The blush creeping into her cheeks and her shy smile certainly didn't detract from her.
"So what are you all about?" she asks.
"I'm a hands-on guy, I guess," I say with a smirk. "I joined the service as a jet mechanic. I've always loved tinkering, fixing and building things."
"What brought you to the base here?"
"Training for a promotion."
Our food arrived and we both lean back to allow the waitress to put our plates down. My stomach growls and I'm pretty sure I hear hers too. Too little food, too much alcohol last night.
"I'm about to become a supervisor for my squadron," I explain as I cut into my eggs. "So it'll be more money but not nearly as fun. I get to yell at kids, though."
"Where will you go next?" she asks while pushing around her omelette on her plate.
"Wherever they send me." I bite a sausage link and for just a moment, feel guilty about eating meat in front of her.
"Have you ever..." she trails off and bites her lip hesitantly.
"Spit it out, darlin'. I'm an open book."
She lowers her voice to a whisper. "You know, hurt anyone?"
I smile reassuringly at her. "You shouldn't believe all the movies you watch, sweetheart. I've been in for ten years and no, I've never fired a gun, missile, or grenade at anyone. But I know people who have and it fucks them up. PTSD is no joke."
Her next question is bolder. "Have you... lost anyone?"
This time I put my fork down and slowly finish chewing my food.
"Yes, I have," I answer quietly. "A few good friends in Afghanistan."
"I'm sorry."
"Not your fault, sweetheart."
We continue eating in a few minutes of silence but her eyes are sharp and thoughtful. I see another question brewing behind them.
"What's on your mind, sweetheart?"
She pauses, pursing her lips delicately as she finds the words.
"I just wonder how you can continue to serve in the military while knowing that. If your friends hadn't joined, they'd most likely still be alive."
"You're not wrong on that," I tell her. "But if it hadn't been them, it would have been some other kids. Someone else's sons, husbands, and fathers."
"I mean I know I sound like a dumb, pacifist hippie, and I kind of am. But it all seems so... senseless."
“Again, you’re not wrong,” I say, reaching across the small table to touch her hand. “And you’re not dumb. I respect and admire your worldview, Mia.” I smile at her, albeit a bit sadly as I remember Chase and Dan's goofy faces pictured in my mind like photographs.
"But the world out there isn't as sweet as you are."
CHAPTER 9
MIA
Why can't I stop smiling?
I have to work tonight so Adam drops me off at home after breakfast, but not before we make out for ages like teenagers in his truck in front of my apartment.
"See you soon, sweetheart," he says after we exchange numbers and a final kiss.
I walk inside practically floating on air, giddy and happier than I've felt in years. I'm definitely carrying the "walk of shame" aura so thankfully my roommates aren't home to ask questions.
We've been apart for five minutes and I already miss him. I flop back on my bed to stare at the ceiling, picturing his handsome, smiling face looking back at me.
I pull out my phone and wonder how soon would it be okay to text him. We didn't make any solid plans to see each other again after breakfast, but he wouldn’t give me his number and say "see you soon" if he didn't want to see me again, right? And would we be going out on dates or just booty calls?
"Chill the fuck out," I say aloud to myself. I'm feeling way too infatuated after just meeting and hooking up with him. Logically I know I shouldn't get attached. He's leaving in two weeks and we're most likely fundamentally incompatible.
Me, a hippie vegetarian girl with a military man from the South. No freaking way.
But I couldn't deny how good he made me feel, and not just physically. He was respectful enough to not take advantage of me while I was drunk and vulnerable, yet confident enough to show his interest while I was sober.
Not to mention he was a gentleman to take me out afterward and respected my worldview. My vegetarianism was usually a sticking point for guys I dated. It was the reason so many didn't make it past a first date.
I sigh and sit up from my bed, trying to focus on anything but how sexy and charming Adam is. Eventually I end up cleaning my room and running errands before going into work. Anything to keep me busy.
Saturday nights at the bar always keep me on my toes and I'm especially grateful for the busy crowd tonight. I don't even think of Adam's face until out of nowhere I see it grinning at me.
He's sitting in the same barstool as when he first came in, giving me a sexy look that says I'm the only one in this room who's seen you naked.
I stop in my tracks when I see him, completely forgetting about the drink order I just received.
"Hey, stranger. What are you doing here?" I ask. I want to lean across the bar and kiss him. It's only been a few hours but I already miss the feeling of his mouth on mine.
"Felt like a drink. Thought I'd stop by to see the prettiest bartender in town." His eyes never leave me and I feel my underwear pooling with hot wetness for him already.
"Oh, so you've seen all the bartenders here?"
"I don't need to.”
His gaze is positively smoldering, sending heat over my skin and filling me up from the inside.
Fuck, why did he have to come here where I couldn't give him my undivided attention?
After a moment, his delicious mouth breaks into a smile and his eyes gleam with amusement.
"I know you're busy, sweetheart. I'm here whenever you're ready for me."
My head jerks to the end of the bar, remembering my waiter standing impatiently for the drink order and I scurry back into action.
It's another ten minutes of mixing, refilling, and cashiering before I can finally stop and talk to him.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," I tell him.
"Don't be. I like watching you hustle."
I can't help but smile. The man knows how to flatter a lady. "Having Bombay Sapphire again tonight?"
He leans forward on his elbows, making the taut muscles in his shoulders flex as he studies the liquor selection behind me.
"You know, I'm in a sake mood today," he says. "Give me the chilled bottle down there."
"Quite a deviation from last time," I remark.
"I'm an adventurer, what can I say," he replies.
I bring out the elegant, frosted glass bottle from the mini-fridge and quickly rinse off the small sake cup that probably hasn't been used in months. When I set them in front of Adam, he brings his palms together in front of his chest and bows his head.
"Domo arigatou gozaimasu," he says.
"I'm impressed," I say with a light laugh. "You've been to Japan?"
"I was stationed there just after tech school, for an entirely short two years." He pours carefully from the bottle. "I was too young to appreciate Okinawa, and now it's the only place I wish I could get stationed again."
He holds the small glass up but pauses before drinking. "Have one with me."
"I can't drink on the clock," I tell him apologetically.
His eyes burn into mine.
"It wasn't a request."
He doesn't need to tell me. It was a command. Like the ones he gave me this morning while he was inside me and all over me.
My whole body grows ten degrees hotter and I feel devastatingly empty inside. He doesn't only have power over me in the bedroom and he knows it.
I rummage for a second cup and quickly rinse it off, my eyes darting around the bar for my boss or anyone who will tell on me.
Adam's fingers brush against mine as he takes the cup from me and carefully pours into it. With a smile, he touches his drink to mine.
"Kampai," he says.
I nod
and shoot the drink back in a hurry before anyone sees. He knows I'm breaking the rules and smiles wickedly, like we just shared a dirty little secret.
"When are you off work?" he asks.
I glance at the clock. "In two more hours. Why?"
The wickedness spreads across his face and his whole demeanor. He leans forward like I'm the only person that exists, or matters.
"I want you to spend the night with me."
He doesn’t have to say it. I know it's not a request.
My whole vulva pulses and my nipples ache to feel his hands on them again. I already know I can't refuse.
"Are you staying on base?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "I have a hotel room downtown. They put me up there since my stay is temporary."
Some distant voice in my head tries to remind me not to get attached. He'll be gone from my life before I realize it.
But that time isn't now. And right now I want him more badly than anything else.
"Okay," I say, knowing I'm blushing hotly. "You sticking around until I'm off?"
"Absolutely, sweetheart."
Despite being busy, It feels like ten hours as I wait painfully for the clock to tick down. Talking to Adam helps but I hate every minute I have to be pulled away from him.
Finally, the last customer leaves and I hurry to close up the bar as fast as I can.
"Can I help?" Adam asks from his bar seat.
"Absolutely not," I say as I quickly sweep a broom under his seat.
Like a snake, his arm wraps around my waist and pulls me against him. His touch fires off all my nerve endings and I just want more. More of everything that is him.
"Can I distract?"
"You've been doing that since you walked in."
I wriggle out of his grasp as he chuckles and hurry even faster to finish.
When I'm finally locking up, he wastes no time.
The moment I'm turning away from the front door, his arms are around me and his mouth is crashing into mine.
"I've been dying to taste you again," he breathes against my ear.
"Same here," I blurt out and he's carrying me to his truck before I can wonder if that was a stupid thing to say.
We crash through the door of his hotel room so wrapped up in each other that I barely get a look at it before he lifts me and tosses me on the bed.
It's bigger than an average hotel room, like an extended stay suite. I see a kitchenette and a small living room in the corner before the weight of him is on top of me, pressing into the soft mattress.
We take our time removing our clothes, really exploring each new area of skin that becomes bare. He's even more attentive and passionate than this morning. Maybe it's because the lights are low and we're not hooking up after a party anymore, but this time feels more intimate.
The connection between us has the force of a magnet and we can't stop kissing. We didn't kiss like this in the morning. Why does this feel so different, so loving?
His lips are kissing over every inch of me, not just my erogenous zones, practically worshipping my body.
"You're so gorgeous I can't fucking stand it," he whispers as his lips trail across my ribs to plant a kiss next to my bellybutton.
"Why me?" I ask into the vast, open space of the room. "Why did you even kiss me that first time?"
I don't know why the questions are coming out now. For some reason, I want to know what he wants. What he saw in me.
His mouth travels back up slowly, his lips trailing a long caress between my breasts, across my collarbone, up my neck and along my jaw back to my mouth.
"Because there's no one else like you."
I gasp as hardness presses into the soft heat between my legs. He circles his hips and presses his length over my clit. I feel like a dam about to burst.
Our final layers of clothes come off and I don't need any foreplay, no teasing. I just need him.
He moans into my mouth as he sinks into me, as we become one.
Our kisses and exploring hands never stop as we move together. He rocks his hips against me, in no rush to get to any destination. Just enjoying the journey.
This is what making love feels like.
The thought stuck in my head and refused to leave. It was true. If this closeness and warmth and pure, sweet deliciousness wasn't lovemaking, I didn't know what was.
CHAPTER 10
ADAM
All my time spent with Mia passes by in a flash but it feels like we’ve known each other forever. Every day with my sweetheart is filled with passionate fucking, delightful conversation, and some of the best damn cooking I’ve ever tasted in my life.
I’m not even exaggerating or qualifying it as vegetarian cooking. Everything she makes for me is some of the best damn food I’ve tasted, period. It blows my mind how creative and knowledgeable she is about flavors and nutrition. In the week I’ve known her, I’ve incorporated tons more veggie dishes into my diet and I’m already noticing results.
For one, my energy levels are through the roof. I’m wide awake at 0400 on the dot for work and ready to yell my lungs out at my squadron rookies. Even after eating my weight in Mia’s eggplant parmesan, I never feel fatigued after a full meal.
In the bedroom, I’ve always had good stamina but after eating her cooking I’m lasting even longer. If Mia didn’t get so incredibly wet, I’d worry for her pussy with how much pounding it gets. Fortunately she’s almost as insatiable as me.
I even saw results in the gym after a few days. I’ve always watched my diet closely and had lean, visible muscle since joining the Air Force but I look even more jacked since being with Mia. Maybe it’s coincidental but the point is, she’s been nothing but a positive addition to my life and every day with her ends too soon.
I always have to pause in the morning before leaving for work to look at my sweetheart lying beautifully in my bed. Just the shape of her softly closed eyes, nose and lips and the way the hair falls over her face tugs at my heart.
I’m not a fool. I know I’m falling for her. And with each passing day I’m one step closer to being ripped away from her and I don’t know how I’ll be able to handle it when the time comes. She’s so unique and honest. I’ve been around the block a little but never felt a connection like the one I have with her.
It almost makes me wish we never met. If we never did, there would be no pain to face once I got my orders.
Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t move and live with me unless we were married. Depending on the deployments, some married couples still face being apart for a year or longer. I couldn’t force that kind of life on her or me. That was the main reason why I stayed single. But the need to keep her was becoming as strong as the need to breathe.
So when my captain calls me into his office, I feel the stone settle into my stomach as I march my ass over there. This is the news I’ve been waiting years and worked my ass off for. And in the last week, the news I’ve also come to dread.
My heart beat like a drum against my ribs as my stomach does cartwheels but I keep my exterior rock solid as I had been trained.
I knock solidly three times at the office door.
“Come in!” Captain Blythe calls.
I obey, closing the door behind me and bringing my right hand stiffly to my eyebrow ridge in salute.
“At ease, Sergeant Gunn. Have a seat.”
“Thank you, sir.” I remove my hat and sit down in the solid wooden chair that matches his desk.
The captain is relaxed on the other side of his desk, a smile playing on his lips. He’s watched my progress since I was a cadet. He’s proud of me and has no idea how torn I really am about this career move.
“Congratulations, Sergeant. You’ve passed all your qualifications with flying colors. I’m pleased to inform you of your new job title-- Supervising Aircraft Mechanical Engineer.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
I fight back the desire to ask where my assignment will be. I know he’ll tell me in his own time but
all I want to know is how many miles I’ll be away from my sweetheart.
“You know, I still remember the day you graduated from Basic. I gave the commencement speech at your ceremony and saw you out of the corner of my eye, goofing off while in formation and I made you do push-ups until you collapsed. I was certain you’d drop out within your first month at tech school. But you proved everyone wrong, Gunn!”
I allow a smirk on my lips and a thoughtful nod at the memory, but I wish he would just get on with it.
“In any case, I’m glad you never dropped out. You’ve proven yourself to be an exceptional airman, Gunn. I’m happy to tell you that your new assignment is in sunny California. Your new home is Turner Air Force Base, son!”
“Thank you very much, sir.” I stand and accept his firm handshake before saluting again, waiting to take my leave.
“You’ll find your paperwork and all the details with the transfer office,” he says, returning to his seat. “You are dismissed, Sergeant.”
“Thank you again, Captain.”
Only when I leave his office and shut the door behind me do I let my posture slump like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. It’s a nightmare and a dream come true all at the same time. I still have to get through the work day and tell my sweetheart the news.
The minutes crawl by and I’m finally able to text her during a lull.
“Hey beautiful. You off tonight?”
“Sure am, handsome! And the roommate is gone! ;)”
I bite my lip, knowing my days of feeling her sweet, delicious pussy quivering around my cock are numbered. Fuck, this is going to be hard.
“Got my new assignment,” I replied. “I’ll head over right after work.”
“Okay.”
Her final message to me lacks her initial enthusiasm and I know she’s dreading to hear the words just as I am about saying them.
***
When Mia opens her front door, a smile is shining on her gorgeous face despite the sadness in her eyes.
“Congratulations on your promotion, Sergeant,” she says, wrapping her arms around my neck.
Her Soldier Page 5
