Love Letters Volume 2: Duty to Please

by Emily Cale, Ginny Glass, Christina Thacher, Maggie Wells

  Jack made the turn-off at Easton.

  “If it’s the Eastern Shore, why are we heading west?”

  Davina’s voice broke into his thoughts.

  “What? Oh, that’s because the Eastern Shore refers to eastern edges of the Chesapeake Bay, not the Atlantic Ocean. If we headed east, we’d be in Delaware.”

  “Ah. Yes, well, I’m sure it would make sense if I could see a map.”

  Jack reached behind Davina’s seat and pulled a road atlas from a mesh pocket. “Try this.”

  “Excellent. Thank you.” She found their location quickly and started to pepper him with intelligent questions about the area. Before Jack knew it, they were pulling up to the cottage.

  “Oh,” Davina said as she got out of the car. “I was expecting quite a bit smaller.”

  Jack looked at the house, which was pretty modest by most people’s standards. “It’s not much, but it’s just a summer place for us.”

  Davina walked toward the front door, then detoured around the side of the house to look at the water. Jack followed her as she climbed the shallow steps to the deck. He tried to see it through her eyes, but he couldn’t. It was home, where he’d learned to sail and won a crab-cracking contest.

  The wind had picked up. The flag on the pole by the neighbor’s dock was snapping furiously, and Davina’s hair started to lose its perfection. She tucked a few strands behind her ear and, when they got loose, she tucked them again.

  “Oh, Jack, it’s gorgeous. It reminds me a bit of the Severn, only so much bigger.”

  Jack had a vague idea of where the Severn was in the west of England, close to Wales. “Everything’s bigger and better in America,” he joked.

  “Yes!” She turned to face him, her eyes glowing with excitement. “It is. Your cities seem larger, the motorways go on forever, the towns are spread so far apart.”

  “And that’s true here in the east, which is much more densely populated. You go out West, and it seems really big even by American standards.”

  “I’d love to see more of the U.S.,” she breathed, turning back to the view of the water.

  And I’d love to show it to you. He had no idea where that thought had come from, but he pushed it away ruthlessly. Their report was nearly done, Davina would head back to the U.K., and Jack wasn’t sure where his career was going.

  “Want to see inside?” he asked. “I can make you a cup of tea.”

  “Real tea?” she asked, squinting at him.

  “Yes. We even have a teapot.”

  Her face lit up. “Jolly good.”

  Jack unlocked the front door and took her to the kitchen. He found the teapot, the teakettle for boiling water and an unopened box of English Breakfast tea bags. He opened the fridge. “Ah, good. Here’s milk. Tom must have gotten the basics in for us. I doubt I can offer you lemon, though.”

  “Milk is fine.”

  Jack glanced out the kitchen windows, which faced south. “It’s just started to rain. I think I’ll pull the car into the garage.”

  “Rain? It was sunny just a moment ago.”

  “Probably a shower. Still, no reason for you to get wet when we leave.”

  “So thoughtful.” She smiled at him.

  When he came back, the tea was brewed. “May I pour you a cup?” Davina asked.

  “Thanks.” What he really wanted was a beer, but that seemed like a bad idea for some reason. Lowered inhibitions around Davina Gunn seemed dangerous, possibly because of his inexplicable decision to stick condoms in his briefcase. Tea seemed safe enough.

  They sat in the family room, which boasted views of the water along two walls of French doors. Of course, with the rain coming down harder, the view was mostly gray. The lamps behind the sofa shed a glow that made the room seem warm and cozy.

  Davina moved a little closer to him on the sofa, tucking a leg underneath her as she did. Was her blouse unbuttoned even further? She put her tea down on the coffee table, a move that allowed him to see her bra. Black lace and cut low across her breasts. Quite low. Almost mesmerizingly low.

  She leaned one shoulder against the sofa pillows, her torso turned toward him. He struggled to keep his eyes on her face, now charmingly framed by loose strands of her reddish-brown hair. He wouldn’t think about black lace. He’d think instead about how dark her eyes seemed. In bright light they were hazel, but here, inside on a darkening afternoon with the rain pounding on the roof, they seemed almost black.

  Black lace.

  Jack shook his head, once, hard. The image of her milky-pale breasts against the black lace remained. And nipples. Had he seen the shadow of her nipples?

  He was getting hard. Torn between the urge to kiss her and the need to make a panicky escape, he jumped when she cupped his cheek. She gently turned his head to face hers, and they were kissing. Jack hadn’t noticed who made the first move.

  He hadn’t dated since Afghanistan, so it all felt so new. Her lips. The warmth of her breath, the silky friction of her blouse as it rubbed against the curve of her back. That delicate floral scent he’d come to associate with Davina. The zing of her tongue on his. The jolt when her hand settled over his cock.

  Jack pulled her into his arms, feeling her unfold until she was draped over his chest. He stretched out his right leg to prevent it cramping, then he concentrated on the mission: getting her naked.

  First, he found the waistband of her skirt. Side closing, so one button and a zipper. With that undone, he worked his fingers under the blouse, along a bare hip and around to feel for her panties. Holy hell, she was wearing a thong. He had to see this.

  Next, he snuck a hand in between their torsos so he could undo the tiny pearl buttons. Jack was about to tackle the fiddly task when Davina broke off the kiss. She got off the sofa to remove the skirt, revealing the front of her black lace panties, which had to match the bra.

  Davina’s fingers—had he noticed how gorgeous her hands were?—started at the bottom button, working up slowly until the blouse was undone.

  “Cooperation, Colonel. That’s so much better than unilateral action, don’t you think?” she said as she knelt on the sofa, straddling him without bringing any weight onto his bad thigh.

  She hadn’t removed her top, which left the task to Jack. He pushed the collar away from her neck, then back off her shoulders until finally the front sides pulled away from her breasts.

  There were tiny black bows on the straps of the bra, halfway up, alongside her shoulders. Jack touched one. “How do women know that shit like this drives men wild? Uncanny.”

  “We don’t. We just know it looks sexy to us, so we feel sexy when we’re wearing it,” Davina said.

  She started to reach behind to unhook the bra. He stopped her. “Not yet.”

  Jack traced the top edge of the lace, a nearly horizontal line that seemed inadequate to hold her breasts in and keep her decent.

  “Take a deep breath,” he ordered.

  She grinned at his peremptory tone, but complied. Miraculously—and disappointingly—her breasts didn’t pop free from the bra. Jack tucked a forefinger into one of the cups and pulled down a bit. He’d exposed the rosy-brown flesh around her nipple, not the hard nub itself.

  “Fascinating,” he murmured.

  “Do you want me to take another deep breath, Colonel? Because I have to tell you, I’d find it difficult.”

  He looked up into her eyes, hooded and sultry. Her chest rose and fell in shallow movements, suggesting a slipping of that impressive British reserve. He grinned at her and tugged on the other bra cup.

  “It really will be easier if I just take the damned thing off, you know,” Davina said.

  “Well, if you feel you must,” he teased.

  She reached behind again and then the bra was off and he was faced with two of the prettiest breasts he’d seen in—oh, who was he kidding? He hadn’t seen a woman’s breasts for a while. These were damned fine.

  He placed his hands on either side and used the pads of his thumbs to t
oy with her nipples. She retaliated by running her hands through the short length of his hair. It was growing in, but it was hardly luxurious. She began to massage his scalp, sending chills down and making his cock jump.

  “Mmm. Don’t stop. That feels so good,” he told her.

  “I could say the same thing.” She lowered her chin, bringing his gaze down to his fingers busy caressing her breasts.

  He leaned in to suck one nipple. She groaned. Hearing that, he switched sides. Then he realized he was groaning with her.

  She pulled away. “What is it? Your leg?”

  “Yes.” Damn it. “We need a new AO.”

  “AO?”

  Jesus, he knew better. No military acronyms. “Area of operations. Bluntly, we need a bed.”

  “Roger that,” she said in her cute tight-ass accent. It sounded obscene the way she said it.

  Davina got off the sofa, then stepped to one side. She looked like she was about to salute, waiting for him to lead on.

  Jack levered himself up, then gingerly put weight on the leg. It was uncomfortable but bearable. The real question was whether he could perform at all.

  He felt a hand on his arm so he turned.

  “I’ll go on top, Colonel. Remember? It’s a team effort.”

  He didn’t want to tell her this was his first time with a woman since the accident. He didn’t want to talk at all. He wanted sex. Just sex. Sex the way it had always been—sweaty and athletic. A wrestling match with orgasms.

  Desire warred with grumpiness as they walked down the hall to the bedrooms. Jack focused on Operational Analyst Gunn’s luscious ass to keep things on the right track.

  “Mine,” he announced as they got to the middle bedroom. It used to be lined with his ribbons and medals from various track and swim meets. When his mom died, his father had the entire house redecorated to a comfortable-but-neutral quality. Jack’s bedroom had ended up with cream walls and everything else in shades of caramel and chocolate, according to the decorator. In other words, brown and brown.

  He pulled back the creamy blanket to reveal chocolate sheets.

  “Yummy,” Davina said. She swiveled around to brush her nipples, still erect, against Jack’s chest. She reached up to encourage him to kiss her, which he was happy to do.

  Moments later, she pulled away. “You’re thinking about your leg, aren’t you?” She started to undo his belt. “Let’s see it, then.”

  Jack focused on a painting over the bed, a landscape he’d bought in St. Michaels during a visit home after his first tour. He listened to the wind, which was picking up enough that he was glad they were months from hurricane season. He concentrated on Davina’s scent, musky and floral in equal measures. Anything to keep from thinking about what she was about to see.

  “Oh, now, there—see? Not so bad.” She ran a gentle hand down his flank, her fingers dipping in where the scar tissue had left a crater in his thigh. “Does it hurt? When I touch it, I mean?”

  He shook his head.

  “So you’re cleared for action in this AO, then?” she asked in a matter-of-fact voice. She put her hand on his half-erect cock, stroking it through his boxers.

  Startled, Jack looked down at her hand, pale and delicate in appearance—and quite determined to get a rise out of him. Then she tucked it in the fly opening and he felt her grip, her fingers ringing his shaft, her fingertips dancing around the head.

  “I’d say the mission is a go,” she said as she pushed him back onto the bed. She dealt with his shoes and socks, got his trousers off, then the boxers. Jack pulled his polo shirt off and tossed it next to the other clothes on the floor. Then he watched as she shimmied the thong off her hips, revealing a trim triangle of hair above bare pussy lips.

  Jack forgot to breathe.

  *

  Davina climbed onto the bed, positioning herself so that neither of them could see his scar. Part of her wanted to worship it with her mouth and tongue, let him know she honored his service and sacrifice. Maybe later. Right now she wanted to fuck Colonel Travis until they were both limp noodles.

  She continued to fondle his cock, paying particular attention to that ridge under the head, her touch making his face go slack. Good. He’d been getting dangerously close to that look of his, the one where she could tell he was thinking of his command, the troops he’d lost, the faces that haunted him.

  If ever a man needed to be fucked, it was Jack Travis.

  “Condom?” she asked.

  “My briefcase. Wait, I might have—” He reached over to the bedside table, pulled out a drawer and handed her a condom. “Check that it hasn’t expired.”

  Davina looked. “No. We’re good to go.” She grinned at him, pleased to see his face had returned to that almost boyish lopsided smile. She leaned down to kiss him, a reward for his willingness to let it all go.

  He played with her tits, which she particularly liked. He pinched her nipples just the right amount to send lovely zingy sensations down all the way to her toes. She moaned her pleasure.

  She caressed his cock one last time before getting the condom on. She moved up on her knees, letting the head rub around her folds, which were wet from what felt like hours of foreplay. She sank down, bit by bit, taking his size into her. Rather a tight fit, which suited her quite nicely, thank you.

  Jack put a hand down to her clit, flicking it idly. Her eyes narrowed. She moved up, almost off his cock, letting gravity pull her back down. His eyes narrowed. Good. He should be feeling more than idle curiosity.

  She pushed off and came down again, finding a rhythm that pleased her. She smiled, amused to think she was fucking a bird colonel of the United States Army.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Fucking a senior officer of the most powerful army in the world, that’s all.”

  “You want shock and awe?” He grabbed her hips firmly and slammed her down on his cock.

  God, that felt good.

  “Yes, like that,” she urged.

  Desire heated her from the inside out. Davina was about to touch her clit when Jack did it, this time with a firm touch that make her skin tighten.

  “Oh, God, yes,” she said as she could feel her climax nearing. She hunched over, her palms on his chest so she could flick at his nipples. Then the orgasm hit her, hard, and her spasms spiraled out of control.

  Jack made a noise, a grunt or something—her ears weren’t working well in the slipstream caused by her climax—and she could feel him join her on the far side. She toppled over onto the mattress next to him. An eternity later, she roused enough to deal with the condom. When she settled back alongside him, Davina draped her leg high up on his thigh, still hiding the scar.

  They must have dozed for a bit, despite the howling gale outside, because when Davina next opened her eyes, it was dark out. Or was that the storm turning the world black? She turned on her side to ask the colonel when she caught his expression. Closed shut, no one home, no forwarding address.

  “We’d better get dressed,” he said.

  Oh dear. Somehow Davina had imagined that if she got the toothsome colonel between the sheets, she’d get a bit closer to him than this. She sighed.

  She put on the thong—what had possessed her to wear the bloody thing anyway?—and wandered out to the sitting room for the rest of her clothes. The view out the windows was quite dramatic. The few bushes between the house and the water were bent over as if trying to avoid getting uprooted, the rain was nearly horizontal and, as she watched, a neighbor’s wooden lawn chair went tumbling by.

  “Are you certain this isn’t a hurricane, Colonel?” she called over her shoulder.

  He appeared by her side, immaculate and remote. “Positive. This must be a nor’easter.”

  “Not so scary, then?”

  “We should just be glad it isn’t snow.” He tilted his head. “We should be leaving.”

  “Yes. Quite.”

  His look made her hurry to put on the rest of her clothes. Bloody officers, thinking t
hey could order civilians around as if they were privates.

  While she dressed, Davina kept an eye on the weather. “Did you know this storm was coming?”

  He paused in the middle of the kitchen. “No. It looked nice this morning in D.C.”

  She laughed. “Don’t you keep track of the weather forecast?”

  He frowned. “That’s what lieutenants are for,” he muttered.

  Davina smirked. In four weeks working together, this was the first time she’d seen Colonel Jack Travis at a disadvantage. She found it rather delightful.

  Then she remembered how buttoned up he’d been after they’d had sex. A tough nut to crack, indeed.

  She’d made the bed and straightened the pillows on the couch when Jack said it was time to leave. They were walking to the door from the kitchen to the garage when the world shook with a horrific deep bass crash.

  “What the hell—?” Jack exclaimed. He raced to the front door, Davina right behind him. He grabbed an umbrella and a raincoat and threw them at her. The raincoat was large on her. At least it covered her clothes.

  They got out the front door as quickly as possible to prevent the rain from soaking the carpet in the foyer, then headed for the road. The adjacent property had trees near the roadway that shielded their sightline. As soon as they got to the driveway, Davina saw a massive tree trunk across the road. It had to be almost three feet in diameter, stretched from one neighbor’s lawn across the road with most of the branches splayed out right up to another house.

  She and Jack weren’t the only people who’d come out to investigate the noise. A handful of people were standing on one side or the other of the tree. One boy was happily straddling the trunk despite the rain, a parent holding on to the back of his coat.

  “Shit,” Jack said quietly. His face was more rigid than usual.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “This is a dead-end road. Water on three sides, and now there’s a tree across the fourth.”