Page 207 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

He returned his attention to the woman who was becoming the center of his daydreams and nightly midnight dreams. A Cherokee healer by training since he could walk, Gray saw a woman in pain who called to his spirit almost as loud as her knockout body called to him.

The wild streak he kept hidden from the world broke free from the iron control he had learned at the Naval Academy. Pulling on his shorts, he made a snap decision. No one should be alone on their birthday, especially not a sexy woman who appeared to hate clothes and seemed so alone and in pain.

In his bedroom, he grabbed a clean T-shirt from the dresser and shoved his feet into battered sneakers. At the hall door, he turned back for the brand-new box of condoms still in his suitcase.

Cal Roberts, his best friend and wingman, had given him the box of condoms as a “welcome back to the world” gift when they had returned from their latest six-month tour in the Middle East two weeks before.

Gray raced down the stairs but hesitated at the first-floor landing. Driving the bridges across the Neuse and Trent Rivers then weaving back through town would take too long. Turning to the kitchen, he grabbed the boat keys off the pegboard by the back door. Once outside, he ran to the dock where he slipped the dock lines on his parents’ speedboat before starting the engine.

The engine had barely started when he pushed the throttle forward and pointed the boat’s bow across the river. As he flew across the water, he pinpointed her yard and was pleased to see a dock extending into the river. Easing the throttle forward another notch, he tried to come up with a plausible, sane, rational explanation for what was about to happen.

As her hips pumped back and forth against the still thrumming vibrator, Alaina began to twist her nipples, building to a second orgasm nearly as strong as the first. Once she floated down from the second, she turned off the vibrator, but left it in place. After chugging the rest of her beer, she staggered to the chair beside the patio table. Sitting, she gasped silently as her bare ass and back touched the cold metal. Only then did she pull out the vibrator.

As she caught her breath, a boat motor broke the silence. Scanning what she could see of the river, Alaina tracked the sound to a speedboat heading across the water at a fast clip. Not just across the river but straight toward her.

Had someone seen her? Standing, Alaina staggered toward the house on legs that were wobbly from her sexercise. She tripped entering the back door, but with some fancy footwork, regained her balance before falling to the floor. She only had a minute to pull on her t-shirt and skirt before heading back down the hall.

By the time she returned to the patio, the man had secured his boat to her dock. Stopping in the middle of the patio, she watched him approach with long, unhurried steps. She wondered what she could say to send him away.

Today was her birthday, and she had plans to spend the weekend in as few clothes as possible in hopes of taming the urges that were growing more demanding by the day. Dressed only in her skirt and t-shirt, she worked to shift mental gears to be the competent, efficient Alaina Rowen who was always, always in control.

She moved to the top of the three wide stairs that led to the yard. Not sure what to do with her hands, she crossed them over her chest, but that pushed her unbound breasts up and together. Dropping her arms to her sides, she clenched her fists as she studied the stranger in her yard.

He was tall, broad, and good looking with honey brown skin, though she could not tell if it was his natural coloring or not. His hair was cut in the high and tight style of the Marines, but she could not tell if the strands were black or dark brown. Sharp cheekbones, a prominent nose, and a strong jaw seemed sculpted out of stone.

Khaki shorts hung on his hips and ended at his knees. His black t-shirt advertised that he got his crabs from Dirty Dick’s Crab House. As he returned her blatant inspection, his eyes glowed silver. This was the kind of man she dreamt about each evening, her dark sex-craving side reminded her.

He looked healthy and in shape, but in a stark, hungry way that made her wonder if he’d had a home-cooked meal recently. His predatory expression made her wonder at his intentions as he continued toward her, not stopping until he reached the bottom of the steps.

“This is private property,” she said.

“Uh-huh,” he agreed with a smile that reminded her of a wolf on the hunt, as he closed the last few feet between them.

“Who are you?”

He stopped with only inches separating them. “I’m the answer to your birthday wish.”

He wrapped one arm around her waist, then cupped her jaw in the palm of his other hand. Lifting her face, his lips brushed over hers once before settling in for an extended stay.

Alaina lifted her hands, intending to push him away, but when the tip of his tongue traced across her lower lip, she inched her arms around his back instead. Her sensible side balked while her bad girl side jumped up and down screaming “Yippee!”

Giving over to her naughty side, Alaina parted her lips in invitation. She hugged him tighter as she shifted against the long, thick bulge pressing into her belly. She tasted beer on his tongue, and when she took a breath, she smelled laundry detergent, clean male, and a citrusy, woodsy cologne.

Her hands stroked their way down his back into the top of his shorts. They then moved lower and caressed the mounds of his ass. The hand cupping her jaw drifted down to palm her breast with a familiarity that made her pussy clench.

When he finally broke the kiss, they were both breathing hard. Alaina stared up at him in shock when she realized where her hands were. She swallowed, but her mind was a blank.

“Happy birthday.” He smiled down at her with eyes that glowed silver in the growing darkness.

“Oh my.” She gasped, pulling her hands free of his shorts. “Oh my.”

The two sides of her personality warred, whispering conflicting advice on how to survive the next few minutes. Taking a step back, then another, she wasn’t sure where she was going, but she needed to put enough distance between them so she could think. She needed to decide whether to slap him for kissing her or apologize for groping him.

Chapter Three

Gray felt as stunned as the time in high school when he’d been hit by a line drive during the championship baseball game. All at once he understood what his grandfather had told him about love finding you when least expected. Too bad the woman looked at him with an expression of fear and horror mixed with fascination as she slowly backed away.

He matched her step for step.

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