Rescuing Rayne (23 page)

Rayne lifted her hips and let Ghost pull the two pillows out from under her. She watched as he kept the one that was directly under her for himself and handed the other one back to her. She shifted onto her side and waited for Ghost to settle before she moved into him. He gathered her close, turning on his back and letting her use his shoulder as a pillow.

She smiled as he groaned when one of her legs bent and brushed against his semi-hard shaft. “Are you ready to go again? Already?” she asked incredulously, slurring her words with exhaustion.

“No. But if you give me thirty minutes or so, I will be.”

Rayne groaned, but gamely replied, “Okay, maybe I’ll nap until you’re ready then.”

Ghost smiled and pulled her closer. “You do that, Princess. Sleep. I’ve got you.”

Rayne’s last thought before she fell into sleep was that she loved how Ghost always told her he “had her.”

T
he next couple
of days were full of resting, relaxing, and relearning each other’s bodies. Ghost had taught her the reverse cowgirl position, and Rayne thought she might even enjoy that better than when he took her from behind. She loved being able to have some control, and even torture Ghost a bit by controlling the pace of their lovemaking, and he certainly loved being able to watch her tattoo.

He taught her the joys of shower sex, and bathtub sex, and semi-public sex when he took her out on his porch one night. Rayne had been afraid the neighbors would see—or hear— her but Ghost had allayed her fears by asking if she really thought he’d do anything that would humiliate her. When he’d put it like that, she’d let go of her inhibitions and allowed Ghost to lead her where he wanted to take them.

When she had another nightmare, Ghost had stayed up with her and listened as she finally described in detail what had happened to her. He hadn’t said a word, but had let her get it all out. And after she was done, and after she’d cried and snotted all over him, he’d simply held her for the rest of the night, with no pressure to do anything else.

She felt loved. She had no idea how it had happened so fast, or if what she was feeling was even right, but there was no other word for it. Ghost had blown past all of her barriers and made her feel like the most cherished thing in his world.

The two of them had even gone out and met the rest of his team for lunch one day, something Ghost had sworn afterwards he’d never do again. He’d been disgruntled that the rest of the guys were purposely trying to rile him by flirting with her.

Rayne made sure she made it up to him when they got home by dropping to her knees and convincing him she only had eyes for him.

Today was the first day Ghost had gone into work since she’d gotten out of the hospital. His week of leave was up and he had to go back in. He’d woken her up with his head between her legs and had taken her so hard she had no doubt he’d rather stay in bed with her for the rest of the day than go to the base.

Ghost had finally left her with a kiss and told her to make herself at home. She’d wandered throughout his house, able to look around freely without feeling self-conscious for the first time since she’d arrived. Ghost’s taste in books ranged from old westerns to the autobiographies of famous military leaders. He had protein powder in his kitchen cabinets along with ramen noodles. There were no romantic comedies in his collection of DVDs, but his tastes were eclectic there too, ranging from sci-fi to historical documentaries, along with the war movies she’d expected to find.

After eating lunch, and growing bored, Rayne called Mary. She knew her friend had the day off since they’d spoken briefly every day. Mary didn’t quite trust Ghost, and wanted to check in frequently to make sure Rayne was all right.

“Hey, Mare. How are you?”

“Good. How are
you
?”

“Great. Ghost went back to work today.”

“Ah, left you alone in the house, huh? What’d you find?”

“What? Nothing!”

“Bullshit. Does he have a stash of
Playboys
in his bedside drawer?”

“I didn’t look there! Jeez, Mary. I only scoped out the food, book, and movie situation.”

“Girl, get your ass in his room and see what he’s got in his drawers then!”

“Mary!”

“Don’t ‘Mary’ me. You know you want to.”

Rayne hesitated for a second then mentally shrugged. Her friend knew her too well. “All right, I’m going.”

Mary laughed at her and waited to see what she’d find.

“Okay, I’m opening one drawer…nothing interesting…socks.”

“He keeps socks next to the bed? Weird. What about the other side?”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, give me a second.” They both laughed as Rayne moved around to the other side of the large mattress. “Ooooh, okay. The condoms he bought the other day are in here, and a tube of lube.”

“Lube? Girl, he had better not be needing that, otherwise he’s not doing something right.”

Rayne giggled. “No, I can honestly say we haven’t needed any lube thus far, but…oh!”

“What? What is it?
Playboy
? A
Playgirl
?”

“No…um…a small vibrator, nipple clamps, and those ball things.”

“Ball things?” Mary asked, and Rayne knew if she could see her she’d have a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Yeah…you know…those things that women put inside them and when they rub up against each other they chime or something? I think they’re Chinese.”

“Ben Wa balls?”

“I guess.”

“Holy shit, Raynie…you’ve got yourself a kinkster.”

Rayne could feel herself blush. She closed the drawer. “It’s not that big of a deal. At least I didn’t find whips and chains or something.”

“There’s still time to look around, girl.”

Rayne wandered back into the other room and plopped down on the couch. “I’m bored, Mary.”

“Bored huh? Had enough of your forced vacation?”

Rayne nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I mean, I didn’t mind when Ghost was here. We were busy all the time.”

“Busy…yeah…that’s what you’re calling it?”

“Hush, you sex fiend. I meant we went out to eat, or to my doctor appointments, or watched movies…we were busy. But now that he’s back at work and I’m stuck here…I’m bored.”

Mary was silent for a moment. “You ready to come home then?”

“Yes. No. Shit. Maybe. I don’t know,” Rayne complained. “I love being with Ghost, but I don’t like sitting around feeling useless.”

“You ready to go back to work? I’m sure your boss would let you come back early.”

“No!” Rayne’s negative answer was swift and emphatic.

“So you don’t want to stay there, you don’t know if you want to come back here, you’re bored, but you don’t want to go back to work,” Mary summed up without inflection.

Rayne buried her face in her hand. “I’m a mess.”

“Yeah, you kinda are,” Mary agreed.

“I thought you were supposed to stick up for me, make me feel better.”

“I’m sorry, you must have me confused with a Stepford friend or something,” Mary intoned. “Look, this is only the first day Ghost has gone back to work, right? Give it some time. Read a book.
Relax
. You’ve always had a hard time sitting around and doing nothing. I’m sure you’re still healing. Don’t rush it. But, Raynie, know that the second you’re ready to come home, I’ll be there to get you.”

“I know you will. I love you, Mare.”

“Why don’t you ask Ghost if you can borrow his car while he’s at work? You can check out the area. See what you think. I know you. You’re falling for him. Eventually, if you want to make this work, you’re going to have to move down there.”

It was so like Mary to be blunt and say what Rayne was thinking. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“Babe, I work in a bank. It’s not as though my job isn’t mobile.”

“You’d move down here with me?”

“Hell yeah I would. I love you, Rayne. You’re my best friend in the world. You were there for me when I needed you the most. I know we can’t live together for the rest of our lives. Eventually our lives might take us in different directions, but if I can support you and help you find the man of your dreams and make it work, and can be at your side while you do it…why wouldn’t I?”

“Jesus, Mary.”

“No! No crying! I can’t handle it. Just tell Ghost you want to borrow his damn car and do it. Find out if there’s a decent mall, if there’s a Starbucks nearby, if there’s a good country and western bar where I can pick up men…you know, all the important stuff.”

Rayne gave a watery chuckle at her friend. God, she had no idea how she’d lucked out in finding Mary. “Okay, I will. Good idea.”

“Of course it was.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow and report in?”

“You better.”

“Love you, Mare. Thanks for always making me feel better.”

“Love you too, Raynie. Seriously, I’m happy for you. I wasn’t sure about Ghost at first, I saw how much he hurt you. So far he’s doing all right by you, but I’ll reserve judgement until he proves it once and for all. Okay?”

“Okay. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Rayne hung up the phone, feeling better now that she had a plan. She’d been worried about leaving Mary behind. It was stupid, but they’d been through a lot and had lived near each other for a long time. Rayne was closer to Mary than she was Samantha, and couldn’t imagine not being able to pop over to her place for a drink and a movie whenever the mood struck.

L
ater that night
, lying boneless on top of Ghost after having jumped him the second they’d gone to bed, Rayne tried to ask as nonchalantly as she could, “So…have you used those Ben Wa ball things before?”

Shrieking in surprise when Ghost flipped her abruptly on her back and loomed over her, she held on to his arms and looked up at him.

“You been going through my drawers, Princess?”

“No…well…yeah. You weren’t here. I was bored.”

“I’ve never used them personally, but have seen them used.”

“Seen?” Rayne wrinkled her nose at Ghost.

He chuckled. “Not in person, in a video.”

“Porn?”

“Yeah, Rayne. Porn. Does it surprise you that a career military guy like me has seen porn?”

“Um, no, but…”

“It was extremely hot…I’m sure the woman’s reaction was way faked and over the top, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what they might feel like for you and how when you wriggled and squirmed, they’d chime inside you. I know they can’t actually give you an orgasm, or at least I think that’s right, but imagining them inside you while we go out to eat and how they’d get you wet and excited so I could fuck you the second we got home… Yeah, I decided maybe we could give them a try. ”

“Me?”

“You, what?”

“Inside me, specifically? Or inside a woman in general?”

Ghost understood her question and kneed her legs apart so he could push up against her core and she could feel him lengthening.

“You, Princess. Before London, the only thing in that drawer was a copy of
Playboy
and that bottle of lube. But after you, I watched some videos, got off, and immediately bought those clamps and the balls off the Internet and kept them in my drawer. It was stupid, I had no intention of doing anything with them, but just the thought of them there and the image of what they’d look like on and in you was enough to make me so hard I could pound nails.”

“Uh…”

“Want to try them out?”

“What? Now?”

“Why not?”

“Because we just had sex?”

“Just because I just made love to you doesn’t mean you can’t orgasm again. It might take me a bit longer, but I can guarantee seeing how much you enjoy my toys on you will do the trick in no time.”

Rayne moaned as Ghost leaned over and reached for the handle on the drawer. She leaned up and nibbled on his shoulder as he moved above her. She had no idea what it was about Ghost that made her so uninhibited, but she loved it. She loved him.

T
he next week
and a half went by quickly for Rayne. She spent the days driving around the Killeen/Belton area and reporting back to Mary, and her nights being loved to within an inch of her life by Ghost.

It was almost time for her to get back to work. She’d spoken with her boss and he’d agreed to keep her on the Dallas/Fort Worth-London route for a while until she’d gotten her bearings. Then she’d be back in the regular International rotation again.

The thought made her want to puke, but Rayne sucked it up. It was her job; it was what she had to do.

Rayne heard Ghost open the door to the house and when he didn’t immediately appear, went looking for him. She found him standing in the laundry room, staring at what she saw was simply a load of dirty clothes she hadn’t yet put into the washer. Ever since she’d asked to borrow the car while he was at work for the last week or so, Ghost had been picked up by Fletch and dropped off after work by one of the other guys on the team.

This was the first time she could remember him coming into the house through the garage, and thus through the small laundry room.

“Ghost? What are you doing? Are you all right?”

He looked up at her. “You’re doing our laundry.”

“Yeah? So? It was dirty. You didn’t want to walk around in nasty, smelly clothes did you?” Rayne had no idea what his deal was.

Ghost dropped his duffle back on the floor and came toward her. “You’re doing our laundry.”

“Yeah, Ghost. I am,” she repeated.

“Ours.
Our
laundry.”

“Did you hit your head today? I’m seriously worried about you.”

Ghost picked her up by her waist and set her down on top of the washing machine. “I fucking love coming home and walking into my house and seeing your panties mixed up with my boxers. To come home and know you’re here. Waiting for me. You have no idea. None.”

Chills broke out on Rayne’s arms and legs at Ghost’s words, but he didn’t stop.

“This is what we fight for. This is what we’re willing to die for.”

“For me to wash your dirty clothes?” Rayne had no idea what he was getting at. She wasn’t trying to be snarky, her question was genuine.

Ghost leaned his head against hers and closed his eyes. She could feel his hands squeeze her waist and move up under her T-shirt to her lower back, where he stroked. She knew he understood exactly what he was doing. He wasn’t absently caressing her; he was running his hands over her tattoo, over
their
tattoo.

“All my life, since I’ve worked with the team, we’ve rescued people, we’ve killed, we’ve gone into any and every situation, no questions asked. And every time I’ve come home to an empty house. I’ve done my own laundry, cooked my own food, cleaned my own space. I fucking
love
coming home to you, Princess. You make everything I’ve done, every sacrifice I’ve made, worth it.”

“Ghost—”

“I love you. I know it’s fast. I know people will call me pussy-whipped, but I don’t give a shit. You’re mine. I left you once, I won’t do it again. You were given to me to cherish, to protect, and to love. I’m not fucking that up again.”

“Oh my God.”

“I’m not asking you to marry me. I’m not even asking you to move in with me, although I’ve loved every second of you being here.”

“Even when I used your razor to shave my legs and you cut yourself to shreds when you tried to shave the next morning?”

Ghost smiled briefly then got serious again. “Anytime you want to steal my razor, go for it. I don’t give a shit. But yes, you’re not perfect, and neither am I, but you don’t get on my back for the stupid stuff I do. I love that about you. It’s one of the million things I love. But you know what I love the most?”

“No,” Rayne whispered, wrapping her legs around Ghost’s waist while she waited for his answer.

“That I can tell you’re trying. I know you’re bored, Princess. I know you’ll never be a housewife who waits for her man to get home. But you’re trying, for me. For us. And that means more to me than you’ll ever know.”

Rayne swallowed through the tears in her throat. She’d thought she’d been hiding it from him. She should’ve known Ghost was too observant to let something like that slide.

“It’s almost time for you to get back to work, right?” he asked, against hitting at the heart at what Rayne had been stressing about.

She nodded. “I have the DFW-London rotation starting this weekend.”

“You ask for that?”

“Um-hum. I’m not ready for anything else yet.”

Ghost pulled back and put his hands on either side of her head. “I love you, Rayne Jackson. I couldn’t take it if something happened to you.”

Rayne could only nod, trying to swallow back the lump in her throat.

“You’ll stay here until you need to go back up to Fort Worth, right?”

She nodded again.

“Okay, here’s the thing. Sometimes I’ll be able to tell you when we have to leave for a mission, other times we might not get that much advance notice. When we left for Egypt, we knew about forty-five minutes before we had to be at the airport. But this time we got advance notice. We’re leaving for a thing tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow?”

Ghost nodded. “It’s actually pretty good timing. You’re ready to go back to work and have to go home to Fort Worth. I want you to stay here, in my house…in our bed, until you have to. All right?”

“What time?”

Ghost moved his hands, scooted Rayne’s butt closer to him, and lifted her up. Her legs clamped tighter around his waist and she held on as he walked to the other room and the couch. “Early. Probably around three.”

“Will you wake me before you go?”

“Absolutely. I’ll never sneak out of our bed again, Princess. No matter what time it is, I’ll wake you up to say goodbye.”

Rayne sniffed once, trying to hold her tears at bay. This was what he did. He was a super-solider who had to go and save the world. She couldn’t be a baby about it. “Okay,” she whispered. “You hungry?” She watched as a grin moved over his face.

“Starved.”

Her lips quirked up in a smile at his lecherous response.

“I meant for food.”

“I could eat.”

“Good. I made us some tacos. It’s nothing fancy, but it was easy and I wasn’t sure when you’d be getting home.”

“Sounds perfect. You should know…after we eat?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll be taking you to bed and making you come so hard you’ll be sore, making sure you won’t forget about me.”

“Lord, Ghost, seriously?”

“Oh yeah, seriously. I’m gonna need to tide us over until I return.”

Ghost helped Rayne stand up and smirked at the blush that moved across her face. He leaned down and kissed her chastely on the cheek. “Come on, Princess. Let’s eat so we can go and have dessert.”