Heart's Desire

by Ellie Masters

  His lips crashed against hers, drawing out a low moan from her lips. He found the buttons of her overblouse and tore them free, sliding the desert camouflage to the ground. She attacked his clothing, stripping him in a frantic shedding of fabric. When she pushed his trousers down, his pants gathered at his ankles.

  With a laugh, they disengaged to remove their boots. With a kick of his feet, he freed himself and then sucked in a breath at his first full glimpse of Tia’s toned body as she slipped out of her uniform.

  “Those need to come off,” he said, pointing at her sports bra and white panties.

  “So does that,” she teased, gesturing to his briefs.

  “You first,” he said in challenge, stunned with the amount of self-control he displayed.

  His dick throbbed as it lengthened. He wanted inside of her right then, but they had all night. They’d both earned a night of pleasure and then some, but he wouldn’t rush things. That wasn’t the kind of game he played.

  Sex came easy, cheap, and sometimes was nothing more than a way to take the edge off. That wasn’t tonight’s goal.

  Tia had a right to be concerned about his past and what he planned for the future. He couldn’t take a step without some female showing off her tits, her ass, and advertising the whole package in hopes he’d bite. Finding a bed partner to rub one off with had never been a problem. What his life lacked was that inexplicable connection between heart, mind, and soul, which followed the union of flesh.

  He intended to cultivate that with Tia, which meant taking his time. Her eyes lit up, perhaps excited with the promise of what the night offered. Little did she know he intended to own not only her body, but by the time the sun rose, he would also capture her soul. To accomplish that would take every ounce of willpower because he’d have to deprive himself, delaying his gratification until he had her hooked. This was just the beginning of something much larger than himself.

  He approached her, taking each step with lethal intent, his gaze fixed and determined on his prize. She backed away, one hand fluttering to her belly, the other reaching behind in case she ran into anything. In another few steps, she’d meet the back wall.

  Reaching out, he gripped her nape and pulled her in for a kiss. One taste of Tia, and fuck willpower or self-control. Who the hell had he been kidding?

  Sinful. Delicious. Decadent.

  She tasted like heaven.

  He threaded his fingers in her hair and yanked her head back, kissing along her throat and pushing her against the wall of her room.

  “Lyons,” she said on a ragged exhale.

  “If you don’t fucking call me Ryker, I’m going to stop right now. When I’m kissing you or inside you, my fucking name is all I want to hear.”

  “Well, shit, Ryker, will you stop talking and just fucking kiss me?”

  “Hold on, Tia,” he said. “This isn’t going to be anything like last night.”

  He pressed his weight against her, pinning her body in place, and then released his grip on her hair to palm the back of her head. What he intended would come hard and fast, and he didn’t want to give her a concussion.

  His teeth nipped against her lips, sinking into the plump flesh. He grazed, licking and devouring, thoroughly enjoying himself as he tasted her essence. Tia gave freely to him, a willing sacrifice to his need, and seemed content to let him set the pace. She rested her hands on his shoulders but didn’t explore further, giving him pause. What was holding her back?

  He cupped one of her breasts and let his thumb tease her nipple until she hissed, sucking in a breath. Grabbing the bottom of the spandex fabric, he lifted the sports bra up and over her head. She raised her arms, helping him with the process of stripping her. He tossed the bra to the floor, not caring where it landed, and then seized her breast—not with his hand, but with the heat of his mouth. Her hands gripped his head, and she pulled him up, depriving him of his prize. Then, she planted a devastating kiss on his lips.

  With a nod, she released him back to feast on her breast. “More.”

  His fingers hooked on the white cotton of her panties, and he found himself crouching down. A neat, trimmed patch greeted him, and her arousal flooded his senses. He should stop and feast upon her, but he was more interested in guiding her feet out of her panties and removing that last barrier of clothing. Those he didn’t toss to the ground. Instead, he placed them on the dresser behind him.

  When he stood, he grabbed her ass and lifted her off the ground, amazed at how little she weighed. Tia wasn’t a petite woman, but she was lithe and toned, perfect really, and strong enough to endure what he had planned.

  He forced her back against the wall again, this time with something more than a simple kiss in mind. She wrapped her legs around his hips and cradled his face with both hands. Her dark eyes simmered with need, urging him to impale her right then, taking her with brutal strength. She kissed him, light and delicate, until he took over, piercing her willing lips and probing the recesses of her mouth. Their tongues tangled and danced. Her fingers dug into his scalp, pulling at his hair, driving him mad with desire.

  “I want to feel you,” she said. “Ryker…please.”

  Her hands roamed, gliding over the bunching of his muscles as he held her in place. Her fingers danced down his biceps and wrapped around to his shoulders, but she didn’t dip them lower to explore below his waist, which was good. One touch, and he would explode. The night had barely begun.

  He bit her nipple, clamping down hard, and then flicked the tip with his tongue.

  “Oh my God!” Her scream split the air, and he covered her mouth with his hand.

  “Unless you want to bring the entire base knocking on your door, you might want to keep that down.”

  “Ryker,” she said, whimpering this time, “your mouth…”

  While her words trailed off, he indulged in the suppleness of her flesh, biting her nipple and then sucking at it nice and slow. When her breathing settled, he flicked the beaded nipple until she arched back, biting her lip to suppress her moans.

  “I want to feel you,” she said.

  “You will,” he answered, “over and over again. We have all night, Tia. All fucking night.”

  He lifted her left leg off his hip and then the right, settling her on her feet. Then, he kissed down every inch of her skin, traveling the curves of her body where he lost himself in her ample cleavage. His exploration continued down the planes of her abdomen, cutting over muscles toned by intense conditioning. He then lingered at the flare of her hips, spellbound and in awe. His determination to take things slow was a challenge he might fail. She was exquisite.

  Nudging her foot, he forced her to widen her stance, which exposed her fully to his gaze. For a minute, he did nothing but sit back on his heels, mute with wonder and basking in the intoxication of her scent.

  She was all his, willing and wanting but incredibly hesitant. The muscles of her belly rippled with fear. Her toes curled against the floor, betraying her anxiousness. And her fingers fluttered at her sides, telegraphing her hesitation. A quick glance at the tightness of her pinched lids had him wondering what she was afraid of.

  Without another thought to any of her past lovers, especially douche-bag Scott, he thrust out his tongue and tasted her essence. It took seconds before the first whimper escaped her lips. Moments later, she plunged her fingers into his hair, twisting and pulling as he lashed again and again between her legs.

  “Oh God,” she said, lifting on her toes.

  He chased her, tracking her movements with his mouth and gripped her hips to hold her in place. This was a feast he intended to devour. He pressed forward, driving her wild, and then eased back with a hint of deviousness, knowing it would drive her insane.

  The first rush of wet heat trickled down her leg, and he lapped that up. Then, he traded his fingers for his tongue. He thrust two fingers inside her channel, no longer of a mind to take things slow, and curled them forward, not easing back until she succumbed to his ministrat
ions. Several goals were on his mind—one honorable, the others…not so much. He unleashed every weapon in his arsenal.

  Her first impression would always be of a fast and furious fuck on the ground. The deftness of his skill had yet been demonstrated, and he needed her to know he could perform and meet her needs.

  The intensity of her expression as she fought against the rising tide of her pleasure surprised him, but he wasn’t afraid to meet that challenge. Her struggle revealed the depths of her passion, and he determined to breach her defenses and unleash the force locked up inside.

  His fingers curled and pressed against the rough patch of her inner walls. Flicking and stroking, he drove her until her legs trembled, and she nearly pulled out his hair. A simple orgasm wouldn’t suffice. He needed to leave her breathless. With his palms on her ass, he brought her hips forward and buried his face between the valley of her butter-smooth thighs. He attacked her clit, using his tongue to sweep her to higher heights of pleasure. Playfully, he swirled around her heated flesh, pausing when she tensed to build up her arousal. Then, he feathered soft kisses and unleashed another flick of his tongue before clamping down with his teeth to send her into an earth-shattering release.

  She cried out and would’ve collapsed, except he caught her and held her through the shaking vibrations. Her cries grew louder and raw as she shuddered and gasped.

  “Holy hell.” Her breaths fluttered, and then she collapsed against him. “What the hell, Ryker? That was…it was…holy hell, that was amazing.”

  The smirk lifting his lips wasn’t something he could stop. Those words were exactly what he needed to hear.

  “We haven’t even begun,” he said.

  Her lids closed, no longer pinched but relaxed.

  When she opened her eyes, she cupped his chin. “My turn,” she said as she guided him to his feet and sank to her knees.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Pleasure

  Tia

  The hard floor bit at her knees, but Tia didn’t care, not when faced with an opportunity to explore the expanse of Ryker’s body. All those heated dreams, the thoughts of him sheltering her through the long nights, and those forbidden desires she’d kept locked up tight? All were becoming reality.

  A dangerous risk but one she embraced.

  Collins had given the team two days’ liberty in the wake of the accident. If they wanted, they never had to leave the confines of this odd metal box.

  As she reached to pull at the waistband of his briefs, Ryker gripped her wrist.

  “Not yet,” he said.

  “But don’t you want…” Her brows lifted, as she was surprised by what seemed an odd refusal. How did a man not want a blow job?

  “I do. Very much in fact, but let’s slow this down.”

  How slow did he mean to go? He’d already given her yet another earth-shattering orgasm. The man had talented fingers and an even wickeder tongue.

  The erotic promise of his hardened shaft, hidden beneath a thin layer of fabric, had her skin tingling and her breaths accelerating. She’d only experienced it in a hurried fuck not so long ago. Instead of imagining what it must look like, she could take her time exploring.

  She already knew what his cock felt like and couldn’t wait for the rush of pleasure that would follow the burning stretch as he slipped inside once again.

  An image of him stroking himself fluttered in her mind, his hand fisting his cock with rapid pulls as his ass flexed. His cock looked longer and thicker than she remembered, and that brought a building ache surging between her legs. Her mouth watered with the urge to wrap her lips around him, taste his salty essence, and devour him as she brought him the same pleasure he’d bestowed upon her.

  Her chest clamped with disappointment. He hadn’t rejected her, but he wasn’t allowing her to have a say in what happened next.

  Did that surprise her? Her brows pinched together, as she was confused by how that made her feel. Did she even care?

  He was impeccably built, the figure of cut muscle, so damn virile with his broad shoulders angling down to the lickable lines of the V-cut indentations of his abs and hips. Would he even let her trace those lines and follow them down? His entire body was a masterpiece of masculine perfection and screamed sexual domination. It drove her wild with an aching hunger.

  That throbbing between her legs returned. Not that it had ever left. She licked her lips and glanced up, incredibly aroused and so very confused.

  “What do you mean, slow down?”

  If he refused her mouth, would he allow her hands to take him over the edge? She wanted to watch him come apart, blissfully undone, as she stroked him to a panting, shaking, explosive end.

  His eyes hardened, perhaps sensing the thoughts scrambling in her head. With a jerk of his chin, he stepped away and sat on the bed where his shoulders heaved with heavy breaths.

  “I want that very much,” he said, “but I’m not done exploring you.”

  She thought he’d made himself rather well acquainted with her body but didn’t argue the point. Crossing her arms over her chest, she felt shy under the heated appraisal he cast at her. Without overanalyzing it too much, she strode over to him and sat beside him.

  “I want to feel you, Tia,” he said. “I want to feel every inch of you, but we need to talk.”

  Talk? He wanted to talk! What could he possibly need to say now? It was too fucking late. Was this his game—take what he wanted and then drop her like last week’s trash?

  She barely heard his next words.

  “I never made it to the exchange,” he said. “I don’t have any condoms.”

  Her breath caught in her throat. She’d forgotten her shopping list, too. Then, she laughed. Deep, bubbling laughter spilled from her throat. Then, relief washed away her self-recriminations and doubt. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay.

  He cupped her hand and placed it in his lap. “I’ve never gone without protection.”

  “Oh.” Then, why did he refuse the blow job if they couldn’t have sex? “We don’t have to…”

  “Hang on,” he said. “I’m clean. HIV negative.” As a requirement of their job, all military personnel were tested as a part of their annual physicals. His grip tightened, and he worried his lower lip with his teeth. “I don’t want to force you to do anything, but I don’t know if I can leave without fucking you.”

  She rolled her lower lip between her teeth, contemplating options. “My tests are clean, too,” she said.

  “Are you…” He huffed in a breath. “Shit, Tia, I need you.” His cock glistened with his need and tented his shorts.

  “I think the exchange is still open,” she said.

  But, even if it were closed, the lack of condoms wasn’t going to stop the inevitability of this evening. Like shocking a patient. He was clean. She was clean. They were all clean. And she had a protective IUD lodged firmly in her womb to last another five years.

  He bent to grab his trousers, but she placed her hands on his hips. “Wait.”

  “What?” His brows drew together.

  “There’s no way you’re headed outside like that.”

  He closed his eyes and nodded. “This wouldn’t be the first time you gave me a hard-on and I had to walk around with it.”

  “Let me help you with that,” she insisted.

  Her focus darted around the small quarters, looking for something to help. Her ruck had been delivered through some small act of kindness, probably Warren’s doing. Although a man, he acted more like the mother hen to the unit.

  No sex without protection didn’t mean she couldn’t give back, especially after the attention he’d lavished on her. Without thinking, she backed him up to the single bunk until the backs of his knees met the hard metal of the frame. The mattress was thin but serviceable, plush by most field standards.

  “Sit,” she said, pushing down on his shoulder with one hand and pushing back on his waist with the other.

  Ryker collapsed on the bed with a whoos
h from his lungs and a screech from the wire frame underneath. She dropped, kneeling between his powerful legs, and licked her lips.

  “Lose the shorts,” she said.

  “Not a good idea.” His sea-foam eyes darkened with a tempest of lust, and his shoulders heaved with billowing breaths. He narrowed his eyes, drawing a deep furrow between them as he stared down at her. “I want to fuck you.”

  “Trust me,” she said and blinked what she hoped were seductive eyes at him. This was something she wanted for herself as much as for him. A slow, carnal exploration, one where she could take her time to enjoy him fully. “We can head out for condoms in a bit. At least let me take the edge off.”

  “Don’t think that’s possible,” he said. “Being around you keeps me perpetually hard.”

  His words sank in, and she glanced up at him. “Ryker?”

  “Yes, darlin’?”

  “How long have you…I mean…” She shook her head, realizing she’d been blind to his feelings for far too long. “Have you always been attracted to me?”

  How could he? She’d seen the women he took to his bed. They were small, frail things, full of giggles and nonsense, and usually coated in layers of makeup. The only thing she had in common with them was the length of her hair. Rarely did she fuss with makeup. Her world consisted of missions and downtime where she prepared for the next mission. All that was done without care for makeup, short skirts, or any thoughts of attracting a man. In the year she’d known Ryker, he’d collected women who epitomized femininity. Even in the months they’d been deployed together, he’d only brought the prettiest of the pretty into his bed.

  He leaned down and placed his palms to her cheeks, lifting her for a kiss. “I’ve been hard for you since the day I met you. I’ve never not wanted you.”

  “But…”

  “It’s okay,” he said, releasing her and dragging a hand across the stubble of his chin. “You were off-limits.”

  She should still be off-limits. Regardless of what happened with Scott or not, theirs was a dangerous liaison. A forbidden romance.