by Dahlia Rose
Sapphire approached him slowly and asked with gentle concern. “Eric baby, isn’t it a bit early to be working out?”
He whirled on her with a wild look in his eyes and she stepped back for amount in alarm. He stopped, sat down on the bottom step, and put his head in his hands. Not thinking about anything else but soothing him, she rushed over and sat beside him. He laid his head against her and she caressed his stubble cheek.
“Sapphire, I can’t sleep!” His voice was harsh and frilled with agony. “I have to wear myself out just to get my eyes to close and then the dreams, the sounds… The smells of burning, death and gun oil seem to come out of nowhere.”
“Oh baby, I’m so sorry,” she murmured. “Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because this isn’t your fight,” Eric replied. “You shouldn’t have to deal with my mess. I know I’m home, but it won’t go away. Seeing some of my friends who I knew since boot camp die… They say it’s part of war but they don’t know how it is to drive in a humvee for days covered in someone else’s blood until your uniform is stiff with it. They don’t know how it is to pack up your buddy’s stuff and send it home or get a letter from his wife asking for the real story on how he died. They get a salute and a flag.” He shook his head and pulled away. “Sapphie, go home. I’ll be fine. Let me deal with this my way.”
She looked at him with astonishment. “Do you think you can tell me to go home and I’m going to leave you here like this? Get up. You’re coming home with me.”
“Sapphie, no—”
“You act like you have choice, Eric Dawson.” She poked him in his chest. “You are coming home with me and that’s final.”
He gave her a small smile. “Yes, ma’am.”
Hand in hand, they walked back to her home. Going up the stairs, his wide frame took up the small space and he had to duck the small overhang that was at the top of the steps. She led him straight into the bathroom and without words from either of them, she helped him out of his sweaty clothes. Sapphire turned the water on and made sure the spray was not to hot or cold before he stepped in. Going on instinct, she took her clothes off and left them in a pile on the floor next to his and climbed into the shower with him.
The water coursed over his back. She stood behind him, wrapped her arms around him, and pressed kisses against his back. He turned and held her tight and they stood there for long minutes, letting the water flow over them. She didn’t have men’s soap but Sapphire used the body wash she had to wash his skin. Luckily it was just hypoallergenic kind without a flowery smell. With each stroke of the washcloth across his body she could feel him relax but when she looked down at his cock, it was hard and extended out from between his legs showing his arousal.
She took his rod in her soapy hands and stroked the long shaft. He tilted his head back into the water and a harsh groan escaped his lips. The hot spray washed them off quickly and Eric turned off the water and stepped from the shower. He lifted her easily over the edge of the tub and as he did he kissed her with urgency. Sapphire opened her mouth under his onslaught and let his tongue inside. Eric lifted her off her feet and Sapphire wrapped her legs around his waist. They were completely naked and wet from the shower as he stepped out of the steamy bathroom and into the bedroom. The cool airs from the open French doors barely registered in her mind. All she could feel was his lips against hers and his tongue invading her mouth. He tasted so damn good as his lips ravished hers and Sapphire feasted on him.
“God, I want you, Eric. I have never wanted anything like I want you,” she whispered urgently.
“Oh, you’re going to get me, baby,” he replied and with a growl nipped the skin over her breast.
He laid her back against the bed and stood over her for a moment, looking down at her naked body. He was dominating the small space in her bedroom and her gaze travelled over his body and came to rest on his cock. She felt a small rush of fluid from her pussy just looking at the thick rod in anticipation of having him inside her. Eric bent over her and her breast was in his mouth instantly. Sapphire gasped in pleasure, arching her back, pushing her smooth globe deeper into his mouth.
“Oh, yes,” she moaned and he groaned in response.
“I want to taste you, Sapphie. Ever since the drive-in, I’ve wanted to lay you back in that seat and lick your pussy until you came,” Eric announced
Sapphire pulled her knees up, exposing herself to him. His big hands traveled down her body cupping her breasts and pinching her nipples. His hands moved down the smooth skin of her stomach and her gaze followed his hands to the apex of her thighs. She spread her legs wider to tantalize him with the view of her moist snatch. He used his fingers to part the slick folds of flesh.
“Taste me,” she whispered. “I want to feel your mouth on my pussy.”
That was all the invitation Eric needed. He dropped to his knees next to the bed and buried his face between her thighs. His tongue licked and his fingers touched and penetrated, sliding into her over and over again. Sapphire’s hips moved, pressing herself more intimately against his lips. “Oh god, yes!” she cried out as each sensation assaulted her body. He drove his fingers inside her over and over again while she thrashed wildly on the bed. She grabbed at his hair while her body came apart under his mouth.
“I want you inside me, now—please now!” she begged. The force of her release continued to send shivers through her body. It was an urgent plea, her need to have him consumed her. Her body was on fire.
“Slow and easy, baby,” he whispered in her ear. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
The hard length of his cock pressed against her stomach as he came over her to kiss her, their tongues dueling and mating. He reached around and pulled her legs up high around his thick hard thighs. The engorged head of his cock pressed against the entrance of her waiting pussy. He groaned in pleasurable agony as her hot body accepted every inch of him. She felt him stretching her and with each movement the delicious thickness of him made her squirm. He sucked one of her nipples into his mouth and drove himself all the way inside her. Sapphire could not help the scream of delight that escaped her lips.
“Fuck yes, baby, you are so goddamn tight,” he said harshly. She looked up to see his body so tense above her he looked as if he was made of marble.
“I’m so full of you.” She grabbed his hair and pulled his head from her breasts. “I ache on the inside. Make the aching stop. I want it hard, Eric. Don’t hold back.”
Eric pumped himself to the hilt inside her in smooth fluid strokes. She was hot and slick with the wetness he had created with his mouth only a few minutes before. Her hips rose to meet his every thrust and she tightened her legs around him. Their bodies were slick with sweat, and Sapphire could hear the wet sound they made together.
“God I love you, Sapphie. Say you’re mine!”
“I’m yours, Eric, always and forever.” Her body reached for completion.
“Oh god I’m going to come.”
It was like if the dam broke and Sapphire screamed as her body shook from the intensity of her orgasm. He pounded himself inside her and followed her into the bliss of his release with a harsh guttural cry. Their sweat soaked bodies heaved as they tried to catch their breath and Sapphire willed her heart to slow down to a steady beat.
“You said you loved me,” she murmured when he finally rolled to lie next to her.
“And I meant it,” he replied and sighed in contentment.
“I thought you said it in the midst of…ya know,” she said.
“I never say anything I don’t mean.” Eric turned to face her. “You don’t have to say it in return, Sapphie. I don’t expect anything you are not willing to give.”
“I give it willingly Eric because I love you, too.” She smiled and caressed his face. “I thought for a while I was reliving some teenage crush but it’s all you. I love you, Eric Dawson. The man—not the boy you use to be.”
“Good, because I was planning to regale you with love sonnets and sin
ging outside your balcony,” he said with a grin.
“Please don’t give the neighbors more to talk about,” she teased and caressed the hard muscles of his chest.“We should go get in the shower again and get cleaned up.”
“Why? I am not done getting dirty with you.” Eric rolled her body on top of his and spread her wide. He filled her with his hard cock and moaned when he sank deep into her pussy.
“Again? You can’t be ready again?” She gasped out as he moved under her, filling her slowly.
Eric grinned with wicked delight. “I’m a soldier who has spent months over in a desert with no woman to call my own or even write me letters. I am ready if the wind blows. Do you want me to stop?” He asked the question as he went deeper inside her with every stroke.
“Oh, don’t you dare.” She arched above him and picked up his movements.
“Ah yes, baby, ride my cock,” Eric groaned and grabbed her hips.
Talk was over for a little while as they loved each other again. The sun was up by the time they showered and fell back into bed with exhausted bodies from their lovemaking. Eric fell asleep first and Sapphire watched him for a while. There were a few times he mumbled in his sleep but he did not awaken. After she was confident that he would sleep soundly for a few hours. Sapphire let her own slumber consumer her and for the first time since she was a child, she slept well past ten on a blissful Sunday.
* * * *
Eric looked at the new renovation of his house which was finally complete. Six weeks of sawing and hammering, new furniture and general chaos led to what he had now. It was still the same basic design but now it was more to his taste with a contemporary feel. His mother and father’s picture still had a place on the mantelpiece along with a lot of things he wanted to keep. The other were boxed up and stored in the attic for whenever he might want to pass them on to children or whatever.
Children, he thought with a grin. He never thought he would be one to even think about kids. But since he had been with Sapphire, he was living a lot of things he never thought he would have. He stayed with her while his renovation was going on, going to work and coming back to her tiny apartment that shared her business. But even she had to admit that his massive frame was too big for her tiny space. With his new house done, the plan was set. She had been in the house in various stages of its renovation. But this final week with the new furniture and everything delivered, she had been out of town for a wedding. Her Paradise chocolate truffles were going to be the centerpiece of the wedding table and wouldn’t travel to Oklahoma City well so she had to make them on site. She was coming home that very night and he would have a surprise waiting for her. His plan was after dinner he would ask her to move in with him. Eric left a note on her counter for when she got home to come right over when she got home.
He was going to make steaks on the new grill he had in the backyard and have a bottle of wine waiting. Ha, I can so be romantic, he thought with pride as he set candles in the new widened dining room. He had taken the wall out that separated it from the living room leaving a wide open space which made him feel less confined. With the new leather sofa and recliners, plus the flat screen TV on the wall, he could see them spending many a night taking advantage of the wide open space.
There were a few things in the shop he needed to get done before she got home. He got to those errands quickly so he could get back to making the night perfect for his woman. His sleep pattern had gotten better since he had been sharing his nights with her. The dreams and phantom smells did not bother him so much. The after effects of all he had seen were night terrors and on those nights when he was caught in the midst of a dream that sent him back into the chaos of the war, her soothing voice brought him back to reality. She never looked scared, only concerned, and sometimes she even cried for him when he could not. There was no other choice. Sapphire was the woman for him.
It was seven o’clock when he pulled the last of the steaks off the grill and he heard her knock on the front door. He set the plate on the kitchen counter and dashed to the front door to greet her.
“Hey, how come the door was locked?” she asked when he opened it.
Without a word he picked her up and embraced her tightly, inhaling her scent. In a week he had missed her so much and it felt good to have her in his arms again. Without putting her down, Eric pulled her inside and took her lips in a voracious kiss.
He kicked the door closed before putting her on her feet and framed her face with his hands “Welcome home, sweetheart.”
She licked her lips. “Wow, I should go away more often.”
“Uh, nope.” Eric shook his head. “I can’t sleep without you.”
Her face turned to worry. “Have you not been sleeping, Eric? Are the night terrors back?”
“Nothing like that, baby. I just missed your body curled up against mine, that’s all.” He kissed her again. “Look around, woman. The house is done.”
“It’s amazing and so roomy,” she gasped. “Oh, the sofas you picked out work perfectly. I’m sorry I missed your big move in.” She pouted. “I guess my bed will be empty without you now.”
“You won’t be missing me because I have a king size bed in the newly renovated master bedroom for you to share,” Eric said. He had his plan all worked out but impulsively he asked the question. “Move in with me, Sapphie. We’ll never have to sleep away from each other.”
She looked at him with an expression of astonishment. “But what about my apartment and my stuff and…”
“Look around. I left a lot of space open for your stuff and I have extra closet space and a set of drawers upstairs for you. The kitchen is yours. You cook it, I’ll eat it—no question. Your apartment, well, you can make it part of your business. Make it a little upstairs bistro for coffee and pastries or something.”
“Wow, you’ve thought about this a lot since I have been gone,” she answered weakly.
“Honey, I have been thinking about this from the time the guys began to knock out the first wall,” Eric admitted honestly. “You have been my life from the time I walked back into Paradise. We love each other and this is the obvious next step. I know it seems rushed but you don’t have to decide right now. Like I told you, I love you and I don’t expect anything more from you than you’re willing to give.”
Sapphire stood on her tippy toes to kiss him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I smell something delicious and my tummy is rumbling. How about you feed and coerce me with fine delicacies before say yes?”
Eric grinned. “So you are going to say yes?”
“Hmm, more than likely but I better be getting dessert,” she teased.
“Your wish is my command.” Eric took her hand with flair and led her into the newly decorated kitchen. “We have juicy, melt-in-your-mouth steak with a garden salad and rice pilaf which came out great for my first try.”
“Oooh, tempt me some more, chef.” Sapphire clapped.
“And for dessert, fresh strawberries and melted chocolate for your dipping pleasure. Um yeah, I stole them from your place.”
Sapphire laughed. “You pilfered my dessert treat? Oh the shame.”
“The steak will make up for it,” he announced and turned away to fix their dinner plates.
He set the china on the table in front of her before sitting down. “Dig in, darling, and praise me on my cooking prowess.”
Sapphire cut into the thick steak and placed a piece in her mouth. “Okay, baby, I have to admit, you are the steak king. I am humbled.”
“I say we start our own restaurant and I make the dinners and you to the desserts. We’ll put all those reality TV chefs to shame,” Eric commented before digging into his own dinner.
“We’ll rule the culinary world!” She agreed with him.
Eric grinned in her direction, loving their banter. She smiled so easily and always had a quip to match his. He was elated that she was going to move in with him and as they ate, he filled her in on all the neighborhood gossip from when she was g
one.
She leaned her arms on the table. “Do you mean that Evie and Nate have taken over the big house, she is pregnant, and Old Daddy Warbucks has left town. Oh man, things happen when I’m not around.”
Eric took a bite of his steak. “I remember Evie always saying she was going to blow this town. I think Evie came home because no matter what, this is home. We had a good childhood here, all of us, and what better place to raise a kid than in Paradise, Oklahoma.”
“Home is where the heart is,” Sapphire said and sat back. “Oh, I am stuffed.”
“Dinner was good and now where’s my answer?” Eric asked.
Sapphire wagged her finger at him. “Nuh-uh, you said I would get dessert.”
“Okay, then dessert we shall have,” Eric replied with a wink. “Help me clear the table, sexy.”
Together they cleared the table and Eric got the strawberries and chocolate from the fridge. He placed them on the table and pulled the chair away from the table before he sat. When Sapphire turned away from the sink she raised an elegant eyebrow in his direction
“Come over here, Sapphie, and strip,” he ordered softly. Eric took her hand as she crossed the tiled floor to him and stood her between his legs.
“Did you say strip?” she asked. “I thought we’re going to have dessert?”
“Oh baby, this is going to be a treat.” He smiled a wicked smile. “Now, sexy lady, strip and show me that creamy skin I missed.”
Without a word, Sapphire undid the buttons of her shirt and with each one, he felt his temperature rise. She slipped the shirt from her shoulders and the bra followed. Her breasts were his undoing and as he reached out to touch the ebony globes, she stepped away.
“Now you wait until I’m done or no treats for you,” Sapphire teased.
She doesn’t know how much I want her, Eric thought. She unzipped her tight, blue business skirt and the material slipped down her long legs easily. He stripped while he watched her take her clothes off. She was wearing a pair of lacy pink panties and when those were shimmed down her legs, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He grabbed her and pulled her to him for a fierce kiss and molded her body to his. The heat of her skin and the smell of her was like being intoxicated. Every night while she was gone he longed for her. The bed smelled like her and more than once he woke up with her name on his lips. While his tongue played in her mouth he wished he could immerse himself forever in the feeling of yearning that assuaged him when he was making love to her.