Rhonda+Nelson+-+The+Soldier (14 page)

brain. Purple velvet, bare shoulders, wild black curls. She was laying on her side and had turned

the covers down for him in open invitation.

Every care in the world rolled off his shoulders at that wanton look and a sigh of contentment

suddenly welled from somewhere deep within. He stripped off his shirt, then sidled forward,

sank onto the edge of the bed and started to remove his prosthesis.

He’d done it several times in

her presence now and, though it had felt a bit odd at first, Adam had to admit that, other than the

vaguest sense of insecurity—which came every time he took it off

—it didn’t signify anymore.

He leaned it against her bedside table, then carefully stripped away the sock, leaving himself

bare.

Winnie pressed a kiss to his back and her arm snaked around his middle, rolling him to her.

And that was all it took to lose himself in her.

Her scent, the silken feel of her skin. Crisp sheets and sleek velvet, the rustle of both fabrics as

she climbed smoothly on top of him. Her hot mouth on his neck, his cheek, sighing into his ear.

Adam groaned. “A novel change, doing this in bed,” he murmured, dragging her shirt over her

head and tossing it aside. He suckled her breast and had the pleasure of feeling a shudder move

through her. He loved those little sounds, those little markers that he was doing something right.

“I’ve dreamed about doing this in this bed more times than I can count,” Winnie confided in a

breathless gasp. The admission made his chest fill with masculine satisfaction.

Adam flipped her over, then kissed his way down her belly, licked a lazy swirl around her belly

button, then made a determined trek toward the heart of her sex.

Winnie shuddered as he parted her dark curls. “A-Adam,” she said brokenly.

He blew against her and smiled as she lifted her hips in anticipation.

“Do you know what I’ve dreamed about, Winnie? What’s haunted my dreams for the past

fifteen months?” He touched the tip of his tongue to the little nub nestled at the top of her sex

and her taste washed over his palate, all musk and woman, drugging him with its potency.

“N-no,” she said, fisting her hands in her sheets. “Tell m-me.”

He smiled and licked her fully. “Better yet, I’ll show you.” Then he settled in and feasted on her,

lapped and laved and suckled. “This and this and this,” he said, between tastes. He pushed a

finger deep inside her incredibly tight channel and hooked it around, searching for that one

place—

She bucked against him and he smiled.

Found it.

Adam tented his tongue and worked it against her while massaging that tiny patch of sensitive

skin hidden deep within. Winnie’s breath came in hard little puffs and her thighs alternately went

rigid and quaked.

“Adam—If you don’t—I can’t take—” Then she moaned low and a scream of pure ecstasy

ripped from her throat.

Adam slowed his assault, licking her lazily.

She melted into the mattress. “That was—I’ve never—” Breathing hard, she pushed her hands

through her hair. She laughed shakily. “Wow. That was impressive.”

Adam crawled up the length of her body and smiled down at her.

“Baby, you ain’t seen nothing

yet.”

IF HE ADDED ANYmore wickedness to that lethal smile of his, she’d be nothing more than a

puddle of goo.

Oh, wait. She already was.

Still spent, tingling and trying to recover, Winnie bent forward and nipped at Adam’s shoulder.

She could feel him nudging the inside of her thigh, but was curiously consumed with the desire

to taste him, as well. Hadn’t she wanted to feel the silken heat of him in her mouth?

He bent and nuzzled the underside of her breast, sending another delicious shiver through her.

Her eyes fluttered shut, absorbing the pleasure until she decided that there was no time like the

present to do something she wanted to do.

Oh, yeah.

Tugging at her nipple with his teeth now, Winnie framed his face and drew him away.

“Turnabout’s fair play, right?”

He blinked, seemingly dazed. Those clear eyes were heavy-lidded and darkened with desire and

the idea that she’d done this to him sent a little thrill straight into her heart.

Before he could sort it out, Winnie twisted herself around, took him in hand…then in her mouth.

Adam swore hotly and that little release of self-control made her inordinately pleased.

Emboldened, she swirled her tongue around the engorged head, then licked him slowly from root

to tip. She cupped his balls and heard another word—one she didn’t think she’d ever heard come

from his mouth before—leave his lips in a hiss of haste.

“Winnie,” he said warningly.

She took him fully in her mouth, working her tongue along his shaft and relished the feel of his

hot, slippery skin against her lips. Her body went all limp and languid again and an answering

tingle buzzed through her weeping sex. She upped the tempo, licking, laving, sucking and

worked him against her palm, her mouth chasing her own hand.

Adam locked his muscles, his thighs went rigid. She felt him harden against her mouth and

tasted the salty essence leaking from the tip.

“Winnie,” he choked out again. “If you don’t stop—”

She laughed against him. “You’ll what?”

A maniacal chuckle bubbled from his chest and she could feel him twitch, could sense the

orgasm building in his loins, could taste the impending release.

“You know what,” he said harshly. Unable to take anymore, he leaned forward, grabbed her

arms and flipped her once more onto her back. She’d barely taken a breath before he thrust into

her.

“Ahhhh,” he sighed, angling deep.

Winnie literally felt her eyes roll back in her head. A gasp caught and held in her throat. She

wrapped her legs around his waist, then grabbed the twin globes of his ass and simply absorbed

the feeling of having him inside of her.

Perfect. Flawless. Without blemish.

He bent and pressed a series of kisses along her jaw, punctuating each little caress with a

determined thrust. Slow and steady, deep and sure.

God, he felt wonderful.

She squeezed his ass, and pushed up against him, trying to drag him more completely into her.

She didn’t want to know where he ended and she began, she didn’t want to be aware of anything

but the feel of his body—sleek skin, supple muscle, beautifully masculine—inside her own.

Winnie slid her hands over his back, along the narrow corridor of his spine, over his wide

shoulders, then pushed her hands into his hair and brought his mouth down to hers for another

kiss. His chest heaved against hers, abrading her nipples and her breasts bounced, absorbing the

force of each thrust.

Harder and faster, he pushed and pushed and she could feel herself spiraling out of control

again. He kindled the flame of orgasm and fanned it determinedly with each magnificent press of

his body into hers.

Adam grabbed her hands, threaded his fingers through each one of hers and stretched them up

above her head. Something about the movement shifted things between them—physically and

emotionally—and she felt it on every level of her soul. He was laying her bare, making her

vulnerable and she wanted that if it meant she could be his. She’d give everything to him,

wouldn’t leave a single bit of herself left over.

She was his for the taking. Always had been. Always would be.

She arched up, flexed her hips against his, taking more and more of him.

Adam groaned, a masculine purr that made her feel distinctly feminine. A rare thing for a girl

who was essentially a tomboy at heart. Maybe that’s what made him so special, Winnie thought,

as the revelation unfurled like a morning glory to the rising sun.

Maybe that’s why she felt so

safe and protected with him?

Because she never felt like less of a girl when she was with him.

She was always just…herself.

Adam had given her the freedom to do that. To just be.

She smiled up at him and tightened around him as this newfound understanding wrapped itself

around her heart, settling over her like a warm blanket.

Adam’s gaze tangled with hers and something about his territorial expression, the utter awe and

defenselessness she saw in his gaze made the orgasm that had hovered just out of reach suddenly

bear down on her. Her breath came in hard, labored little puffs and with every hammering blow

he laid into her body, she got closer and closer, could feel release nearing the breaking point

deep inside of her.

“Adam,” she groaned. “I need—I want—”

She bucked beneath him, tightened once more, holding on to him as he plunged in and out, in

and out.

Without warning, he leaned forward and nipped at her skin, biting the sensitive flesh where neck

met shoulder.

She shattered.

Wave after wave of sensation pulsed through her. Her mouth opened in a scream and she was

surprised to discover that it wasn’t soundless, but tore from her throat with all the force of a

battle cry. Her vision darkened around the edges, everything faded to gray, then black, then back

to vivid color, shades she would have sworn she’d never seen before. Her body fisted around him

and with every contraction of her orgasm, he continued to hammer into her, dredging every bit of

pleasure he could from her.

Oh, no, Winnie thought. She wasn’t going to be the only one to literally come apart.

She leaned up and bit him, as well, a gentle nip that had instant and desired effect.

A guttural cry ripped from his chest and he seated himself so firmly into her she imagined it

would take the Jaws of Life to get him out. She felt him shudder above her, his magnificent

frame tense and shiver. Her badass, her wounded warrior, Winnie thought, as warmth pooled

deep in her womb, igniting another little sparkler of pleasure.

Adam looked down at her and the emotions she saw reflected back at her made a lump well in

her throat. She bent forward and kissed him, lingering until the moment it was almost too

bittersweet to take.

With a soft sigh, he rolled off her, then dragged her up against his chest.

Contentment weighted her limbs and lids and she fell asleep listening to the sound of his heart

beat—the most reassuring sound in her world—beneath her ear.

12

ADAM AWOKE THE NEXTmorning with the feel of a soft, womanly body bellied up to his

back, a sleek thigh pressed between his legs and an extremely large tabby cat curled around the

top of his head.

In the time it took to mentally review and place all three, a smile was already sliding over his

lips and images from the night before came rushing back to him, making him wish for a morning

repeat.

Without the cat, he thought, feeling Fido’s tail swish across the top of his head.

Warm skin, supple breasts, her hot tight heat…

Winnie’s sweet palm lay curled against his chest and he could feel her soft, reassuring breath

between his shoulder blades. Morning light spilled across her bed, bathing the room in a clear

glow. Though he would love to turn over and look at her sleeping face, wondering what secrets

he might discover in the relaxed visage, Adam didn’t want to risk waking her up.

A glance at the bedside clock confirmed the time—eight-thirty.

Despite the fact that he didn’t

want it to, reality soon intruded. The idea that he would be sitting in front of Colonel Marks this

time tomorrow made him inwardly tense with regret.

Their time together was circling around, getting smaller and smaller, Adam thought, unwilling

to name the ache that suddenly formed in his too tight throat. He swallowed tightly and bit it

back.

He couldn’t think about that now. He’d have to think about it later, when he was alone. He

would not spoil their remaining day together by being depressed over the inevitable outcome.

He was leaving. She was staying. This was the way it had to be.

They both had to move on.

Winnie would be better off, Adam tried to tell himself. She would grieve and mourn, of

course—so would he—but ultimately she would heal and find someone else. Particularly if he

didn’t leave her a choice. The idea of someone else taking his place in her life, his place in her

bed, was more repugnant to him than he could have ever imagined. The absolute fury of the

thought made him set his jaw so hard he thought his molars would crack.

Someone else…right here…with Winnie.

Her arm around someone else, her breasts against someone else’s back, her leg insinuated

between someone else’s thigh.

Bile rose behind his teeth and the revulsion was almost impossible to swallow.

Dammit all to hell.

Adam knew that he was lucky to be alive, and even luckier that he’d only lost part of his leg. As

far as amputee cases went, the fact that he’d been able to keep his knee had made his recovery

and prognosis so much better than for those who didn’t. He had many things he should be

thankful for.

But at the moment, he was having a hard time hanging on to that sentiment.

Because someone else would ultimately have his Winnie. And though he wasn’t ready to admit

it to himself—couldn’t, dammit—he knew there was more to this than his irrational commitment

to his career. Feelings of inadequacy as a result of the accident had been stirring in the back of

his brain for months, but he’d refused to acknowledge them, telling himself that he was fine. He