One E-mail: (BBW Romance) (One Soldier Series) (6 page)

My throat tightened as emotions gathered in my chest, making it a little harder to breathe. Thoughts began to cloud my focus.

He kissed me hard, drawing my attention bac
k to the moment, to him. His hands worked between us before he closed his arms around me, and moved us, switching our positions. Never losing my lips, he drew us both onto the bed, not stopping until his back hit the pillows.

My legs fell
, draping around his. My chest rose and fell with every harsh, gasped-for breath. My back arched, my hips rocked and my desire surged with each brush of his fingers across my nipples. His cock stroked my clit repeatedly with each of my motions, taking me higher.

It became too hard to breathe and kiss him. He seemed to sense that because he broke away from my mouth and kissed a seductive line to my neck.

I moaned as he sucked on my tender flesh. Every swipe of his tongue across my damp skin, every tweak of my nipples between his fingers, every brush of his cock against my clit wound me tauter, had me grabbing at him, digging my nails into his flesh.

My whimpers seemed to echo in the room, making me hyperaware of my single-sided pleasure. The lights told me he not only heard my arousal, felt it against his wrapped member, b
ut he also saw every inch of it; every extra curvy inch of my desire was on display.

But I didn’t care.

“You’re so damn beautiful.” He abandoned my breasts. He thrust his fingers into my hair, lifting it off of my neck as he drew me to his lips again.

My
muscles clamped, feeling as though they were being wrung dry, compressed by a thousand pounds of yearning. My pussy wept for this man, begged for this sexy soldier. My heart raced, shouting in agreement that he was wanted and needed.

I gasped for air around his lips. “Please, Tay.”

He didn’t respond. Rather, he kissed me harder, thrust his tongue deeper inside the crevice of my mouth, as if to offer me some erotic promise.

In one quick move, he slid us down a little on the bed. A squeal escaped me as he flipped me, as though I didn’t weigh more than him.

My back was to his hard front, balanced atop him. His arms held me securely around my mid-section, assuring me I wouldn’t tumble. His legs were bent between mine, leaving me open and vulnerable for him.

A shudder worked through me as he seemed to curl around me, aligning his cock at my entrance. He brushed my hair aside, exposing my neck.
He planted a single kiss on my left shoulder. “You do whatever you need to do to get off, okay, beautiful?”

My throat suddenly tightened. That’s why he chose this position. It allowed
us to have an equal opportunity. It was important to him that I found my pleasure. Tears returned, burning my eyes. Little did he know that just e-mailing with him, let alone being near him, with him, brought me pleasure.

When I didn’t reply, his hands moved in opposite directions. His forearms clamped me to him, but one set of fingers assaulted my right nipple, the other circled my clit. “If you need more, you tell me.”

Before I could even attempt to reply, he drove his cock into me. My grip tightened on his forearms as a cry broke from me. Pleasure burst through my body before it was buried beneath a stronger need, a larger craving for more.

He set a rapid pace I couldn’t keep up with. His hands never faltered and neither did his rhythm. He pummeled me with force, with purpose. Each stroke awakened fresh tingles, sent fresh pleasure fluttering through me before it was lost again.

I clung to him as though he were my only lifeline. Every smack of his cock against my cervix had my back attempting to bow into the ecstasy of him.

But he didn’t let me. I was on top, but he was in control. He didn’t boss me around. He didn’t say it. But he owned my body
, my heart, all of me.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Madelyn

Faster and harder, harder, faster, the dampness of our flesh
had us slipping and sliding around each other, had me grabbing at him in desperation. Pleasure and pain seemed to blur in that moment. I felt suspended, lost in the give and take motion, lost in the strength of his cords, lost in the feel of him inside me, curled around me. My heart pumped faster, racing in cadence with my suddenly loud pulse.

It was getting harder to breath, harder to feel where Taylor ended and I began. It was getting harder and harder to let go of him in any capacity. “Oh, fuck, Tay.” My voice was lost in the sounds of
our two bodies sliding over each other in a dangerous fury, lost in the rapid beat of flesh slapping flesh.

His tiny grunts were sexy and seemed to push me closer and closer. The way he held me so protectively, the way he remained focused on me amidst his own need, the way his muscles flexed and rolled around me…everything he did made me want him more, made me want more.

Until there was no more for him to give.

Until I was thrown over the edge.

I cried out, arching into his strength, into his touch, into him, as hot pleasure scorched my veins. I trembled beneath the magnitude of my release; my pussy convulsed around his incessantly fucking cock. Wave after wave of eroticism, of blissful release, rolled through me. I couldn’t see; my flesh prickled, ultra sensitive to every graze of his flesh against me, my pulse deafened my ears, making every sound seem far away, including his guttural cry.

He reduced to slow, harsh drives into me. His heart beat rapidly beneath me. His hands closed around the opposite hip, his arms still firmly crossing over me and keeping me in place.

We both expelled a sigh of satisfaction as he came to stop.

My body felt weak, weary and worn, but satiated.
Completely and utterly gratified.

All of the tension left with my orgasm. I relaxed against him, not the least bit concerned about crushing him or making it more difficult for him to breath. I was content to lay here, under the bright light, fully exposed to him.

But he had other ideas.

H
e slipped out from under me on the left side, depositing my head on the pillows as he bowed around me from the side. He lifted on one elbow, staring down at me. A firm hand started at my chest and glided down, over my stomach and further to circle my hip. He gently cupped the widest point of me as he leaned in and claimed my lips. It was a simple kiss yet it seemed to hold a world of emotion behind it.

Releasing my lips, he pressed his forehead to mine.

One heavy breath. Two. Three. Four.

“I-” He kissed me again, this time with more force, as if he needed it for courage.

This strong soldier needed me. And damn if I didn’t want to be there for him.

I framed his face with my hands; his stubble pricked my palms as I hoisted myself into his kiss.

Again, he released my lips and pressed his forehead to mine, but this time I held him.

One heavy breath. Two. Three. Four.

“I love you, Madelyn.” It was blurted in one quick exhale, but it didn’t detract from the sentiment.

I felt the famil
iar burn of tears in my eyes as my chest compressed. We’d exchanged seventy-seven e-mails in five months, and somewhere among those seventy-seven, we stopped exchanging words and began sharing pieces of ourselves. And it was moments ago that I’d given him the final piece of me.

Sergeant First Class Taylor Russell owned all of me, especially my heart.

My lips curled into a smile. I was barely able to keep the happy tears at bay. “I love you, too.”

He angled back, taking me in. He searched my face, looking for the truth.

But I’d already spoken it.

It took him a minute to see it for himself though.

My heart seemed to crack at the edges. Sadness weighted my chest as I watched him. “I don’t know who she is, but I can assure you, I’m not her.”

He remained solemn, stiff and still for too many seconds. My heart was suspended in my chest for too many seconds before he sighed, allow
ing his lips to lift wistfully at the edges despite the haunting pain in his depths. “I know.”

I never expected my soldier to be wounded from something other than war. As a woman, I was an openly emotional being, but the men around me often weren’t, which made it easy to forget that they were just as susceptible to heartache as I was.

But we’re all human. And seeing the extent of his hurt, even as he spoke those three words to me, knocked me. It made me appreciate him even more, love him even more. He’d taken a chance and trusted me with his heart. He didn’t punish me for the actions of another woman; he didn’t start our relationship holding her sins against me. Instead, he replied to my e-mail, and every e-mail after it. And it was one e-mail, followed by many more, that brought us here.

I pecked his lips. “Good.”

He further relaxed his muscles. “I’ll be right back, beautiful.” He parted with a kiss. He disappeared into the bathroom and returned a minute later with a wet cloth. He claimed my lips again as he cleaned me with the hot, damp material. “No more book boyfriends. I don’t share.”

I laughed against him.
“Didn’t we already discuss this?”

He drew back just enough to meet my gaze. “I-”

I shrieked as a knock sounded at the bedroom window.

He growled, shoving away from me. He tossed the rag towards the bathroom. “Stay right there, beautiful.” He opened the second drawer of his nightstand and pulled out a handgun. He slid something loaded with bullets into
the handle of it and cocked it.

A shudder slid through me. Damn he was sexy with a gun. The way he wielded the weapon with confidence, the way his brows furrowed slightly in concentration as he readied it, the way he observed his surroundings
as he prepared, did something to me. It was like seeing him in action, without the uniform and bomb threat.

M
y soldier knew what he was doing. And there was something irresistibly sexy about a man like that. Undoubtedly, he could protect me in damn near any situation, and there wasn’t a more assuring comfort.

I worked my bottom lip as I watched him stride from the room
stark naked. His body moved with purpose and precision; his muscles flexed in warning with each step.

Seconds later the front door opened and a shot was fired. In the distance I heard Tate and Trent laughing. At dinner, I’d gotten to see the two of them first hand. They were quite a duo. Tate was the louder, more boisterous, more rebellious, of them, and definitely the instigator. It appeared Trent went along with it because, well, frankly, he seemed
bored, much to Linda’s dismay. Seeing first hand what Taylor dealt with growing up, I was surprised he hadn’t shot one of them by now. The man had the patience of a soldier before he ever was one.

And if he was that patient with them, I could only imagine him with his own children. My heart
and womb warmed at the thought: Taylor would be a wonderful dad some day.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Taylor

I waited until they loaded into Trent’s truck and he started the engine before going back inside. Behind the door, I waited until I heard him drive off before I headed back to the room.

I
stopped at the sight of her, halting at the entrance to the bedroom. My chest tightened as fear flashed for a moment, seizing my breath. I held the gun lightly in my hands, weighing it between them, but it seemed to be weighing me down.

She cocked her head, looking my way. She had no fear. In that moment, she proved that she trusted me completely to protect her.

But my job didn’t allow me to always be there. And if anything happened to her- “I want you to learn how to shoot one of these.” I didn’t want to think about the alternative, what could happen if-

She sat up on the bed. Her hair fell in beautiful disarray around her. Her lips were still swollen and red from my kiss. I’d branded her every way I could for now, but it wasn’t enough, and the thought of not having the chance for more
shook my usually sturdy confidence.

Understanding lit her gaze. “Okay. You can teach me tomorrow if you want.”

I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath until the air expelled in a fast whoosh from my lungs following her acceptance.

I walked over to the nightstand and deposited the gun back in the second drawer after removing the clip.
I wasn’t as tense for one moment, but I knew when we parted ways again, my gut would be a mess of knots. I don’t know when I fell for her, but somewhere between her first e-mail and seeing her luscious curves in person, I fell hard.

I lifted the covers on my side and pulled her beneath them with me as I settled on the bed. I rolled her beneath me, catching my weight on my elbows,
careful not to crush her.

The way she looked at me cut straight to my heart.

Her gaze was unwavering. She trusted me completely. She didn’t hold any part of herself back; she didn’t hide any part of herself from me. She unveiled it all, as if she knew I needed to see it every time. Her gape was steady, but without demand. She never asked anything of me, of anyone from what I could tell. She gave freely. She had wanted to pay for her ticket to come here, but I put my foot down.