Reaching Back

by Dawn Ryder

  A grin appeared on Blade’s face before her chin was caught in Thorn’s hand and he turned her to look at him. He lowered his body onto his knees in front of her, bringing his cock to her face. “Thorn says suck my cock.”

  Noel licked it instead. Thorn hissed as her tongue lapped right up the slit that crowned the head of his cock. The muscles on his abdomen rippled as she sent her tongue around the ridge of the head. Thorn cupped the side of her face as he pressed his cock against her lips and she opened her mouth to allow it inside.

  “Wider.” Thorn’s voice was husky as Noel let his cock fill her mouth. Her hips gave a little jerk as she waited to feel Blade’s hand on her bottom. Thorn began to slowly work his cock in and out of her mouth and his hand held her in place. With her hands supporting her on the floor, she was actually at their complete command, and a shiver moved over her skin as she felt the first stroke across her bottom.

  “Simon thinks you look very nice waiting for his pleasure.” Blade trailed his fingers up her spine and back down to her bottom again. He rubbed each side of her ass before sending one finger into her slit.

  “Not very wet.” His voice was hard as Thorn pressed more of his cock into her mouth to keep her silent. A second later a smack landed on her bottom and she jumped. Blade grasped her hips and pushed her back into position before delivering a few more slaps onto her bottom. Her clit bar jiggled with each smack, sending bolts of pleasure up into her pussy. Her mouth was full of Thorn’s cock, and the only thing that filled her mind was how good it would feel to have a cock filling her pussy too. She craved both at the same time. There was no stopping to think if it was right, only the idea that her body would feel amazing if she was stretched between them.

  Blade sent his finger into her slit again and she moaned as she felt it slip through wet folds this time. “Much better.” She whimpered around Thorn’s cock as she heard his breath begin to rasp through his teeth. His hand caught both sides of her face as he neared his first climax.

  But Blade wasn’t going to leave her behind. He clasped her hips and thrust his cock into her pussy. She heard the little wet sounds her body made as it was penetrated. Thorn snarled softly as his hips jerked and increased their speed. The first taste of his cum hit her tongue as Blade began to fuck her, the studs on his cock making her frantic for harder thrusts.

  Thorn pulled his cock from her mouth as he growled and she licked the last drops of his seed off her lips. His chest worked hard to draw in enough air as he shivered with his pleasure. His eyes suddenly opened and focused on her face. Tension drew her features tight as her clit bar jiggled, but it wasn’t enough to send her into climax. Blade snarled behind her as his hips moved faster, his hands gripped her tighter as his climax approached.

  Thorn grinned at her as she moaned with need. He leaned forward and bit her ear before licking it. One hand reached down her body to her clit bar and gently moved it faster. “Thorn says come.”

  She did. Blade climaxed a second after her pussy contracted around his cock, and Thorn took her weight as her arms shook. Pleasure surged through her as she whimpered and grasped Thorn. He held her against his chest as her breathing returned to normal. His hand stroked her hair and pulled until she tilted her face up to look at him. His eyes shimmered with emotion as his hands stroked her in soft touches. He placed a soft kiss on her mouth before scooping her up and carrying her back to their bed. It was sort of like he was making it clear to Blade that union partner only meant the sex. The intimacy after intercourse was reserved only for them and their bed. Thorn settled her into his bed and rolled her onto her back. His cock thrust into her body as he began to fuck her very slowly. This time, pleasure built and when it broke it was a gentle cascade of delight that moved through both their bodies as he buried his cock in her pussy and his seed flooded her. Thorn held her down for long moments after his cock finished spurting and their gazes locked. Emotion surged between them. Noel wasn’t sure just what emotion it was, only that she was addicted to it—so quickly but totally engulfed by moments like this one when Thorn made her feel so complete. She didn’t have to battle for his attention, he focused on her so intently she was certain her skin was burned from it. There was no hint of distraction, only immersion in their relationship.

  Man, oh man, she was completely spoiled now. There wasn’t a single man in her time who might live up to the intensity that Thorn aimed at her. When he rolled over, he took her with him and held her, instead of leaving to pop open a beer with his buddy in the other room. His fingers stroked her skin as he grinned at her.

  “You look tired, Noel. Go to sleep.”

  “What about Blade?”

  Thorn shrugged. “He can take care of himself.”

  She stroked a finger across a hard pectoral muscle. “What happens if Blade or Hunter get promoted and select their own companions?” There was a tiny hint of jealousy in her voice but Noel simply shrugged. It was an important question.

  “They can remain in our union or we can choose a replacement.”

  Noel lifted her head to look at Thorn’s face. He lifted an eyebrow at her shock. “What surprises you?”

  “Men in my time don’t share their women. In fact, they fought over infidelity.”

  Thorn grunted and pushed her head back onto his shoulder. “I want your love, Noel. Sex is normal, but it doesn’t involve the heart.”

  His voice said he was one hundred percent confident in his belief. She was really spoiled now. But there was something else snaking around her heart and she tried to consider the emotion as slumber shut down her brain.

  * * * * *

  “Noel?” Thorn was whispering, but she could tell that he really was hoping she wasn’t completely asleep again. The hopeful note in his voice touched her heart and she lifted her eyelids to find him sitting on the side of the bed. It was sometime after midnight and she stretched as her early bedtime made it possible to wake up. Her present was held in his hand and she smiled as she sat up. She reached for her gift like a little girl but the woman in her refused to rip it open. She turned it over and found where Thorn had carefully overlapped the paper, the hand-drawn designs fascinating her with their carefree look. Thorn was a whole lot of things, but easygoing had never been one of the concepts that sprang to mind when she thought about him. The present represented so much of his personality that tears sparkled in her eyes.

  “I’m glad you didn’t open it earlier.” His voice was gruff in the dark and Noel raised her gaze from undoing the bow to see his face. He was watching her with a half-grin on his hard face. His lips curved up higher when their eyes met. “I think I really like keeping the present just between us.”

  “Me too.” And she really meant it. Sex was great, but intimacy was even better. The moment was like a bubble that only admitted them.

  Thorn considered her a moment. “Open it, I want to see if I got it right.”

  A hint of male pride returned to his voice as Noel looked back at her gift. Man, oh man, had he ever gotten it right. The gift was the embodiment of romance as far as she was concerned. So, maybe a few of her friends might have called her lame for that, but you couldn’t lie about how you felt.

  And right then, Thorn made her feel like his queen.

  The box opened to reveal a small handheld grinder. Noel giggled as she held it up to catch the light coming in the top, unfrosted portion of the windows. A wooden model with a hand crank on the side and iron-studded rollers inside to do the grinding.

  “It’s perfect.”

  Thorn grunted but frowned again. “Maybe you’ll stick around and show me how it works.” His voice was gruff but she caught the hope lurking in his eyes. “We could try that marriage idea out too.”

  Noel laughed again as she sat the little grinder on the bed and reached for Thorn’s face. “Marriage is only for those in love, Thorn.”

  “Good.” He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her against his body. “I’ll keep asking you and when you do marry me, I’ll know
you love me.” Determination filled his voice as he stroked the side of her face.

  “You haven’t known me long enough to love me, Thorn.” It would be easy to think he did but only because she wanted him to. That was where most girls ended up with major heartache.

  “I’ve dreamed about you most of my life. I love everything about you and all of the things that I will learn about tomorrow and for the next thousand days. The difference between me and a man from your time is I don’t expect you to fit into my ideal of what a woman should be. I didn’t select you to fit into my life, I chose you to teach me about life. The idea is for you to teach me about love and home and family. I want to love you, exactly as you are, and I’m hoping you never change.”

  He didn’t expect any answer, he just pulled her against his chest as he lay back into the bed, taking her with him. He sat the grinder aside before smoothing her into his embrace completely and pressing her head down onto his chest. The sound of his heart filled her head as her fingers threaded through the mat of hair coating his chest.

  “Don’t forget to ask me again.”

  A male chuckle rose from the chest she was resting on. Thorn stroked the back of her head. “Yes, ma’am.”

  * * * * *

  One week later

  Noel smiled as she sniffed her morning coffee. She admired the dark, practically perfect shade of the beverage filling her cup before raising it to her lips for the first sip. The taste filled her mouth as the aroma filled her senses and everything was absolutely perfect for a single moment.

  “Damn, that’s sexy.” Hunter shattered the moment with his husky observation. But he wasn’t alone. Blade and Thorn stood watching her with eyes that were as hot as her coffee. What made the moment heartwarming was the fact that they had learned to keep their morning hard-ons contained until she had her coffee.

  Who said men couldn’t be trained?

  She smiled as she took another sip. “Morning, boys.” Saturday was the only day she really saw them all at the same time. During the week, they traded off and she was rapidly adjusting to the reality of there always being one man around. Thorn was the only one who slept with her though. He would return late sometimes but always pulled her into his embrace before slipping into sleep.

  Reaching across the counter she poured out steaming coffee. Their eyes instantly shifted to the mugs she’d filled as they pushed each other out of the way to get the first one. It was good-natured scuffling and Noel enjoyed watching it in a purely gleeful way. Her coffee was rapidly becoming a favorite, and not just among her union partners. Thorn’s fellow regiment soldiers were now his best buddies, as small amounts of her creation made the rounds. Thorn would take it to the station with him and never returned with a drop. It was strange the way you carved your niche in a life. Noel inhaled over her mug and laughed at the simple idea of reintroducing the enormous concept of enjoyment to humans. She did it with coffee. It wasn’t good for the body, but it did warm the soul.

  “You need to open a coffee star buck.” Blade offered his comment as he pushed his empty mug across the counter. “They were popular in your time.”

  “Starbucks? Yeah, always wished I had the foresight and started one before they went national.” Noel suddenly opened her eyes and stared at the coffee in her mug. She really could do it. Open the first coffeehouse. In 2231, you didn’t have to come up with the capital for a restaurant. You could just rent a food preparation area in the main food court. The idea brought her full circle back to the moment just before she had died. That dream of being her own captain rose into full color as she turned around and looked at her little coffee grinder and the home-fashioned tools she’d constructed to brew her coffee. While the idea wasn’t original, all of it was her personal work. She might even file for it as her main assignment duty, if it became popular.

  And it was something she loved too!

  * * * * *

  Three months later

  Thorn frowned and Noel winked at his displeasure. He grumbled but his wife only turned her back on him as she went back to serving her customers. It was a dirty tactic, wiggling her bottom when there was nothing he could do about it. The minx enjoyed that too.

  Well, maybe he did too. Thorn moved up behind Noel and laid a hand over the curve of her hip. The men grinning at the counter instantly straightened and aimed their eyes at Noel’s face instead of her curves. A few offered him nods before they took their coffee and rejoined the main seating area.

  “You are so bad, Thorn.” Noel laughed under her breath as she pressed her bottom against the hard proof of her husband’s frustration. His cock was hidden inside his uniform but it was very erect. Okay, so she admitted to enjoying her effect on him. What girl wouldn’t like knowing that she held the attention of her man? But it was more than that. It was in the hundred little things that he did to please her, the hours he spent learning about her time and what she expected out of a relationship. It was the honest truth that she often felt guilty that Thorn was so focused on her. It was that fact that melted her heart completely. Thorn didn’t just love her, he was enamored of her. It was sort of humbling and exciting all at the same time. There was only one thing he wanted from her—her love.

  It really did floor her that her affection meant so much to one person. It unleashed something so powerful, Noel was still in shock over the abundance of emotion. She leaned her head back onto his shoulder and looked up at his frown. Turning slightly she lifted a hand and smoothed his lips into a more pleasant expression. Rising onto her toes she whispered next to his ear.

  “I love you.”

  A firm grin covered his mouth as his eyes sparkled like a little boy on Christmas morning. Her heart swelled as she watched him just look at her like she was the most precious thing he had ever seen. That was something Noel intended to make sure they held between them for the rest of their lives. Their sex life might always be hot but the moments when they shared their souls were the most important of all.

  “Thorn says…say that again.”

  Noel laughed as she took a sip of her coffee. “I love you.” She wiggled her wedding ring finger in the air and her diamond flashed at Thorn. A smug grin sat on his face as he smirked at the men watching them like adoring puppies.

  Noel had to admit they had something worth envying and if she were lucky, she’d cradle that something in her heart for the rest of her life.

  About the Author

  Dawn welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

  Also by Dawn Ryder

  Hawk’s Prey

  Improper Lessons

  Improper Pursuits

  Talon’s Trophy

  Tempting a Lady

  Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.

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