Page 54 of Dead Ahead (Department of Defense)
“Hey, you should see my place. It’s a studio with a futon on the floor and beer in the fridge. That’s it.” I put my small duffle bag on the couch, my gaze wandering through the space. “Next to that, this is a real home.”
“Well, it can be, if you want.” Even though I’d just proposed, and Ashley had just accepted, the words still sounded like they struggled to come out. We hadn’t talked about anything even closely resembling where we’d live. But I turned towards her, a large smile growing on my face.
“I’d like that.”
Then I went to her, a sudden burning in my chest, and swept her into my arms. We stood like that for a long moment, breathing each other in. Here, in this space that was so far away from that island. First, survival had been a question, then we hadn’t been sure we’d ever see each other again. But here I was, Ashley safe, warm, and loved with me.
My finger slipped under her chin to raise her head until she was staring up at me, and I could see all the emotions scattered there, slipping one after another.
When we kissed, it was warm, soft, but full of the passion I’d missed the past few days. In it, I could feel the sun, the sea, and the intimacy we’d developed. When Ashley led me to her room, flashing a mischievous smile over her shoulder, I knew I was gone.
We undressed each other slowly, taking our time, luxuriating in the feel of our hands on one another, light touches, strokes, and kisses on bare skin that sent shivers traveling up my spine to the top of my head. We paused only long enough to find and put on a condom.
When I lay Ashley down on the bed, all I could do was stare at the woman below me. Her face was so beautiful, and I couldn’t get enough of the way the light highlighted the green and brown of her eyes, and the angles over which my fingers drifted, light as a feather. When her hand came up to cup my cheek, I closed my eyes with the feeling, then turned into it, kissing the palm before pressing myself against her skin to nuzzle the spot.
My hand drifted down her stomach, down her thigh to the apex there, and parted the flesh there, feeling how ready she was. But my finger only lingered for a moment, tickling, swirling, finding the spot that made her back arch towards me, her eyes drifting closed on the wonder of the pleasure I was stoking.
When I pushed into Ashley, she let out a happy sigh and opened her eyes. I watched her face, wanting to catch every moment, every flicker of pleasure as I kept my movements slow and studied. My goal was to make her feel like she was the only person in the world.
And for a time, as pleasure spiraled between us, higher and higher, we were. I shifted in and out until I saw stars in front of my eyes and Ashley’s hips began to move in a rhythm to meet my thrusts. Her hands drifted over the shifting muscles in my back and arms, and the idea that she was feeling their strength beneath her palms pushed me into further heights of need.
Our movements grew more frenzied, every point inside me bursting with sparks of pleasure as she contracted around me until we were both gasping, her cries mixing with my pants and groans. I felt my orgasm breaking over me like a wave, rushing towards me, catching me up and spinning me around until the only thing I could feel was the pleasure, the feeling of pounding in and out of Ashley, the love in her eyes as I hovered over her.
Then my orgasm broke, lifting me, holding me immobile for a moment that could have been a lifetime before I crashed down to earth, every nerve ending pulsing with overwhelming pleasure, Ashley’s scream of my name echoing around me.
Unable to hold myself up anymore, I collapsed beside her, our hearts and hands intertwined, our bodies sweaty, our minds happy.
“I promise I’ll get you a ring,” I said when I gained my breath back. My voice sounded rough with fatigue and satisfaction. “It was a last-minute thing, and I knew I had to get up here and see you. But I promise I’ll get you one.”
“I couldn’t care less about the ring. All I want is you,” Ashley replied, cuddling into my side. I smiled as my arm tightened around her shoulders
“Good. Because all I want is you.”
The warmth of the words was all we needed, as I knew it would be for the rest of our life together.
