Page 17 of Something Borrowed

“What do you think of it? Ofus?”

A shuffling sound came through the phone before she responded and an image of her naked, shifting in the sheets brought out a low growl of desire from him. Biting the inside of his cheek, he brought himself out of his short-lived fantasy.

“I think that I knew going into this that you were in the military and not just living in Germany.”

The silence between them seemed to stretch nearly as long as the distance. The sound of her breathing through the phone was steady, nothing to indicate she was ramping up for a fight or something she found negative. Taking the chance, he spoke.

“So what you’re saying is that as long as I come back in one piece, you’re still interested?”

Her throaty chuckle set him at ease the moment he heard it. The tension in his body seemed to melt away, leaving him calm for the first time since admitting his feelings to Adrianna on Saturday.

“What I’m saying is that you come back alive, one piece or not, and I’m interested. A girl doesn’t wait half her life only to give up at the first sign of difficulty. I trust you not to do something suicidal and to communicate with me as best as you can.” She paused. “Which will behow?”

He bit his tongue, the sharp spike of pain helping him to refrain from mentioning that he would do whatever he was commanded to do and the he had in fact placed himself in rather suicidal positions in the past to rescue those inneed.

“Have I mentioned you’re a pretty amazinglady?”

A louder laugh that time. “I think you mentioned as often as I told you how awesome I thought you were. Now, don’t avoid the question. If the answer is never, I’m okay with that. Remember, I went years without speaking toyou.”

The playfulness in her tone shocked him. He’d only dated two other women since joining the Marines and neither of them had been even slightly understanding about what his work entailed. He’d always known Adrianna was cool under pressure, he just hadn’t realized that would extend to all facets of her life, and not just calming down his crazy sister.

“Jaxon?” There was a slight warning edge to hertone.

“Right, sorry. We’re not allowed to say where we’re going, or confirm it if you guess.” He wasn’t certain if she’d know anyway, but he could at least tell her the details. “We’re going to help watch over the construction sites. It’s still dangerous, but it’s not the same thing as deploying ten years ago when I was in boot camp. I’ll more than likely have access to email once a day, with the shot of a Skype call here and there. It really depends on how many men and women are sharing the same computers, but I promise you, it won’t be radio silent. Deployments of any kind rarely our with the technology we havenow.”

“And when do you leave?”

“A few days, best I’m allowed tosay.”

“For howlong?”

“Are you interviewing me, Miss Laurant?” He chuckled despite himself, enjoying the way she’d interrogated him without it feeling like a stereotypical interrogation.

“Only for the information Ineed.”

He could practically hear the grin in her voice.

“We’re slated for only a few months, but there’s never certainty inthat.”

“I figured as much. Very well then, if you leave in a few days that means I expect lavish, romantic Facebook messages and at least one long distance FaceTime from you before you leave. Other than that, I’ll get you my email and you let me know you’re alive whenever you are ableto.”

“Very low maintenance, Miss Laurant.”

“Then you should have no problem complying.” She whispered coyly.

“The only problem I’m having is that it’s early morning, I’m sitting in a car on base and you just my dick rise to attention.”

A smothered chuckle was his only response, leading him to smile to himself. He’d waited nearly fifteen years to see what dating Adrianna would be like, and even if this was stereotypical dating, he was beginning to realize he’d been a fool for no talking to her before.

“Get some more sleep; dream about all the things I’m thinking about doing to you right this very minute and we’ll talksoon.”

“Jax,” she groaned.

Immediately he had an image of her hand slipping underneath the top sheet and under the waistband of her panties. His cock throbbed to the point of pain and he knew that going home to prepare for a deployment was also going to include making certain he didn’t die of blue balls first, assuming he could even drive safely with how badly he wanted to sink into Adrianna’s warmbody.

“I’m hanging up now before I’m completely incapacitated. Goodbye, Adrianna.” Dropping the cell phone into passenger seat he blew out a deep breath. Of all the things he hadn’t expected in life, being so utterly wrapped up in a woman was not one of them. It wasn’t just the way she made him feel as horny as a teenager either, she was quite literally the whole package - brilliant, level-headed, passionate, independent and fun to be around. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin it before they even had a chance to get started.

“Probably a good thing she’s okay with your career then,” he muttered as he started the car. There was next to nothing for him to do now, most military kept their bags ready to go, but he enjoyed the thought of a day off before they came back tomorrow to start mission training.

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