Her Sexy Marine Valentine(19)

He'd just admitted to himself that he was feeling a bit possessive of  her. Or maybe she was done. He didn't blame her. She didn't normally  have sex at parties. And the people there were her friends, or at least  had been. She'd wanted to impress them, not run out with mussed hair and  her face wearing the heat from their lovemaking. He should apologize  again.

"Last night, I shouldn't have been so, ah, that is..."

"It's not that. It's nothing," she said.

He grasped her chin lightly and held her face close to his. "Talk to me, please. You've been upset since this morning."

"I told you it doesn't matter." She pulled away.

But it did. She was backing away from him and he didn't like it. "It  matters to me. I don't want you to be upset. Obviously I've done  something stupid, but I have no idea what. If it's about last night, I  apologize for how I acted. I always lose control when you're-"

"Don't you dare apologize for last night, it was wonderful. I enjoyed every minute."

So it was something he'd done afterward.

"I told you I'm not good at relationships, but I thought our  arrangement was working out well. I care about you, so tell me how I can  fix it."

She shook her head. "You're right. I'm not feeling well. It's kind of silly."

He took her hand in his. "It isn't silly to me, but hold on two  seconds. I think I have a solution for the first problem." He found one  of the waitstaff and explained the situation. A few minutes later he  handed Mari two pills and a bottle of water.                       
       
           



       

"Take these."

"I don't think taking anything right now is advisable."

"Trust me. These are for nausea." She swallowed the pills and had a sip of water.

Then he grabbed the plastic packet out of his pocket and pulled off one  of the patches. After lifting her hair, he placed the patch behind her  ear. "This will help, as well. Maybe even faster than the pills. It's an  antinausea patch."

She shivered. He took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around her  shoulders. "Now talk to me," he said. He wracked his brain trying to  figure out what he'd done between last night and this afternoon.

"It's not a big deal."

"Oh, but it is. Let's always be honest with one another. We have been so far. Tell me what's bothering you."

She shrugged again. "You never stay," she said, glancing away. "It's  not the end of the world, but kind of makes me feel- It's dumb. I have  no right to expect anything from you."

It took him a moment to figure out what she was talking about. "Mari, I  leave after you fall asleep every night in order to protect you."

She glanced back at him, frowning. "What?"

"I have night terrors. It's- I've had them since- I told you that I  lost a lot of my men-my friends-in a crash. It's messed with my brain. I  can't sleep and I wake up all hours of the night, sometimes violently.  I've punched holes in walls and bloodied my hands before I ever woke up  and figured out what was happening.

"I'd never want to hurt you. So once you fall asleep, I slip out. It's  all so I don't accidentally harm you in some way. Trust me, leaving you  every night is the toughest thing I have to do these days. There's  nothing I'd love more than to wake up with you in my arms, but it isn't  safe."

She blessed him with one of her genuine Mari-lights-up-the-world grins.  "I never thought of that," she said. "You don't talk about what  happened, not that you need to with me. I'm still so insecure sometimes,  and I'm sure I'm letting the past color whatever this craziness is that  we have. I thought maybe I looked really bad in the morning or you were  secretly embarrassed about being with me."

"Never." He pulled her into his lap. "I will tell you this every single  day and it will be the truth. Mari, any man would be proud to have you  on his arm. I don't care what anyone else thinks. Whether you're wearing  fancy party clothes, or that old Cowboys jersey and those tiny shorts,  you're sexy. I especially love you in those tiny shorts."

"You're so bad."

He grinned.

"I've read about PTSD, Brody, but I've never met anyone who had it. Do you go to counseling?"

"I did when I first got back." But then he'd moved to Corpus and hadn't  found another support group. Maybe it was time he tried.

He felt bad that Mari didn't think he cared enough about her to stay  through the night. It was that he cared too much. He had noticed since  he'd been with her that he hadn't been having the nightmares or the  headaches as often. He usually fell into bed exhausted by the time he  made it back to his place. He'd even cut down his runs to one a day  because he was making love with Mari every night. She was as insatiable  as he was.

"We could try," he said.

She frowned as if she didn't understand.

"Me sleeping over. You just have to promise that if I start moving  around or yelling, you can't touch me or try to wake me up. You need to  get away. If I ever hurt you, I'd never forgive myself." He rubbed his  fingers along her cheek.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'll be careful, I promise. I  hate that you have these nightmares. You've been through so much  already."

"It's the job and the sense of duty I feel. Sometimes there can be side  effects." People often asked him if he had regrets. Never about joining  the military, but always about the friends he'd lost while serving. He  was a proud Marine, and he'd do whatever it took to protect his country.  But he did miss his colleagues.                       
       
           



       

"Still. I appreciate you and what you've sacrificed. And now that I  know why, I'm good with whatever makes you feel comfortable. You don't  have to sleep over."

"Are you afraid of me now?" He couldn't blame her.

"No. I would never be frightened of you. But I don't want to push you into anything, especially if you're worried about it.

"We'll try," he said. It did worry him that he might unintentionally  hurt her. But he wanted her to know it wasn't just sex between them. Not  that what they were doing was anything serious. But he cared for her.

A lot.

In the last few weeks, Mari had become the center of his world. For all  his talk about keeping things casual, he was falling for her. That  hadn't ever happened before. Her happiness was important to him. More  than his own.

Crud.

"Hey, you two lovebirds," Ben called out. "Carissa sent me to get you guys. The CO is cutting his birthday cake."

"We'll be right in."

"So I told you my secret." Brody kissed her cheek. "You tell me why you hate the boats and water so much."

She sighed. "It's more of a combo thing. I love swimming. The water  doesn't bother me as long as I can put my feet on the ground. When I was  about ten, I was kayaking down some rapids with my family. I struggled  to get some air, right away the current picked me up. It was going too  fast. I hit my head on a rock and nearly drowned."

"You had to have been scared to death."

She nodded. "I was. And then I blacked out. Abbott, who works with me,  pulled me to safety. We've been best friends since kindergarten. When I  moved here, she did as well. She was my roommate for years. If it wasn't  for her, I wouldn't be alive. It's nothing like you've been through,  but I've pretty much avoided boats until today."

The idea of something happening to her tugged at his gut. He hugged her  and kissed her forehead. "I'm really thankful for her right now. And  you should have told me. I could have come alone, or we could have  stayed home and worked on the house. As much as I want to impress the  CO, you're more important, especially if being here makes you  uncomfortable."

She gave him a warm smile. "You are the sweetest. I'll be honest I  didn't expect that the yacht would actually leave the harbor. I've been  to parties before where it just stays at the dock. But I'm okay. I have  you." She kissed his jaw and his cock grew hard. "I know you'll keep me  safe."

"You can count on it." He had her in his arms and he hugged her  tightly, losing himself in her warmth. He would keep her safe, but he  wasn't so sure about his heart.

* * *

MARI HELD FAST to Brody's arm as they disembarked from the boat. The  pills he'd given her, along with a bit of champagne, had helped tamp  down her nerves. But never in her life had she been so glad to see dry  land.

Once they were in his truck, Brody turned to her. "Are you up for another adventure?"

No. But he seemed so excited and she didn't want to disappoint him.  "What do you have in mind?" She liked that he pushed her out of her  comfort zone, and honestly he hadn't steered her wrong yet.