Holmes (11 page)

“When…how…?” His heart was pumping hard.

Liberty pulled her shirt over her head. Her skin was golden in the candlelight.

“Just stop fighting, Adam.”

His hands curled into fists. The torment was huge. He should be back in his truck, doing…something important. Something to benefit the convoy. Not indulging himself with a woman who was his every desire and sin personified.

She shucked off her jeans and stood there in two tiny scraps of emerald lace. “I want you.”

Those quiet, honest words broke him.

Adam fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around her. He pressed his face to her belly, slipping his hands up her smooth back.

Her hands tangled in his hair.

“Stop thinking,” she murmured. “Just feel.”

He was going to show her just how much he wanted her. How much he admired every part of her. Not just her curvy, gorgeous body, but her love of life, her relentless and quiet need to take care of others, and her confidence to enjoy all the things she loved.

He reached behind her for the clasp of her bra and undid it, the garment falling to the ground.

Adam cupped her breasts, enjoying the breathy sound she made. He kneaded the full curves, watching her face for what she liked best.

He pressed a kiss to her soft belly. God, her skin, the feel of her…perfect.

He dragged his hands down, stroking, caressing. She stood still, trembling a little, a flush on her face.

Then he gripped the edge of her lace panties and pushed them to the side. He could already smell her arousal, feel a tremble running through her.

It thrilled him. He knew she was a woman comfortable with finding her own pleasure, experienced with sex, but still she responded to him in a way that made it clear she was as lost in this moment as he was.

“Open for me, Liberty.” He exerted a tiny bit of pressure on her thigh.

She widened her stance.

“That’s it,” he murmured. “I want to see you.”

He skimmed one finger through her damp folds, making a humming sound. God, she was stunning.

“Adam—”

“You should see how wet you are.” He stroked her, feeling the slippery evidence of her desire. “All this, just for me.”

Adam pulled his hand back and looked up at her. She was every man’s dream, luscious curves and hidden strength. He licked his fingers.

She jerked a little, her gaze riveted as he licked her honey off his fingers.

“You taste so good.”

“And you are far too damn sexy.”

No one had ever called him sexy before. He slid his hands back between her thighs, sliding a finger deep inside her.

She moaned, lifting up on her toes.

“Do you like that?” he murmured.

Her hands gripped his shoulders, her fingernails digging in. He knew before the night was over, he’d have more scratches to join the marks she’d already left.

“You know I do. But I want—” her breath hitched “—more.”

Adam pulled out and slid two fingers back in. “That better?”

Her blue eyes were drowning in desire. “You know what I want.”

Yeah, and it undid him to know she wanted his cock lodged deep inside her. But he wasn’t going to rush this. He knew this night would have to last him a long, long time. He wanted to savor every moment, cherish every beautiful inch of her.

He pulled his fingers out and slid his thumbs in the sides of her underwear. He pushed them down and she stepped out.

He pulled her down and pushed her back onto the bed of blankets.

She raised her arms above her head, stretched out like a naked, private offering.

She knew exactly what she looked like. The smile on her lips was sultry and her gaze never wavered from him.

“Lose the shirt,” she said. “Please.”

Adam quickly unbuttoned his shirt, surprised he didn’t fumble. He pulled it out of his trousers and shrugged it off.

Now she was busy looking at his chest, soaking him in.

In that moment, Adam didn’t feel like a modern Army general. He felt like a primitive warlord of old, with his spoils of war laid out before him.

“You are so damned beautiful, Liberty.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

She’d heard it before, he realized. People had praised her beauty and it didn’t mean anything to her. He wrapped his fingers around one of her ankles, pulling her a little closer to him. He slid his hands up her leg, drinking in the feel of her skin.

“I don’t just mean the lush body, the pretty breasts and the perfect face.” He walked his fingers up her belly, enjoying when she sucked in a breath. “I also mean the things people don’t always notice about you. The way you care for others, anticipate their needs, the way you don’t just want your own pleasure but others’ as well.”

Her lips parted and she just stared at him.

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her sternum, right between her breasts. He pressed his kisses upward, sucking gently on her collarbone.

Her fingers slid into his hair, tugging slightly, her body shifting restlessly under his.

Now he moved to one glorious breast, sucking the dark nipple into his mouth.

“Oh—” Her fingers tugged on his hair again.

He released her nipple with a soft pop. He moved across to the other, circling the tight nub with his tongue. “I could do this all night. Kiss, lick and suck you.”

“Tease.”

He saw the dazzled look in her eyes and he frowned, wondering where it came from. “Why do you look so surprised? That I could gorge myself on you, lick every inch of your skin, stroke my cock until I spilled all over these magnificent breasts?”

“Adam…” She shook her head, trembling again. “No one…sex is usually fast, fun…not this.”

No one took their time with her. She didn’t take her time. In a sudden explosion of thought, he realized for all her enjoyment of sex, she didn’t let a man explore her like this. Uncover all her soft places and hidden secrets.

Well, Adam was a patient man, an excellent strategist. He liked knowing every inch of the battlefield before he made his final move.

He pressed his mouth to her belly. “I promise, this won’t be fast, Liberty. In fact, it’ll be very, very slow.”

***

“Yes, Adam, yes.”

Liberty’s hands curled into the blankets beneath her. Adam’s tongue moved along the sensitive groove between her thigh and body. Then he drew back a little and blew on the damp trail he’d left.

“Oh.” Goose bumps broke out over her skin. He was driving her out of her mind with the overload of sensations. A flutter of light kisses across her belly, a hard suck on her hip bone, the firm press of his fingers on her thigh.

No one had ever touched her like this. So slow, deliberate and absorbed.

When she’d dragged him off the dance floor, she’d envisioned riding him hard, in a fast, sweaty ride they both would have loved.

But this…it left her realizing just how starved she’d been for someone to truly see her, touch her, savor her.

By the intense look on his face, the occasional brush of his hard cock against her leg, she knew he was enjoying this as much as she was.

He was nipping at her thigh, then paused. He went so still and when she looked down, she realized what he was looking at.

She jerked, but his hands held her fast.

“What happened?”

The small, silvery scars were so faded she barely noticed them anymore. She sucked in a breath.

“Liberty…” He gently kissed each mark, following the trail up. When he spotted more on her belly, his face hardened. “Tell me.”

She swallowed. “My ex. He beat me with a belt. The buckle end.”

Something scary flashed over Adam’s face. “I hope he got what he deserved.”

“I was more interested in getting away and finding what I deserved.”

He brought his lips down, over her belly. “What was that?”

She arched under him, her voice breathless. “Pleasure. Fun. A life.”

“Pleasure.” He sucked on her skin and she gasped. “Let’s see what we can do about that.”

Then he pulled back and pushed her knees wide apart, baring her completely to his fevered view. She licked her lips, knew what was coming, but she felt the strangest urge to squirm.

“I am so hard just looking at you, Liberty.” He slid both hands up her thighs, then they slid under her, cupping her ass. “Now, look at me.”

She did and watched as he lifted her. The look on his face held her spellbound. This. This was what she was quickly becoming addicted to—this intense focus of his.

His fingers tightened on her. “Look at me.”

She did, couldn’t look away, the desire in her a firestorm.

Without looking away from her, he pressed his mouth to her and sucked her clit into his mouth.

The naughty view, the sensations, they were shattering. Liberty bit down on her lip, never looking away from his focused blue eyes.

As he lapped and sucked on her, her skin grew hotter, her muscles trembling. There was no sign of the strait-laced general she’d known the last year and a half. This man was someone else altogether.

He kept working her, relentless. She felt the scrape of his five o’clock shadow on her inner thighs. Every moan and cry she made seemed to enflame him. Everything in her body was tightening, her arousal a roaring rush of sensation. She didn’t think she could take any more.

“That’s it,” he murmured against her clit. “Give it to me.”

God
. With that, an orgasm like she’d never experienced before crashed over her. Her head fell back, her spine arching, and she screamed his name, the sound echoing around their private haven.

Adam held her through it all. She felt his hands on her, keeping her from simply floating away.

“I’ve got you.” A kiss to her belly. “I’m here.”

Once she caught her breath, her body one big, languid mass of laziness, she looked up. While she was nestled in the blankets, he was still kneeling above her. The veins in his neck were standing out, his muscles strained. His lips still glistened with her juices.

“You back?” he asked.

She nodded. “I think so.”

“Good.” He let her go and stood.

A knot formed in Liberty’s throat. As he loomed above her, he undid his belt and trousers with slow, deliberate movements. He kicked them off and then stood there, naked, aroused and so very male.

Her belly clenched.

In one move, he lowered himself and covered her. He shifted and the thick, mushroom-shaped head of his cock rubbed between her legs. Liberty lifted her hips, needing him.

He entered her, one inch, two inches. There was a feeling of full pressure as he stretched her.

Then he made a harsh sound, grabbed her hips, and slammed inside her.

“Oh.” She arched her back, full of him.

He cursed. “I’m sorry. I’m big. I should have been more careful.” He moved back a little and she felt his body shaking. “You just feel so damn good—”

“Adam.” She lifted her hips up but he pulled out, until just the head of his cock was lodged inside her.

“Yes.” His big body trembled above her.

“Shut up.”

Then, in one perfect thrust, he filled her with his cock.

She moaned and circled her legs around his waist. She was already swollen from coming, and he was so thick, so long.

He pulled out, thrust in, and then repeated the motions again and again. He lowered himself down onto her, nestling between her thighs. His mouth found hers, and she poured everything into the kiss.

Liberty looked into his face. His eyes glittered with heat, staring deep into hers. She wondered if he saw all of her, every little thing, whether she wanted to share it or not. But what she liked was that she felt like he was giving her a part of himself.

“So. Damn. Good.” He ground the words out.

She slid a hand down between their slick bodies. She touched tensed muscles and damp skin, and then she felt where he was driving into her. She liked being joined with him, only the two of them. She liked it a lot. The feel of her body wrapped around his hard cock, that thick part of him stretching her, was too much. She moved her finger again, brushed her over-sensitized clit and another orgasm hit her without warning.

He groaned, his thrusts gaining speed. As Liberty’s body arched and shook beneath him, he kept powering into her.

Then his mouth slid to her temple and he thrust his cock deep. He jerked, groaning her name as he came inside her.

Liberty lay panting, Adam’s heavy body lax on hers. In that moment, she didn’t care about the past or present. Or the other people back in the main cavern, not too far away from them, or even the damn aliens.

There was only her and Adam.

Chapter Twelve

Liberty woke, a little unsure where she was and not sure what had woken her. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and her gaze focused on the gutted, burned-out candles nearby. A few still flickered, giving some muted light.

A hard male body was pressed beside her.

She knew in an instant it was Adam. The feel of him, the scent of him was imprinted on her senses.

He was tossing, jerking a little. Having a nightmare.

She sat up, reaching for his shoulder. “Adam?”

He jerked awake. With a muttered curse, he sat up, giving her his back.

She watched the candlelight make his skin glow, but his muscles were strained. He pressed his head into his hands.

“Adam—”

“Those people, trapped in that cage…they’re dead. On my orders.”

She heard the pain, the grief. This was what nobody saw from the man who led them. This was the man who shouldered so many burdens so they could all sleep at night.

“The aliens killed them, not you.”

He let out a long breath. “Go back to sleep. I’m sorry I woke you.”

She plastered herself to his back. She felt him stiffen and he reached up and grabbed her arms, ready to push her away. She held on tighter. He was the king at pushing people away, or rather, never letting them close in the first place.

It made her realize she was pretty darn good at letting people close…but only so far, and only for a moment. She was friends with everyone, but close to no one.

God, they were two peas in a pod.