“Hello, darlin’. You look beautiful.”
Sandra buried her burning face in the flowers and sighed. Wheeling backwards, she invited him in. “Thank you. Let me put these in some water and then we can go.” Turning she called out, “Momma, can you find me a vase?” as she headed for the kitchen.
As Sandra wheeled through the doorway to the kitchen her mother turned with a vase in hand. “Here you go, baby. Oh, what nice flowers, give them to me and I’ll put them on the table for you.”
“Thanks, Momma. We’re gonna go now. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Her father was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a sweet tea. “What do you mean you’ll see us in the morning? You don’t plan on coming home tonight? It’s your first date with this young man, Sandra.”
“Daddy.” Sandra sighed. “I am twenty-six years old. What I do or don’t do on my date is none of your business, but whether I come home tonight or not, you will be in bed when I get home.”
Her father’s shoulders relaxed from their rigid posture. “Oh, yeah.” He laughed. “I guess that’s right.”
She wheeled over and kissed his cheek. “Yeah, I guess it is, old man,” she teased.
“Hey now, little girl, I’m not too old to whip your tail!”
“You’d have to catch me first,” she chirped as she rapidly rolled from the room, her father’s laughter following her.
Zach stood before the fireplace, looking at the old family photos on the mantle when she entered the living room.
“You were a cute kid,” he said.
“Ugh, I should have hidden those! I was a freckled face, spindly legged mess.”
Zach gave her a sizzling look. “I love your freckles; I want to kiss every one.” He walked over to her and slid his hand from her cheek down her neck. “Just how far down do they go?’ he teased the edge of her neckline.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” she said.
Hot desire flared in his eyes and he leaned in for another kiss, this one much more satisfying. Sandra wrapped her good arm around his neck and ran her fingers over the short cropped hair at back of his head. She loved the feel of the soft stubble on her skin. Their mouths mated, tongues dueling and tasting, the perfect pressure, but the angle made it awkward with her this damn chair, and her parents were in the next room, so Zach lightened the kiss to sweet pecks to her mouth and pulled back.
“To be continued later. Let’s go, we have reservations.” He moved behind her and pushed her out the front door. There in the driveway sat an enormous Ford pickup truck, black as night, with shiny chrome accents. She’d never be able to get in that truck by herself.
“Um, Zach, are we going in that? It’s huge. How am I going to get in there?”
He laughed. “I lift patients all day, little bit. I can certainly lift you.”
“Little bit? I’m not exactly little.”
“Compared to me you are.”
“Compared to you everyone is little.”
“See, there you go.”
He rolled her to the passenger door and opened it up, slid one arm behind her back and the other under her legs and hoisted her into the air like a bag of feathers, depositing her on the seat in one motion.
“Nothing to it,” he said as he secured her seat belt.
It might be nothing to him, but her lady parts were standing up and taking notice. Mmm, the kiss had turned her motor on, him tossing her around so effortlessly had her engine revving. He folded the wheelchair and stuck it in the bed of the truck as he walked around to the driver seat, hopping in as if the truck wasn’t two feet off the ground and a normal person wouldn’t need a step ladder to get in.
“Where are we going?”
“I told you I’d take you downtown. I got reservations at Ruth’s Chris Steak house, and then I thought we could go down to Broadway and hit some of the clubs.”
“That sounds great. I haven’t been to Broadway in ages. I love it down there.”
Ruth’s Chris, an elegant restaurant with white linen table cloths and tuxedoed waiters made for a lovely dining experience with quiet conversation. She’d really been able to open up to Zach about her experience in Afghanistan. Zach shared her Army history, his easy demeanor and non-judgmental attitude made him easy to talk to. He’d been in combat like her, he understood.
He held her hand as she related the whole terrible incident. The shock, the disorientation, her fear for her friends. As it turned out, she’d received the worst injuries. Two other soldiers were shot, but they had managed to neutralize the sniper quickly and prevent severe casualties. She had just been in the wrong place at the right time.
The waiter brought their dessert and coffee and Sandra smiled over at Zach. “Enough of this heavy talk. We came out to have a good time.”
He drew her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “I want to get to know you, Sandy, and this is a part of you. It’s important. I’m glad you shared it with me.”
Looking across the table she couldn’t believe her luck. How had she managed to find a guy that not only looked like a Greek god, but was so sweet too? Things like this just didn’t happen to her.
“Thank you,” she said, smiling demurely.
After the wonderful meal they headed to Broadway, the music scene in downtown Nashville wasn’t what most tourists expected. While there were certainly plenty of Country music venues, you could also find lots of Blues, Jazz, and even Hip Hop dance clubs. Crowed sidewalks made negotiating them more like an obstacle course than walking down a street. Barriers kept cars from running down the pedestrians, music and voices could be heard pouring out from every open doorway.
Zach leaned down and shouted in her ear to be hear over the crowd, “What kind of music do you like?”
“I’m a Country girl,” Sandy answered.
“Yee Haw!” Zach shouted back. “Me too.” He turned into a bar. “How about I park your wheelchair in the corner and you can sit in regular seat?” he asked.
“That sounds great,” Sandy answered.
Zach wheeled her chair to a corner and hoisted her into the air like a feather. He found a table, but instead of depositing her in chair, he sat and planted her on his lap. Sandy laughed. “I thought you were going to put me in a chair.”
“I like this better.”
With her good arm around his neck for balance she leaned in and whispered in his ear. “I do too.”
A waitress came to take their order. Still on pain medication, Sandra couldn’t drink alcohol, she stuck with sweet tea for the night, but it didn’t matter. She enjoyed the wonderful music and the feeling of being carefree and alive.
As they sipped their drinks and listened to a set from the band, Zach’s hands roamed her body. One sliding causally up and down her spine, while the other toyed with her knee beneath the hem of her dress.
She rested her head on his shoulder and inhaled his delicious fragrance, a citrusy aftershave, that mixed with his natural scent and made her want to bite his neck and eat him up. Maybe just a little taste. She reached out with her tongue and traced the cord of muscle that ran down the side of his neck, nibbling a bit when she reached his collar bone. The proof of his desire rose beneath her thighs resting across his lap and she shifted to rub the silk of her dress against the growing bulge.
Zach’s hand slid higher up her leg, teasing the inside of her thigh in small circles. While Sandy enjoyed the club, the loud music precluded conversation and the mass of people inhibited further exploration of each other’s bodies. She slid her tongue back up his neck until she reached his ear, teasing the shell she blew softly across the opening and then whispered, “Do you want to get out of here?”
He pulled back and gave her a smoldering look. “And just where would you like to go, little bit?”
Though she could feel the blush warming her face, Sandra wasn’t about to back down now. “Your place?” she said, half question, half statement.
The hand on her leg stopped its movement an
d Zach’s eyes flared. “Oh little bit, you are such a naughty girl. I think I will have to make you scream my name until you’re hoarse tonight as punishment.”
Zach stood in one fluid movement, and Sandra’s body tingled all over. Her panties so wet she wanted to take them off right now. Ooh, that sounded like a really good idea. When they reached her wheelchair, instead of planting her in it. Zach slung her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, one arm firmly secured across the back of her thighs, picked up the chair with his other hand and marched down the street like a man on a mission.
Her long, red hair fell forward over her face, hanging down his back, thank God, because she knew it obscured her burning cheeks. She wasn’t expecting this “me Tarzan, you Jane” reaction. A part of her wanted to beat on his back a yell at him to put her down, but they were in the middle of a crowd and there were a ton of police officers around. She didn’t want to get him arrested. Besides, the other of part of her kind of loved it. She started giggling, and it soon turned into full blown laughter.
“I don’t know what you think is so funny, little bit,” Zach growled, “but if my hand was free I’d smack that pretty little ass and stop your laughing.”
“You are such a caveman,” she chortled. “You’re going to wear yourself out before we get home, and then I’ll be left high and dry.”
Zach stopped and deposited her on her feet, holding her waist to keep her steady. Looking deep into her eyes he said, “Do you doubt my stamina, little bit? I’m a soldier. I’m good for hours, days even, and you can bet I’ll leave you high, but you’ll be anything but dry, baby. You’ll be so wet for me, they’ll need a sponge to sop you up off the bed.”
If Zach hadn’t been holding her up she would have melted into a puddle right there on the concrete. His arms slid around her waist and he took her mouth in a searing kiss, biting her bottom lip, and then licking away the sting. He thrust his tongue inside to mimic the act she wanted their bodies to perform, sliding in and out, sucking her tongue and drawing out a moan as her nipples hardened. Sliding his hands down to cup her ass, he whispered.
“You’re right, you better get back in the chair, or I’m going to take you right here on the street.”
Slowly drawing back and keeping her balanced, he opened the wheelchair and gently lowered her to the seat. His hands casually brushing the sides of her breasts as he adjusted her arm across her chest.
“Don’t want you to bump this on anything,” he said in a teasing voice.
He quickly pushed her back to his truck and made the drive to his apartment in record time. Zach didn’t bother bringing the wheelchair inside. He merely lifted Sandra from the seat and carried her straight to his bed, only stopping to lock the door behind them.
Sandra got a brief look at the bedroom, a man’s room, a soldier’s room. Only the basics, a dresser, a bed, a footlocker at the end of the bed. Dark tones, browns and tans, but a big, king size bed right in the middle of the room, and Zach plopped her in the center of it gently, so he wouldn’t hurt her. He didn’t follow her down, but began to strip off his clothes.
Damn, she wished he’d slow down, she wanted to watch the show, but he was in too much of a hurry. He toed off his shoes at the same time his shirt flew to the corner of the room. His jeans and boxer briefs slipped off in one fell swoop and he stepped out of them as he stalked toward the bed. He even managed to pull off his socks without hopping on one foot or looking clumsy at all. How was that possible?
The man exuded pure sex appeal, and every inch he revealed made her want to lick him like a lollipop. His olive skin glistened in the glow from the stars the skylight allowed to illuminate the room. Forget a six-pack, Zack had at least an eight-pack, every muscle cut and defined, including those little dips on the hips that pointed to his impressive dick. She could never remember what they were called, but she wanted to trace them with her tongue. The sexy hair she noticed in his open shirt earlier tapered off into a tiny trail that led straight to a nice thick patch at the base of his cock. She was going to run her fingers through all that goodness and bury her nose in that thatch of hair when she went down on him.
Zach crawled onto the bed and growled “You’re wearing too many clothes.”
“You’ll have to help me take care of that then, won’t you?” Sandra said with a fake pout. “I’m just a poor invalid, you know.”
He sighed. “So, you’re telling me I’m going to have to do all the work tonight, huh?”
Feigning affront, she said, “Work?” and attempted to roll off the bed. “If you think I’m too much work, I’ll just leave right now.”
Before she could move an inch, Zach’s arms surrounded her and trapped her in place. “Oh, no you don’t. I have you now and you’re not getting away from me. He pressed his lower body into hers, careful not to put pressure on her bad leg. “Now, tell me, how do I get this dress off you?”
With a haughty look she turned her head. “I wouldn’t want to put you to too much trouble.”
Zach began to kiss down the side of her neck, working his way to that spot behind her ear that drove her mad. Then he sucked her earlobe and nibbled it, licking the shell of her ear and blowing gently across the surface. “If you don’t tell me I’m going to tickle you until you squeal like a baby pig.”
Zach’s hands began to move at her waist and Sandra jerked and laughed. “No fair! There’s a zipper in the back. Now stop! No tickling. Please.”
“Ah ha, now I know your weakness.” He sat back on his knee. “Turn over.”
Sandra glared at him, but complied. Zach slowly slid the tab of the zipper down her back, kissing the skin he exposed as he went. Chills raced up and down Sandra’s spine. When the tab reached the end just above her tailbone, Zach planted one final kiss and then slid his hands up her back, separating the fabric and pushing the sleeves off her shoulders. The contrast of the cool air and his warm hands on her skin had her nerve endings firing like an M4 carbine in full automatic mode.
She waited for him to turn her over, but he didn’t. Zach continued to caress her back, sliding his fingers up and down her spine, over her hip bones, tenderly stroking the sides of her ribcage, and then following his hands with his lips. He was right, they were going to need a sponge to soak her up off his bed, because she was melting into a puddle of goo.
Her body didn’t know how to react. Zach’s tender ministrations were soothing and arousing at the same time, relaxing her body and stimulating her at the same time. Her panties were soaked, her nipples hard little knots, but she felt languid and malleable. Zach turned her, and she floated to her back, in a dreamy state, content to let him do as he wished.
Her dress had disappeared. When had that happened? Who cared? His caresses continued on the front side, swirling fingers around her breasts, down her stomach, and then back to her breasts. Oh, that felt so good. The circles on her breast drew tighter, closing in on her nipples. When he reached the hard points, he paused, brushing lightly across them, back and forth until they tingled, and then he pinched them. Hard. Sandra arched off the bed and moaned. The unexpected bite of pain after all that soft pleasure sent a zip of arousal straight to her core. Cream flooded her sex and she squeezed her legs together to try and alleviate the desperate need.
Zach’s hand slid down her stomach and through the thatch of hair at the apex of her thighs, she opened to let him in and he rewarded her by drawing up her cream and massaging it into her clit. Her thighs shook her body already so close to orgasm.
Zach kissed his way down her body. “I want to taste you when you come for me the first time.”
His mouth replaced his finger on her clit, and he licked and sucked the little bud as he thrust a finger inside her. He lifted his head to look at her, still fingering her channel, “You taste like heaven,” he said as he lowered his mouth back to his task and inserted another finger. Sandra’s hands roamed over the short cropped hair at the sides of his head.
Zach’s fingers found that spot inside her tha
t made a woman mad. With each thrust of his fingers he teased her G-spot, as his tongue continued to lick and tease her clit, and then he latched on and sucked, hard, and she came screaming his name. Her body clenching and lifting off the bed, her stomach muscles so tight she had a six pack of her own. Zach continued to caress her, bringing her down slowly and ringing out every last drop of ecstasy from her orgasm.
When she finally calmed he crawled up her body and sweetly kissed her lips. She could taste herself in the kiss. “You’re beautiful when you come,” he said. Knowing she was blushing to the roots of her hair, she buried her face in his neck and murmured, “Thank you that was wonderful.”
“I’m not nearly done with you,” he whispered.
“Good,” she whispered back.
Chapter Three
Zach rolled to his back, carefully pulling Sandra with him, so she draped over his body like a warm blanket. Her lush curves pressed against him, and she began to kiss his neck. Electric sparks shot to his already engorged cock as she carefully slithered down his body, licking and kissing along the way. Her soft skin like warm velvet, his hands couldn’t stop caressing her.
When her mouth reached his nipples, her breasts were engulfing his dick. Zack reached down and squeezed the mounds together, arching his hips to slide between them. Heaven. Sandra moaned and braced herself on her one good arm, tipping her head down she swiped the tip of his shaft with her tongue on his upward thrust and Zach thought he would blow right then. Each time he thrust forward Sandra would tease him, tiny swirls of her tongue, dips into the slit, a lap, a suck, making him mad with desire.
Then she slid down further, removing her breasts from his grip and engulfing his cock in her mouth to the root. She swallowed him whole and his entire body clenched, every muscle in his abdomen tightening, his orgasm welling at the base of his glans. Sucking hard she slid her mouth from base to tip, swirling her tongue in a circle around the tip before swallowing him to the balls again. Zach tried not to be too rough, but he couldn’t help but thrust his hips in time with her rhythm. His hands gripped her wild hair. “Sandy, I’m coming, if you don’t want to swallow, pull back,” he moaned.
Field Stripped: 15 Steamy Military Romances Page 80
