HOSTILE: A Military Romance Novel (Military Men Book 1) (14 page)

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She was just as sexy and gorgeous as I’d remembered her. Maybe even more so. My memory hadn’t made her into something impossible; it hadn’t added any sparkle to her that she didn’t already have.

Ariana was the one thing I wanted more than anything else in the world. To see her standing in front of me and not being able to hold her, to kiss her, to lick every inch of her body, was going to ruin me.

I had to convince her.

I had to make her see.

But I didn’t know how. How was I supposed to convince her that I wanted to be the man she needed when I’d only shown her what a dick I was in the past? People weren’t supposed to change as much as I had.

A part of me wished it was still my dick talking. I could have gone into any bar in the city, sweet-talked a woman for an hour, and fucked her in the restroom until I shot my load into her. I could have then zipped up and gone home, satisfied.

Ariana made that idea sour in my mind. She made me want the lovemaking, not the fucking. She made me yearn for the cuddling afterwards, our warm bodies cradling one another for hours after our shared delight. She made me want to care, to give more pleasure than I took.

But how did I explain all that to her?

She had no reason to believe me.

“Ariana, I can’t live without you.” That was the crux of the situation. I’d tried to get her out of my head, but it was impossible. She was the kind of woman you could never forget.

“You’ve done so for the past four months. You seem to be doing just fine,” she said. “You shouldn’t have come here. I don’t want to see you.”

My chest caved in as my heart deflated. I’d pictured this moment every long night I’d spent on the base, and it hadn’t gone like this. It had been very, very different.

“If you really want me to leave, I will. I’d never force you into doing anything. But before you decide, please just look at me and tell me you didn’t miss me too.”

There it was, my heart on the table and able to be crushed by the woman I loved. And I was certain it was love I felt for her. My father used to tell me a story about my mother, saying he had just known she was the right one for him. They were engaged within three weeks. When I looked at Ariana, I got the same feeling. I finally understood his story.

Her sexy brown eyes stared at me, a thousand emotions flitting through them while she did. I tried to tell her everything I needed to through my gaze, but I couldn’t be sure how successful I was. Ariana gave nothing away.

“Please give me a chance,” I said. I would get down on my hands and knees if I had to. Whatever it took, I would do it.

For her.

For us.

Every part of my body was holding its breath while I waited to hear the verdict. I couldn’t imagine going home or back to work after being rejected by her. I couldn’t imagine my life without her anymore. It was all or nothing now. I had to have her.

She was my new addiction.

“Ariana,” I prompted. “I just want a chance to show you how much I love you. Please give me that chance.”

She took a breath, and my heart stopped beating to hear the words she had to say.

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Images of the future were flashing through my mind. Scenes both with and without Derrick in them. When I had first met him, I’d never expected him to be saying he loved me. Maybe I’d hoped, but I’d never believed.

Corporal Derrick Watson loved me.

The honesty in his eyes told me his story wasn’t fictitious. He’d wanted to say goodbye to me but couldn’t. It still didn’t take away the sting, but it did help it start to heal.

He loved me.

Did I love him? Derrick was a heartbreaker; he’d told me so himself when we were in Afghanistan. Now he was asking me to believe he could be with someone and spend more than one or two nights with them.

As I gazed into his eyes, I could see a future with him. A real one. It might be heartbreaking, and it definitely wouldn’t be easy, but I could see one.

And I wanted it.

“I love you too,” I whispered. The moment the words left my lips I knew they were true. We’d shared a horrible experience together, but we’d both made it out alive. We were changed because of it, but maybe that was a good thing.

Derrick wrapped me up in his arms, pulling me close against him. He smelled just like I remembered, his cologne lingering on his skin. It felt right to be hugging him, like it was a place I was supposed to be.

His lips landed on mine, a sweet kiss to seal our love. It ignited everything inside of me, sending searing fire through my veins. It was almost like I didn’t believe he was really there, in my living room, before that kiss.

He cradled my cheeks, letting me go only long enough to draw me back to him. The kiss deepened, promising the pleasure I knew he was capable of.

Derrick picked me up, my legs wrapping around his waist. “You should give me a tour of your apartment,” he growled in my ear. “Let’s start with the bedroom.”

I nodded toward the room on the right. “It’s over there. But I haven’t made my bed today, you’ve caught me out.”

“Babe, the bed is only going to get messed up anyway.” Derrick let out a breathy laugh. I should have known he wouldn’t care about an unmade bed, not after sleeping in a room with several other men every night.

He carried me to the bedroom, and we fell backwards onto the bed together. I didn’t want to let him go, just in case he really wasn’t there and he would vanish if I wasn’t touching him.

“This dress is so sexy, babe. But it still needs to come off.”

Derrick pulled me up into a sitting position so he could slide the dress up my body and over my head. I was wearing a black lace bra-and-panties set. I was grateful I’d gone to some effort to get dressed for the party, even if I hadn’t expected anyone to see them.

I moved forward and straddled Derrick, undoing the buttons on his uniform one by one. He was wearing his camouflage, the material coarse under my skin. Once his shirt was undone, I pushed it over his shoulders, revealing his hard and muscled chest underneath.

I kissed down his sternum, satisfied to feel his shiver under my touch. When I reached his pants, I undid them, searching through the fabric for his cock. It was hard already as my hand grasped it. I was still surprised by the size of it as anticipation coursed through me.

Derrick suddenly grabbed me and pressed his lips onto mine. He took advantage of his greater size and gently lowered me down onto the pillows. He did away with his pants, then stood before me, gloriously naked.

He crawled up my body like a lion stalking its prey. “These panties are sexy, babe, but they still have to come off.”

“Be my guest.”

His finger slipped under the edge of my panties, skimming my clit just enough to offer a tease of what was to come. It was beautiful having sex this way, in a proper bed without the threat of being discovered by the enemy weighing on us. We could take our time and really enjoy ourselves.

Both his hands took one side each of my panties before he slid them down my legs, leaving goose bumps along my skin everywhere he touched. Derrick could feel the difference in our surroundings, too, and I could tell he was enjoying the time we had.

His body covered mine while his hands went exploring. He rolled me onto my side, unclasping my bra until it loosened and then making it disappear over the side of the bed. There was no fabric between us now, each of us as naked and vulnerable as the other.

He rolled my nipple between his fingers before he took it in his mouth and sucked on it, making my pussy pulse down below. As much as I enjoyed going slow, everything south of my waist was begging for him to go faster.

“You’ve got amazing tits,” Derrick said, his breath skimming over my skin. “I’m never going to get tired of sucking on them.”

“I hope you don’t,” I replied. He laughed and suckled again, switching to the other breast so both my nipples were cool in the breeze when he let go.

He kissed along my collarbone, sweet butterflies as he moved to my neck. The stubble of his five-o’clock shadow tickled my sensitive skin, making me giggle as he moved. He was working me into a frenzy of sensation, taking me right to the brink of ecstasy before we even really started.

While our lips kissed and our tongues danced together, his hand slid down my body and into the mound of my pussy. He started massaging my clit, lazily stroking the nub and then rubbing circles around the area.

“Hmm,” I moaned.

He kissed me harder. The thickness of his erection was pressing into my belly, reminding me how much he was enjoying the moment too. I couldn’t wait to have him inside me, both of us drawing close to the peak of our joy.

His hand was magical, making everything sing a rhythm of pure happiness inside me. I couldn’t get enough of it, but he continued to keep me on the brink, taking me as high as I could go without plunging off the edge. I was a frenzied mess of want and need.

“Derrick,” I pleaded.

“Not time yet, babe. We’re both going to come together.” He whispered the words to me, making it seem like it was a secret between just us two. Perhaps it was. Nobody else deserved to know about this special moment.

He shifted my body so he could settle between my legs. His finger stopped its relentless caressing of my clit so he could position his cock at my entrance. I waited for the moment of connection, the anticipation almost too much to take.

All the muscles of his arms flexed as he held himself above me, his eyes locking with mine as he pushed himself into me. His cock was thick and long, forcing him to take it slowly so I could accommodate his generous size.

My legs linked around his, locking our bodies together so we rocked at the same time. My walls stretched to take him in, and I reveled in our connection and the sensation he gave me of being full. Only when he was buried deep inside me could I start to be sated.

Derrick treated me to hundreds of kisses as his lips made their way down my neck and back up to my mouth again. He started bucking his hips, his cock moving in and out of me in a quickening rhythm.

“Fuck, you feel good,” he whispered, another secret to share. “I love you so much, babe.”

“I love you too,” I replied. Our eyes never left one another while he thrust. His enjoyment was written in every feature of his face, including the set determination in the clench of his jaw.

His touch left me wondering how I’d lived so long without it. He ignited a spark deep in my belly, the heat radiating outwards and threatening to set the world on fire. Surely this much pure pleasure should have been illegal.

The four months we’d spent apart was nothing. It was like no time had passed at all. We should have been doing this long ago, not waiting this long to reunite. It was time we’d wasted.

Our bodies writhed together as one, the sound of our skin slapping together mingled with our moans of happiness. My nerves were so sensitive I could feel everything like the moment was amplified a thousandfold.

Derrick’s magical fingers toyed with my clit, tugging and flicking it until I thought I would explode. It was beautiful torture, sizzling hot and taking my arousal to a whole new level.

I was just teetering on the cusp, so close to my climax I could feel the early spread of warmth through my body. Derrick’s teeth were clenched tight, his muscles all contracted as he fought for his own control.

We were a moving mass of wanton need. It was worth everything we’d gone through to get to this one perfect moment. I never wanted him to leave me again, I couldn’t exist without this kind of joy again.

“Come, babe. Come for me,” Derrick urged. His fingers backed up his order, flicking my clit and then rubbing it hard with the palm of his hand.

The heat shot out from my belly, filling everything in my being with the pure ecstasy of the orgasm. I was on fire in the most delicious way possible. My legs pulled Derrick closer just as he found his own release.

He grunted as his cock exploded inside me. He shoved his manhood in deeper, burying himself completely while his cum spilled within my walls.

I closed my eyes and let the happiness spill through me. Everything was relaxed and sated while my breath was ragged. I didn’t think my heart would be able to swell any further for my soldier man but somehow it did. It beat solely for him, he was my lifeblood, my everything.

My body and soul was alive, shattering apart with the sheer thrill of the orgasm. It was so much better than anything we’d shared before. This time it was real – we belonged to each other, and it wasn’t just a onetime thing.

I looked forward to spending the rest of my life with Derrick. Tonight was only just the beginning. We’d have every day to be together and learn more about one another. It was a future I’d always dreamed of.

Derrick’s weight rested on me while he pieced himself back together. His body was sculptured and muscled, a perfect specimen of everything a male body could be. To think he was all mine was enough to make me smile forever.

I was never going to be able to remove that grin from my face. While he was there, it would be a permanent fixture.

“Babe, you have no idea how much I enjoyed that,” he sighed.

“I have a fair idea.”

Derrick laughed before rolling to the side and taking me with him. His cock was still inside me, very slowly starting to lose its erection. His arms circled me, making sure we remained together in the afterglow of the moment.

“This is crazy,” he said.

“What’s so crazy about it?” For just a moment I felt a stab of doubt that threatened to take away the serenity I was basking in.

“I never thought I could feel this way about someone, and you just pop up into my life and change everything. It’s crazy.”

“I guess when you put it like that, it is. For what it’s worth, I never thought I’d be able to feel this intensely for someone I barely know either,” I replied. A part of me still couldn’t believe it. It felt like I’d known Derrick my entire life, maybe even beyond that.

He continued to hold me for the rest of the night. I fell asleep in his embrace, and it was the absolutely perfect way to end the night.

Tomorrow we could deal with reality.