His body wrapped around hers created a cocoon where they could live in their own world. It was just what she wanted. Feeling the pressure of his thrusts, the sweet pleasure in his being inside of her, it felt like heaven, the two of them there together. He would not let her go. He would not let her run from the emotion when it came to a boiling point. Instead, he guided her through it all, through each and every stroke. Through each and every wave of pleasure.
Finally bringing his siren to her climax, Thomas held her the entire way through, not letting go. He had not let go of her since they began their stroll after she finished her shift at the club. He'd told her that he was not letting go and it seemed that he would keep his word.
She wanted nothing more than to feel this man next to her when she awoke each morning. But they were only on borrowed time and he would have to leave soon. His kisses reminded her that he was not hers to have for the long haul, but that right here, right now in the space where they were, he was all hers for the taking.
Chapter 5
"What time is it?"
Lila could barely open her eyes as she turned over and burrowed deeper under the covers.
Thomas was lying there next to her. He reached over to the nightstand and glanced at his watch. "It's almost seven in the morning. Did you sleep well?"
From the sly grin on his face and his raised eyebrow, she knew exactly what he spoke of.
"I did," she replied, unable to avoid a smile.
"Good. "Come to me."
His beckoning arms were welcoming as she inched closer to him. Thomas laid her head on his chest. He began to softly stroke her hair while she fingered the silver tags that hung from his neck.
"A sobering reminder of your own mortality."
"Don't say that, Thomas."
"It is the truth. I'm a soldier. I know what I'm facing every time my company and I move about. I've come to grips with it."
Lila sighed. "I want you to know that I've never gotten this close to someone so fast. I was not expecting things to be like this."
He kissed her forehead. "I know. I wasn't expecting this either."
That sly grin again with his sparkling eyes. It made it almost impossible for her to decline anything that he would ask of her. She wanted to be with him at any cost and she was not sure why.
"The heart wants what it wants. That simple fact cannot be denied."
He squeezed her body close to his. "My dear, Lila. Why would I want to deny it?"
Her heart was racing, most likely trying to overtalk her mind and rid her senses of the ability to think rationally.
"I don't want to deny my feelings for you, Lila. I want you. It's a wonderful thing." His fingertips traced her beautiful curves, taking in all of her voluptuousness.
"What could you want with a woman like me?"
"What do you mean a woman like you?"
"I mean, I'm obviously older than you. And well, we come from two different walks of life." She held her hand up to his, making it apparent what she was speaking of.
"Lila, I'm twenty-five. You can't be much older than that. And this," he held their hands up higher so she could clearly see. "This does not bother me whatsoever."
"I'm a little older than twenty-five, you know."
"Why does that bother you?"
She shook her head. "I'm not sure why."
"So will you tell me how old you are?" he asked with a chuckle.
Lila playfully swatted him on the arm. "Not at all. A woman never tells her age."
"Alright. Alright. I won't ask again. But please know, Lila. None of these things matter to me. What matters is your heart."
"And how do you know anything about my heart?"
"I sat for several nights and listened to you pour your heart out on the stage. And I just made love to you, learned each and every thing about your body and what you like. If I don't know your heart intimately by now, I never will."
She closed her eyes. How was it that this man could say all of the right things?
"But we don't really know one another, Thomas."
"Lila," he tilted her face up so that they could see one another eye to eye.
"People can be together for decades and never know one another. Why on earth do you think that time has anything to do with love and knowing what someone has in their heart?"
He clasped his hand in hers. "Does that make any sense to you?"
"None of this makes any sense to me, Thomas. I mean, just yesterday you were this handsome stranger at the club. Now, you are my lover, waking next to me in my bed and we are talking about the meaning of love. How can I wrap my mind around all of that?"
"Can I tell you something?" he asked.
"Certainly."
"I did not have such a carefree attitude about love before I enlisted. I was always the kind to love hard, but never the one to take control of my emotions and necessarily go for the woman that I wanted. I was in love with a young woman and let her slip right through my fingertips. I let that get to me, and it welled up inside of me. When I enlisted, I realized how fleeting life is. So I decided not to let my emotions get the best of me and hold me back from being open to love."
"I wish that I felt the same way about love."
"Believe me. You do. You just don't want to get hurt again."
Somehow he had a way of knowing what she was thinking and feeling without her even having to explain it to him.
"You can't have love if you live life afraid of being hurt, Lila. It just doesn't work that way."
"So what you are saying is that you have to take a risk."
"Exactly. Take the risk. It's well worth it."
"And in this situation, our situation, what would you do?"
"Do you mean, what do I want to do?"
"Yes, Thomas. What do you want to do?"
"I want us to consider what it means to be together. In this life, this fleeting life. What does it mean to really take a risk and step out on the ledge and take hold of the love that is right in front of you?"
"I wish that I knew that answer to that."
His kiss was warm on her hand. "Lila, you know the answer already. There is no such thing as confusion. Just you fighting yourself when you already know what you want to do."
Smothered with his kisses, Lila was overcome with emotions.
"All you have to do is tell me what you want, Lila."
She looked him in his brown eyes, "I want to be with you."
Chapter 6
The day was one that Lila was sure she would never forget. All the while, spending it with Thomas, she kept remembering the fact that they were on borrowed time. He only left her for a brief moment in the morning after they awoke, but he was back within the hour with promises to be with her the entire day. He had orders to be back to camp later that night.
"What do you want to do today?" she asked.
"I don't know exactly. But that is the fun in the entire situation. We don't have to know what it is that we want to do. Let's just go and be together. Maybe you can show me around to some of your favorite places to be and to eat. I would love to get a real idea of what it's like to live in France. And I have the perfect tour guide."
"Well then, let's go. I hope you are ready to walk the village."
"Certainly, my dear."
Arm in arm, they left her room, ready to take on the day with one another. As they walked along the road that led from the countryside to the village, Lila pointed out some of the things that she loved most.
"There is the old abandoned dairy house. It has not been in operation for decades, but I find it beautiful in its old ruin. And that is the place where Sophie Deleaux lives."
"Who is Sophie?" Thomas inquired.
"She's this wonderful woman who is full of life at ninety-five years old. She paints the most spectacular scenes and sells her weaving in the market. She's there every morning, bright and early with a smile on her face, selling her wares. I love her energy and her tenacity. She is there rain or shin
e and everyone in the village looks forward to seeing her there."
"Sounds like the two of you are kindred spirits."
Lila shrugged. "Maybe that's the reason that I like her so much."
"Why are we stopping here?"
Lila took a deep breath as they faced a field of wildflowers. The rolling hills seemed to reach on for days and the sky was a clear blue.
"This is where I sit and write."
"Here?" he asked.
"Yes. Here. I sit with a clear mind and write. It is such a solitary place for me that is beautiful and so full of energy. I love it."
Lila took off skipping freely through the thigh high flowers. Thomas laughed as he ran to catch up to her. When he did, Lila lost her balance and they both crashed to the soft earth beneath them.
She could not stop laughing.
"You are beautiful, Lila. Wonderfully beautiful."
"Thank you."
Thomas took his fingers, gently sweeping the stray hairs from her face. "I wish we could just freeze this moment in time and that I could be here with you like this forever, Lila."
"Say that you will come back to me." Once she spoke the words, Lila realized that there was no way that she could take them back. But she truly did not want to do so. She meant what she'd said.
His body laying over hers, he grasped her fingers intertwining them with his. "I will be back for you. But does that mean that you will wait for me?"
Lila nodded. "I will."
"You know that this whole love thing is easy but can be difficult. Especially under our current circumstances."
"True. But with the way that you speak of love, then it should be simple for the two of us to figure it out if we want it to grow."
Thomas smiled. "So you have been listening to all of my talk on the concept of love and possibly taking it to heart."
"I have absolutely been listening to you ramble on and on," she laughed playfully. "Now kiss me."
Thomas did as he was commanded. His tongue danced lightly on hers, first tenderly, then with a bit more passion.
"Each time I come here to write, I will remember that kiss." Lila wanted to memorize every single movement, every single taste and touch and every word that he said to her.
"I want you to remember something else as well."
Thomas began undressing her, his hands reaching up her thighs, beneath her dress. His kisses on her shoulder blades ignited a passion in her that she was not sure she wanted to ignore. Their lovemaking this time had a sense of urgency, like they needed to rapidly absorb one another before the chance got away from them. They were becoming so in tune with one another, not a word had to be uttered about what the other wanted or needed. They simply were content to just be, there in each other's embrace, wrapped inside of one another as they created the rhythm of their own song.
Everything was so beautiful there in the midst of nature. It was a gorgeous and all consuming energy that swept over the two of them. Lila wanted more, but they did not have time to lie there in the field of wildflowers all day with the soft, warm breeze dancing over them.
"My love. My dear, Lila."
To hear him say those words to her as he stared at her intently while the basked in the afterglow of the sweet and sticky love that they made. It was all so picturesque, so perfect.
"How can I let you go?" Lila asked.
"As far as I'm concerned, you never have to."
Chapter 7
The couple spent the day walking around the village. First at the market where Thomas bought her flowers, then a lunch at the small café that was mostly full by the early afternoon every day. Learning to live in the moment, Lila hung on his every word. She took in all that he said, relished in every touch and every kiss. He never stopped kissing her and touching her. Thomas never took his eyes off of her, leaving her feeling exhilarated and desired.
There were other beautiful women in the village, and yet he had chosen her. With his boyish good looks and the mere fact that as a soldier, he was considered the kind of eligible bachelor that women clamored for. Lila wanted him to be with her. She wanted to forget about the fact that he would be leaving her soon. It was more than she could bear to think that this man would disappear into thin air and be a little more than a memory in another day or so.
"A penny for your thoughts," he said as they sat at the café and sipped coffee.
"No. I can't," she replied feeling her cheeks heat.
"Really, you can tell me anything, Lila."
"I was just thinking how much I want the two of us to be together. And I'm just wondering how it is that you pretend that you don't see all of your admirers trying to steal of glimpse of you. Wanting you to look their way."
Thomas shook his head. "You still don't get it do you? I want you. And when a man wants a woman as much as I want you, it does not matter who else is looking his way. His job is to make sure that his woman has no doubt in her mind that he wants her."
She sipped her coffee, letting the words sink in to her soul.
"I get it."
"Do you really, Lila? Do you understand that I want to be with you more than I've ever wanted to be with anyone that I've met in my life?"
"I do."
"Good. Then none of the other things matter."
His hand wrapped around hers, she suddenly felt comforted. So when the waitress came over and offered him a free scone because of being a serviceman, Lila did not feel threatened. And when she smiled in his face, not caring that Lila was seated there with him, Lila was not bothered.
"Shall we?"
Thomas reached his hand out for her and they strolled away from the café. Walking and talking about nothing in specific, they happened upon the cinema and decided to catch a movie. A recent Spencer Tracy flick and then another with Doris Day. It was so relaxing that Lila finally had the chance to stop thinking about the fact that Thomas would have to ship out soon.
When the credits rolled on the last film, they had finished the last of their popcorn and Lila knew that it was time to head home.
"Are you sure that we won't spend the night together? I have the evening off because the club is closed."
"I wish I could, my love. But I must be back at the camp in the next hour. I really must get you home safely."
Her heart dropped. He had to leave and they had come to the point in the night that she had been dreading. She wanted to pout and huff and puff like a small child, but she knew that there would be no point in doing so. It would not change anything. He would still have to report to his company and he would still have to leave her side.
"So I guess this is the point in the night when I have to start to accept the fact that the sand in the hourglass is running out."
"Life happens to us all. We knew that this point was coming. Problem is how we will deal with it."
He held her close as they walked, ready to go back to her room. Lila's heart wanted to beg him to stay or run off somewhere with her where he did not have to serve in the war. But his courage and honesty was something that Lila admired about Thomas and she knew that he was the kind of man that had to see his accomplishments through.
She wanted to walk as slowly as possible and do whatever she could to prolong their time together. But it was inevitable that they would part. By the time they reached the boarding house where she lived, her heart had already dropped out of her body. She was not sure how she would say goodbye.
Thomas stood there, gently stroking her hair back while she lay her head on his chest. "This is not truly goodbye. I hope that you know that, my dear Lila."
They kissed, trying to find one last connection before he had to let go. Lila was not sure what she would do when he was no longer in hers. She had grown accustomed to the feeling of his touch over the past day or so and she was not sure how she would get used to not feeling him beside her.
He stood outside of her door and she wanted to ask him inside, just to prolong the moment, but she knew that there would be no reason to do so. He
was a man of integrity and he had orders that he would follow to a tee.
"Open the door, Lila. I want to make sure that you go inside."
"Are you sure-,"she began to ask but he put a quieting finger to her lips.
"My love, we knew that this time would come and now that it is here, let's not stay focused on what we are losing. Let's focus on the fact that we were able to find love with one another."
"I don't want to say goodbye, Thomas."
"And we won't. Let's just say until tomorrow."
"But there is no tomorrow."
"My love," he said, staring her directly in her big brown eyes. "Where there is love, there is always a tomorrow."
Chapter 8
Tearing herself away from Thomas was the hardest thing she'd ever done. She was not sure that she would ever be able to do something like that again. If that was love, she was not sure that she wanted to feel that way. The longing, the sense of loss. Thomas had wanted the two of them to remember what they had gained, not the fact that he had to leave her. That was a fact that the two of them had been painfully aware of when they met and first connected.
As soon as she closed the door, she swung it back open, only to find him walking off down the pathway towards his camp. The painful stabbing in her chest told her that she would have to accept the fact that she had to let him go, at least for the time being.
The night was almost impossible to get through. She kept vigil in the window hoping that Thomas would come back to her just one last time. But he didn't and she knew that she should not expect him to. It would be inappropriate for him to do so and usurp his responsibilities. By the time the moon hung high in the sky, Lila's eyes were tired of crying and she was not sure that she could spend another moment thinking of Thomas. Where was the part when she would think fondly on the time that they'd spent with one another? Right now, pain was taking over and it seemed like she would never get over the fact that she would not be able to see him and touch him everyday.
In her mind, she could not get over the fact that he had gone from the handsome and mysterious stranger to the man that had won her heart.
ROMANCE: Paranormal Romance: The Valley (Book One) (Fun, Sexy, Mature Young Adult Vampire Shape Shifter Romance) Page 64
