Tate (Lighthouse Security Investigations #6) - Maryann Jordan

1

Ravaged. That was the only word Tate could think of to describe everything about this day. As part of the Honor Guard at the funeral of a fallen service member and fellow SEAL, he felt ravaged. Considering the funeral was for his best friend since childhood, he felt ravaged.

Looking across the flag-draped coffin toward Nathan’s parents clinging to each other, their faces were ravaged. And when he captured and held the gaze of Nathan’s sister, Nora, the woman he planned on marrying, he saw nothing but raw, ravaged emotion pouring from her.

The service was soon over, the salute was given, the flag folded and presented. He sucked in a ragged breath, reminding himself to breathe even though his chest ached with each inhalation. The idea of passing out almost brought a smile, thinking that Nathan would have found it hilarious for Tate to faint at a funeral. With a last glance back toward the now-bare coffin, the idea that Nathan would never laugh again ravaged him.

The funeral had been hard enough to get through, but he felt choked in the crowded house full of mourners. If one more person came up to him to thank him for his service or tell him that they remembered he and Nathan had always been together, he was not sure he’d be able to handle it.

One look at Nora’s pale face while standing in her living room gave evidence that she felt the same. Without speaking, he simply linked fingers with her, and they walked out together. He assisted her up into his truck, having no destination in mind. Dark clouds were beginning to roll overhead, adding to the silent, somber mood.

After a while, he finally drove to the Double T, his family’s ranch, and parked outside the barn. Filled with memories of the three of them throughout their youth, at that moment it was the only place he wanted to be. A storm had been brewing all day, dark clouds moving in, lightning in the distance, and the winds started to whip fat raindrops against the front of the truck. He climbed down from the driver’s side and raced around to her door. Cognizant of the heels she wore, he scooped her into his arms and carried her into the barn before setting her feet to the ground. He glanced down, wondering if being there was upsetting, but for the first time that day, she looked as though she could breathe. She took his hand, linked fingers with him, and walked to the ladder leading to the hayloft.

Climbing close behind her, his feet had landed on the wooden floor just as she kicked her shoes off. They walked together to the wide opening and stared out toward the mountains in the distance. By now, the storm had descended all around them. With rain pelting the tin roof and the winds howling, they turned and faced each other, drawn by the magnet that had always existed between them.

They moved slowly at first, hands simply grasping each other’s shoulders as the distance between their bodies closed. He bent and kissed her lightly, but her fingers tightened, and she clung to him, the kiss taking on an intensity he had not planned for but they both needed.

Clothes were soon tossed, his uniform heedlessly dumped onto the hay. Their hands roamed wildly, noses bumped as tongues thrust, and lips devoured each other. The need to bury their shared grief in each other’s bodies overtook all other thoughts.

Kneeling when they were completely naked, she soon slid to her back, her breasts beckoning, arms lifted and legs spread in need and invitation. Dating for years, this was not the first time they’d had sex, nor the hayloft been their hideaway, but he could not remember ever needing her body quite so desperately. When he finally plunged into her warm sex as her arms and legs clung to him, he could no longer tell where he ended and she began.

Lightning speared through the dark and the following thunder shook the barn. She surprised him when she pushed against one shoulder, and he rolled to his back, his cock still deep inside. She leaned forward, her honey-blonde hair creating a curtain as her hands clutched his shoulders. Her eyes squeezed shut and her breasts bounced as she rode his cock, lifting and plunging with a ferocity that he knew mirrored his own.

She threw her head back, crying out her release, and shame hit him at the realization he had not taken care