A bolt of longing, need, and relief wrapped itself around his heart as she rose on her sneakered tiptoes and leaned into the kiss. Despite everything that had happened, this degree of need took him by surprise.

The door pinged loudly as it opened, echoing around the small space. Molly jerked away from the kiss, looking mussed and flustered, but there was no one there. No one in the short corridor either. He grabbed her hand, wanting to get a lockable door between them and the world as fast as possible.

As soon as the door swung shut on them, he lifted her up by her hips, finding her mouth again with his, because there were no words for what had happened. She kissed him back with a ferocity that lit a fire inside him.

He wanted to rip her clothes off, but he didn’t know how long she could wear the sundress alone, how long they would be there, so instead he put her back on the floor and carefully, with shaking hands, undid the buttons of her blouse.

She batted his hands away and whipped the silky thing off over her head. The beige lace of her bra made her seem naked for a second. He trailed the backs of his hand lightly over her arms. Her skin was warm, alive to his touch. Alive. Thank God they hadn’t evaporated into the night air in the car. He shook his head for a second to clear the image of the explosion, but instead his brain took him to his friend Danny, who’d been blown up in Iraq. They’d been dicking around…until they hadn’t. Until Danny was gone forever. And they could have been too.

Molly took his face in her hands and he was back with her, yet overwhelmed with the euphoria of being alive. He tried to rein in his impulse to crush her to him, but when she looked in his eyes, she must have seen something. She stepped back and unzipped her charred skirt. In a second she’d wrapped her arms around his neck, dragging him to her mouth.

Proof of life had never felt so good.

“I need you now,” she murmured against his lips.

The lady didn’t need to ask again. He sat her on the small dresser next to the window and yanked off her panties. He shoved his own pants down and her hand reached for him while she was wriggling to the edge so she could get closer.

She drew him to her, but he took her hand away and put it behind her so she was leaning back. He ran the tip of his dick over her clit, watching as her eyes fluttered closed and her mouth dropped open.

His body blazed with a need to consume her. He pushed into her in one hard stroke. Heat shot through his balls into the base of his spine. He was going to last no time at all…

He held himself in place, feeling her body pulse around him. “Maybe someone’s watching us through the window,” he said. “Do you want me to open the curtains a little farther?”

She started for a second and then relaxed, her breathing kicking up as she twitched around his dick. She gazed into his eyes and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

It was all fantasy, the window faced a wall, but he pulled the net curtains open, flicking them across her back as he did. “Take your bra off.”

She didn’t hesitate, she unfastened it, and allowed it to fall to the floor.

He pulled out of her slowly and grabbed her legs, swiveling her so she was lying across the dresser, giving the wall, and her fantasy, a better view.

He bent over her and dragged a nipple into his mouth. He held it between his teeth and flicked his tongue over its hardness.

His dick strained up, and he was thankful that she was in no position to grab it. He had no idea if he’d be able to hold it together if she did.

Her head fell back, and he wondered for a second if she was imagining someone else watching them. The thought sent waves of arousal through him that took him by surprise.

He gently bit her other nipple and plunged his hand between her legs. Jesus Christ she was so wet. So fucking wet. He dipped his head to her and ran his tongue and fingers over her clit.

Her legs dropped open to give him more access. He’d never been with a woman so open to his touch, so comfortable with her sexuality. It nearly blew his mind that she was his. He knew there was some mental correction to do there, but his mind was consumed with the taste of her. His dick ached to be inside her again. Literally throbbed to feel her hot and wet around him.

He plunged two fingers inside her and curled his fingers behind her clitoris. His whole mouth covered it, stroking it with the flat of his tongue.

Her breath became audible, and then she gasped his name as she contracted around his fingers. He didn’t wait for her spasms to recede, he moved her back around so she was sitting at the edge of the dresser and just took her. No tentative pushes, no gentle strokes, just one thrust that blasted through his brain with stars and heat.

God, he needed to be farther inside her. He picked her up and laid her across on the bed, holding her legs open for him. He thrust, hard, his balls slapping against her. She moaned and raised her butt, giving him those all-important millimeters of access.

Everything in him tightened. Molly grabbed her breasts and, with her thumb and forefinger, pinched her nipples, her eyes on his. That was it. While hot heat pulsed from his lower back all the way up his spine to his head as he came. Fuck, yeah.

“You’re amazing,” she said, pulling herself up on her elbows. He felt her deliberately squeeze his dick. He eased out of her, by habit grabbing his dick to keep the condom on. Except…no condom. It hadn’t even crossed his mind. Not even once. He’d never had sex without a condom. That was one thing that was beaten into them at bootcamp.

“Molly. I didn’t use a condom. Are you…?”

“It’s okay, I’m on the pill. And I swear I’ve been celibate since I met you. You bastard.” She shifted on the bed and laid her head on the pillow.

Relief…didn’t flow through him. What was wrong with him? He climbed on the bed and lay next to her, pulling a sheet over both of them. “Why am I a bastard again? I mean, you’re probably right, but why?”

“After I left Iraq, I looked for you everywhere. I don’t mean I looked for you online, or tried to find out where you live…I mean, you said you’d come find me, and I trusted that you would. I expected to find you on my doorstep every time I came home. When I wasn’t at home, I thought I saw you a hundred times. But it was never you. You ruined my whole year.” Her voice dropped to a whisper as her eyes drooped closed. “That’s why you’re a bastard.”

Her breathing changed almost immediately, and she was asleep faster than a cat. He didn’t even get the opportunity to apologize, or explain, or revel in the fact that she’d been saving herself for him to show up. That he’d wasted a year. He imagined for a moment what that year could have looked like. Sharing a bed, a home, a life. His last thought was of him and Molly on a sofa, just watching television. So mundane.

So fucking amazing.

CHAPTER NINE

She woke as the light came in through the window they’d left uncovered. She smiled as she remembered the sex last night. He blew her mind. She visualized for a second that someone had been watching him go down on her. Heat pooled between her legs again. What was wrong with her?

They were in trouble unless something happened, but all she could think about was David and his talented tongue, dick, and fingers. If she were going to prison, she’d at least have a lot of great memories to pull from while serving time.

David turned over, grabbing her and spooning her from behind. She moved, allowing him to get comfortable, and then settled back against him. His arm was wrapped around her waist, and her whole body was held against his.

He released the tightness around her waist and twisted his arm slightly, just so that it brushed her nipples. They sprang to life almost immediately. Was he even awake? His breathing was deep and steady. He had to still be asleep. He rolled his arm against her nipples again, causing her to bite back a whimper. He said nothing, but gently moved his hand so he could stroke the top of her breast, all the way to her nipple and back again.