Gwen Campbell - [Love from the Ashes 02]

by Recon [Shadowfire] (epub)

  His ability to breathe died along with his ability to think when she slid her t-shirt up and over her head, revealing a shimmering, satiny, silver blue bra and the smooth rise of her breasts. He swallowed, hard. Rick felt his mouth drop open when she reached behind her and unfastened her bra. Paige’s breasts were even more beautiful than he’d imagined. They were high and firm, tipped with the ripest, most vibrant pink nipples he’d ever seen. They drew up tight when the cool air hit them and he hardened in a rush that made him moan. A desire so powerful it was painful cramped his belly. Her bra joined the growing pile of clothing on the bench. It was followed by her panties and he stared at the fiery pelt of red hair on her mound, the shadowy gap between her thighs, and didn’t lift his head until he felt her fingers on the buttons of his fatigue shirt.

  “Paige...” he managed to say but his voice was shaky and unnaturally deep. He had to clear his throat before he could continue. “Paige, I am halfway in love with you and if we do this, I will be completely in love with you,” he admitted nakedly. He laid his hands on her arms, stopping her from undressing him. “I’ve been halfway in love with you since about one minute after I met you. I am a lot of things, Paige Wynn, but I am not strong enough to handle it if you’re not in this with me all the way.” Rick looked away for a moment and inhaled shakily before looking back into her gorgeous, shimmering eyes.

  She laid her hands on his chest. “But you said if we were working together, on a mission, we couldn’t be together.”

  He heard the hurt in her voice. “I know,” Rick acknowledged quietly. “But if you can love me—even a fraction of how much I love you—I promise I will find a way for us to be together.” His thumbs moved gently on her arms. “But don’t come at me if you don’t want me, Paige.” He swallowed audibly. “Don’t touch me if you don’t mean it.”

  “I am standing in a barracks shower with you, Richard Miles,” Paige said evenly. “Naked.” She glanced down at herself then back up at him. “Yes. I mean it,” she added adamantly then smiled as she lifted her arms and wove them around his neck. He smoothed his hands over her back and eased the naked length of her into his body.

  Grinning crookedly, he cupped her ass and lowered his mouth to hers.

  Paige gasped. The firm, sculpted lips moving over hers were so warm and gentle she couldn’t reconcile them to the tough recon sergeant she’d fallen for. She was awed by the way his lower lip tugged on hers, how his mouth feathered over hers and brushed soft kisses to the corners. He pulled back and ran his tongue over his mouth like he was savoring her taste. Unable to breathe, Paige could only watch.

  “As delicious as I remembered,” Rick whispered and nuzzled her bound hair. “Sometimes I can’t sleep at night, remembering how you taste.” He flexed his big hands into her ass, crushed her nakedness to him carefully. Rolling his hips a little, he let her feel how hard he was.

  Paige clutched his thick neck and moaned softly. She moaned again when his mouth returned to hers...not asking, taking. But taking with a gentleness that made her tremble and if she hadn’t already been completely enthralled by him, she would be now.

  His tongue sank slow and deep into her mouth, tasting her with patient relish and teasing, testing flicks. Soft, content sounds came from deep in his chest. His hands roved her ass, her hips, pulling her naked mound into the hard ridge of his cock.

  When Paige leaned back and again reached for the buttons on his shirt, he let her. He smiled down at her with a peacefulness that was at odds with the fire in his eyes. He watched her strong, slender fingers loosen button after button. Fascinated by how her hands moved like he’d been fascinated that first morning he’d watched her pack medical supplies, Rick still didn’t really believe Paige Wynn could be his. Although he desperately wanted to.

  Rick watched with intense, spiraling pleasure as Paige undressed him. He gave her the freedom of his body, liked the way she came at him without coyness and with a direct need that echoed his own. He was a brave man but this woman eclipsed him. She was so sure about what she wanted and made no excuses for taking it. He sighed with anticipation as she eased his shirt out of his pants then slid it off his shoulders, thanking the stars above that what she wanted, was him.

  He sighed again as he watched her long, lean body twist and dip as she laid his shirt on the bench beside hers, then reached for the hem of his t-shirt and begin pulling.

  Like that first night when she’d touched his bullet scar, Paige was enthralled by Rick’s skin. Amazed that something could be so soft and firm at the same time, she breathed deeper. Her fingers moved over the sides of his body, testing the resiliency of his muscles and more than pleased by the feel of him. She smoothed her palms up the sheer mass of his back just for the pleasure of it.

  “Hmm,” Rick sighed contentedly and ran his fingers up her arms with a light, sensuous touch. “I like the feel of your hands on me.”

  His voice was deep, deeper than usual and it echoed in the empty space. It came back to her like a throbbing pulse she could feel in her pussy. Paige smiled and crouched so she could run her lips over the line of his skin just above his belt. She loved the satin heat of him. “My hands like touching you,” she murmured. Rick tensed. Gooseflesh came out on his skin and he wrapped one hand in her hair and held her to him, telling her what he liked. Telling her what he needed. She repeated the caress, holding the hem of his t-shirt up a little higher so she could reach more of him.

  Kissing a path up the center of his body, she lifted the t-shirt over his head and threw it onto the bench.

  The first touch of naked skin to naked skin made them both shudder, their eyes drifting shut as they absorbed the sensation. Paige’s breasts nuzzled the hardness of his ribs. Rick’s belly, sculpted and rising and falling fast, slid into hers. His heavy arms wrapped around her body and drew her to him. Flexing then releasing his hold, he intensified and renewed the contact until he moaned softly and dropped his head onto her shoulder. He breathed her in.

  “Tell me you’re mine, Paige,” Rick whispered hoarsely. His mouth moved against her skin. “Tell me I can have you. This body next to mine...”

  Forever.

  Rick didn’t have the courage to say the last word. Couldn’t bear frightening her off. Still, that didn’t stop him wanting her more than anything he’d ever known.

  “Yes,” Paige whispered as she slid her arms around him and held him tight. She didn’t know where this hesitancy in him came from. He was one of the most supremely confident men she’d ever met but when it came to her, he was...vulnerable. Paige softened her embrace and tucked her face in beside his, liking the fundamentally male rasp of his cheek against hers. “I am yours, Richard Miles,” she whispered. Her voice was gentle, sure, reassuring. She kissed his jaw, the base of his ear, feeling in her gut that she was the only person—the only woman—Rick had ever let himself be vulnerable with. She treasured that, just like she treasured the fledgling love she felt for him.

  When he lifted his head and looked down at her, he was smiling. The hardness in his eyes was gone, replaced by a contentment and hunger that made her breath catch.

  Rick nodded slowly. “I won’t forget it,” he promised with a dawning, lecherous grin. “I want to be touching you, holding you, just like this...” He tightened his arms, just a little, then eased off. “For a long time, Corporal.” Dipping his head, he kissed her again. Claiming her mouth fully, his tongue sank deep, caressing hers like he was sure of his welcome. Was sure of her response. He pulled back. “Now get me naked, Corporal, because I want to get under a shower with you. Get you all hot and wet,” Rick murmured, kissing her throat, sliding a hand between their bodies and cupping her breast. “Then spend the rest of the day finding out how many ways you’ll let me take you. With my hands, my mouth...” He kissed the firm rise of her breast then leaned back to nuzzle her nipple with his lips. “...my cock,” he added with an intensity that was almost a growl. Grabbing her ass again and grinding her belly into his rock-hard erection, he sm
iled wolfishly when she groaned and shuddered in his arms.

  “Today sounds good,” Paige murmured and moistened her lips. “But what about after that?” she taunted. She dragged her fingernails down his lats until he threw his head back and ground his loins into her again.

  “Tonight I’m going to find out how many ways you’ll take me,” he drawled and scored her throat with his teeth. Then he drew the tip of his tongue over the white marks his teeth had left. “And after that, Corporal, we’ll see about some R and R time. Hot sun. Hot beaches.” He nuzzled the base of her neck and trailed a line of kisses across her shoulder. “This hot body of yours in a hot bikini. Those hot hands and that hot tongue moving over every inch of me.”

  He leaned back and smiled down at her. Arousal made his eyes sparkle like ice on fire.

  “Me, waking up with your tongue on my cock. You, waking up with my mouth on your pussy. Hmm?”

  Paige grinned crookedly and slid her hands down Rick’s body. Slipping her fingertips inside the waistband of his fatigues, she caressed his skin. “Sounds like a plan,” she murmured and leaned away to loosen his belt. She tossed her head imperiously. “Sit down, Sergeant.”

  “Is that an order, Corporal?” he shot back. His intense eyes narrowed. The firm, square corners of his mouth turned up as he lowered his heavily muscled body onto the bench behind him.

  “Oh yes,” Paige nodded emphatically then dropped gracefully onto her knees. Kneeling in front of Rick, naked as the day she was born, Paige had never felt more powerful, more aware of her sensuality as she untied his boot laces. She felt his eyes on her, her breasts, her hands, the pelt of hair that barely covered her mound. He’d be able to glimpse her slick nether lips between her braced thighs. She heard his breath break when she pulled his boot off. The effort made her breasts sway violently. When she pulled off his socks, she took a moment to explore the sharp, defined rise of his calf. She lifted one of his big feet and pressed it between her breasts so she could run her thumbs around his ankle with firm, deliberate strokes.

  She loved the way Rick’s eyes drifted shut, the dawning pleasure on his face. The way he leaned back, braced his arms behind him and sighed.

  “Definitely keeping you, Paige,” Rick murmured happily and sighed again when she switched feet and began massaging the other one. “Zach’s a good medic but he doesn’t do feet. Not nearly as good as you do.” He laughed at his own joke. His laugh was loud and lusty when Paige snorted and pinched his small toe almost to the point of pain before lowering his foot to the floor. He stood and took hold of her wrists, bringing her with him. Then he laid her hands on his fly and looked down at her expectantly.

  Paige didn’t disappoint him. Without further preamble, she lowered his pants and shorts and tossed them onto the bench. Gently, she wrapped her hand around his cock.

  “Ah,” Rick gasped, unable to stop his hips from rocking forward. He grabbed hold of Paige’s strong shoulders, harder than he should but he needed her strength to keep him upright. When she stood and turned away from him, he groaned but only until she walked toward one of the shower cubicles, drew back the curtain and turned on the water. Looking back at him, she cocked her finger and grinned.

  Rick practically ran into the shower. He wrapped his arms around her and tipped their shoulders into the flow. When his hard cock nestled into her belly, he experienced a rightness that felt like coming home. He kissed her, sucked Paige’s tongue into his mouth and stroked it. He loved her taste, the way her breath caught and the feel of her slender fingers squeezing the muscles in his back and shoulders. The way she held him and anchored his mouth to hers left her body unguarded and open to the firm sweeps of his palms across her waist. He cupped her soft, resilient breasts and squeezed her nipples before sliding his hands around her ass and pulling her body up hard against his. Slipping his fingers between her legs, he caressed her inner thighs.

  “You’re already wet,” Rick murmured against Paige’s mouth. He shuddered as he discovered how much she wanted him, how much he turned her on. Bathing his fingertips in the cream that smeared her thighs, he caressed the plump, slick lips of her sex.

  “For you, yes,” Paige gasped and arched back. “I’ve wanted you to touch me. Needed your hands on me.” She gasped again when Rick slid his fingers along her slit.

  Like that time when he’d pinned her against the hood of the four-by-four, Paige felt herself spin. Her body was again at the mercy of Rick’s powerful hands. Turned until she was facing away from him, her hands splayed on the waterproof wall. His foot moved between hers, toeing them apart. His knee slid between hers. Then she felt a bar of soap moving over her back, between her breasts. It was her soap. The familiar, light, floral scent filled the stall. Her wash kit was already hanging in the shower and Rick must have picked up her soap. After working up a lather, he put the bar aside, then smeared the foam across her breasts. Caressing and kneading, plumping and pinching her, he made her tremble and push her ass back at him in unspoken plea. But she couldn’t tempt him away from her breasts and he made love to them with his hands for an excruciatingly long time. With his chin on her shoulder, Rick watched. Paige felt his breath on her moist skin, his hard cock bump her hip and nestle between the globes of her ass without entering her. He tormented her with his closeness.

  She tried to turn, tried to reach around for him but the strength of his arms defeated her effortlessly. Giving up, she abandoned herself to the pleasure of his hands. Breathing harder now, Paige whimpered when he pinched her nipple and twisted it just enough to make her shudder, arch her ass into him and rub against him wantonly.

  Then his hands were all over her—her shoulders, arms, legs and back up again. Soapy hands caressed the long line of her throat then rubbed her belly. Slipping between her legs, from front and back, Rick caressed her pussy. He worked the thick lather into every fold, every crease of her sex and slid over her puckered anus. Drawing tiny, fast circles over it, he probed her lightly and repeatedly while two thick fingers drove into her cunt. The strength in Rick’s wrist lifted her up onto the balls of her feet with every sure thrust.

  All the while, Rick’s lips caressed her ear, making her feel every break in his breath, every groan as his fingers filled her then retreated. “I’m going to fuck you, Paige Wynn,” he whispered hoarsely then swirled his tongue over her ear. “Fuck you hard. Then soft. Then hard again.” He drove his fingers into her pussy. So fast she couldn’t track the individual thrusts and she cried out in a long, rising note of need. Then he stopped. Just inside the mouth of her sheath, the tips of his fingers hovered. He curled and spread them languidly. “Fuck this sweet, wet pussy until you come for me, Paige. Come with my cock inside you.” He licked her ear then bit down on the lobe with enough force to make her tremble. “Then I’m going to make love to this pussy. Long, slow hours of my cock, here...” Rick eased his thick fingers in and out of her with a delicate touch she hadn’t know such a powerful man was capable of. “...here,” he added, moving the finger inside her ass with slow deliberation. “Me, loving you, everywhere.” He bit her earlobe one last time then slid his hands away from her.

  Paige stumbled, lurching to one side as the supporting strength of his hands left her. Rick grabbed her waist and anchored her body against his. “You’re shaking all over,” he breathed. “I’ve barely touched you and you’re ready to come.”

  Moistening her lips with the tip of her tongue, Paige nodded shakily. “Yes. Please,” she begged even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to come yet. If she wanted this exquisite torture Rick had caught her up in to end just yet. He tipped his head and looked down at her critically. Then one corner of his full, sensual mouth turned up. “Not yet, Paige. I’m not ready to let you come yet.” He spun her into the flow of water, ignoring her pleading and cries of frustration. With one arm carefully anchored around her waist, he traced rivulets of soap down her body and rinsed her clean.

  He turned her again and again. His hands were everywhere—on her shoulders, b
etween her legs, on her pussy. His touch was light and maddening, even when he eased a finger into her pussy and gently worked clean water into her core.

  Then, smiling down at her with those intense eyes, he stood back and held the bar of soap out to her.

  Willing her breath to come deep and even, Paige fought to control her arousal. “You sure this is a good idea, Sergeant?” she purred when she had a grip on her need. As she rolled the soap between her palms, she raised more and more lather. “Letting me get hold of you after making me so hot I’m ready to crawl out of my skin.” She set the bar aside, and couldn’t stop her hands from shaking when she laid them on his shoulders. Her palms slid across the hard, thick rise of his smooth chest...the one she’d spent hours drooling over while he worked out. She looked down at his cock and didn’t try to hide her gasp of pleasure. Rick’s cock was big. Really big. And so hard it brushed his sculpted belly. The thick head was an angry purple-rose. She ran her soapy fingers across it.

  His hips rocked forward, moving his cock against her hands. “You can jerk me off any time, Paige, and I’d come crawling back for more,” Rick murmured. His voice was deep and sensual. He braced his hands on the wall on either side of her head. “I figure it would take me about ten seconds to come with those hands on me.” The corner of his mouth curled up. “But then what would I fuck you with?”

  Grinning, Paige ran a soapy index finger down his length, tracing the thick vein along the underside. She cupped his balls lightly in her palm. “Hmm,” she murmured thoughtfully then teased soap into the tight curls at the base of his cock. She looked into his eyes. There was moisture on his forehead that had nothing to do with condensation from the shower. She also saw the tease lifting the corner of his mouth, knew he wanted her to draw this out. Knew he wasn’t ready to come. Not just yet. Like her, he’d waited too long to rush.

  She felt a diabolical grin shape her mouth as she fisted Rick deliberately. Wrapping both hands around his cock and sliding them over his length in tandem, she paused to squeeze the head until he groaned and bucked. Then she ran her soapy hands over his hips and arms.