepped back, trembling with rage. “Enough!” Others in the park glanced over. She raised her chin and lowered her voice. “I’m getting a restraining order.” Why hadn’t she done that yet? So much had happened over the past few days that dealing with his crap was the furthest thing from her mind.

  When he threw his head back and laughed, his whitened teeth gleamed. “You think a piece of paper will stop me from keeping what’s mine?”

  His possessive look was dangerous, reminding her of a predator. She took another two steps back. “I’m not yours. You’re getting obsessed with this fantasy of us getting back together. It won’t happen. See a therapist to learn how to accept that we are done.”

  “You’re my wife.” He took a step closer. “Nothing is going to change that fact—even if you fucked someone else. You belong to me. “If I have to remove him from your life, I will.” He raised his hands and tapped his index fingers together while his fact twisted into a leer. “And trust me, I’d enjoy the experience of taking out any man who touched my wife.”

  Oh God, he was threatening Matty. Why had she got him mixed up in her situation? “Leave him out of this. He’s good and honorable and everything you’re not.”

 
; “What I am is your husband. You chose to spend your life with me.” He punctured each statement by pointing at him and then her.

  “No, ex. Accept it.” She stepped backwards and crossed her arms.

  “You will always be mine.” He bent down to her ear. “You end it with him. Or I end him.” His voice lowered to a dark whisper that vibrated along her skin and she recoiled.

  Jenna sucked in a breath. Her lungs felt constricted like ice had frozen her ribcage. She lowered her arms to her sides as gravity threatened to yank her down. “You’re threatening someone’s life. What’s happened to you?”

  He made a tsking sound. “Still so naïve, Jenna. You only saw what you wanted to see.”

  Was it true? Had she been married to a monster—a monster who could murder—and she’d had no clue? Someone who would destroy whoever got in the way of what he wanted.

  The answer was in his cold, menacing eyes—yes. And the person who’d be destroyed would be Matty.

  Roberto cracked his knuckles. “You’re lucky I’m a decent guy. I almost had him taken out the other night after he left your place.” He pulled up a video on his phone and showed her.

  Matty strode ahead, shoulders hunched.

  Her throat constricted. “Who’s following him?” Her voice came out strangled. “You? Some goon in your enterprise?”

  “That’s not important. We have eyes everywhere.”

  After a few seconds, Matty turned to the left, revealing his profile as he wiped his eyes.

  Jenna’s heart splintered and ached all over again. That was after he’d left her apartment distraught over Gunther—and needing space after the kiss.

  A dark object rose from the bottom right of the camera view. A gun! Raised and aimed at Matty’s back.

  She gasped. “Roberto.”

  He snorted with a sound of disgust. “He was so pathetic. What did you do to make him cry like a little girl?”

  She pursed her lips, refusing to tell him anything. Everything inside her went hollow. So many intense emotions had led up to that moment for Matty, deeper than anything Roberto could ever understand.

  He gave her a sick smile and put the phone in his pocket. “I’m a decent guy and am giving you a choice, Jenna. What happens now is all on you.”

  Her hands trembled and her breath came quick. She turned and ran from Roberto, heart pounding in her ears.

  His vile laughter followed. “Go ahead and run, Jenna. I love the chase.”

  Chapter 17

  Matty

  “You’re in a good mood today.” Matty’s mother placed a bowl of her homemade hummus with plenty of lemon juice on the kitchen table on Monday afternoon, next to the plates of carrots and celery sticks. She sat down beside him and his father.

  Matty picked up a carrot stick and dipped it. “Why wouldn’t I be? It’s a sunny spring day.”

  “Friday looks to be a good day to sail,” his father said.

  “Sounds good to me.” One of the things he loved about growing up in Newport was going sailing with his father when he was home.

  “We’ll see if Angelo can come down.” His father glanced at the plate. “No bread?” He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bag of pita bread.

  “I put out veggies for a reason,” she scolded his father.

  “And what’s that?” He sat down, tore off a piece of bread, and dipped it into the hummus.

  “So you’ll eat them!” She exhaled and turned to Matty. “Any plans today?”

  After he swallowed, he said, “Yeah. It’s time to get my shit together.”

  “Language,” she reminded him.

  “Sorry, crap. Is that better?”

  “I suppose.” She shrugged. “Doing what?”

  “Finding a job for one.” In a lower voice, he added, “And an apartment.”

  “What?” She leaned back in her chair and her mouth widened into an O. “Why would you do that? We have plenty of room here.”

  “The boys aren’t like your brothers,” his father said. “They don’t want to live at home into their thirties.”

  She huffed. “I don’t see anything wrong with living with family. It’s family.”

  “Ma, I love you, but I haven’t lived here for a long time.” He rubbed her arm. “Don’t worry, I plan to stick around Newport.” Now that his future looked more promising with Jenna in it, he had no intentions of leaving town. He had his family here and Jenna—that is, if Derek didn’t fly home from Japan and kill him first.

  He’d come around eventually, wouldn’t he? After all, Matty wasn’t the worst choice out there for Jenna. He’d be good to her, protect her—not screw her over like her ex.

  “I’ll be around, but not so much that you’ll get sick of me and my stinky socks on the floor,” Matty added with a playful grin.

  She shooed. “Please. None of you boys did that after you enlisted. That’s one good thing they knocked into you.”

  “Need a hand with anything?” His father asked.

  “Not right now, I’m good.” He pulled out his phone from his back pocket. “I can find solid leads for jobs and apartments right here.”

  “What are you thinking for a job?”

  Matty put the phone away. Good question. Once upon a time he thought he’d use his expertise as a K-9 handler and carry it over into the civilian world. After the trauma that had ended his military career, he didn’t think he could handle that responsibility, at least not for some time.

  He shrugged. “Maybe some type of security to start.”

  His father nodded. “I know people and can put in a good word. Just let me know.”

  “Thanks, Pop.”

  Matty’s life was definitely turning better than a week ago, and he sensed that much of that had to do with Jenna. When he thought of seeing her again tonight, he grinned.

  “What’s that smile for?” His mother asked, drawing her dark brows together.

  “Nothing, Ma. I’m just happy. Isn’t that good?”

  Her expression contorted with emotion and her eyes glistened. “Yes. That’s all I want—for you to be safe and happy.”

  Matty swallowed a lump that had snuck into his throat. No matter how much he and his brothers joked about how she could sometimes smother them, he appreciated it now more than ever. Knowing that someone cared about you, that they’d sacrifice anything to keep you safe and happy meant everything.

  Maybe with a parent, that was a given. What about with a partner? If you were lucky enough to find the right person and they reciprocated your feelings, was that relationship worth fighting for—even if it meant pissing off a friend?

  Jenna

  On the walk to the Thai café on Monday evening, Jenna cycled through her options. She’d texted Matty that afternoon asking him to meet her at the restaurant instead of at the clinic. She needed fresh air and a clear head to sort through the agonizing options in her head.

  What was the best option to keep Matty safe? Should she call the police? Or would that set off an already volatile Roberto who could carry out the threat on Matty’s life?

  Her stomach roiled. Was there anything she could do without succumbing to Roberto’s demands?

  No. Roberto wouldn’t care who he destroyed in getting what he wanted.

  The sun had descended lower in the sky since she’d gone out at lunch, yet it was still sunny. Despite the spring warmth, she wrapped her arms over her purple wrap.

  She had no choice. If she cared about Matty, she couldn’t ignore Roberto’s ultimatum.

  I’ll end it, she texted Roberto. A vile sour taste coated her tongue.

  Good girl. We’ll talk later.

  Never. She’d have to deal with that after. Step one was getting Matty out of her life and away to safety.

  She entered the Thai café, a cheery space with butterscotch colored walls and lightly stained wooden tables and chairs. The scents of spices and sriracha surrounded her, but she had no appetite.

  Matty was seated near a window, staring outside.
Her heart jolted. The weekend had been amazing. She would have still been on a high if Roberto hadn’t yanked her down.

  Matty picked up the beer in front of him and took a sip. He glanced around the restaurant. When he spotted her, he grinned and stood. She walked over, feet dragging through sludge as dread swelled in her stomach.

  “Hey, babe.” He kissed her on the lips.

  That simple greeting shot electric heat through her and then tugged at her with turmoil. This could have been the start of a new beginning with Matty. She sat down and rubbed the worry line between her eyes as if building a trench.

  “How was your day?” he asked.

  She resisted groaning. If she told him about Roberto’s threat at lunchtime, Matty would react. She’d pictured a thousand scenarios of him confronting Roberto and none of the outcomes were good. She’d barely been able to keep Matty from going after Roberto the last time she’d mentioned him propositioning her, and Matty had promised that he wouldn’t hold back the next time.

  Well, there was a next time, only it was far worse than any previous encounters. With his training, Matty could kill Roberto with bare hands, swiftly breaking his neck. But then Matty would be arrested—or one of Roberto’s associates could seek revenge.

  Or he could ask one of his goons to carry out the threat. They could torture Matty, hide his body…

  Jenna swallowed. She couldn’t let any of those scenarios come to fruition.

  The server greeted them and asked for their drink order. Yes, she needed all the liquid courage she could muster before dealing with this nightmare. She ordered the first drink she spotted on the cocktail menu, something with coconut and rum that would do.

  After Matty ordered a beer and the server left them, he asked, “Are you okay, Jenna?”

  Every cell in her body agitated as if ready to revolt at her next words. “This weekend was wonderful, Matty…” Her voice trailed off. She loathed to do it. God, why did Roberto have to put her in this revolting situation?

  “Uh oh, I sense a ‘but’ coming.”