Tagged For A New Start (Tagged Soldiers Book 3)

by Sam Destiny

  He moved until he was spread out on top of her, his weight pressing her into the mattress, making her stomach warm as the slow burn of arousal ran through her body.

  “Thom,” she whispered and he captured her lips, kissing her until she wondered if he had any plans to take off her clothes. After all, their time wasn’t endless, and although Leila slept like a stone most of the time, Evy worried they could be interrupted that night of all nights.

  “Are we going to get naked or did you just get me up here to reach first base?” she asked, not worried about ruining any mood because if he wasn’t going to do the first step, they’d reverse positions and Evy would tease him until he wasn’t able to resist anymore.

  He chuckled and then caught her hands as she tried to push up his shirt. He brought her wrists together over her head, keeping both of them in one hand before he nibbled at her neck, kissing his way down. He pushed her shirt up with his free hand, his skin warm against hers, softer than expected and yet not as rough as she wanted.

  “More, Thomas. I need more,” she pleaded. She wanted to feel his fingertips dig into her hips because he wanted her so much.

  After all, it was how much she wanted him.

  “I’m trying to do it slow and sweet, the way you deserve it,” he explained and she closed her eyes for a brief second before pulling her hands free and sitting up, careful to not bump heads with him.

  “Listen up, soldier,” she announced while she dragged his shirt above his head, wrapping his dog tags around her finger, “I’m not Tessa. I’m neither goddamn breakable nor half a nun. Trust me, I don’t need sweet and slow. What I need is you.” She ditched her top, then drew him in, kissing him with everything she had, climbing back in his lap before rolling her hips. She felt his hands cup her backside and she wasn’t sure if he was going to push her away or draw her closer.

  Not that she’d move anywhere unless they were getting naked.

  “I’d never say you’re like Tessa, I just—”

  She didn’t let him finish. “Good.” With that she moved until she could push him into the mattress, then she bowed over him, sucking at the soft skin on his neck before kissing her way lower, carefully scratching her nails across his nipples before biting them softly, teasing them and then moving even lower. His stomach hollowed out as he inhaled sharply, her teeth nipping at his hipbones.

  “Ev, I’m not going to last long if you keep teasing me like that. And you haven’t even taken off anything important yet,” he rasped out, his hand already in her hair, lightly holding onto her.

  “I’m on my way to do exactly that,” she announced against his skin, opening the button of his army greens, then she pushed them down. He’d lost his boots already, had kicked them off in the hallway, and she appreciated it, drawing the socks off as she freed him off the pants and the boxers in one move. He was naked before she was, but she didn’t pause to think about it.

  She finally had the chance to get her hands and lips on him, on all of him, and wanted it.

  “Evangeline—”

  The words died on his lips as she kissed him right above the erection bobbing against her chin, and she felt him shiver when she wrapped her hand around him, not yet stroking, just putting mild pressure on it.

  “Fuck.”

  It was exactly the reaction she’d been aiming for before she licked across the tip of him, tasting his salty arousal.

  “You’re not gonna make this very pleasant for yourself if you keep that up, Ev. I’ll be coming before you even know it,” he whispered, his voice cracking each time she circled her tongue again while slowly stroking up and down.

  “The night’s long,” she stated and then looked up, meeting his eyes with a wink. “And so are you.”

  He chuckled, taking a breath as if he was going to say something, but it turned into a moan when she sucked him in as deeply as she dared. She felt the strain in his thighs where her free hand rested, knowing he wanted to move his hips, but she appreciated him not doing it. Instead she found her own rhythm, teasing and nipping, licking and sucking until he hardened even more in her mouth.

  “I’m… Stop. Please. Jesus, Evangeline.” She didn’t stop, even when his grip on her hair tightened.

  “Fuck it,” Tank finally decided and she hummed in appreciation at his surrender, swirling her tongue while cupping his balls with her free hand. He bucked off the bed once and hot streams hit her tongue. She swallowed them down, almost tempted to smack her lips when she pulled back, grinning at him in the silver light falling in from the window. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to see the way his chest rose and fell with his rapid breathing.

  She moved over his body, kissing her way up, and he drew her in, forcing her lips apart with his tongue, claiming her before putting her flat on her back. He pulled down the cup of her bra and flickered his tongue over her nipple, grinning wickedly when she moaned quietly, need surging through her tenfold.

  He took his time worshipping her breasts and she didn’t mind, digging her nails into the comforter, biting her lip to not draw too much attention to what they were doing. She didn’t really care if Hilary heard them because she assumed her friend had guessed what would happen, but Ev didn’t want to wake her daughter. Interruption wasn’t what she had in mind, not when she needed Tank as badly as she did.

  He loosened her bra and she bowed off the bed a little to help him get rid of it, then he slid one finger between her cleavage, down her stomach, rubbing it over her middle over the material, with not enough pressure.

  “More,” she begged, wondering if her treatment had felt like torture to him, too.

  He hooked his hands into the waistband of her pants and drew them down, leaving her with only panties on before kissing her core—again above the material.

  “Don’t tease me,” she pleaded and he grinned.

  “Tit for tat, beautiful,” he promised and damn, Evy was looking forward to it no matter what.

  Tank couldn’t believe how easy it was being with Evy, how easily he could let go—and how much he enjoyed discovering every inch of her body.

  He hadn’t lied to Jazz when he’d said that he’d never had sex in a bed. On the floor, standing, on a table, sure, but in a bed? Never.

  He’d always thought it would forge too much of a connection, be too intimate and he’d been right, because this, taking your time, tasting every single inch of Evy’s skin just made him fall for her more, made him want to repeat this more often than not.

  He pulled down her panties and then kissed his way up the inside of her left leg while his hand traced the same path on her right one. She shivered under his ministrations, the sounds she made spurring him on more. He wanted to go fast even while he wanted to go slow.

  He glanced up every now and again, watching how she bit her lip, how she writhed under him, tried to get more friction, reaching for something to hold onto only to end back with her hands curled into the sheets.

  When he finally reached his destination after kissing her thighs, the soft skin leading up to her sensitive core, he inhaled briefly, nervous even though he knew there was no reason.

  He couldn’t go wrong because she was already on the verge of something beautiful.

  This time when she reached out, she drowned her hands in his hair and he liked the way she tugged on his strands.

  “Patience,” he chuckled, knowing it was hopeless. Just like she, he had barely any self-restraint left.

  “Tank,” she replied, her voice breathy, and he finally leaned in, flattening his tongue against her core and she arched off the bed.

  “Yes!”

  He smiled to himself at how hard she tried to stay quiet and yet couldn’t. He saw her press the back of her hand over her lips and he reached for her free hand, entwining their fingers while he licked her with long, lazy strokes designed to drive her crazy.

  She moved against him, wiggling her hips, and he pressed his free arm across her lower abdomen, keeping her as immobile as he could.


  “Jesus, Thomas, you… I… don’t stop,” she pleaded. “Actually do and take me,” she then added, leaning up a little, trying to catch his eyes.

  He grinned, knowing she’d see the wicked gleam in his eyes as he released her hand and pushed two fingers into her, curling them slightly and feeling even prouder when she just dropped back into the pillows with a low moan.

  “You’re… Tank… Jesus…”

  Finally he let up, moving over her body until he covered her fully, kissing her lips. “I?” he asked, slowly rolling his hips, his hard again erection rubbing against her core. He had a condom, he was sure of it, when she reached for the nightstand, pulling out a whole pack.

  He coughed, his question forgotten, and she laughed throatily.

  “You should maybe thank Hilary tomorrow. I wonder how Tessa felt when finding them in her nightstand.”

  “Like she’s your freaking mother,” he muttered, moving a little lower again to pull one pebbled nipple between his lips.

  “Like someone who… ohhhh.”

  Yeah, that was much better than the talking. His immediate worry about protection was satisfied. Not that he worried about her carrying an STD, and he knew he wasn’t because they were tested regularly on base, but she’d walked away with a child from a one night stand once, and he wouldn’t let that happen again.

  Even though he hoped this would be a regular thing soon.

  He also knew it wasn’t really their first time, but it felt like it, as if they started all over again, and he loved the feeling.

  “Roll it on,” he whispered, watching how she grabbed one with shaky hands, chuckling breathlessly as they both stared at her trembling fingers.

  Tank caught them in his, worried something was off.

  “You okay?” he asked, softly kissing her nose, and she dropped her head back into the pillows, staring at the ceiling.

  “Yes?” he nudged and she huffed.

  “You’ll laugh at me.”

  Rolling his hips yet again so she could feel how much he wanted her, he stated, “Laughing is pretty much the last thing on my mind.”

  She met his eyes after a second. “I’m nervous. What if I’m not good? I mean, it’s been a while, and this… I feel as if I never had sex before and… ugh.” She groaned in frustration and he took the unwrapped condom from her, rolling it on before settling between her legs, making sure she met his eyes as he placed his hands left and right of her face.

  “No reason to laugh whatsoever. It feels exactly the same for me, Evangeline,” he assured her and then pushed into her in one long, slow stroke.

  God, she fit him perfectly, although it was obvious she’d birthed a child. She wasn’t such a tight, snug fit like they always made you believe in the porn you could watch online.

  Fine, the movies he was thinking of maybe weren’t the right comparison.

  However, this was right, perfect, and he wanted nothing more.

  She wrapped her legs around him, urging him on while he leaned down to kiss her, but he wasn’t going to rush anything.

  No, Tank wanted to take his time, making sure she knew how much he appreciated her and the fact that she’d taken a chance on him.

  With his movements, his caresses and touches, he said everything he didn’t dare to form with his lips.

  All the promises of forever he never thought he’d make, all the assurances that she’d be the only one he’d want for the rest of his life, he made with his skin on hers—for the rest of the night until he was sure she couldn’t have any doubts left.

  It was some time before lunch when Tank finally had his own car and a few minutes to do what first Jazz and then Evy had kept him from.

  He rubbed the spot on his neck where she’d left a love bite—involuntarily or not, he didn’t care—and then got out of the car.

  He didn’t let himself in, but rang the doorbell instead.

  There was no way she’d be part of his life any longer, so he didn’t want her to think he had any interest in being part of hers.

  His mother opened, surprise hollowing her cheeks when her jaw dropped. “Thomas. Why did you ring the doorbell? You have a key. Come on in, my boy. I was thinking of calling you anyway.”

  He gaped at her back as she turned away.

  “Donna Michaels, what the hell were you thinking last night? And how did you find Evangeline?”

  “Son, I have my resources and my reasons, and I don’t think you need to know either of them,” she said as he finally followed her into the living room. It was bright inside, the sun shining into the dust-filled space. She needed to clean and in all the years he’d been here or had dropped by, he couldn’t remember seeing it like that.

  She’d been clean with the house, careful to keep the appearances up of a working family, a working life.

  “In fact, I do. Donna, we’re going to get the police involved if you show up at their doorstep again,” he insisted, finding it weird and yet strangely freeing to call his mother by her name.

  She squinted at him. “What did she do to you that you are like that? And since when are you calling me Donna? I don’t like it.”

  He shrugged, passing her by to casually pick up a cup that looked rather fresh, sniffing it inconspicuously, but there’d been no alcohol in it.

  He’d almost been positive of that before because his mother never had been a drinker, but you never knew what was going to change a person—or when they’d fall off the proverbial cliff.

  “You don’t have to like it, you have to accept it, because honestly? You’re not a mother. You never were. I’m watching one currently, and although she struggled with a lot of things, loving her child is not one. I know Ev won’t ever teach her daughter that love doesn’t exist, and if she allows me, I’ll make sure she knows that, in fact, love is very much present everywhere.”

  He shook his head, still in awe of everything he’d realized last night.

  Like what was between Jazz and him was love in a family way.

  Like how his coach in high school had always pushed him harder than the rest because he wanted him to do better than the rest, knew he needed more discipline because he didn’t get any at home.

  Like how Tessa had threatened him when he’d taken Ev away that first evening on Halloween.

  None of those was the romantic kind of love, and yet it had taken until he’d fallen asleep next to Evy to realize they still were a version of it, and that he’d experienced it all his life without knowing.

  Hell, he’d loved even before he’d fallen as hard for Evy as he did—when he’d first seen her daughter. The need to protect her, to make the world a little bit better for her, to prove to her not all men were assholes—it was fatherly love.

  No one had ever been like that for him, but it didn’t matter, because he could act on instincts. His mother hadn’t been able to snuff them out, and maybe, just maybe his asshole-ness had ended long before Christmas.

  He’d been nicer about picking the women, making sure they weren’t the doe-eyed ones, but those like him, needing nothing and never expecting anything but sex, no matter when and where he picked them up. He’d started caring and even if many people would probably scold him for it because meaningless sex was never the solution, they’d wanted it and so did he.

  Him helping Tessa back when Jazz had been out of it—that had probably been his real turning point.

  He’d wanted to be someone who’d find a person as devoted to him as Tessa was to Jazz, and he’d known with the way he’d been that he wouldn’t find anyone.

  “You were wrong, you know?” he suddenly said, having no idea if his mother had spoken to him while he’d been lost in his own head or not, and he didn’t care, either.

  “About?” his mother asked, crossing her arms in front of her body.

  “I’m worth being loved, and just because you never saw that doesn’t mean everyone else had to overlook it, too. Then again, maybe I should thank you, too, because without you I might have found a girl before E
vangeline, and I think no one could be as perfect for me as she is.” He paused for a moment, wondering if it would be worth trying to convince his mother to go out and find someone for life instead of a night, but when she just snorted dismissively, he reconsidered.

  “You’ll be back, son, and you’ll be calling me ‘Mom,’ and you’ll tell me I was right. I saw that girl of yours, working and not thinking of anyone else but herself, and I saw her leaving her work with a group of girls. Where were you? Shouldn’t she have gone home to you?” She shook her head. “You think you know how relationships go, but you don’t. She’s using you, enjoying what you have to offer before she moves on when she needs something different, and you’ll know love isn’t worth it.”

  He stepped in until his nose touched hers. “You followed her. The question is, how did you find out where she works?” He waited, but his mother didn’t say anything. “The Aquarium. There aren’t many more possibilities,” he mused, still watching her. He didn’t want to miss a flinch whenever he got close to the answer.

  Then it hit him. He’d been surprised she was at the Aquarium in the first place, all done up, and all by herself. She’d been waiting for someone—just like he’d been waiting for Evy.

  “The director of the Aquarium. You sleep with him and he told you who she was. Jesus, I should’ve known you wouldn’t be there just for the fish.”

  He also needed to talk to Ev about how they didn’t keep her private data private. “Stay away from Evangeline or the police will take you in. Trust me, even for a night prison will scare you. And don’t ever try to convince her I’m cheating on her. She wouldn’t believe you anyway.”

  Just like she hadn’t the day before, which he still considered a miracle.

  “I’m helping you!” his mother cried after him when he left. He turned one last time in the door.

  “Stay away from her, from us, or by God, you will regret it,” he promised her and then was out of the door.

  He needed to see Evy and then think about how he could best keep the people he cared about from the woman who’d more or less raised him.