Page 52 of My Forever Soldier

Luke squeezed her hand and caught her eye, winking before leading her into the hotel. And in that moment she kicked the sensible fairy off her shoulder, and listened to the naughty one instead.

“No second thoughts?” he asked.

Olivia shook her head, boldly grabbing hold of the col- lar of his jacket and kissing his jaw. “No,” she whispered.

Luke didn’t need to be told twice.

He swipedthe key card through the door and pushed it open for Olivia, Although they’d walked in near silence from the beach, he knew she was nervous. And so was he.

“Drink?” he asked.

She nodded. He swallowed. Their spontaneity had disappeared, turning into a nervous energy that charged between them. Luke quickly scanned the minibar, desperate for a drink of anything that would give him his courage back. He pulled out a small bottle of whiskey for himself and one of champagne for Olivia.

“Too cliché?”

“It’s fine.” Ollie smiled at him, her cheeks flushing pink.

Luke found a glass and poured the champagne, holding it out to her and fixing his gaze. She was hiswife, and since when had he ever been nervous about a night with a beautiful woman?

“To us,” he announced, taking a gulp of whiskey straight from the tiny bottle, trying not to grimace as it burned a hot path down his throat.

Olivia raised her glass, eyelashes hiding her round blue eyes until she was brave enough to look back at him, her chin tilted as she took a sip. “To us,” she said, only now her voice was husky and low.

They both sipped again, but Luke was past needing alcohol. Or maybe the whiskey was already searing his veins, giving him the courage he’d temporarily lost when they’d first arrived back.

Only, it wasn’t courage to take his wite into his arms he’d lost. It was not wanting to push her too far, In case he pushed her away. Now, he needed to know what her final decision was, and he wasn’t going to play games any longer.

“‘Hmm, very nice choice.” Olivia said as she sipped, eyes downcast again.

She was lying. He had no doubts the bubbly was average, but he didn’t care.

“Luke...” she started.

He didn’t have time to find out how her sentence ended.

“Ollie.” His voice was deeper than he’d ever heard it, his hand closing around the whiskey bottle so hard he could have crushed it.

And it wasn’t whiskey he wanted.

Luke stalked toward her, ready to claim what hedidwant, ready to kiss the gasp from her lips and crush her body against his. Olivia fell into his arms as if as desperate as he was, sliding against him as he possessed her mouth with a desperation he’d been holding back all these days. Ever since he’d arrived home.

Luke wrapped one arm around her waist, anchoring her to him despite the bottle he was still holding, his other hand searching for her face, keeping her chin tilted so she couldn’t break their kiss if she tried.

Olivia was breathless,her mouth moving fast to keep up with Luke’s. He pushed her roughly back onto the bed, his hungry lips, his touch even more ravenous. She arched into him, desperate to feel him against her, to carve herself into his frame.

When he pushed up, she fought not to fist her hand in his shirt and pull him down again. She didn’t want him looking down at her; she wanted his body heavy over hers.

“Ollie, are you sure?”

His words surprised her. No longer shy of him, she gazed up into his honest brown eyes, at the pupils so comfortably transfixed on her own. Luke stroked her hair from her face, traced the length of her cheek and rubbed his finger over her lips, his eyes never leaving hers.

When she nodded, there was no going back. His lips found hers again, more gently this time, tender, and shesighed into his mouth as she kissed him back.

“I love you,” he whispered, as he nibbled down her neck, dangerously close to the top of her bra.

I love you, too, Luke. But the words never left her mouth, because Luke’s hands and mouth drifted lower, and all she could think about was that she never, ever wanted her husband to stop touching her.

Olivia tried notto surrender to sleep, but her eyelids refused to obey. Luke traced a circle around and around on her back and she snuggled closer to him, scooped into his body.

---