It took the last of his shredded self-control to pull away, panting, long enough put on a condom. She grasped at his hips and dug her fingernails into his skin.
“Jeremy,” she pleaded, and tugged him closer. “Now.”
He took a steadying breath and kissed her. As her tongue caressed his mouth, he thrust fully into her. She enveloped him in lustrous, gliding heat, the wet fire of her stroking him until he groaned. She couldn’t have fit him more perfectly. She was amazing.
She was his.
“I—I can’t go slow,” he gritted out through his teeth. Need left his body taut, and so very ready. He’d planned on languid, unhurried lovemaking, but he didn’t think he could hold back any longer.
“Then don’t,” she panted. She arched against him, scratching her nails down his back.
His mind stopped working. His body, his desire, his consuming need for her took over. Only she could give him this pleasure. He drove into her. She rose to meet him, wanton and wild. He met her every demand, wildness for wildness, madness for madness, kiss for kiss, passion for passion.
Pleasure mounted in a cresting surge, and he matched the rhythm of her body until she tensed. With a sighing, shuddering cry, she peaked, tightening around him in convulsing waves, her body trembling, her skin glistening with sweat. Her slickness poured over him, and he filled her again and again until bliss spread through his body and melted him.
He collapsed atop her, heart racing, and held her close. It was long moments before he could speak, before he could even move. He pushed himself up on shaking arms.
“Holy shit,” he breathed. “You’re amazing.”
She blushed. A shy smile crept across her lips. “It’s my best kept secret.”
He burst into laughter. God, he couldn’t imagine no longer having her in his life. He’d never planned much for the future, but now he saw one with her. One that would give him a reason to fight, a reason to survive, so he could come home to her waiting arms.
“Brat,” he murmured, and leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose—then finally kissed that dimple that had teased him for so long. “Keep it a secret. I don’t want anyone else stealing you away.”
The warmth in her eyes left him breathless. “You don’t have to worry about that. You weren’t the only one with a crush.”
“So you finally admit I was right?”
“This one time. One time. Don’t get used to it. It won’t happen again.” She trailed a fingertip over his arm. “Everyone knows I’m always right.”
That one light touch was enough to rouse him again. If he wasn’t careful, she’d kill him. He sank down against her and buried his face in her throat, breathing in the scent of her warm skin. The scent of her pleasure. The scent of both of them, together.
“Why did you run away?” he asked, brushing his lips over her neck. “When I told you, the first time.”
She laughed. “Because I thought you’d slept with my brother’s wife! What did you think I’d do? And you were drunk. And I was scared. I’d loved you for so long, and there you were, telling me you loved me too. I didn’t know whether to believe you or run screaming.”
“So you ran screaming.”
“I could have sworn ‘Captain Obvious’ was my job description.”
He could have kicked himself. He was such a fool. Of course she wouldn’t throw herself into his arms three minutes after he’d told her Tommy had beaten the shit out of him for sleeping with his wife. Maybe Tommy hadn’t hit his younger self hard enough, if he was that much of a dumbass.
Then the full meaning of her words struck him. “Wait. You loved me? That wasn’t just something Tommy said?”
“Can my brother not keep anything secret?” She slumped beneath him. “Yes. I did. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped. I couldn’t even bring myself to care when my fiancé left, because he wasn’t you. I thought I loved him, but…I couldn’t. Not like I loved you.”
She loved him. She really, honestly loved him. Jeremy pressed his cheek to her hair and crushed her close against him.
She groaned. “Can’t. Breathe.”
He relaxed his grip a fraction and kissed her temple. “If you can talk, you can breathe, love.”
She glowered at him. “Oh, shut up.” Then she colored. “No, don’t. Say it again.”
“If you can talk, you can breathe?”
“No. The other part. The part where you called me…”
“…love,” he finished, and smiled when she dropped her eyes, lashes sweeping down. She was so achingly, perfectly beautiful. Every scar. Every nervous little gesture. Everything about her, from the way she compressed her lips when she was angry to the way her nails bit into his back when she cried out his name in the heights of passion. “My love. Now, and always.”
She hid her face against his shoulder. “Now you’re just embarrassing me. Shut. Up.”
“I don’t think you’re embarrassed. I think you like it…love.”
With a growl, she shoved him off, then straddled him. Her eyes shone. Her hair framed her face in a lustrous tangle of chocolate. “I’ll make you shut up, if you won’t do it on your own. And trust me, you won’t be able to handle my methods.”
“Try me,” he said, and rolled his hips against her.
She gasped, then slid down his body and kissed a path to his hips. Her lips were like silk on his skin. Her fingers caressed his erection, making him throb and stealing his breath.
“I will,” she said. “Trust me, I will.”
He bit back a moan. “Have I mentioned how much I love you?”
“Possibly. And it’s entirely possible I might love you, too.”
Then her lips closed around him, and he lost the ability to speak.
She was right. She knew just how to shut him up.
Chapter Seven
Erica stretched and smiled up at the ceiling. The past three days had been amazing. Jeremy hadn’t left her side for longer than it took to shower and eat. Every night, he’d held her in his arms. They’d talked for hours, about everything. What had happened when they’d been apart. Their families. The life they wanted to make together.
And every morning he told her how beautiful she was, and made love to her in the rising sunlight.
It was entirely unfair that soon he’d have to return to base, hours away—and not long after that, he’d be away on deployment again. It hurt to think she wouldn’t see him every day, or feel his skin against hers while she slept. Her smile faded. She ran her hand over the empty place in the bed. If only he could move here, and stay with her. But the military didn’t work that way. Jeremy still had three years on this tour, and no plans to leave the Marines.