Damage Assessment: A Career Soldier Military Romance

by Tawdra Kandle

  I wanted to draw those buds between my lips and suck until Tasha moaned my name, but I forced myself to wait. Instead, I dropped to my knees and tugged down the dress, baring her to the waist . . . where it stuck and wouldn’t move.

  “Derek—there’s a zipper.” I heard the laughter in her voice. “I can reach around and get it.”

  “Don’t you dare take that from me.” I shot her a mock-scowl. “Turn around, Tash.”

  She obeyed, and I kept my hands on her hips as she turned, learning the terrain of her body. When her back faced me, I reached up and drew down the zipper, revealing a tiny wisp of lacy black panties.

  “Oh, man,” I groaned. “Tasha, you really are trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

  “Did I do something wrong?” I could tell by the pseudo-prim tone of her voice that she was teasing. “Is there something you don’t like?”

  “Not one fucking thing.” I spanned her sweet ass with my two hands. “This ass, babe . . . it’s utter perfection. I could just play here all night.” The loose dress slithered down her legs to pool at her feet. “But then I’d miss out on other fun. Your body, baby, is like fantasy land for me. I don’t know which ride I want to take first.”

  “I love how you touch me.” She sounded a little strangled. “So whatever you decide to do is fine with me.”

  “Step out of your dress. No, wait a minute.” I hooked my fingers over the sides of her panties and eased them down over her thighs, her knees and her calves until they fell over her dress. “Okay. Now step out of your dress.”

  I helped her do it, so that she didn’t get hung up on anything and trip. My heart was pounding so hard, it thundered in my ears. She was naked in front of me, dressed only in her heels, like a wet-dream come to incredible Technicolor life.

  I ran my hands down her legs and then back up to her hips before I pressed a kiss to each cheek of her ass. “Spread these gorgeous legs, babe. Open up to me.

  Tasha parted her legs, glancing over her shoulder to look down at me. “Should I take off my shoes?”

  “Abso-fucking-lutely not. Keep them on.” I slipped my hand between her legs, hissing out a breath when my fingers slid over her slick folds. “God, babe. You’re so wet. So fucking wet for me.”

  She arched her back and spoke in a strained voice. “I’ve been wet all day, whenever I think of you. When I thought about what we might do tonight. And when I remembered you kissing me last weekend. You did this to me.”

  Her words made me feel powerful and awed at the same time. “Every time I think of you, I get hard. So fucking hard. Every night this week, I jerked off remembering that kiss . . . and imagining what might happen tonight.”

  “But now we don’t have to wonder or imagine, because we’re both right here.” Reaching back, she rubbed her fingers over the top of my head. “Your fingers are on me. God, that feels so good.”

  “You feel amazing,” I mumbled. It was uninspired, but it was all that I could come up with just now, since all the blood in my body had relocated due south. “I want you to come like this, Tasha. Relax into my fingers . . . let them be all you feel. Focus on the feel of me against your clit.” I pressed the small swollen nub. “And my fingers sliding into your tight pussy.” I thrust two fingers inside her, and she cried out, riding my hand with shameless need. Each keening moan and each buck of her body went straight to my cock, which strained against the zipper of my pants.

  “Derek . . . God, God, God, God . . . Oh, God . . . I’m going to come. I’m coming so hard.” She ground down on me, and her channel tightened around my fingers as she climaxed. I stayed with her, stroking and caressing, until she slumped and teetered forward.

  “Whoa there, babe.” I clamored to my feet and wrapped one arm around her waist. “I got you.”

  “Good.” She sounded breathless. “Because I’m pretty sure standing is no longer an option.”

  “Let’s take care of that, then.” I lifted her into my arms. “Bedroom?”

  Tasha’s eyes flew open as she looked up at me. “Derek—your back. Be careful. You shouldn’t be lifting me.”

  “Babe, you weigh less than a feather. I’m okay, really. See, I had this talented physical therapist who helped me get through the last part of my healing process, and now I can do just about anything I want . . . including kneeling down between her legs to get her off and picking her up to take her to bed.” I brushed a kiss over her red curls. “Now point me in the right direction.”

  “At the end of the hallway.” She rested her head on my chest. “Hey, Derek. How come I’m naked and you still have on all your clothes?”

  I grinned. “Because me getting naked is the start of act two.” I nudged open the door to her room and laid her on the mattress.

  She pushed up onto her elbows and looked at me. “That’s the best opener I can imagine. Take off your clothes . . . slowly. I want to watch you.”

  “I think that can be arranged.” I began unbuttoning my shirt before I tugged it from the waistband of my pants.

  “I love your arms.” She tilted her head, a small smile playing on her lips. “You just seem so powerful. Like there’s nothing you couldn’t do.”

  I stripped off the shirt and dropped it onto the floor before I toed off my shoes and removed my socks. “I hope that you think the same thing when you see other parts, too.”

  “We won’t know if you don’t show me.” She was sassy, and I loved that. “Lose those pants, mister.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I undid the button and eased down the zipper. My dick was pushing out of the boxer briefs I wore, dying to come out and join the party. I let the pants drop down, kicked them away and then slowly, so fucking slowly, I took off the boxers so that I stood naked in front of her.

  Her eyes were molten, and when she licked her lips, I almost came right there.

  “Come here.” Her voice was raspy. “Stand close to the bed.”

  I obeyed, mesmerized by the look on her face. When my knees bumped into the mattress, she crawled over to me and wrapped one hand around my jutting erection.

  “Oh, sweet holy God,” I groaned. “Babe. Your hands on me . . . better than I dreamed.”

  “You like my hands, huh?” She pumped me a few times, swiping her thumb over the head, where a drop of pre-cum had beaded. “Just my hands? Or . . .” She folded her body forward. “Does this work, too?”

  Before I could answer, she’d taken me into her mouth, sucking so hard that my knees nearly buckled. Her talented tongue swirled around the crown, and her hand stayed wrapped around the base. Tasha bobbed lower, taking me deep, going down until I bumped into the back of her throat. I grasped her head, running my fingers over the soft curls, nearly losing my mind when she moaned, the vibration shooting to my very center.

  “Tash—baby—you’re fucking incredible.” Against every instinct of my body, I cupped her face until she released my cock with a pop of her lips. “I want to keep fucking your mouth. But this time, I need to be inside you when I come. I want that. I want to be part of you.”

  She smiled up at me, running her tongue over her glistening lips. “I won’t complain.” She reached for the buckle of her shoe, but I stayed her hand.

  “No, keep them on. I want to feel those heels on my ass when I’m pounding into you.”

  She raised her eyebrows but didn’t argue as she moved back to the center of the bed. “Again I say, no complaints here.”

  Somehow, I managed to find my pants and fumble for one of the condoms I’d left there. Standing up, I rolled it over my cock, knowing she was watching me eagerly. The importance of what we were about to do hit me as I lay down next to her, stretching my body alongside hers.

  “Tasha, remember. If you’re uncomfortable or need me to slow down, tell me.” I trailed my fingers between her breasts. “I want this to be so fucking good for you.”

  “Then don’t treat me like I might break.” She reached between us to grasp my dick again. “Just . . . make me feel good. Make us both feel g
ood.”

  My way of answering was to lean up and capture one of her alluring nipples between my lips. I sucked hard, pressing it with my tongue against the roof of my mouth. My fingers teased the other side, circling, pinching and twisting. Tasha gripped the back of my neck and held me there, making small noises that drove me closer to complete insanity.

  “So good. God, your mouth on me . . .”

  “Your tits are perfect, babe. I just want to keep my mouth on them all the time. I want to suck on you until you scream.”

  She gasped, and suddenly, I knew I had to taste her now. My cock rebelled; it wanted to be inside her already, fucking her hard, but I pushed down that rising urge and kissed down her stomach, pushing her legs apart and running my fingers over the fine red curls that surrounded her pussy.

  “Derek—you don’t have to—” She was writhing already. “I mean, you can, but—”

  Her next words were lost as I licked her seam, pressing my tongue flat and hard against her wet sex. She canted her hips up to meet my mouth, panting, before she grasped my head again, this time keeping it in place between her legs, as if I were planning to move away any time soon.

  I licked at the nub of her clit, and then used my tongue to tease her opening. I wanted her to come like this, wanted to feel her go to pieces against my mouth, but I was afraid if I did, I’d end up spewing, too. I got her to the edge, where the noises she was making told me that she was about to topple over into oblivion, and then I crawled back up her body and positioned my cock between her legs.

  “Oh, God, Derek. I want you inside me. Please, please, please . . .” She was chanting, wild, out of her mind, and I was right there with her. Without waiting any longer, I thrust into her, burying myself deep in the tight heat that enveloped me into ecstasy.

  I wanted to take my time. I wanted to ease her back up into pleasure so that she’d come again, to have enough control to hold off until she was on the verge of her own orgasm. I stroked slowly, hitting her deep, willing myself to wait, wait, wait—

  And then Tasha arched her hips up to meet me, wrapping her legs around so that her heels dug into my ass. Her fingers gripped my shoulders, and she ground out my name.

  “Derek—God, now. Harder, right now.”

  That was it. My vision blurred, my hearing tunneled, and nothing else in the world existed beyond my cock stroking into her harder, faster . . . until she moaned out my name and went still. Her pussy clenched around me, and I could no more have stopped from coming than I could’ve stopped the earth from spinning.

  Everything I’d wanted, everything I’d feared . . . it all centered here, with me buried inside a woman I never wanted to leave. I wanted to be inside her for the rest of my life. I wanted to hear her strained voice crying out my name every day, until that was the only word I could comprehend.

  We came down slowly, both of us. I couldn’t stop touching her, stroking my hand down her sides, dropping kisses along her neck and breathing in her enticing scent.

  “My God, Derek.” Tasha sighed. “I thought I had a good imagination. But I never dreamed it could be like this.”

  “I know.” I withdrew from her, lying down next to her and pulling her closer to my side. “I didn’t either. I . . .” I swallowed hard. “There’s probably a better time or place to say this, but I’m just a big stupid man, and I can’t help myself. This was amazing, Tasha, because it was you. It was us. I’ve never been with a woman I cared about the way I feel about you.” I wound one of her short curls around my finger. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone. It’s not just the desire, the physical part, though God knows, that’s there in spades. I love to talk to you. I love to hear you laugh. I love when you’re thinking about work and how you care about what you do. I even love when you give me the take-no-shit look, when you’re telling me what to do and what’ll happen if I don’t.” I paused, took a deep breath, and I went for broke.

  “I love you, Tasha. I’ve been falling in love with you for months.” A smile quirked up my lips. “I think I started to fall in love with you that day in the waiting room, when you told me to march my sorry ass back to your office.”

  Tasha buried her face in the crook of my shoulder. “Derek.” She sniffled, and I realized she was crying.

  “Babe. Hey.” I tilted her chin up so that I could see her eyes. “Don’t cry. Please don’t. I didn’t want to pressure you. I just . . . I wanted you to know how I feel. Maybe I should’ve waited. But I’ve never been a guy who believes in waiting. I feel like if I know something, if I’m sure of it, why shouldn’t I say it?” I kissed her forehead. “I never want you to doubt how I feel. This doesn’t mean you have to say anything back to me, but I want you to be sure of me. Be sure of my love for you.”

  “Derek.” She laid her hand on my cheek. “Every part of me wants to tell you that I love you, too. These . . .” She pointed at her eyes. “These are happy tears. I want to say I’m in love, too. But I jumped too fast before, and I have to be a little careful. I need to think about everything before I leap. I’m sorry that I have to do that. I wish I didn’t. But I lost myself before, and I can’t do it again.”

  “Tasha, I don’t want you to lose yourself. If I thought I wasn’t good for you, I’d be the first to keep the hell away from your life. I’d leave you alone. But there’s no doubt in my mind that we were made for each other, and babe, I’m going to be so damn good for you. I’ll never let you lose who you are. I want to help you grow and thrive. Take all the time you need, Tasha. I’m a patient man.”

  She studied me, her liquid eyes searching mine. “Thank you. Thank you for understanding.” She ran one finger down my chest. “But while I’m taking time, I hope you won’t go anywhere. Because you know, Derek, I’m excellent at multi-tasking.”

  I touched her nose. “Oh, are you?”

  A slow and sultry smile spread over her lips. “I am. I can mull things over at the same time that I’m giving you a blow job that will rock your world.”

  My mouth went totally dry. “Don’t let me stop you from doing exactly that. I’m a giver, babe. And if having my dick in your mouth helps you think, I’m willing to sacrifice for the cause.”

  Chapter Seven

  Tasha

  As it turned out, I really loved sex.

  During my years with Wes, from the time we’d started dating until the disastrous last days of our doomed marriage, sex had been . . . okay. I’d figured it was because I was young and stupid, and Wes hadn’t done anything to dispel that belief. He’d never said anything positive about what I did in bed, and later, if I’d dared to try something new in an effort to make things better, he accused me of cheating on him. I’d learned to simply bend myself to his will there as I did in the rest of my life.

  Making love with Derek, then, was a revelation. He made it clear with every touch, with every word and with every sigh that I pleased him, that I brought him pleasure. He praised me with his words and he worshipped me with his body. He told me over and over how beautiful I was, how perfect my body was, and how much he loved to make me come. When I returned the favor, he couldn’t say enough, even when he was basically incoherent, babbling in the wake of his orgasm.

  And between all of that, he told me how much he loved me. It went beyond the words he used; his love for me was evident in every touch.

  On Saturday morning, he brought me coffee and breakfast in bed. We ate together, talking about what we usually did on weekends. When Derek learned that I loved to haunt flea markets and farm stands, he decided that was what we’d do . . . after he’d settled himself between my legs to use his mouth to get me off, which he called the prerequisite for a good morning.

  After we showered together, we stopped by his house so that he could pick up clean clothes and some toiletries. He tossed another pair of underwear and a clean T-shirt into a bag, which he slung over his shoulder as we returned to his car.

  “I, um, thought if it was okay with you, I could stay over again tonight. I mean, unless yo
u need some space.” He’d studied me so seriously that I just had to grab his face and kiss him.

  “I don’t need space from you, Derek. Of course, I want you to stay. I’d be lost if you didn’t.”

  His smile lit up the morning.

  We wandered the flea markets, hand in hand. Derek stopped here and there, pointing out items he liked. We talked about our tastes in decorating, and I shared that I loved anything I could reclaim and make new.

  “I like to take something that seems like it can’t be useful anymore and make it beautiful again.” I swung our hands between us. “It feels good.”

  “That’s what you did with me.” He squeezed my fingers. “I didn’t think I was ever going to come back to life . . . but you didn’t let me stay in that place.”

  Talking about our therapist-patient relationship now, when we were so much more, gave me a twinge of unease. Although the flea market we’d chosen was actually over the border in North Carolina, I still worried that we might run into someone we knew. I tried not to let that concern show to Derek, but when I got quiet, he noticed.

  “Hey, there.” He hauled me into a quiet corner between two booths, where no one could see us. “You okay, babe?”

  “I am.” I lifted my face, kissing his jaw. “I’m just . . . thinking. But I’m enjoying being here with you. It’s so much more fun than doing the market by myself.”

  He studied me, his head cocked to the side. “Okay.” Framing my face with his hands, he kissed me, his tongue making lazy forays against my own. I wrapped my arms around his neck, desperate again for his touch. I felt like I would never get enough of him.

  We barely slept Saturday night, because it seemed Derek couldn’t get enough of me, either. We made love until we fell asleep in each other’s arms, and then one of us would wake and begin touching once more, until we were so aroused that we’d start all over again.

  Consequently, we didn’t wake up until after noon on Sunday. My mom’s call interrupted our sleep; she invited me for dinner, and when I declined, she sounded surprised. I told her that I’d had a busy weekend, and she must have heard something in my voice that made her leave it at that. After we hung up, I fell back onto the bed.