Protecting Her: A Romance Bundle

by Mia Ford

  7

  Veronica

  “Woah!” I cry out in shock as Jordan crashes into me. “Where are you going in such a hurry, you crazy fool?”

  He grabs onto my arms and stares deeply into my eyes. They dart around like crazy which actually causes me to worry. Jordan doesn’t look like himself at all, there’s something brimming right on the tip of his tongue.

  “I need to talk to you,” he gasps out, confirming what I already suspected. “Can we talk? Are you busy?”

  I did have plans to go to the library to get some research done for the project I’m working on, but there’s no way I’ll be able to concentrate now. I have plenty of time to get this work done anyway, whatever this is clearly can’t wait. Whatever Jordan wants to say to me, I think it needs to come out right this second.

  “S… sure, do you want to go to my room? Do we need privacy for this conversation, or…?”

  “Yes, let’s go to your room.” Okay, now I’m really worried. “Let’s go right now.”

  He grabs my arm and drags me towards my dorm room causing my mind to spin. I reel my brain over every possible thing he might have to tell me and none of them feel good. Not while he’s this panicked.

  What if he’s cheated on me? My brain unhelpfully asks. Or he’s dropping out of college? I don’t know how much he’s enjoying himself here… or what if he’s breaking up with me just because he’s done?

  Nothing would lead me to believe that any of those things are about to happen. Nothing except for the manic way that he’s behaving right now. Everything was just fine this morning, but something’s clearly changed.

  When we get to my room, I unlock the door with shaky fingers. My heart pounds so loudly in my ears I can barely hear anything else. My whole body is burning hot and icy cold all at once. I don’t like this at all.

  I breathe out a sigh of relief to see the room empty when I step inside. I half expected Rachel to be in here and for me to have to awkwardly kick her out while Jordan ends things with me. She would definitely want to know everything that’s happened right away then, and while I tell her everything anyway, I like to do it in my own time. I don’t like being forced… so I’m very glad this isn’t a problem right now.

  Although… am I? If she were here it would be a distraction. It would give me more time to think of some reasons why he definitely shouldn’t break up with me. This is by far the most incredible time of my life. I absolutely love being his girlfriend. I don’t want anything to change that, I need it to last forever more. Tears prick at my eyes as I consider what life might be like without him. I really don’t want to face that.

  “Okay.” I turn to look at Jordan, needing to rip the band aid off. Clearly, there’s no avoiding the inevitable so we might as well just have this conversation and get it over and done with. “What’s going on, Jordan?”

  “You’re about to be really proud of me.” I furrow my eyebrows in confusion as he bites down on his bottom lip. Maybe that’s excitement bursting through him rather than nerves… what does that mean for us? “I’ve done something amazing today, something incredible. I have worked towards my future and now I know what I want.”

  “You’re too obsessed with the future,” I reply with a nervous laugh. “We have plenty of time to work it out.”

  Ever since he’s learned that I know what I want to do with my future, he’s become crazy obsessed with working out what he wants. I keep telling him it doesn’t matter because I’ve known for years, but he won’t hear it. It’s like he thinks I’ll assume he isn’t good enough for me if he doesn’t have a ten-year plan, which is crazy. I’m the one who’s reaching when it comes to him. He’s about a million times better than I am.

  “I know, but I went to a careers fair today to try and work out what I might like and I found something…”

  “You went to a careers fair?” That statement alone is a little shocking. That’s really taking action!

  “I did, and I met this guy who really changed my opinion on everything. It isn’t something that I thought I’d chose, but now that I have I’m really excited.” He grabs onto my hands. “Oh, you’re going to love it.”

  I can’t stop giggling, he’s acting so nuts it’s funny. But I guess I’m nervous too, I don’t know where this is going to lead and that makes me feel all weird inside. He could literally say anything right now.

  “The army.” Huh? My heart stops dead in my chest, I don’t know what to think. “Yep, I signed up.”

  “You… your…” I drop his hands and step away from him, shock coursing through me at a million miles an hour. The army means war, and bombs, and death. He cannot honestly mean this. “You signed up.”

  “Oh yeah, but I don’t leave until after college. I have to complete here first.”

  The tight knot in my chest loosens, but only a tiny bit. I guess there’s a positive in the fact that he isn’t leaving right now. I don’t have to give him up right away, and also, I might be able to talk him out of it. I, of course, have a lot of respect for the military, who doesn’t? But I never thought that I’d have to give up the love of my life to the cause. If he does this, I’ll never see him, he’ll be at risk every single day. I won’t be able to hack it.

  “So, you aren’t actually signed up, right? You just registered some interest. You haven’t committed…”

  “Nope.” He pops the p proudly. “I’m a fully signed up member, ready to start basic training as soon as.”

  Sickness swirls, my head spins, it’s like I can’t stand up anymore. I collapse back onto my bed and clutch onto my forehead in shock. How can he go from not sure what he wants to do with his life to committing to the army? It’s crazy. And dropping the bombshell on me like that is just too much too. I don’t know how to feel.

  “Take a look at these books,” Jordan continues on as if he doesn’t see how tormented I am by his words. “Look at all the benefits. It’s wild. The money, the travel, the comradery. It’s just what I need.”

  “You really want this?” I ask quietly while giving him a desperate look. “You’re sure.”

  He clutches onto my hands once more and gives me the brightest grin I’ve seen from him in ages. “Rusty.” Calling me by the nickname he’s turned from nasty to sweet does something to my heart. “I haven’t ever wanted anything as much as this. Just hearing about it made me realize just how happy I can be. We can be.”

  “We?” I rasp out. “So, I am included in this future plan of yours? You do still want me?”

  Making such a massive choice without consulting me does make me feel a bit pushed out. I can’t help it. He’s planned to throw himself into dangerous situations, all around the world, leaving me alone for most of the time, and he’s put his signature on the dotted line without even talking to me about it first. I can’t feel anything else.

  “Of course, I still want you.” He throws his arms around me and embraces me tight. “I have done this for you, for both of us, so we can have a future together. I want us to be together forever, you know that.”

  I do feel a little better to hear him say that, but I’m still stunned to the core. “Yeah, okay… I guess.”

  “You guess?” Jordan pulls back and grins at me. “You’re going to be a world-famous journalist anyway, traveling the country, the world probably. I just don’t want to be left behind. I want to have something too.”

  I nod, drinking that in. I suppose he’s right in a lot of ways, I made my future choice without consulting him too, albeit years before we got together, and couples go through separation all the time. It’s normal for a lot of people. I suppose I’m mostly worried because this time together here is intense, we get to see one another all the time. It’ll change when we leave college. But it has to do that anyway, it’s called growing up.

  “Okay,” I nod slowly, hoping I can finally come on board with this when the time comes. “Well, that’s amazing. I’m really happy that you’ve found something to be passionate about. It’s awesome.”


  He opens up the books and starts flicking through random pages. The excitement is palpable, it’s clear that he truly does want this. What sort of girlfriend would I be if I stood in the way of his dreams?

  “I’m going to have to go to the gym a lot more. I need to really be at the top of my game. I have to be strong, powerful, I need to beat basic training with flying colors and now I have a head start…”

  I nod slowly and drink in his words as much as I can while he speaks at a million miles an hour. This isn’t quite the white picket fence existence I imagined. I guess I thought at one point we would have kids, a cutesy little life somewhere in the country. I do want to be a successful journalist, but I also want the family life as well. If Jordan is going to be gone most of the time, living in some war zone, that picture looks very different. It’s lonelier, sadder, so much quieter. I don’t know if this is exactly what I signed up for.

  I glance up at him, blinking the tears back. I guess I’ll just have to make the most of what I have right now. We still have two years of college together to survive, and its very nearly summer. Our first year here is practically done, so we can go back to our home town and continue on with our very romantic love story there. I’ve been worried that it’s going to be strange away from the college bubble, I feared it might put a strain on us. How wrong I was to worry about the here and now when me and Jordan have a much scarier hurdle to overcome.

  “I love you,” I blurt out without much thinking, interrupting him as I do. “I love you so much.”

  He circles his arms around me and kisses me hard, his lips filled with a deep possessiveness. He does genuinely want to keep me, I can tell, but I don’t know if it’s going to be enough. Our future is now uncertain and that’s a horrible sensation in the pit of my stomach. I’m going to find it much harder to dream now.

  I guess the pressure is on. I really need to make sure I’m successful now so I can have my own life to lead in between the times where Jordan is nowhere to be seen. I hope we have enough love to survive it. If I can be strong and not fall apart for his sake then we might have a fighting chance. This is all on me.

  “I love you too,” Jordan murmurs back. “So damn much, and that’s why I’m proud to finally be able to offer you something. I’m much closer now to finally giving you everything that you deserve.”

  As long as I don’t think of the cost, we might just be okay…

  8

  Jordan

  The kiss deepens, I can feel Veronica really get into the heat of the moment. Okay, so she might not have reacted in the over the top happy fashion I expected her to, but that’s okay. I don’t mind. It’s a shock, obviously. I didn’t tell her this is what I was planning, so it’s come from nowhere. And I suppose it’s a bit of a bold choice as well, but we’ll be fine, she’ll soon come around to see that. She’ll soon be as happy as I am.

  I push her back onto the bed until she’s in a lying position and I move my mouth from hers, down over her throat and towards her collar bone. She writhes desperately beneath me, groaning and moaning as she gets into it. The same passion takes hold of me and I feel a desperate stiffening in my pants. I’m a man now, I want to celebrate that, so I hook my fingers over the top of her trousers and I slide them down. I brush my hands over the delicate soft skin of her thighs as it’s revealed to me, relishing her half naked body as if it’s the first time I’ve seen it. It always feels that way with Veronica. Everything feels new every single time. I love it.

  Just as I’m about to drag those sexy little panties down too, Veronica wraps her legs tightly around me and uses some crazy strength to flip us around so I’m the one lying on my back looking up at her. I’m star struck, I wasn’t expecting that to happen, nor was I expecting to see that deeply desperate look in her eyes. Usually, we share a little bit of laughter as we make love, we make it fun too, but today I don’t see that in her. She really does seem different. It has to be my news, it must have stunned her deeply. I need to make her see it’ll be okay…

  But then Veronica takes the next step, she snatches the control from me, by kissing me hard and rubbing her hand all over my swollen bulge as she does. I groan into her mouth, feeling the sound vibrate at the back of her throat. That sound gets louder as she unbuckles me and she pulls my cock free. Her hand coils around my base, her fingers silkily brush me, sending me flying to heaven and back. I gasp, my breaths are so ragged I can barely get a scrap of air into my lungs. Veronica has absolutely no idea how primal she makes me, I’m like a beast. A possessive animal who needs her, who wants nothing more than to own her. I desire her like crazy.

  With her free hand, Veronica tears her top from her body allowing her round, pert breasts to pop free. I growl, I can’t contain myself any longer, she drives me freaking insane. All I want to do is push myself into a sitting position to take hold of the breasts that absolutely belong to me, but I can’t. I’m pinned back by the fact that Veronica is slowly and very seductively sliding her way down my body, taking those delicious red lips of hers to where I’m pulsing and bulging for her. If she’s about to do what I think she is then I might explode.

  “Oh, God.” My ass tenses, I can feel my thighs thicken up. “Oh, Veronica. Oh wow…”

  She kisses all around me, never quite going for where I’m aching for her, but the very bottom of my stomach, in and among my pubic hair, the tops and most inner parts of my thighs, my balls, all these very highly sensitive places, but never quite making it to my twitching cock. She’s trying to drive me to the edge, I can see it, and I’m ashamed to say that it’s definitely working. I already feel utterly unhinged by her. I fist the bed sheets beneath me, about to scream out in a pleasure filled frustration – I kinda like the teasing – but before I take it that far, she moves the kisses to my shaft and places her lips in a chaste manner absolutely everywhere.

  My head falls back and my eyes slide closed, the bliss grips tightly onto me, I don’t know how long I can keep it all inside. The pleasure, the happiness of today, plus the incredible passion that Veronica causes is intense.

  A guttural groan flies out of my mouth, it’s a noise I don’t think I’ve ever made before, and it seems to do something to Veronica. She moves rapidly, wrapping that tight little mouth of hers around my tip, and she flicks her tongue everywhere licking me like I’m a damn lollipop, and oh my God it feels good. Real good.

  “Fucking hell,” I moan while yanking the sheets off her bed in my pleasure. “That’s…. fuck!”

  She pumps her mouth up and down me, soaking my length with her lips. I need to see her, I love watching me take her in my mouth, so I use every scrap of my will power and I force my eyes open. The sight of her red hair splayed across me and her red mouth working me almost makes me explode right there and then. Honestly, Veronica is like a wet dream in the sack, she’s a fucking goddess. I can’t control myself around her.

  I reach my fingers up into her hair, guiding her a little at the pace she knows I like. I don’t need to do this, she’s more than capable of sending me off the edge, but I like to. It gives me a sense that I’m in control. I like to domineer Veronica in the bedroom, I find it so fun when she does as I command.

  A deep shudder races up my spine as I cup her cheeks, really feeling myself hitting the side of her face. My skin flushes, my heart hammers, there’s a pressure building at the base of my cock. If I’m not careful, she’s going to make me lose it. Much as I’d love to fill her mouth with my sweet, salty desire, I also crave that wonderful sensation of plunging deep into her, burying my cock inside of her, making love to her. There’s no better feeling in the world, I absolutely adore it, which is why I need to stop her soon. Not quite yet though, one more minute…

  “No, stop!” I suddenly yell, realizing that I’ve pushed it too far. I’m too near to the edge, I’m about to tumble, I need to act quickly. I pull her mouth off of me. “No, not yet. Come here first, Veronica, I need you.”

  She senses my desperation and climbs up my body, that deep nee
dy look still there in her eyes. I need to drive that out of her, I must find a way to shred her of any doubt, and that that starts tonight. Right now.

  I grab a condom from my pocket, thankfully my trousers are still within reach, and roll it down over myself while maintaining eye contact with Veronica the whole time. She’s panting, filled with desire, and I want to tip her into wild, free pleasure. There are still many thoughts there, circling her brain, and I want to make her only feel instead. Veronica needs the thoughts driven from her brain every so often, and I think that’s now.

  She straddles me, holding onto my cock as she angles it into herself. I can’t simply lie back any longer, I push myself into a sitting position and wrap my arms around her, holding her as she slides down onto me. This is too soon really, I needed more of a break if I don’t want to crumble too quickly, but it’s too late now. I’m inside her already, so I need to find a way to make this as good for her as it is me. I reach my hand between us and I find her clit, I play with her nub while she rides me, sending soaking wet waves of pleasure bursting through her.

  The pressure of pleasure building up inside of me matches the intensity of Veronica’s groans. Thank goodness the bliss is hitting her quickly, shutting her brain off. She tosses her head back and yells out with bliss. Her whimpers, screams, and moans send all the control flying from me. I cannot keep hold of myself anymore, and the phenomenal desire explodes free from me. I lose every inch of myself as I fold into her body. Luckily, a powerful orgasm shatters through Veronica too because her walls are contracting around me, squeezing me, milking the pleasure from me. We crumble together, falling apart in one another’s arms. It feels good to come together, it builds our bond and tightens around us, making me feel even more connected to her.