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stopped beside Shannon and studied those freckles. “Like the tail of a comet,” I murmured.
    I reached out and traced a line from the ball of her shoulder across her collarbone. Then my gaze shifted to her mouth and those defiant, sinful lips, and my other hand was sliding up her neck and into her hair.
    I didn’t know why I did it. Maybe it had been too long since I touched a woman. Maybe I couldn’t handle the post-deployment horny as well as I used to. Or maybe…maybe I wanted to get into a power struggle.
    My forehead rested against Shannon’s as I moved into her space, crowding her and feeling all five-foot-nothing of her pressed against me.
    “What are you doing?” she whispered.
    “Waiting for you to stop me,” I said against her lips.
    She sighed, and I couldn’t tell if the sound originated from pleasure or pain. Then she shook her head and it was highly probable her knee would be connecting with my groin any minute. I felt every single second tick by, each one heavier than the one before.
    “Will,” she finally said, my name no more than a gasp.
    I stole those last syllables from Shannon when my mouth met hers. She tasted like beer and sweetness, and just that quickly, my entire world condensed down to her skin, her hair, her scent. We dropped into an easy rhythm of kisses; sweet and simple, and perfectly right for the dark of night at the beach.
    But then she bit my tongue and the gauntlet was thrown. Lips and tongues and teeth all fought for control, and oh holy fuck, I was bringing this girl to her knees tonight. I didn’t care what it took, she was going to surrender to me. I pulled that plump bottom lip of hers between my teeth, nipping and scraping as my hands moved down her body. Her ass fit right in my palms and I jerked her against me, my fingers squeezing that taut skin until she yelped.
    “Not nice,” she murmured against my lips. Her hands traveled up my chest and over my shoulders, and the fire in her eyes was enough to get me as hard as a goddamn lamppost.
    “The last thing I’m going to be to you is nice,” I said.
    I lifted Shannon to the countertop, knocking over glasses, bottles, and utensils in the process. With her hair wrapped around my fist, I pulled her head back and my mouth latched onto the graceful slope of her neck. Her pulse was hammering and she offered tiny hums each time my tongue skated over her skin, but it wasn’t enough to kiss her. I needed to lick, suck, bite. Her fingernails scored my neck and shoulders as I ground my erection between her legs, and what I really needed was to fuck her.
    My arm swept out, clearing the remaining barware from the surface. I rocked into her again and her warmth drew a choked, ragged moan from deep inside me. I buried my head in Shannon’s chest, kissing and nipping every freckle I could find while my hand slipped up her shorts. I was inches away from her panties when her fingers closed around my wrist, a warning look in her eyes.
    “I am not fucking you on a bar,” she said.
    Oh, there was the spitfire.
    “Let’s get one thing straight right now,” I said. My fingers were drawing slow circles on her inner thigh and nothing compared to watching her arousal extinguish her anger by small degrees. “I do the fucking here.”

Chapter Four
    SHANNON
    Eighteen months ago
    T his boy was a savage .
    The door to my cottage wasn’t even closed and Will had my face pressed flat to the wall while he stripped me to my bra and panties. And he didn’t waste any time thrusting that bulge against my ass, reminding me that he’d do the fucking.
    Will’s fingers flicked over my back and my lacy B-cup bra was gone, along with the bangles on my wrist. He curled one finger around the side of my panties, and it was enough to send them drifting down to my ankles. From there, his hands spread out, shifting until he was holding me in place with one hand on the small of my back and the other tangled in my hair.
    What the hell was I thinking?