Still Mine (19 page)

No one had ever needed her so much. It humbled her but it also stirred her passion.

Leaning over, she licked one of his nipples. He cussed as his body jerked. Reaching around his chest, she held on to him as she played with the flat nipple, teasing its little point with her tongue. Running one hand down the side of his rib cage, she smoothed her palm right over the front of his pants.

“Not yet, baby.”

He clamped a hand around her wrist and twisted it away from his cock. He kept the pressure up, forcing her to turn or be hurt. He hooked his other arm around her waist as she faced the shower door with him at her back. She was helpless in his embrace. Two seconds and he’d imprisoned her with his superior strength. She quivered as she felt his erection pressing into her bottom. A pulse of excitement nipped along her, because her body enjoyed the moment of captivity. Some part of her feminine side liked knowing he was stronger. She didn’t accept she was weaker by nature’s design, only that she craved his greater strength.

“Do you have any idea how much you test me, Jo?” His voice rasped against her ear. Releasing her wrist, he ran his hand across her belly and over one breast. His thumb pressed against the hard nipple. Pleasure shot down her back as she gasped.

“It’s as much a part of your allure as the reason I’m scared to death of you.” He pinched her nipple and she cried out. Too much sensation was building up inside her. She couldn’t keep it inside any longer.

“My feelings exactly.” He cupped her entire breast before running his hand across her belly. She wiggled as she felt him getting closer to her mons. It was an unconscious motion, borne from instinct. She craved his touch but knew that it would smother her ability to think, reducing her to a pile of receptors all laid open for his command. The need to trust him screamed through her head.

“Paul—”

“Yes, Jo?” He touched the top of her slit and she jerked against his hold. He chuckled against her ear.

“Let it go, honey. I can smell how hot you are. Stop thinking about anything except this.” His finger pressed against the folds of her sex, slipping easily through the fluid that had flowed from her passage. “Neither of us could fight this. The moment we met, the connection was there.”

He found her clit and she whimpered. Need burned red hot through her sheath as he pressed against that little bundle of nerve endings, stroking it as she shivered in delight. There was no holding back, no protest that made any sense compared to her desire for him.

“This passion for each other is obsessive, isn’t it, Jo? So damn incessant that you wonder how you remain sane.”

“
Yes.
”

Pleasure tingled under his finger. Twisting and begging for a faster pace, she lifted her bottom towards him, offering her body to the hard flesh pressing against her. Her temper flared as she realized how simple it was for him to reduce her to a quivering mass at his mercy.

“Together or not at all.” She snarled the words, forcing them past her lips when every instinct urged her to forget about everything except the need gathering under his finger. “I mean it, Paul. I’ve been alone plenty. Masturbation isn’t what I want.”

She heard the rasp of his breath next to her ear as his hand froze. Pain zipped through her as hunger for him, his touch, lashed out in revenge. She needed to climax but it was impossible without friction.

“Don’t control me, Paul. Join me.” It was as close to pleading as she could get. “Be my lover.”

“Alright, baby.” His hand left her slit and she whimpered. Pressing her palms against the shower stall she shivered as need tormented her. But she heard the faint sound of his waistband opening before he grasped both sides of her hips.

“Spread for me, baby.”

Her feet moved over the cool tile as the head of his cock pressed against the opening to her body. The fingers holding her hips tightened as he pressed forward, filling her sheath.

“In fact, I love the way you think.”

His cock slid deep before he pulled back and thrust again. Her clit begged for attention as he moved behind her, his hands holding her tightly in place for each penetration.

“But you did say together, didn’t you, honey?”

He pulled free and turned her to face him. She caught the look of raw hunger on his face as he lifted her up, pressing her back against the shower door. It rattled as her thighs grasped his hips and she wrapped her arms around his neck. There was another rattle from the glass door as he thrust his cock up into her spread body. A deep groan left his lips as she gasped.

“Look at me, Jo.”

There was a note of solid command in his voice. She almost couldn’t lift her eyelids because pleasure was coursing through her so thickly. He bucked between her thighs, the length of his cock drawing across her clit with each thrust. Climax was twisting through her as her thighs tightened around her lover.

“Look at me.”

She opened her eyes and locked stares with him. His face was harsh, hunger etched into each line, but there was also enjoyment. A delight that mirrored her own.

“Together.” It was a single-word command but one she eagerly embraced.

“That’s right.”

His lips curled back from his teeth. He clutched each side of her bottom. The door shook as he drove his cock deep and withdrew quickly. She lost the battle to keep her eyes open. Pleasure gripped her body, shaking her like a toy. She clawed at the solid shoulders beneath her hands as she heard her lover cry out. He thrust hard and fast, her passage tightening around his length and she felt the spurt of his release. They both gasped, clinging to each other as the shower door took their weight. Time didn’t have any meaning, there was only the scent of his skin and the rhythm of his heart.

“Got to love the army code of quality in building materials.” Teasing sarcasm coated Paul’s voice as he lifted her off his cock. Her legs shook slightly as her feet touched the tile. Opening her eyes showed her that he’d done nothing more than drop his pants. The mirror offered her a reflection of his bare backside and she giggled as she looked at his pants puddled around his boots.

“No underwear, Paul? Should I feel flattered?”

He caught a handful of her hair, tipping her face up so that their gazes locked. “Depends on you, Jo. Should I just lay it on the table and tell you that I heard your shower running while I was taking one myself?” His eyes flickered with renewed passion. He leaned down, hovering over her lips as his body pressed her against the glass door. “I did and the thought of you, inches away from me, was rather arousing. I only tossed on the clothing I needed.”

“I didn’t know you were my neighbor.” But she should have. She didn’t like the idea of him holding all the power cards. Slipping her hand up his thigh, she found his cock and grasped it. His breath hissed through his teeth as she caught the flare of challenge in his black eyes. Working her thumb over the sensitive spot just under the head, she fired her own challenge back at him.

He stiffened. “To hell with being neighbors. You’re my wife.”

He released her hair and bent down to grab his pants. There was a rustle of fabric as he pulled them up over his hips, securing the waistband with a quick motion of his fingers. He hooked his arm around her waist, lifting her off her feet to cradle her against his body. His eyes glittered with emotion.

“I’ve waited too damn long to return you to my bed.”

He moved through the bathroom with swift steps. He set her on her feet and turned to jerk the blanket off the bed. The mattress flopped as he tore it free from the neatly tucked corners. He reached for his shirt and shrugged into it.

“My bed, Jo. We’re going to my bed.”

“Whoa!” He was already pulling her towards the front room as she fumbled with the double-bed-size blanket. “I’m not going outside wearing a blanket.”

He turned and clamped her against his body. He cupped her bottom, pressing her against his erection. Hot need speared through her, stealing her next protest.

“I hope someone does see you.” He caught the back of her head and lowered his lips to an inch above her mouth. His teeth were bared as he held her tight against his cock. “I hope every damn male on this post hears that you’re mine. In my bed and mine.”

He spun her loose and grabbed the blanket. A second later it was wrapped around her, right before he pulled the door open. A soft squeal got past her lips as he hooked an arm around her waist and hauled her through the doorway. The second her bare feet touched the sidewalk, she hurried to cover the ground to the next doorway. A half giggle got past her lips as she ducked inside his room, feeling like a teenager trying to avoid getting caught.

But Paul wasn’t any teen boy bent on experimenting with premarital sex. The door shut and she watched him rip his shirt back off. His frame was wide and all man. It was empowering in a fashion. Both of them were mature enough to know exactly what they were doing. Sex wasn’t a forbidden activity anymore, because they were more than capable of dealing with life’s ups and downs. She also wasn’t his young wife, inexperienced and lacking in self-confidence. Being overwhelmed wasn’t going to be the complete story of their relationship. She could give as good as she got and it was the honest truth that it excited her to think about doing so.

“I hope Durant puts you on report tomorrow.”

Her husband scowled at her as he opened his belt buckle. “He just might. I think it’s been a long time since his last leave.”

Paul sat and unlaced a boot. Her gaze roamed around the room as the little hints of his personality captured her attention. His quarters were the mirror image of hers. But he had furniture. A sofa was against the wall, under the window facing a flat-screen television. The remote control was on the middle cushion of that sofa as Paul freed one boot and began working on the remaining one.

A box of crackers had been left on the far side of the sofa and it struck her as pathetic. There wasn’t a kitchen, nothing to separate it from a hotel room. On the wall there was nothing but paint, no pictures of fishing trips or anything personal that might hint at the occupant’s personal side. She could see the bedroom through the doorway. The office nook was filled with a desk and padded chair.

“How long have you lived here?”

Two hard arms clasped her back against his solid body. He inhaled the scent of her hair before muttering a small sound of enjoyment.

“Four years.”

Her jaw dropped as she scanned the sterile room again and looked behind her to see if he was joking.

“You were the only thing that ever gave me distinction outside my projects.”

“We didn’t live like…this…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at the bleak living space. There wasn’t a single knickknack or dust-collecting art object. No hints to who the owner was. Another man could take up residence tomorrow and there would be nothing to clean out.

She pushed out of his embrace, turning to stare at him. “We had a home, maybe a tossed-together, typical-newlywed type of place but there was a kitchen and things.” Her hands spread out as she tried to explain her horror. No one deserved to live like this. It resembled a cell to her. “We had pictures.”

“That you took with you, Jo.”

She shook her head, trying to understand. Never once had she ever envisioned him remaining in such a state for her. Whether or not she agreed with his actions, the fact remained that he’d chosen this path in a quest to protect her. It was humbling and enraging at the same time. She didn’t like the burden of knowing that he’d been living like this because of her. Love should never cost so much and that’s all it seemed to do to the pair of them.

“But why didn’t you rebuild…something? Anything?”

“I did.” He captured her hand and pulled her into the bedroom. The bathroom counters were bare, even his toothbrush hidden away. “I poured it all into Ruby.”

Lifting her off the floor he placed her on the bed, tugging the blanket free. He touched the red wound left from the bullet, watching her face as he did so.

“I met you before Ruby was signed into creation. She’s too coveted. A beacon for black-market thugs. There was no way I was going to leave even a single photograph of you anywhere in this room for their kind to find.” He nodded when she didn’t flinch under the contact with her shoulder. “And still they found you.”

He considered her with an unreadable expression. “But at this moment, I’m not very unhappy about that. You can be pissed, Jo, but I’m too happy to see you, close enough to touch, that I just can’t apologize.”

He stood and pulled his waistband open. The bedroom lights weren’t on, so the lamp from the outer room shone in through the doorway. It washed him in half light, just like he lived his life. His clothing took only seconds to strip away but it suited the moment. The evening was cooling off but it wasn’t anywhere near cold. The night breeze brushed her skin as he moved towards the outer room. The light went out as he hit the switch and she watched the shadowy figure that closed the distance between them. It felt almost like she had slipped completely into one of her dreams. The contact more real now that she’d surrendered to her memories. Each touch and stroke felt consuming as her lover rolled her back onto the bed.

She was eager for it, the reunion that she’d so often dreamed about. Her hands reached out to touch the hard muscle of her partner. She traced along the ridges, absorbing the reality of his existence. There was no rush this time, only the increasing heat that drove them both towards another slow round of intimacy. He found her breasts, cupping the tender globes as his thumbs brushed over the hard nipples. Leaning over, his lips captured one, sucking it deep into his mouth. Her back arched upwards, offering the peak to his lips. She shuddered as he left it and nuzzled along her chest until he found the twin. Her fingers attempted to tangle in his hair, to hold him against her, but the ultrashort strands wouldn’t be held. A chuckle shook his chest as he raised his head and stared at her.

“You don’t like the haircut?” He threaded his fingers through her hair, tightening his grip around it for a second. “I like yours longer. In fact, I’m discovering a certain fetish for controlling you.”