Too Big Taboo Bundle
Veronica Vaughn
Taboo Romance Mega Bundle
Naughty Brats, Forbidden First Time, Man of the House
Nine Tales of Hot and Steamy Taboo Romance
By Veronica Vaughn
His Tight Little Military Brat
James is an Army captain who serves his country well. When the brawny military man returns home from his long deployment in Iraq, he is stunned to find that he barely recognizes the naive and fertile little lady who's been waiting for him on the home front.
Ellie grew up while James was fighting overseas. Now their forbidden desire is building toward the breaking point. When a chance encounter thrusts them together in a remote cabin, the man of the house gives in to his taboo lust. He'll take what he wants, when he wants it-whether it fits or not.
I.
For a Tuesday afternoon, the airport was absolutely bustling. Throngs of people jostled me as they rushed to and from their flights, annoyed that I was standing still and refusing to move along with the flow of bodies.
I didn't care. Nothing and no one was going to budge me from my watchful spot at the base of the escalators, just around the corner from the baggage check. My stepdad James was about appear any moment now. After his nine-month deployment to Iraq, I was so excited to see him that I must have been driving everyone around me crazy. I just wanted everything to be perfect.
My best friend Izzie kept trying to comb her hair with her fingers, as if she had any hope of untangling those unruly red curls. She was standing next to my grandparents in a row, each of them holding a sign in big block letters that I had written with magic markers.
"WELCOME"
"JAMES!"
"HOME"
Their signs were out of order! How did that happen? I rushed forward, straightening them out.
"No, Grandma," I said, taking her by the elbow, feeling her frail bones in my fingers, "you're over here, on Paw Paw's left side. There, that's better."
I sized up the signs again, checking for any more mistakes. Yes, now they made sense. "WELCOME HOME JAMES!"
I was so busy making sure Grandma and Paw Paw were staying in line that I wasn't even facing the escalator when Grandma's face suddenly brightened. She had spotted James! I spun around, and there he was, beaming back at us as he descended toward our joyous reunion .
Captain James Thomas. He was finally here. Back in the United States, where he belonged.
War had changed him physically, accentuating his masculine features in all the right ways. His jaw was more chiseled than ever. James was in great shape before he left, but I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the way his arms and chest bulged beneath his desert fatigues. The bulk of his upper body tapered down to his slender waist and muscular legs. James' matching camouflage baseball cap was pulled low, shielding his eyes, and a canvas duffle bag was thrown over his shoulder.
Watching him ride the escalator toward me, for some reason I became self-conscious about my own appearance. How much had I changed in the past nine months? I was a late bloomer in high school, but my curves had finally begun to fill out. My best feature was my round little butt, although I occasionally caught guys checking out my rack, something that never happened just six months ago.
The biggest change, however, was that I had turned eighteen. I was an adult. I had bought lottery tickets, winning nothing, and I had picked up a pack of cigarettes, which were disgusting. I was also interested-very interested-in having sex for the first time, if only the right guy would come along.
I hoped James didn't remember me as the spoiled brat I used to be. Things would be different now.
I clapped my hands in excitement and ran to greet James as he walked down the final few steps. I jumped and threw my arms around his neck. His duffle bag fell to the floor as he scooped me up and spun me around, oblivious to the other travelers in the airport who had to dodge my swinging legs.
I couldn't stop giggling.
James set me down and let his eyes pass up and down my body. His attention made me feel so pretty. I was wearing a cute little sundress that showed just the right amount of cleavage to show off my perky breasts. Feeling as giddy as a schoolgirl, I twirled around for him, my skirt spinning in the air.
"Damn, Ellie," James said. "You're all grown up now, aren't you?"
"Yes, Daddy," I said, a demure smile crossing my lips.
"My little girl," he said, shaking his head in wonderment at my transformation. "That will teach me to go away for so long."
We gazed into each other's eyes for a moment before James remembered the rest of his welcoming party. He hugged Grandma first, then Paw Paw. They were his in-laws, and they had remained close after Mom died. At first they had wanted me to live with them, but James didn't want to uproot me from my school and the home we had lived in for years. Anyway, James might not have been my biological dad, but he had always been a wonderful stepfather. Really, he was more of a dad to me than my real dad ever was, but that's not a subject I really want to go into.
///
"Hi, Bill," James said to Paw Paw. "How've you been? Still fixing up the cabin?"
"Why, I finished up the renovations over two months ago!" Paw Paw said. "It sure is a beauty. And you wouldn't believe the bargain I got on the lumber, although the plumbing and electric costs were obscene. Oh well. Now that all the work is done I can focus on what retirement is really all about."
Grandma and I exchanged a glance. "Fishing," we both said in unison.
James laughed. He and Paw Paw had bonded over long, lazy afternoons casting their fly reels, often waist-deep in cold mountain streams.
"You'll have to come up one weekend," Paw Paw said. "The trout will be biting soon. You could probably use a little rest and relaxation anyway after nine months in the desert."
"That's the truth," James said. "I can't wait to see it. Oh, hi there, Izzie," he added, noticing my friend, who had been hanging back while the family reunion took precedence. "Thanks for coming to greet me."
Izzie was chomping on bubble gum and still trying to keep her curly red hair out of her eyes.
"Sure thing, Mr. Thomas," she said. "And, um, thank you for your service."
James winced. He had mixed feelings about that feel-good bromide, thank you for your service. People were always thanking him, and it made him uncomfortable. Even so, he knew Izzie was not one to put much thought into her words.
"You're very welcome, Izz," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and giving her a lighthearted squeeze. "And thank you, also, for thanking me for services rendered."
From the look on Izzie's face it was obvious she was a little confused, but she graciously accepted his thanks anyway.
"What are we all standing around here for?" Paw Paw asked. "Let's get you home."
Paw Paw stooped over and tried to lift James' duffle bag. He grabbed it by the strap and hoisted it about an inch off the ground, then thought better of it and let James carry his own bag. As our little group walked through the airport, James ran his hand through my bangs and over the top of my head, playfully mussing my hair. That's how he had always teased me when I was younger, because he knew it drove me nuts for a single strand of hair to be out of place.
I could feel James' eyes on me as we walked to the car.
"Since when did you start wearing such short little dresses?"
"Ever since my stepdad wasn't around to tell me not to."
"Well, you look beautiful," James said. "You look just like … "
His voice drifted off. Lost in thought, James began to massage my shoulders. When we reached the airport exit his hand ran down to the small of my back. Little sparks of electricity sent tingles up and down my spine as he guided me through the door.
I smiled to myself, happy to know my stepdad was finally home.
II.
The drive from the airport was about half an hour. Paw Paw was behind the wheel, and he did most of the talking, filling in James on every excruciating detail about the cabin he had recently finished renovating. It had been a real fixer-upper when he bought it, so run down that I couldn't believe Paw Paw was seriously going to spend a dime on such a worn-down shack. But he saw its potential, and he had always wanted a place on Whitewater River.
"Paw Paw, you hush up about that cabin and let James talk," Grandma scolded. "You hadn't seen him in nine months, and now you won't let him get a word in."
"Oh, that's okay," James assured her. "To tell you the truth it's nice to talk about something other than sandstorms and IEDs."