Read Online Marine for Hire by Tawna Fenske - Free Book Online Page B

noises that could wake Sam or the babies.
    Their bedroom smelled like baby shampoo and talcum powder, and she breathed it in, feeling calmer already. She took a few steps toward the cribs and peered down. Their little bodies were pressed close to the bars, and Jeffrey had reached through to curl his fingers around his brother’s big toe. Jackson slurped his fingers and made breathy little sounds in his sleep.
    “You guys are the best,” she whispered softly, resisting the urge to touch them. No sense waking them up.
    She watched them a few more moments before stepping away from the cribs. She turned and tiptoed toward the door, pivoting one last time to gaze at their little sleeping forms in the glow of the nightlight. Then she stepped into the hallway with her eyes still on the cribs, feeling her way along the wall.
    A hand clapped over her mouth and Sheri struggled to scream as she collided with a solid wall of muscle.

Chapter Seven
    Sam held Sheri still as he lowered his lips to her ear.
    “It’s just me,” he whispered. “You ran into me before I could let you know I was here, and I didn’t want you to scream and wake the boys.”
    She sagged against him, and he resisted the urge to savor the lush, slippery heat of her body pressed against his. He released her, and she stepped around him, moving out of the boys’ room and into the hall.
    “Oh,” she gasped, reaching for the tie on her robe. Somehow it had come undone in the collision, and it took every ounce of strength he had not to steal a glimpse at what was underneath.
    Fuck it. He wasn’t that strong. He looked down and saw an endless expanse of creamy skin. No nightie. No T-shirt. No sleep shorts. Just Sheri.
    His heart throbbed hard. Among other things.
    “Now I know,” he murmured.
    “Know what?” she asked, cinching the waist belt on the robe and peering up at him in the darkness.
    “Know what you sleep in.” He swallowed.
    She let go of her robe and studied him, close enough that her breath grazed his chest. “That’s something you were wondering?”
    He nodded, too dizzy to speak.
    “You were in your bed thinking about me?” she whispered. There was something conflicted in her eyes, something uncertain.
    But there was something heated there, too.
    He gritted his teeth, knowing he should step back but unable to make his feet move. A small ghost of a smile crossed her face in the dim light, so faint he might’ve missed it.
    But he didn’t miss the note of desire in her voice when she spoke again. “Dammit, I want you.”
    Then she lunged for him.
    He might’ve staggered if he hadn’t been braced for her. Instead, he moved back against the wall, letting the warm, smooth weight of her body press him back against the doorframe.
    He hadn’t bothered with a shirt when he’d gotten up to check the boys, and he thanked the heavens for that now. He could feel every inch of her warm, lush flesh pressed against the front of the silky robe, the only thing separating him from all that beautiful nakedness.
    “Kiss me,” she gasped, not waiting for a response. She arched up on tiptoes and found his lips with hers, kissing him with a dizzying heat that made Sam groan low in his throat.
    He responded by sliding his hands over her hips and up, savoring the heat of her body beneath the smooth satin. His fingers traced every curve, trying to memorize her as he kissed her softly at first, then harder.
    Sheri wriggled against him, her breasts pressing firmly into his chest. He could feel her nipples through the satin, and the minty taste of her mouth made him dizzy with need. His hands had continued their journey up her torso, and he found himself gripping her rib cage, feathering his thumbs over the undersides of her breasts.
    “I shouldn’t do this,” she murmured, then did it again, kissing him harder as she pressed her body against his.
    “God,” he whispered back, slipping one hand down to find the tie she’d just fastened. He gave it a tug