Vanguard (26 page)

He took three steps across the room and caught her in his arms. “I did not think you would come to me today.” He could feel her body through the thin material, and he had to fight the urge to throw her down on the bed and take her right in that moment. “At least, not like this.”

“I need you,” she said. He held her, letting those words wash over him. They felt good.

“I need you, too.” He picked her up and laid her on the bed. Michael shrugged out of his shirt and kicked off his shoes and socks before lying down beside her. He traced his finger along her lips, then hissed with pleasure when the tip of her tongue darted out. She kissed the pad of his finger, running her teeth lightly over it, then sucked it into her mouth. He let her take all his fingers, one by one, into her mouth. He slowly pulled his fingers away, and she followed them, eyes closed. He met her halfway and captured her lips with his.

The kiss was so scorching that Michael thought he might explode. Sophie nibbled on his upper lip, sucking it softly. Her lips parted under his, and he slipped his tongue into her warm mouth. She tasted delicious. Her arms came up around his neck. The feel of her silk-clad body pressing against him made him moan.

He slid his mouth away from hers and started kissing down her neck, loving the feel of her skin under his lips. He followed the edge of the white silk down between her breasts, nuzzling against her. He wrapped his lips around her nipple and sucked at it through the thin material. His cock had grown so hard inside his jeans that he ached.

“Mikael,” she gasped, putting her hands on his head and holding him in place. Her breasts were perfect. Round and full, lusciously soft. He’d been dying for this moment since he’d seen her in the shower in Kaliningrad. Since he’d first fallen in love with her more than ten years ago.

Michael tugged the delicate fabric away to find the dark pink tip beneath, suckling it while he teased the other one into a hard point with the tips of his fingers. Sophie ground her hips against him until he had to still her for fear he would come in his jeans from the relentless friction.

He tore himself away from her breasts and ran his face over her torso, concerned that he could feel every rib as he moved down. Sophie was far too thin. She needed to eat more, get back to a healthy weight. Michael kissed her ribs gently and ran his fingers over them, one at a time, promising without words that he would take better care of her going forward.

By the time his slow inspection had reached her stomach, she’d begun to beg for him in a needy, breathless voice. Grinning, he drifted lower, planting kisses through the silk. As he moved down the inside curve of her hip, he realized Sophie wore nothing beneath her nightgown. All he could feel beneath his face was damp heat and softness, her scent sending flames roaring through his already overloaded nervous system.

He sat back up abruptly, losing his grip on what little control he had left. She reached out and yanked on his jeans, freeing his rearing penis. He heaved a sigh of relief, then watched mesmerized as she stroked him.

Sophie smiled and sat up, pushing him back on his heels. “I think ten years is enough foreplay, don’t you?” She pulled off the white silk and tossed it aside, lying back on the bed with her arms out in invitation.

Michael struggled out of his jeans and knelt between her thighs, spreading her legs authoritatively. The dark red curls over her sex were damp, and she arched toward him as he fluttered his fingers across her swollen nub. Pausing for just a moment, he leaned over and kissed her GYL tattoo reverently. For a moment, he considered bringing her to orgasm with his mouth, but he wasn’t sure he could hold back his own climax while he did that. He leaned forward eagerly, but she put her hand on his chest to halt his progress.

“Condom,” she whispered.

For a minute, Michael panicked, wondering where he would find a condom in this place. Then he remembered the gift from Anjali, still sitting in the bag that held his meager collection of personal items. He climbed off the bed, found the box and came back to try again.

A moment later, he put his forearms on either side of her shoulders, and lowered his body to hers. He looked into her eyes. She smiled and kissed him, putting her hands on his face.
This is Sophie, my Sophie. We were always meant to be together.
He slowly pushed into her tight, wet depths. She let out a gasp, her legs coming up to wrap around his waist. He pressed his forehead to hers, and they stayed that way for a moment.

“I love you,” she whispered. “You feel so good inside me.”

“I love you too,
mana mila
. You feel even better than I dreamed all these years.” Then the urge to move became too strong, and he began to make love to her.

She pushed her hips up hard to meet him on every thrust. He wanted to make it last, but he was battling more than ten years of anticipation, and it didn’t feel like he was winning.

She moaned his name enticingly, and Michael grit his teeth, feeling the hot excitement in his belly getting tighter. He kept going, wanting to give her all the pleasure he was feeling, and more. She pulled him deeper inside her, making him groan. On the next thrust, Sophie’s back arched up off the bed, and her body stiffened. She cried out, and a second later, her orgasm rippled through her.

The sensation of it brought him abruptly to his own peak. For one agonizing second, everything paused, and then he exploded deep inside her. The intensity of it made him cry out. When the spasms finally faded, he pulled them onto their sides so he could wrap his arms around her. Michael pushed her wild red hair away from her flushed face and kissed her.

“That was awfully good,” Sophie whispered with a smile.

“Yes.” He ran his hand down her hip, showering kisses along her shoulder. “Yes. Awfully short, but awfully good. My apologies that I could not last any longer for you.” A moment later, he reluctantly pulled away and removed the condom. He stumbled to the other side of the small room to toss it in the garbage. On the way back, he glanced up and froze.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Michael peered into the mirror on the wall.

“I did not realize I looked so…” He trailed off, staring at his reflection.

Sophie giggled. “Sexy?”

He looked at her sharply and frowned, wondering if she was making fun of him. “I was not thinking of that particular word.”

“That’s what you look like to me. Sexy, hot, dangerous.”

He started to laugh. “I am an underweight, naked man with three frostbitten toes and a black eye given to me by a woman half my size. This seems dangerous to you?” He gestured to his battered face. The lump on his nose had turned an unpleasant shade of purple, and his left eye was ringed with black.

“Yes, dangerous. You just had your wicked way with me.” She stretched seductively, causing his cock to twitch. “Ravaged me, stole my heart, pleasured me.” She patted the bed. “Please come back and do it again.”

He laughed and lay down beside her, pulling her against the length of his body. He ran his fingers lightly down her spine, causing her to shiver with pleasure. “Cold,
Mana mila
?” he asked, pulling a blanket across them.

She shook her head and snuggled closer into his body. “Not with you here.”

He tightened his arms around her, and they lay together, enjoying their chance to be alone. They dozed, and when they awoke, it was dark. “Do you need to return to work?”

“They can live without me for one night,” Sophie replied. “But I suppose we’ll eventually need to find some dinner.”

“Allow me,” he said, untangling himself and pulling on his jeans and shirt. He ducked out of the room and returned with a tray loaded with food.

“Wow.” She sat up as he unloaded a couple of bottles of water from his pockets. “Are you planning on keeping me prisoner here for a while?”

“Yes. Is this a problem?”

“Not at all.”

~~ - ~~

Sophie didn’t bring up what had happened the previous day; it was too raw for her. They’d been under inhuman pressure for far too long, and now they had grabbed a small vacation from reality. Long overdue and desperately needed.

The team had returned. She could hear them drifting through the halls, laughing and talking after the day’s work. Sophie half-expected Anjali to bang on the door, demanding to know what they were doing. But all was quiet as she lay in Michael’s arms, listening to music on her laptop.

“When will you be medically cleared to go home?” She ran her fingers along his arm. After so many months apart, just this gentle contact seemed an unimaginable luxury, and she reveled in it.

“That will be up to Anjali, but within the next seventy-two hours, I imagine. Will you fly home with me? The Rev believes it would be safer for you to leave the country, too.” Twenty-four hours ago, he might have booked her ticket and tied her up to ensure she made the flight. Today, he asked. A start.

“Yes. I’d always planned to leave the mission as soon as I found you.
If
I found you.”

“Are you sorry to leave?”

She looked at him in surprise. “Sorry to have found you? Sorry to bring you home to your family and our class?” Sophie touched his cheek. “Mikael, how could I be sorry?”

“I am thinking of your career advancement.”

“I achieved a great deal forming the coalition and getting it to work,” she said. “It has been successful beyond my wildest dreams. This is enough for now. Don’t worry about my career. Let’s think instead about getting back to New York.”

“About that.” He played with her hair for a moment. “Will you allow me to buy our tickets home?”

“The coalition will pay for our tickets.”

“Consider it a donation,” he insisted. “I do not think the coalition will buy us first class tickets, but I will.” Sophie found the idea of flying back to the US in a class other than steerage tempting. “Please? I have never given you anything nice. I wish to do this for you.”

“You gave me something nice earlier.” She rolled over in his arms to face him, her pink pointed nipples already growing hard at the thought of making love again.

“As did you.” He kissed her, then his mouth drifted down between her breasts, leaving a line of fire in its wake. “I have much more to give, if you will allow me.”

Which she did. And again in the middle of the night.

Chapter 17

February 23, 2014

Sophie woke up early with Michael's warm body draped over her. He grunted in dissatisfaction when she untangled herself, dressed, and left the room. She returned with coffee and settled down beside him to make a to-do list. She was fifteen items into it when a hand reached over to take her pen away.

“Good morning.” She chuckled and recaptured her pen to continue her list. A moment later, his hand snuck up her shirt. Shortly thereafter, she flung her notebook in the general direction of the bedside table. There was a crash as it skittered off the side, taking a few things down with it.

“That took less time than I expected.” He smiled as Sophie yanked off her t-shirt. “I had planned to work much harder than that.”

“You’re impossible to resist.”

He started exploring her warm nakedness, beginning with her breasts. The pale mounds quivered under his skillful fingers, her sore nipples flushing red as he teased them with his lips and teeth. After several long minutes, Michael slipped down her body and eased her legs apart.

Her breath caught in her throat as he kissed the insides of her thighs, blowing lightly over her swollen sex. Spreading her with one hand, he began slowly licking from her opening up to the most sensitive spot at the top. He loved her for several long minutes, keeping her hovering on the edge of orgasm until at last, he entered her. As good as he felt sliding into her, she couldn’t hold back a wince and a small cry.

“Sore,
mana mila
?” Michael slowed his thrusts. “Are you feeling well enough to…?”

“I’m feeling fine,” she whispered. “A little sore. This is the fourth time in the last twenty-four hours, you know. But not too sore to stop, so please don’t.”

He continued very carefully, moving agonizingly slowly to keep from hurting her. The resulting build had them both on the brink for what felt like hours until Sophie came, screaming his name beneath him. He followed, shuddering helplessly in her arms. He collapsed on her chest, gasping.

“I love you,” she murmured, stroking the back of his neck. Michael slipped out of her and a moment later lobbed the condom recklessly at the garbage can. Without tying it. It hit the side of the can with disastrous results. She raised her head to survey the damage.

“Do you still love me after I just made that mess?” he asked meekly.

“Even after that.” They lay in each other’s arms for a few moments, and she felt her body drifting back toward sleep. The thunderous knock on the door startled her out of her wits.

“Open up!” Anjali demanded from the hallway. “You both need to take your meds. And I want Sophie in the infirmary for a checkup.” Sophie sat up and started hunting for a shirt. “Don’t try to pretend you’re asleep; the whole hallway could hear you wailing Michael’s name a few minutes ago.” She froze in horror. “If you don’t open up, I’m coming in to get you.”