His eyes met mine in the mirror and I could see that he didn’t believe me, but he didn’t challenge me either. Silently, he took the brush from my hands and slowly, carefully, brushed my hair until it hung in tidy waves down my back.
“You have beautiful hair, Caro. I’m glad you kept it long.”
His tone was gentle, almost loving.
I shrugged.
“Every now and then I decide to get it cut off; especially after I’ve been somewhere I haven’t been able to shower for a couple of weeks.”
“That would be a crime,” he said solemnly.
“You can talk!” I said, pointing my chin at the haze of golden hair that clung to his skull.
His lips twitched in a small smile.
“Believe me, babe, I’d grow it if I could. Maybe I should go to my CO and tell him my girlfriend wants me to…”
He stopped abruptly.
I sighed. “It’s okay: I keep forgetting which decade I’m in, too. It’s so strange.”
He nodded in relief.
“Yeah, this is so weird, I feel the same. It’s as if nothing’s changed but everything’s changed. It’s like being in some crazy time machine. I keep expecting your husband to be banging down the door.”
I winced.
“Fuck, sorry. I’m doing it again.”
I smiled, painfully.
“Oh well, I imagine you’ve had some experience with husbands banging on the door.”
“Don’t, Caro.”
I stared at him for a fraction of a second, then pushed past him, back into the bedroom.
I couldn’t believe he’d mentioned my ex-husband. Didn’t we already have enough painful memories between us? Apparently not.
I heard the faucet running, and he followed me, carrying a glass of water.
He handed it to me silently, and I took a small sip before placing it on the cabinet next to the bed.
“Thank you.”
He sat back on the bed, covering his lower half with the sheet.
“Caro, I know this is fucking weird but it’s good, too, isn’t it? I mean, not everyone gets a second chance.”
Is that what this was, a second chance? But a second chance at what? A second chance to rip ourselves apart again?
“Today was fun,” I said, trying to think it through, “and tonight was… good, but the reality is: I’m based in New York and spend between three and six months of the year away from home. You’re a Marine and go wherever they send you. Presumably this next tour of Afghanistan will be six months or maybe longer? And then where, because let’s face it, Sebastian, the chances of you getting posted to the Corps’ Division of Public Affairs in New York is slim to none – especially with your record. So I’m not sure what sort of ‘second chance’ you have in mind.”
Sebastian’s body went rigid with sudden, suppressed rage, and then he leapt off the bed, glaring down at me, gloriously naked – and very angry.
“Christ, it’s like listening to an old record, Caro! You always try to think of reasons why we can’t be together!”
“What do you mean ‘always’? I haven’t seen you for ten years!”
“That’s the whole fucking point, Caro! You used to say this shit to me when I was 17, and you’re still doing it now. We wasted ten years and you’re worried about a few thousand miles? Hell, we’ve got airplanes, we’ve got email, they’ve invented fucking cellphones. Jesus, if it comes down to it, I’ll even write you a fucking letter!”
I bit back a rather hysterical giggle that began to bubble up.
“You write letters?”
His shoulders relaxed slightly, but his eyes were still tight with emotion.
“I’ll write you on both sides of the fucking paper, Caro.”
“How can I refuse such an astonishing offer?”
“Are you laughing at me?”
“Are you shouting at me?”
“Yes!”
“Then, ‘yes’ to you, too.” I sighed. “Look, today, tonight – it’s been fun. But like I said to you before, I’m really not looking to get tied down again. I work a lot and I love what I do. I’m still mad at you for screwing up my travel papers. I won’t get paid until I’ve filed a story, and I won’t be able to do that until I get to Leatherneck. All this time, I’m not earning – and I have a very expensive mortgage to finance.”
He rested his hands on his hips, and looked me in the eye.
“I’m sorry about the money, Caro, and I’m sorry that I made you mad at me again, but I’m not sorry about what I did. I hoped I’d get a chance to spend some time with you, but I would have done it just to keep you safe.”
I sighed. “This is getting us nowhere.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed with his back to me, and rested his elbows on his knees.
I had the opportunity to study his finely muscled back, sculpted shoulders and glowing, gold skin – my golden boy.
“Caro, I’ve got 17 days before I ship out. I’d like to spend them with you. That’s all. If you don’t want to see me after that… well, I guess that’s it.”
He turned to look at me over his shoulder.
“What do you say?”
Chapter 5
When he put it like that, what did I have to lose? I could see Italy with him or spend a pointless two weeks kicking around Geneva on my own. And, despite what I’d said to him about the sex having been ‘fun’, ‘spectacular’ and ‘mind-blowing’ would have been more appropriate adjectives. Plus, it was the most orgasms I’d had in one evening for a decade.
“I’m going to need a cushion to sit on if you expect me to ride on that motorcycle of yours all the way to Salerno.”
His expression lifted at once.
“Really? You’re sure?”
“Well, to paraphrase you, ‘what the hell’.” I paused. “But I reserve the right to fly back if you’re being too much of an ass.”
“Huh, well, you’d better give me a sliding scale of assaholic behavior, just so I know.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That could be quite a long list.”
“Try me.”
“Okay,” I said, sitting up straight, and diving straight to my mental list of his most assifying and irritating moments since we’d met up again. “First, no getting drunk and passing out in my bed; second, no more interference in my career of any kind – that’s a deal breaker; third, no territorial displays of adolescent jealousy; fourth, …”
But I didn’t get to finish my list – he jumped on me, pinning me to the mattress, and kissed me hard.
I was breathless and aroused when he let me go, and I could also feel his renewed erection poking my hip through the bathrobe.
Of course – fast reloader. I’d forgotten.
“What was that all about?” I said, pushing him off me.
He shrugged.
“It sounded like a very long list; I thought I’d try to distract you.”
“Diversionary tactics?”
“Yeah, we’re schooled on that in the Marines,” he smirked.
“I bet you are! And by the way,” I said, pointing to his fully erect dick, “you can put that away – I’m exhausted. Somebody dragged me all over Switzerland and half of France today.”
“Sure I can’t persuade you?” he said, leaning down to bite my thigh.
“Quite sure, thank you. This forty-year-old woman needs her beauty sleep.”
He scowled. “I wish you wouldn’t do that, Caro.”
Jeez, had he always been this moody?
“Do what?”
“Keep going on about your age. You’re older than me – I get it. And guess what? I don’t give a shit. I never did. I just wish you weren’t so hung up about it. It’s kind of annoying.”
I was annoying him? In what universe? Oh, this one, probably.
I realized my mouth was still hanging open in a most unattractive way.
“Feel free to say what you really mean, Hunter.”
He grinned at me. “Okay.”
<
br /> I shook my head, half-amused, half-irritated.
“So, we can go tomorrow? Start our road trip?” he said, his eyes glowing like a kid at Christmas.
“Well, I suppose so. But I don’t know how we’ll get my case on the back of your motorcycle.”
“Don’t worry about that. We’ll just take what you need, and leave your case at my place till we get back.” He paused, his expression turning challenging. “So, can I stay the night, or are you going to kick me out into the cold, dark world, all alone in a strange city, where foreign women might try and have their evil way with me?”
“That’s a sob story, if ever I heard one, Chief Hunter, although I strongly suspect it’s a highly edited one.”
“Is that a yes?” he said, hopefully.
“It’s a yes, providing sleep is what you had in mind.”
“Mostly. Good enough?”
I shook my head: he really was incorrigible.
“Fine. You want to use the bathroom first?”
“No, go ahead.”
As I brushed my teeth hard enough to remove several layers of enamel, I wondered how I’d got railroaded again. I really didn’t seem to have the ability to say ‘no’ when it came to Sebastian. Had it always been like that between us? I thought back to some of the outrageous risks we’d taken ten years ago. Yes, I had to admit – it had always been like that.
When I’d finished, Sebastian took his turn in the bathroom, and I climbed wearily into bed. I’d forgotten what a workout it was, having sex with him. My thirty-year-old self had trouble keeping up; there seemed even less chance I’d be able to keep up now. I reminded myself that according to the consensus of opinion, a forty-year-old woman was in her sexual prime, while a man’s was at the age of 19. Which meant Sebastian was already past his prime: although there was no evidence that anyone had told him that. Even so, it cheered me up slightly.
I enjoyed the floor show as he strolled out of the bathroom, unembarrassed by his nudity, wearing just his dog tags and a big smile. He was either very comfortable with me, or he was just used to wandering around naked – did they have open showers in the Marines? Hmm, maybe some research was in order – strictly on the grounds of professional integrity, of course.
Instead of walking around the bed, he deliberately sat on my side, then climbed over me.
“Sebastian, what are you doing?”
“Taking a shortcut,” he said, as his body hovered over mine, and he dipped down to kiss me.
He tasted of mint.
I reached up and pulled him deeper into the kiss before pushing lightly on his chest.
“Sleep! Now!”
“Sure I can’t change your mind?” he said, eyeing yet another erection, which was growing at an alarming rate.
“Oh, put it away! I’m tired.”
He grinned at me and gave in, sliding under the duvet on the other side of the bed.
I stretched to turn off the bedside light and the room was plunged into darkness. I felt Sebastian’s hand drift over my waist, and he kissed the back of my neck.
“Night, baby.”
He fell asleep quickly, his arms wrapped around me, warming me and weighing me down. I listened to the sound of his quiet, even breaths, wondering if our differences would bring us together or push us apart.
It was barely light when Sebastian shook me awake from a confused and disturbing dream.
“Caro, are you okay?”
I rubbed my face as his worried eyes gazed at me.
“Oh, sorry, did I wake you up? I was dreaming.”
“It sounded more like a nightmare.”
“Sorry. Yes, I’m okay.”
In truth, I’d been dreaming about Iraq again. It wasn’t something that happened often, but it was always frightening when it did. The recurring images stemmed from the time I’d visited Victory Base near Baghdad’s airport: the medical team had just heard that three ‘Category Alpha’ injuries were on their way. In my dream, it was the distinctive thrum of the medivac helicopters that filled me with fear.
Sebastian definitely didn’t need to know what my nightmare had been about.
I shivered and sat up, the duvet slipping down to my waist. Sebastian’s expression changed, and I realized his eyes were hungrily fixed on my breasts.
“Your eyes are going to fall out, Hunter,” I muttered.
He grinned guiltily, acknowledging that he’d been caught staring.
“Just looking, boss,” he said.
I didn’t bother to reply. Instead, stretching stiffly, I shuffled off to the bathroom with the bathrobe pulled tightly around me.
I contemplated the bags under my eyes and frazzled hair, searching for any gray ones that I could ruthlessly root out. And then I realized the truth: this was as good as it got. I was never going to get younger, or more toned, or less wrinkly. And maybe there would be a day, sooner rather than later, when Sebastian would want younger flesh under his expert hands. And if that happened, there was less than fuck all I could do about it. But right now, he wanted me. It was my body that made his eyes pop out of his head, and my body that had so aroused him last night. He’d said again that he didn’t care about the age difference, so what was my problem? Maybe I should just sit back and enjoy the ride, so to speak.
Perhaps I was having a breakthrough: he didn’t care, so why should I?
I prodded my puffy eyes again. Nope, still luggage-laden. Then I remembered something: something Sebastian had said to me ten years ago; something we’d never done.
Hmm. That had interesting possibilities. I wondered if he’d let me… one way to find out.
It would certainly take my mind off my inadequacies and, well, hopefully it would take Sebastian’s mind off of everything.
Sebastian was lying back on his pillows with his hands behind his head.
“Hi,” he said, his eyes glowing.
“Hi yourself.”
“You seem better.”
“Why, Chief Hunter, what masterful skills of observation you have.”
He grinned at me. “Yeah, much better.”
“Well, now you mention it, I am in a much better mood, although I’m rather hungry.”
“Do you want to go down for breakfast or shall I call room service?”
“Let me think about that for a minute.”
Slowly, I untied the belt to my robe and pulled it out of the loops, winding it through my fingers.
I dropped the robe to the floor, and watched Sebastian’s eyes as he followed its descent.
“I was thinking about eating you, Chief, but as you’re such a stubborn, annoying man, who makes me pissed with every other sentence he utters from between his beautiful, badly-behaved lips, I thought I’d better tie you up first. What do you say?”
Sebastian’s mouth dropped open.
“I’d say, where is Carolina Venzi and what have you done with her?”
I smirked at him. “I’m just taking your advice, Chief.”
“I don’t know what advice I gave you, but it must have been damn good.”
“Let’s find out, shall we? Put your hands on the headboard.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He wrapped his hands through the metal framework, and I crawled up the bed and across his body. Kneeling over his chest, I threaded the belt through the headboard and tied both his wrists tightly.
“Have you done this before?” he breathed out, his gaze heated.
“Only in my dreams, Hunter. Now, be quiet, or I might have to gag you, too.”
“Fuck!” he whispered.
“Maybe later.”
I whipped the duvet off him in the same way that I ripped off wax strips from my legs. I wasn’t surprised to see he was beautifully erect.
“Now that’s a sight for sore eyes, Sebastian. Maybe I should just leave you here: the hotel maids might appreciate that. Or, better still, maybe I’ll take a photograph of you on my phone. Don’t worry, I won’t post it on the internet, it’ll just be my screensaver.”
“Caro!” he said, a serious warning in his voice.
“Spoilsport,” I said, pouting at him. “No sense of adventure.”
He grinned back, but his expression was slightly wary. He flexed his arms, testing the knots. I was delighted to see he couldn’t move them. I placed a gentle kiss on each of his biceps before sliding back down his body.
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