Rhonda+Nelson+-+The+Soldier (13 page)

and cream and silver pillows were scattered over the surface.

A silver filigree jewelry box, a picture of her and Natalie and a picture of Fido sat on her

mirrored dresser. A pair of running shoes were tucked in the corner against the wall and a black

lacy bra hung on the closet doorknob. Art deco prints of half-naked women dressed the walls and

purple tassels dangled from the lampshades. It was lush and decadent and feminine…just like

Winnie.

Desire broadsided him and the bed loomed large before him. They were a mere five steps from

that bed, five measly seconds away from heaven. He’d been waiting for hours to take her again,

to lose himself in the welcoming tight heat of her sweet little body.

He didn’t have to wait any longer.

He felt Winnie’s hands come around his bare midriff and her lips pressed between his shoulder

blades.

He quaked beneath that tiny kiss, felt it resonate to his very soul.

Unable to hold back, Adam turned around, scooped her up and carried her to that magnificent

bed. He carefully laid her down, kissing her all the way, then aligned his body with hers.

She was still in the bikini top and bottoms, with only a matching skirt around her waist, so it

took very little time and less effort to remove her clothing. His too, for that matter. He was

getting better at this, Adam thought absently. He kissed her sun-warmed skin and the saltiness

burst over his tongue. He savored it. Lapped it up. God, she tasted good. He laved a nipple and

suckled deep. He felt her hand close around him, guiding him to her center and he’d just nudged

those weeping folds when reality intruded.

“Condom,” he breathed against her mouth, going utterly still.

Winnie winced and lifted her hips, seeking his weight. “I’m safe and protected,” she told him,

her pupils all but entirely edging out the blue. “Are you?”

“Completely,” he said, searching her gaze.

She rocked against him once more. “Then what are you waiting for? Come into me.” She

framed his face with her hands, leaned up and kissed him.

Adam thrust forward and entered her in one smooth, sure stroke.

Her tight heat fisted around

him and the sensation was so unbelievably wonderful that he locked his knees and stayed still for

a moment, relishing the feel of being completely enveloped—fully surrounded—by her.

Winnie’s breath leaked from her lungs as he’d pushed in and she seemed to be holding what was

left of it as she stared deeply into his eyes. Hers were soft and melting and full of love and desire.

He hoped she could see the same emotion reflected back at her.

He had never in his entire misbegotten life felt anything as wonderful as this. Had never felt

more complete, more secure or more loved. More grounded.

Ever.

She was his anchor, he thought again.

And it was a good thing that she was holding him now, because he was in serious danger of just

floating away on the cloud of sheer happiness he found himself on. It ought to be a crime to feel

this good, Adam thought. To have someone love you the way she loved him.

Winnie tightened around him again and lifted her hips, pulling him in deeper. A slow cat in the

cream pot smile slid over her beautifully carnal lips and the breath she’d been holding finally

released. She slid her hands down his shoulders, along the fluted hollow of his spine, then over

his ass. She gave a gentle, territorial squeeze—the same kind he’d treated her to last night—and

that was all it took to send Adam racing for release.

He drew back and pushed again, harder and faster, harder, faster and she caught his rhythm and

met him thrust for thrust. She let loose tiny moans of pleasure as she bent forward and licked his

throat, then sank her small teeth into his shoulder.

The little nip did strange things to him, tripped a trigger he hadn’t known existed. Three

delicious thrusts into her body later, the most forceful orgasm he’d ever experienced in his life

exploded out of him.

Come into me, indeed, Adam thought as he quaked with the aftermath.

He’d filled that order, by God.

“YOU DIDN’T HAVEto choose a military movie,” Adam chided hours later as the final credits

rolled.

Winnie snuggled against his side, more content than she could ever recall. After their

impromptu sex in her bedroom, they’d shared a bath in her clawfoot tub and the orgasm she’d

missed in the bedroom was given back to her twofold, along with the strong warning never to

bite him again unless she wanted to end things prematurely. He’d been satisfied, but embarrassed

that he’d lost control and left her hanging.

Of course, now that she knew this was an effective way to set him off, Winnie fully intended to

press her advantage whenever the opportunity presented itself.

She leaned over and nipped at him now, enjoying hearing his breath leave in a strangled hiss.

“Winnie,” he warned.

She drew back and blinked innocently. “What?”

“You know what. You’ve been nibbling on me all through the movie. Do you know how

disconcerting it is to be watching Gene Hackman and get a hard on?” He grinned, outraged.

“Please, woman. You’re killing me.”

Winnie chuckled. “S-sorry,” she said. “But I like it.”

“I like it, too,” he said, sounding surprised. “All the same, there is a time and a place for

everything, and when Gene and Denzel are on the flat screen isn’t it.”

She laughed again and slapped his thigh. He hadn’t been the least bit self-conscious about his

leg today, even when they’d negotiated the bathtub, which had surprised her. All the same, she’d

given him some privacy, covertly watching from the mirror. It still hurt her when she saw the

angry scars on his leg, but the fact that she was so thankful that he’d adjusted so well assuaged

most of the regret.

“I don’t mind watching military movies,” she said. She gave him a quick smile. “Besides, after

Natalie made you sit through Steel Magnolias, I didn’t have the heart to petition for a chick

flick.” She slid him a sly glance. “Is it true you cried?”

He glared at her, but his smile lessened the effect. God, how she loved that grin. It did things to

her insides that ought to be a criminal offense. Made her thighs quake and her belly go all warm

and melting.

“I did not cry, dammit. I’m going to kill her for that. I don’t cry,”

he insisted. “It’s ridiculous.”

Her antennae twitched. “What do you mean you don’t cry?”

He blinked and looked away, then fiddled with the remote control until he found the ten o’clock

news. “I don’t cry,” he said simply. The muscles in his throat worked as he swallowed a bit of

the tension that tightened his jaw. “Couldn’t tell you the last time I shed a tear.”

Wow, Winnie thought, torn between being impressed and unsettled. She managed a shaky

laugh. “I’m a weeper,” she confessed. “I cry when I see sad commercials, when I finish a hardwon

race, when I stub my pinkie toe,” she said, gesturing wearily. “I’m a wuss.”

Her gaze inexplicably slid to his leg, back to the scars that puckered his flesh. What sort of

willpower did it take not to cry when something like that happened? When you woke up from

surgery and part of your leg was gone? When you realized that your career—your very way of

life—was over?

He hadn’t cried?

Seemingly unsettled by her silence, Adam turned to look at her and released a small breath. He

swallowed. Passed a hand over his face. She hated when he looked like this, so unsure. It was so

out of character it was heartbreaking.

“It’s not that I’m some sort of heartless badass, Winnie,” he said.

“But…what I’ve gone through

is nothing—nothing—compared to what I’ve seen others endure.

It would be a disservice to

them to weep for myself.”

Ah…Noble again, her wounded warrior, but his thinking was flawed. “You could always weep

for them, too.”

He blinked, seemingly startled at her suggestion.

“I do,” she said. “It’s one of the few things that I can actually do, if that makes sense. Tears are

the truest form of compassion.” She looked away, picked at a lose thread on her shorts. “I hope

no one ever thinks my tears are a disservice,” she said. “Because they certainly aren’t meant that

way. They’re shed in gratitude—” her voice broke “—but never pity. Pity would be a

disservice.”

Adam threaded his fingers through hers and was silent for a moment. She got the impression

that he was considering her opinion, which made her feel slightly encouraged. She sincerely

hoped she’d gotten through to him, corrected a bit of that faulty thinking.

Rather than push her point, she leaned over and pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go to bed.”

This was her one and only shot of waking up in Adam’s arms.

Initially, Winnie had thought of

setting a grand seduction, of trying to round up lingerie and candles and turning on mood music.

She’d wanted to make the night memorable somehow, commemorate their one and only full

night together. But then something profound had occurred to her.

They didn’t need it.

The beauty in this night would be found in the simplicity—in the normality—of it instead.

When she thought about the fact that Adam would walk out of her life tomorrow, it was all she

could do to hold it together. To pretend for his sake that this was going to be enough. That this

little slice of heaven was all she wanted when in truth she wanted the whole thing—marriage and

a family, making love and making up, holidays and every days, clambakes and picnics and long

runs at sunset. She wanted to build more sand castles and hold his hand, feel the warmth of his

mouth against her temple.

She wanted to be loved. To be adored. By him. Until they drew their last breath.

Was that so much to ask? Winnie wondered.

Adam turned to her and smiled and the simple rearrangement of his mouth into that grin made

something in her belly flutter, her breath catch. “Bed sounds nice,”

he murmured. “I’m ready

when you are.”

The promise in his low voice made her heart pound.

And there was absolutely nothing ordinary about that.

11

ADAM WATCHEDWINNIEgo about the routine of readying for bed and something about the

mundane task, knowing that she did this every night, made him feel privy to a secret part of her

only he was allowed to see. She hadn’t told him that he was the only man who’d ever spent the

night in her bed—who’d been invited and welcomed into her private domain—but he knew it all

the same.

The mere idea made him want to beat his chest and roar, then go outside, walk around her house

and piss in every corner of the yard. He shook his head wryly.

That would certainly give her

neighbors something to talk about.

She quickly loaded their popcorn bowls and glasses into the dishwasher, made sure Fido had

water, locked the doors and finally turned off the television. She shot him a hesitant smile. “You

want the bathroom first?” she asked.

Adam shook his head. “You go ahead.”

She released a small breath. “I’ll only be a minute.”

While she was otherwise engaged, Adam took the opportunity to gather his toiletries from his

bag and smiled when he encountered the condoms. I’m safe and I’m protected.

Hands down, those had to be some of the most beautiful words he’d ever heard in his life.

Sliding into her, feeling her hot, feminine muscles clamping around him…

Sweet God, the sensation had shaken him to his very soul.

Unparalleled and completely perfect, it had rendered every other pleasurable memory obsolete.

Winnie chose that moment to come walking into the bedroom. Her face was scrubbed clean, her

nose shiny, and she brought the scent of mint and something else

—that floral scent he’d never

been able to get out of his head—with her. She wore a pair of tiny white cotton panties with hotpink

polka dots and a matching tank.

His breath caught in his throat. She was sexy and fresh and good

—utterly and completely

good—and God help him, he was leaving her tomorrow night.

The weight of that realization bore down on him like a Mac truck and it was all he could do to

force his mouth into a smile and nod at her as he made his way to the bathroom. Adam shut the

door, then braced either side of his hands on the sink and stared at his wretched reflection.

He could get through this, Adam thought, drawing on the last of his reserves. It was the only

way. He’d known it when he surrendered. Known that he was leaving, that he would have to

walk away from her.

No, he was leaving Bethel Bay, going back to a job he loved, one that defined him. One that had

been his purpose since he was old enough to have one.

Winnie…Winnie deserved so much more. She deserved a man who would be here for her…and

he would despise and envy that lucky bastard, whomever he turned out to be.

He could not be hers. He could not have her, dammit.

Beyond this last little bit of time they had left, at any rate.

And he was wasting it, chasing the only conclusion around in a circle in his mind when she was

waiting for him in bed.

Winnie had waited for him long enough.

Resolved, Adam quickly washed up and brushed his teeth. Thirty seconds later he was standing

in the doorway to her room and the sight she made would forever be indelibly printed on his