Captain O'Reilly's Woman - Ashes of Love 1 (7 page)

“Hmm,” David murmured, working the second then the third button loose. He kept going until they were all open and he could reach inside and caress her back. “Is that why you blow at marksmanship?” He shook his head wryly. “You really do, you know.”

“And whose fault is that?” she groused then sighed at the feel of his warm, rough hands on her skin. They slid across the back of her bra, making her think about him taking it off and touching her bare breasts.

“Mine,” David admitted without rancor. “Wanna know
why
I supervised all your rifle drills?” He slid one strap of her dress off her shoulder, that and the satin strap of her bra and drew his tongue across her exposed skin.

“So you could look at my ass?”

“So I could look at your ass.” He slid his hand further down her back then slipped his hand inside her dress to squeeze her backside. Her panties were satin, trimmed with soft, clinging lace. Cut square, like briefs. They left the bottoms of her cheeks exposed. David took his time caressing the soft crease of skin at the top of her thigh before moving his hand back up her body.

Samantha squirmed when she felt his warm, rough touch slip away.

“Take my shirt off,” David murmured near her ear.

“Hmm? Wh...? Oh.” She blinked, finally comprehending what he’d said. Then, with an eagerness that made him grin, started yanking his buttons open.

“Go slow, Corporal,” David admonished her gently. He straightened away from her and his eyes sparkled when he looked down at her. “Tease me a little.” His smile widened. “You ripping at me like you want to crawl inside my skin turns me on like crazy, but we’ve got the next three weeks for crazy. This time—this
first
time—be gentle with me.”

Samantha laughed but did as he asked and enjoyed the feeling, the sight of his buttons coming loose, one by one, even more. “And all this is mine,” she murmured softly as she revealed the sharp, defined rise of David’s chest. The soft, dense furring of dark hair. The sharp delineation between chest and abdomen, marked by smooth, taut skin. The brick-like undulations of his stomach. She’d seen guys without their shirts on. Lots of them. But none of them as delicious and perfect and just plain hot as David.

She hadn’t even got to his arms yet.

Tugging carefully, she eased his crisp shirt free of the waistband of his jeans, pulling slowly, like he’d asked. She was enthralled by the feel of his body. His skin was warm and vital beneath her fingers. He was endlessly huge, male and hard and Samantha felt like a junkie who’d just been turned on to the best high of her life.

When he leaned his head back and sighed quietly, she knew he liked it when she touched him. Liked the feel of her hands on him. With no clue what she was doing, Samantha simply let her instincts, her curiosity and need guide her. It seemed to be working—for both of them.

David found his patience came easy as he gave himself up to Samantha’s exploration of his body. To him, his size and strength were simply tools and he was caught off guard by how enthralled she was by them. He’d been without a woman for so long that when he thought about sexual gratification, he thought about grabbing a dirty magazine with one hand and his cock with the other. He’d forgotten his whole body was an erogenous zone.
Could
be in the hands of the right partner.

“Yes,” he murmured, “yours.” He eased his hand beneath her hair, loving the feel of the cool, heavy silk sliding between his fingers. The scent of flowers rose around him and he pulled her to him carefully, wanting to feel her mouth as well as her hands, not knowing if she’d want to. Aching for her to.

David groaned softly when Samantha lay her head on his chest. She turned her mouth to him, kissed him. It was a bare pursing of her lips. Then, sliding his dog tags out of the way, she smoothed her cheek against him. Her hands came up as well. The heels of them followed the hard rise of his pectorals in a slow, enthralled sweep then came back down. Her touch felt like electricity dancing on his skin. He groaned again when she pet him, sank her hands into the crisp curls on his chest and let them slide between her fingers.

Smiling at his response, Samantha felt him suck in his breath when she touched the smooth skin on his belly. It was taut yet surprisingly and erotically soft. She’d never thought anything so hard and burnished
could
be soft. Discovering that he obviously
did
spend time with his shirt off, she could have kicked him for never letting her see him like that before.

She was dying to kiss him. To touch all that hard, soft skin with her lips. Dipping her head, her mouth followed the progress of her hands, stroking every ridge, every swell of his diaphragm as he breathed, the tiny squares of muscle on the side of his body and she slid closer. She kissed each one, tasted his skin with the tip of her tongue, breathed him in, filled herself with his scent and taste and never wanted to stop.

“
Samantha
.” Her name was a low entreaty, more rumble than real sound as it came from his lips. Without asking, without wheedling for compliments or declarations, she knew he loved the way she touched him. Knew she had the power to arouse and enthrall him and her own arousal ramped up another notch in response.

“
Wow,
” she breathed against his skin, not even realizing she’d spoken out loud until she heard her voice. “You haven’t laid a hand on me and I think I’m ready to come just from touching you.”

David’s body bucked in response to her words. His trapped cock twitched violently. “You keep talking dirty to me and I
will
come,” he gritted out.

Samantha couldn’t help thinking that would be a terrible waste, but she also couldn’t stop touching him. Satisfying her need to know and taste and discover every inch of him, she made love to his body. She was enthralled by the scent of his skin, the way his breath caught and the feel of his big, rough hand on her neck. The other was on her bare back, resting beneath her linen dress, squeezing lightly. His fingers shifted suddenly whenever she touched a new spot, or did something he obviously liked.

It was so intimate, so trusting the way he allowed her the freedom of his body. Not demanding or directing, he taught her nonetheless how wonderful it felt to touch and be touched.

The thought reminded her she wanted his hands on her as well. Wanted him to taste her skin and like it. Pressing a last, lingering kiss to his shallow navel, she straightened. Deliberately she dragged the tips of her breasts along his body, loving the feel of him against her and loving the way his eyes darkened and his lids grew heavy.

As soon as her mouth was within reach, David bent to her and kissed her. He was humbled by the heated way she responded to him, opening her mouth and sucking his tongue in deep. Tasting and twirling then driving hard, their mouths were fully mated under her authority. Who was the teacher now and who the student? Who the CO and who the raw recruit? He no longer knew and it no longer mattered. All that mattered was that they were equal in this. Lovers. Sharing and giving freely and he wrapped his arms around her and drew her body tight against his. Loving the feel of every inch of her, pressed against him so intimately, feeling the heat, the hunger shiver through her when he stroked her tongue with his. He drew the strap of her dress down and smoothed his rough hands across the silky perfection of her skin.

She wasn’t wearing her dog tags. He’d spotted that as soon as they’d rendezvoused that morning outside of the base. It was a blatant violation. But then so was everything else they were doing. He knew she’d be carrying them, likely in that straw bag of hers. It had been a good idea. The folks in town, they would have spotted them immediately, given that she was wearing that sweet, fitted sundress with the square neck. They would have asked what she did, what her rank was. He hadn’t wanted to expose her to their assumptions and gossip. They’d forgive him anything. But they’d have...expectations for his lover. She was the only woman he’d brought home. He’d brought her home because he wanted her for his wife, for his home to be hers and he didn’t want their first impression of her to be tainted.

Then David deliberately cleared his head of those thoughts. He remembered that he’d promised her naked. And naked they would have.

Easing his body away from hers, David let her dress slip down her body. Controlling its fall with his hands, he revealed her body slowly, enjoying the sight of each inch of her flesh as it came into view. The smooth plain of her chest rose and fell quickly. His fingers traced tanned skin, supple and stretched across the delicate rise of her muscles. She was strong, his Samantha. He’d known it already and now the evidence of it was in front of him. It was in the cut of her shoulders, the outer edges of her pectorals, just visible before they disappeared beneath the slope of her breasts. Yet her body was small and delicate, even fragile compared to his, and a thousand times more beautiful.

He lowered the dress further, revealing the satin-covered swell of her breasts. Her underwear was creamy white and he liked that. Liked the appropriateness of it. Touching the plump, outer curve of one breast, he let the dress drop even further. Her rib cage was revealed, firm, soft and utterly feminine. The taut slope of her belly, the jut of a hip bone. Then he couldn’t make himself hold out any longer and he let the dress drop to the floor. Kneeling in front of her, he kissed her firm, tanned thigh. He ran his tongue over the line, just a few inches below her sex, where her fatigue shorts would end and her tan disappeared, giving way to pale, ivory skin.

Samantha clutched his shoulder as he straightened. He thought her heart would pound right out of her chest when he kissed her satin-covered mound. She brought her fist down on his shoulder when he kept rising. Quickly, he slid away from the spot she wanted him to kiss again. He ran his mouth over her belly, her ribs, felt a smile form in response to her pique. He laughed softly.

“Son of a...” she blurted out hoarsely. The voice didn’t even sound like hers.

“Something you wanted, Corporal?” David teased, mouthing her ribs then tracing the edge of them with his tongue.

“Yeah—my bowie knife. For starters.”

“What a savage lover you are, Corporal,” David breathed against her skin. “Remind me to never really piss you off.”

“...whole damn town full of sex-crazed virgins...”

His laughter doubled but he ignored her grumbling to enjoy her frustration. Knowing he was exciting her and excitement was making her edgy, and it would make her fulfillment, when it came, sweeter.

He slid his hands under her arms and lifted her easily. He lay her back on the bed. She watched him, trusted her body to him without question. Her remarkable cinnamon eyes were bright and intent. Her lower lip caught between her teeth as he slowly, teasingly slid his shirt off and dropped it on the floor beside her dress. Lifting her foot, he slipped off her sandal, kissed her ankle then licked the pink polish on her toes. Her beauty was always so artless and he’d been incredibly turned on that morning when he’d glanced down at her feet and realized she indulged in such an intriguing enhancement of her loveliness.

Then he lay down beside her. He looked at his hand on her belly, how he eclipsed her, rough against her smoothness. Dark and scarred against her perfection. Then, unable to resist any longer, he slid his hand up and held a satin-clad breast. Molding the firm, lush flesh, he felt a tremor take her and heard her breath break. Her sharp fingernails stung the back of his head. Bending to her, he kissed her through her bra, dragged his teeth across her breast then stabbed at her rising nipple with his tongue until she shook.

Lights flashed before his eyes and he blinked. Samantha lifted her head and looked around the room.

“Did you see that?” he asked suddenly and stared at a lamp, sitting on a large, wooden night table. All the lights in the room flashed again, twice in a row. He heard an insistent, high pitched beeping sound.

“Shit on a...” David blurted out. He stared down at his hand on her breast with open regret then stood up and grabbed his shirt off the floor. “Generator kicked it,” he bitched as he drew on his shirt. “And the alarm means there’s something wrong with the electrical flow.” He looked down at Samantha. At her sweet curves, displayed so provocatively and available. He seriously considered letting the whole damn system fry itself out. “We need electricity to keep the water pump working. Call me soft but I like indoor plumbing,” he added with a note of self disgust.

Samantha sighed but sat up. “Need help fixing it?”

“No. Ah to hell with it,” David bit out, tore off his shirt again and reached for her.

“Then get it fixed, troop,” she ordered firmly. Standing up, she retrieved her dress. “Take care of whatever needs taking care of. I’ll be here when you’re done. Trust me,” she added adamantly and got dressed.

David watched her disappearing curves with a mounting frustration he could barely contain. Then he turned on his heel and hurried out to the utility room.

Chapter Four

A little while later, the ladder behind David rattled. He turned around to see the top of Samantha’s head pop above the access hatch on the steel walkway that surrounded the perimeter of the solar-panel field out back of the house.

“Need anything?” she asked, looking around.

“Maybe more of that sixteen-gauge cable,” he said, nodding toward the ground.

Her head disappeared. The ladder rattled again and, in a few seconds, she was back, hauling a length of black cable through the access hatch and setting it on the walkway.

“What happened?” she asked.

“I haven’t been here for two years. All the power that’s been generating has been flowing out through the underwater cable between here and the mainland, feeding the main line that goes back into town.” He stripped the ends off two wires, twisted them together and twisted a cap over them then wrapped the connection in electrical tape. “You know electrical systems, they hate being turned off.” He glanced around the solar-panel array. “Other than when the Miller’s came in to open up the place, today’s the first time in two years the house drew power back. Some of the connections fried.”