America's Bravest (17 page)

He chuckled, then groaned when her movements
pushed him farther into her. They’d fumbled around for a long time
before he figured out how to make sex good for her. The memory of
the first time she came when he was inside her juxtaposed with the
woman who’d now impaled him, and of its own volition, his body
jerked. He gripped her hips. “I. Can’t. Stop.”

They both went at it hard, harder, really
hard. He groaned, grunted and swore. She encouraged him with sexy
words. Just before Brody’s body exploded, he felt her spasms begin.
Their moans joined like their bodies and he surrendered himself to
the wonder of being with Emma again.

oOo

“What’s the matter, Brody? You shy?”

“Jesus, where did
this
side of you
come from?”

“It’s only a little camera.”

“On your computer.” Which she’d had in her
car.

“We can watch what we video together on the
screen later.”

“Now,
that
is kinky.” Emma pictured
him smiling.

“Shut up, Brody, and get in position.”

The
position
was Emma on her knees,
draped over an ottoman in his bedroom; he was also on his knees,
behind her. They’d had adventurous foreplay before she suggested
this kind of sex around midnight. Emma had decided to throw caution
to the wind and have Brody fill her fantasies. “You said to pick
one thing I always wanted to do.”

“You got me there.” He chuckled as he poised
himself for entry.

Inch by inch, he slid inside her. He felt
bigger, for some reason, maybe because she wasn’t opening as much
by virtue of her position. When he completely filled her, she
gasped.

His chest met her back. It was slick and
muscular. “Like that?”

“It’s more intense this way.”

He began to move.

“Oh, wow. Yes, Brody, right there.”

He took advantage of the sweet spot he’d
found and stroked it from within. Lots of moans, groans, even
shouts when Emma totally surrendered herself.

Suddenly, she felt him tense, and as he
plunged harder, she said, “Smile for the camera.”

oOo

“Hey, I look pretty good.” After getting some
wine for both of them, Brody watched the laptop situated on the
bed. “And I’ve never seen a prettier sight than you taking me
inside your body.”

“God, look at your muscles bulge. And they
glisten.
It makes me hot watching us.”

Smiling, they clinked glasses, sipped and
then both gasped when the two of them really got going on screen.
“Jesus, are you…?” she asked.

“I guess. I don’t exactly remember.”

“Your hand’s… Holy crap, Brody, I never did
that before.”

Turning to her, he threaded his fingers
through her hair, inhaling its flowery scent. “This is one of the
sexiest things I’ve ever seen in my life, sweetheart.”

She kissed his chest then licked a nipple.
“Want to do it again?”

Emma took care of their glasses, and Brody
set the computer on the night table then turned her over on her
back. “You don’t have to ask me twice, love.”

As they stood in the throng of people on
Fifth Avenue watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,
snowflakes kissed Emma’s nose and tongue when she stuck it out to
capture the light precipitation. Being in New York City for the
annual event was only one of the gifts Brody had given her in the
two weeks they’d been seeing each other. She’d told him once when
they were teens that she’d always wanted to come to the city at
this time of year, and he’d bought the plane tickets as a belated
birthday gift.

She spoke over the
chatter of the crowd and the announcements. “Think your parents are
mad at us for not spending the holiday with them?” Hers were in
Florida and didn’t expect her to join them. She was going south for
Christmas, though.

“Nah.” He kissed her forehead. “They’re so
glad we’re together again, they would have paid for this trip.”

“I wish you’d let me pitch in.”

“You can buy me some puzzles at F.A.O.
Schwartz tomorrow.” He pointed to the stage where Broadway numbers
were performed. “There’s Spiderman.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder as
familiar music wafted over to them. “It was so much fun seeing that
with you last night.” In truth, it was fun doing everything with
Brody, and she must have repressed the memory that it had always
been this way when they were together. Though they hadn’t gone
public yet because of Mark—she’d decided they could after
Christmas—she and Brody had had a wonderful few weeks.

As kids squealed at the Disney float of
Rapunzel, Emma thought back to the dinners in Hidden Cove, the trip
they’d taken to a Bed and Breakfast in the Catskills and the nights
spent in one of their beds.

When the parade ended, he took her hand.
“What would you like to do now?”

Shivering, she said, “Have hot chocolate by a
warm fire.”

He cocked his head. “Our hotel has a
fireplace in the common area.”

“Or we could get hot chocolate in the
room.”

His grin was a killer. “Hmm, I’d forgo the
fire.”

The walk back to the Marriott was crowded and
noisy, so she held on to Brody’s hand and enjoyed the sights and
sounds of the city. When they reached the big hotel, they took the
elevator up to the seventeenth floor. Once inside, he asked, “How
about we take a Jacuzzi together?”

“Sound wonderful.”

“Call for hot chocolate. I’ll do the
bath.”

When the water was drawn and the hot
chocolate had arrived, they climbed in the tub, which he scented
with the jasmine oil provided by the hotel. Its sweet scent was
enhanced by the hot steam and the pulsing jets. The warmth on their
cold muscles was heavenly. “Aren’t you afraid you’re going to smell
like a girl?”

“Nope, not if this makes you happy.”

She opened her eyes, from where she was lying
opposite him against the foam pillow. “You make me happy, Brody
O’Malley.”

Brody was glad to hear her say those words
aloud. For him, the past few weeks had been a sexual haze
interspersed with good, clean fun. Even Ryan admitted he’d never
seen Brody so content.

Gently, he lifted her leg and took the hard
sponge thing—she’d called it a loofah—and ran it over the soles of
her feet. She moaned. He couldn’t imagine ever getting tired of the
sound. The woman who was Emma fulfilled all the potential she’d
shown as the teenager he’d loved. She was an excellent teacher—he
knew from her class’s visit to the firehouse—a considerate daughter
and a loyal sister. With him, she’d shown she had a sense of humor
and was sexually curious. All in all, Emma Walsh was one nice
female package.

He sighed. “I hate to think about going back
to Hidden Cove after spending all this time together.”

“We have two more days here.” Emma winked at
him. “We’ll make the best of them.”

“Lift up.” He retrieved a sponge and began to
wash her leg. “I know we have more time. It’s not only that. I hate
to have to be so careful about where we are, what we’re doing.”

“I’m sorry. It’s only been a few weeks. I
don’t want to embarrass Mark.”

He picked up her other leg. “Do you, um, see
him?”

“I’m on a multi-grade-level reading committee
that he chairs.”

Brody stopped the motion of his hand. “I
didn’t know that.”

“Um, yeah.” She held his gaze. “We’ve had
coffee together after a couple of the meetings.”

“And you didn’t tell me. Why?”

“Because I knew you’d get the pouty look on
your face that’s there now. I intend to stay his friend,
Brody.”

“What if I don’t like it?”

She stilled. “Then you’ll have to find a way
to deal with my decision.” She splashed water at him. “And I’ll be
extra attentive in bed.”

“You get any more attentive or inventive in
bed, I’m going to drop dead of exhaustion.” Though he chose to
tease her, it burned him how she dismissed his objection to her
seeing Adams.

Later that night, when she made good on her
attentive comment, it hit him that he was jealous of her old
boyfriend. Jesus, when had that happened? He couldn’t ever remember
feeling the emotion.

oOo

Three weeks after Emma had gone to the city
with Brody, she was on a train back to the Big Apple to meet her
sister at Penn Station. Lucy was flying in from Paris to spend a
week with her before the Christmas holidays. When school got out,
they’d both go to Florida and join their parents to celebrate the
holiday. She wished she could be with Brody on Christmas, but it
wasn’t going to happen. He had special plans for New Year’s Eve,
though, and she looked forward to coming back for them.

As she peered out the window at the snowy
scenery, she hoped she didn’t have her period when they brought in
the new year. She basically had a four-week cycle. Had she gotten
her period before or after her birthday? To check, she reached into
her black, ruffled leather bag, which sat on an empty seat, and
pulled out her calendar.

Okay, she had her period in October, right
before her birthday. So it was due at the end of November. Huh. She
flipped to December. Today was the tenth. Yikes, she was late!

Shaking her head, Emma blew out a heavy
breath. There really wasn’t anything to fear. She’d been late
before, stress or even joy affecting her hormones. And she and
Brody had used condoms every single time they made love, even when
she recorded them together. Thinking about that experience, a grin
split her face. The only drawback to having Lucy here would be she
wouldn’t spend any nights with Brody.

We can have quickies, though,
he’d
teased her.

Maybe even tonight. Lucy would probably fall
asleep early because of jet lag, and Brody had suggested she sneak
over to his place for a tryst. Briefly she thought about a way to
make their limited time together exciting. She liked keeping him on
his sexual toes. Yes, she knew exactly what she’d do.

oOo

Brody had built a fire when the doorbell to
the half of the house he shared with Ryan rang. Hmm, Emma was
early. He hoped nothing had gone wrong with Lucy getting into town.
Whipping open the door, he found his brother on the porch. Ryan had
long since moved back from their parents’ house to finish his
recuperation at home. His brother was dressed like him, in a heavy
sweater and cords. “I can’t find my key to your place.” He held up
a six-pack of Yuengling. “I’m going stir crazy. Wanna share
this?”

“Sure, at least until Emma gets here.”

“Ah, my competition.” Ryan said the words
kiddingly, but Brody caught the ring of truth in it. He’d had
little time to spend with his twin since Emma had reentered his
life.

They settled in the very masculine living
room, which Brody had remodeled, putting in a conversation pit,
similar to the ones that had been popular in the seventies; he
liked the uniqueness of it. Prints of modern art graced the walls.
Big, dark leather couches absorbed their large frames as they sat.
Over the gas fireplace was a fifty-inch television.

“So, what’s the word on returning to work?”
Brody asked.

“January one. Maybe desk duty. I’m still sore
as hell.”

“Sorry.”

“Where’s the lovely Miss Emma?” Rye
asked.

Brody explained about her sister. “I thought
we’d have both of them over here, and you could help me entertain
them.”

“Man, I can’t believe the change in you.
You’re smitten. Now it’s dinner parties for her family. Soon, I’ll
be hearing about June weddings and due dates.”

The beer stopped halfway to his mouth. “Due
dates?”

“Babies, my friend. I know you use
protection, but condoms break.”

“Not mine. I get the heavy-duty, extra large
ones.”

“Yeah, well, that’s good. Don’t want any
unintended consequences.” Ryan popped a beer. “Wanna watch the
Syracuse basketball game until she gets here?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

But something niggled at Brody during the
first half of the game. Something to do with what Ryan had said
about babies. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly what bothered
him, so he tried to focus on Syracuse trampling Georgetown.

Emma showed up as the game ended and Ryan
left. Her hair was dotted with snow and her cheeks red from the
cold. She wore a long dark coat.

“Hi.” He kissed her soundly.

“Hi.”

“Want a drink or want to go to bed?”

“Bed.” Kicking off her boots, she stooped
over and slid down her pants then stood and slowly unbuttoned her
coat. Under the heavy wool, she wore the sexiest one-piece, black
lacy thing, which barely covered all her assets. “Man, you kill me,
woman.”

Pushing the coat to the floor, he dragged her
to his room upstairs.

After some incredibly hot sex, he faced her
on the bed, arm crooked, head in his hand. Sheets covered them.
“How did I get so lucky?” he asked.

“Me, too. I’m so glad I found you again.”
Tears welled in her eyes, sparkling in the light at the
bedside.

“Hey. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. It was emotional seeing Lucy. The
holidays are here. I tend to get weepy.”

“Maybe you’re getting your…” He trailed off,
his hand lightly brushing her hip.

“What?”

A zillion things went through his mind. And
suddenly he realized what he was trying to capture during the game.
They’d been dating about five weeks and she’d not had her period
since they’d been together.

oOo

“Brody, your whole body went tense.”

He just watched her, frown lines deepening on
his brow.

A frisson of alarm went through Emma. He’d
asked how he’d gotten so lucky to have her, and then he seemed to
have frozen up. She cupped his cheek. “Brody? What are you
thinking?”

“Ryan came over earlier.”

“And?” No answer. “You said he was better
about us.”