Bone Frog Bachelor (Bachelor Tower Series) Read online

  “Of course I am. Very much so. A pleasant surprise. Tomorrow, then?”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “Neither can I,” I said, staring right into the eyes of his ex-wife.

  I don’t remember how I got home, but I did. I don’t know how she believed that my boyfriend was coming to Tampa for a visit. If she only knew.

  I took a shower, washed my hair so I didn’t smell anything like Rebecca or her motel room. I laid out something I hoped I’d look spectacular in, and tried to sleep the two or three hours until morning.

  But it was impossible. My eyes were going to look so red. My heart was pounding in my chest so loud I felt like I was shaking the windows. And I had to do that interview with Rebecca at ten AM. Right after my breakfast with Marco. And if he got here late, well, I’d have to cancel it.

  I toyed with the idea of having someone else do the interview and thought, as I walked on the beach at sunrise, that that would save my bacon. There was only so much a girl could do. He was hot on my trail. He wanted me. There was no question I’d be sleeping with him and partaking of that elixir he so deliciously gave out. I was helpless, talking to him while she was watching. It was like the questions she asked me, “What was the best day ever…” Well this was the worst and the best day ever.

  And I knew it would get worse before it would get better.

  As I walked the beach in my bare feet, I clutched the phone in my right hand, waiting for the call that would change my life forever.

  If I didn’t screw the whole thing up.

  Now I really had to start going back to church.

  Chapter 11

  Marco

  I was cutting it close to get to Tampa by breakfast, since the flight itself would take three plus hours. My pilot was ready but the jet wasn’t quite. That gave me time to shower and shave again, finish packing and take a car to the airport. We were wheels up in less than fifteen minutes after I arrived.

  The attendant my pilot brought along mixed me a mimosa, handed me an assortment of vitamins and lots of Vitamin B, probably understanding the condition I’d been in when I booked the flight. I passed on any further alcohol, took my pills and promptly fell asleep.

  I landed just as it turned seven AM. The bright sun was scalding my pupils. It had been a few very grey days in Boston, with light drizzle occasionally, so coming into the moist warmth of Florida’s Gulf Coast was very welcome indeed, but an adjustment, nonetheless.

  I tried to remember the conversation I’d had with Shannon just a few hours ago, but I did remember she agreed to meet me for breakfast and dinner later on, and she wanted me to call when I landed. I did so now.

  “I’m in Tampa. Just landed.”

  She hesitated, sounding a little nervous. Well, I was a little nervous too.

  “I’m sorry about last night. I had a few too many, and…” she began.

  “You too? I hope you didn’t have the kind of day I had.”

  “I’m not sure you could have. It wasn’t one of my finer moments. I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.”

  “All forgiven. I’m here now. I can’t remember what I said last night, but I believe I did invite you to breakfast and you agreed. And dinner too, is that right?”

  “Yes.” She giggled. “That part I remember.”

  “I hope I wasn’t too—well I was pretty wasted.”

  “So you want to reconsider the whole thing then?” she said sharply.

  “Not at all. As a matter of fact, I was looking forward to it, dreaming about it too.”

  She didn’t say a thing and I got worried.

  “Marco, I have an appointment at the office at ten this morning, unless I can get out of it, and I’m going to try but can’t reach anyone there. So, if you’re not up to it, we can skip breakfast.”

  “Are you saying you’d just rather meet me in my motel room?” Before she could answer I abruptly cut in. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t very respectful of me. You seem to bring out both the best and the worst in me, Shannon. I promise to be on my best behavior.”

  I began to exit the plane as she replied.

  Her raspy voice instantly got me even harder. “I don’t mind your bad behavior. Was sort of looking forward to it, but I was just saying that I don’t mind if we skip breakfast and just have dinner, if you’re too busy.”

  I decided to tell her the truth. “I came here to see you. This is not a business trip for me.”

  “But your project—?”

  “Will still be there after breakfast and probably after dinner as well. I want to see you.” I hoped I didn’t sound too desperate, but I was beginning to feel some hesitation on her part. I meant it when I told Frank that I was going to hang on until she’d let me rock her world, and I meant every word of it.

  “I want to see you too.”

  It was music to my ears.

  “Where should I meet you?”

  “I could fix some eggs if you’re not too picky, Marco.”

  “Your place. You’re inviting me to your place?”

  “It’s not fancy. Just a little bungalow at the beach, about a half mile from your project.”

  “Ah, so you’ve checked up on me?”

  “Of course I have. You wouldn’t expect anything less, right?”

  “I’m flattered.”

  “So how do we do this, Marco? You tell me.”

  “Text me your address and I’ll be over there in about a half hour, depending on traffic.”

  “It’s Saturday. No traffic. I’ll see you then.”

  My driver took me to a local florist shop inside one of the supermarkets, the only place open, and I selected a bright bouquet of flowers, which I thought safer than roses. I knew I’d bring her roses at dinner, but for today these would have to do. The clerk wrapped them in green tissue and placed a pink bow on them.

  She lived off the main Gulf Blvd. on a side street that served houses that fronted the beach itself at Indian Rocks. Her house was one of the more modest structures, but it was surrounded by McMansions.

  I heard music coming from her frosted glass front door. I knocked and found her fresh face even more beautiful than I’d remembered, and I’d remembered a lot. I extended the flowers to her, but before she could take them, I slipped my arm around her waist and pulled her into me. She arched backwards, slid her arms up over my shoulders and pulled my head down to hers where we ignited the flame of our past encounter. The long lingering kiss could have easily led to something more, right there in the doorway to her little house, in front of the eyes of my driver.

  I turned my head and nodded, indicating he could go, and he did so after giving me a salute.

  She welcomed me into her living room, and this time took the flowers from me, burying her nose in them.

  I was fascinated with her collection of artwork. She had a variety of acrylic paintings of some of the beach bungalows I’d seen previously on my visits here. There were a few watercolors and several beach plaques with beachy sayings on them. Perhaps she made some of these, but they were locally produced.

  Her small living room was dwarfed by the enormous butter yellow leather couch that had been well worn, and sun-bleached, as it faced the ocean and beach beyond behind a huge glass window. Something about the whole scene was oddly familiar to me. It felt very safe.

  I turned to face her and she erupted.

  “Oh my gosh, I’d better get these in some water.”

  She dashed off into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. A few seconds later, she came out.

  “Wrong room,” she said as she blushed and headed for the kitchen. “Would you like coffee?”

  “I’d love some.”

  She arranged the flowers and then poured me coffee. “Cream?”

  “Of course.”

  “There you go.”

  I couldn’t choose between the steaming mug of delicious-smelling coffee and the vision in front of me. I set it down and held my arms out wide.

  “Come here, Sha
nnon. I don’t want you to be nervous with me. You know by now I’m a man who knows what he likes, and I want more of what we had. There was something…”

  She held her fingers over my lips and kissed me.

  My hands moved over her ass, then up under her shirt, seeking her nipples as we kissed. Her hands unbuttoned my shirt and soon her lips were tasting my wartime badges, the ink I had placed on my body to remember everything, the good and the bad of it all.

  She undid my fly and I hissed, inhaling as her fingers found me.

  We separated, breathing hard, looking into each other’s eyes, and then she took my hand and led me to the bedroom.

  I sat down, removing my shoes and socks while I watched her undress in front of me. She lay my shirt on a side chair, folded and placed my jeans underneath. I slipped off my briefs, revealing the hardon I’d been sporting for several hours now.

  She was still in her bra and panties as she took a condom from her nightstand, kneeled in front of me and pressed it over my shaft, rubbing my balls and running her forefinger up the underside over the condom.

  I released her bra and slipped her panties down to her ankles and then parted her knees. I watched her eyes as I fingered her carefully, feeling how ready she was and watching her arousal fuel my own. Then I crawled back up onto the bed, leaning against the cloth headboard, waiting for her to come to me.

  Her knees slid over my hips to straddle my lap, and I was inside her slowly at first, then deeper, and at last fully seated as she writhed above me. I was gentle because I wanted to feel every ripple, every moan coming from her body. Her soft mouth and tongue tempted me to go deep, so after several minutes of soft sex play, I flipped her onto her stomach, held her belly up with one hand and smoothed over her butt cheeks with the other as I took her from behind. Hard. Her body resisted me at first and I worried she was so tight the condom would break as I pumped her furiously.

  It all changed when her orgasm started. Her spasms began, slamming against me, pulling me deeper inside her channel. I was filled with lust at her moaning and loss of control, so I pulled out to taste her. She screamed “no,” but my tongue was already lapping her juices. I spread her knees wider to gain more access and she tried to reach back to touch the top of my head. She gripped her own buttocks, spreading them wider still for me, dug her knees into the bed and pressed herself up into my face. I played with her, lapping and sucking until she begged me to go deep again.

  I slipped my thighs between hers and gently lifted her by the waist, seating her on my lap as I buried my cock deep to the hilt. She gasped. It felt so perfect, so good to pleasure her and feel the turmoil going on inside her.

  She leaned back against me and we tried to kiss. I bit her earlobe, and whispered, “I love fucking you. Your sweet body was made for me. I should never have let you go that morning. What. Was. I. Thinking.” I said as I pumped to her screams.

  “Come for me, Shannon. Let me feel it while I fill you.”

  She groaned, ground down on my lap as I pushed up and pressed against her sweet spot, ardently knocking on the door of her womanhood as my shaft swelled against her pulsing muscles. I burst up inside her as she came totally apart.

  I held her tight so she wouldn’t careen over the side of the bed, she was so limp. She clung to me like a rag doll. I kissed the sides of her neck, pinched her nipples making her bounce against me as I completed my mission. I pulled her hair up from her neck and kissed her sweaty skin until I was nearly spent.

  We crashed into the bed, a tangle of sheets, legs and arms, her orgasm coaxing and prolonging mine until we were both completely wrung out.

  She clutched my hand in hers, drew it to her chest, curled like she’d done before at the Towers, and fell asleep tucked into my arms.

  This time, she didn’t cry.

  Chapter 12

  Shannon

  We must have slept for an hour or more. My cell phone rang but there wasn’t any possibility I’d be able to extricate myself from Marco’s arms and legs to answer it in time. His hand lightly rubbed my shoulder as I looked up and into his face and gave him a kiss.

  “So much for breakfast,” I yawned. “But I might have time to whip something together,” I whispered.

  “If you do it naked and I can watch.”

  “I think I can arrange that.” I started to move, sliding off the bed, but he grabbed me and had me pressed against his chest again.

  “I changed my mind. I’ll have you for breakfast.”

  “But I have an appointment at the office.”

  “Cancel it.”

  I knew I had to tell him. Now was as good a time as ever, or he’d never understand why I had to rush off. He’d go digging, and I didn’t want him showing up at the station while in the middle of the interview. I searched his face just in case it was the last time I’d see how lovingly he smiled at me. I sat up, looking down on him as he settled his arms beneath his head on the pillow.

  “What’s up, Shannon?”

  “I have to tell you something. You might not like it.”

  “Oh? I doubt you could ever say or do anything I wouldn’t like. So why do you think that?”

  “Trust me, I’ve gotten to know a little about you.”

  He remained relaxed on the outside, but I could sense he was very alert on the inside. He drew the back of his hand across my cheek and brushed against my lips as I kissed his lingering fingers. “Yes, you have. And I believe it goes both ways.”

  He waited.

  “I have taken on an interview this morning. It was arranged before I knew you were coming, or I certainly wouldn’t have done it. But it’s a human interest story.”

  In my silence, he whispered, “What, Shannon?”

  “It’s a story on your housing project for Navy SEALs. And I’m interviewing Rebecca today at ten. That’s who I’m meeting.”

  At first, he didn’t believe me. Then his eyes got dangerous and he began to breathe deeply. He stared at the ceiling and stopped touching me. I knew telling him was the right thing to do because he’d find out anyway. But I so regretted having to tell him at that moment. Out of the side of my vision I could see he’d focused on me again with something deep and penetrating. I slowly returned his gaze and started to explain further. I was even prepared to give an apology, but he put a finger to my lips.

  “Does she know?” he asked.

  “Does she know what, Marco?”

  “About this. Us. Boston.” His voice was a little louder, anxious and scratchy.

  “No. Never in a million years.”

  His eyes didn’t wander from mine. I knew he was serious. “I want you to tell her, after the interview. Tell her you love sucking my cock, tell her we’re gonna screw all day and all night.”

  While I was mildly pleased he didn’t toss me from the bed and leave, I could see that I had hurt him and he was reacting like I knew he would. A wounded bear. As he began to say something in anger, it was my turn to stop him with my fingers to his lips.

  “No, Marco. She has nothing to do with us. Nothing about us has anything to do with her, unless you bring her in.”

  His eyes sparkled, new light brightening the darkness at the centers. He cocked his head to the side to listen.

  “I’m going to just go in and do my job. She’ll find out, or not, but not from me and not this morning before or during the interview. You have my permission to tell her if you want, because that’s not my call. It’s yours.”

  “Really? You’d let me do that?”

  I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic because his mood was still stormy but I relied on the color in his eyes and those tiny smile lines at the sides of his lips. And his voice. He was soft, if not raspy. He was patient, staging himself in case he had to control an outburst. I could tell all this just because I’d seen it years ago when he argued with Em about getting married. He’d held her off, and although she cried into his arms, he promised to return to her after that first deployment. And he did.

 
She was the one who didn’t return. They never had counted on that.

  “Why spoil our chances with each other, Marco? This is all new, exciting, and exactly what I want. Don’t let her spoil it, like she’s spoiling the rest of your life. Don’t give her that much power.”

  He reached out to touch my arm, and then changed his mind and covered his eyes with his forearm. I wasn’t going to let him know his emotions were showing no matter how much he tried to hide them up. That was part of the Marco I wanted to be with.

  “So, don’t bring that woman into our bedroom,” I said as I peeled his arm from his face, took his hand in mine and kissed his palm. He watched. Then his powerful fingers slid up my neck, into my hair, where he took fistfuls and pulled me down so he could ravage me with kisses.

  “I need to fuck you, Shannon. Hard,” he whispered in my ear, flipping my body over onto my back.

  “Oh God, yes!” I said, relieved, my arms pulling him down on top of me. It was the only answer I was capable of giving him. My body wasn’t nearly enough, but I didn’t mind sharing my complete surrender to him. He could take a chance on me and I wanted him to feel like he could take me any time.

  I was his vessel. I didn’t stop him to put on a condom he never asked for because it didn’t matter what the outcome was. Judie would tan my hide if she ever found out how risky it was, but I just didn’t care how un-modern and stupid I was being because there were some things more important than being appropriate.

  My tears were hot but silent as he thrust into me and wildly pumped. He slipped his arms beneath me and pulled my shoulders down so we could mate as tight as possible, picking up the intensity. I thought the bed would rock off the frame, or we’d break it. I felt the bulging muscles in his back as he worked feverishly to his peak.

  “Can you come for me?” he whispered in my ear.

  I didn’t answer him. His pause was brief, then he resumed his earlier frenzy. At last I felt him pulsing inside me and then he started to pull out. I held his buttocks with both hands, pressing him deeper and telling him not to stop. I accepted every drop unconditionally.