The Space Colonel's Woman (Dragonus Chronicles Book 1) (4 page)

“Julia.” Mark groaned, and thrust up to meet her, unable to stay still a moment longer. “Aw fuck, you feel
so
good.”

She kissed him, stealing his breath and giving him hers in return.

“More.”

It was like she’d been struck by more of that strange blue lightning.  His touch electrified every fiber of her being.  And when she looked into his eyes the connection between them was stronger than before.  She sighed his name, a prayer and a
thank you
both, and circled her hips, taking him as deep as it was possible to be.

“Mark!”

“Oh god, yeah!” Julia grinned at the wonder in Mark’s moan, her own heart and mind lost to the joy she felt surging between them. “How’s this…possible?”

She had no answer for him, could not form words as he drove them higher; thrust deeper to wipe away what was left of her mind.  All she knew was she had waited for this man, without knowing.  And he was here, with her, at last.

He reached his peak before her, hauling her in, his arms two bands of iron around her back as his hips writhed.  Her name murmured hot and pleading against her lips was enough to send her into climax.  A cascade of blue ecstasy scrolled through her mind, twining with the part of Julia that had lain quiescent until this lover.

Mark was breathing hard, brow resting against hers, and eyes of whiskey gold wide in shock and wonder.  His thoughts open for her to read.  No matter what came next, they were connected – two reunited halves of the same whole.  He had given her his heart, and she had accepted his gift without hesitation, offering her own in return.

Was it fast?

Yes.

But did that mean it was wrong? 

No, was the answer that came to her in the weightless haze of their afterglow. 

Her life of searching had finally come to an end.  Regardless of the unusual circumstances, they had found each other. 

And nothing had ever felt more right.

Mark pulled her close and kissed her with unbearable tenderness, and Julia ducked her head into the crook of his shoulder.

“I’m glad you decided to drop in, today.” She teased, shaky and undone by emotion.

“Me too.”

He rested a palm against Julia’s chest, as her pounding heart eased back to a normal beat.

“I’ve been searching for you.”

She kissed the top of Mark’s head, silky strands brushing her cheek as her eyes drifted closed.

“You’ve found me.”

Chapter 5

Julia woke the next morning pressed against Mark’s side.  It was tempting to feign sleep, to enjoy the feel of his skin next to hers and the strength of his arm around her.  But the warm sunshine was awakening her mind as well.

Had they just lost themselves to the heat of passion?

Was it too soon to talk of love the way they had the previous night?

Would he take it all back, in the harsh light of day?

Her body stiffened unwilling to believe it.  It was already too late.  Her heart had been his from the moment he had first looked into her eyes.  It felt right.  He felt right, and they felt right.

Mark put a finger under her chin, turned her face up so his eyes met hers; mirrored Julia’s own thoughts. “I meant every word I said.  Even those I wanted to say, but couldn’t.”

With a sweet crooked smile he pressed his lips to hers and sealed his promise with a gentle, languid, kiss.

The cave felt cramped when Mark stood up.  He moved with the supple strength and grace of a jungle cat; taking up so much more space now that he was vertical.  He stretched out his left hand and pulled her close to his side.  She fitted like she’d been made for him, and he for her.  But after sharing so much emotion so openly, they were shy with each other.  Conscious of every breath; every shift and flex of the other’s body.  Yielding to the urge she stroked her fingers through the strands of hair hanging over his forehead.  She traced the laugh lines at the corner of his eye, down his jaw and over the shape of his lips; the lower fuller than the top.  He licked them where her touch had tickled and leaned in for a kiss.  Despite the arousing heat and the feel of his hands splayed across her back, pulling her closer, Julia’s annoyingly practical brain would not relinquish one conspicuous fact.

He could not stay.

Mark pulled back when he felt her focus shift.  Puzzled, he looked into her eyes and flinched at the distress he saw there.  She tried to turn from him.  But his large warm hands cupped her face and gently lifted her chin.  There was nowhere to hide.  A single tear welled and spilled down the curve of her cheek.  He caught it on the tip of his thumb and swept it away. 

“Are you okay?”

Julia shuddered, a ragged sigh escaping as she tried, yet again, to turn from the man who held her.

“Please tell me.” He whispered, his own voice nothing more than a raw husk.

“You have to go back, don’t you?”

Mark said nothing; allowing his silence to answer what had been more statement than query.  He pressed her head into the crook of his shoulder, resting his cheek on top of her head, as she slid her hands up his back in an attempt to get closer.  He shuddered, hunching his shoulders and tightening his arms to protect the center of
them
with his body.

It seemed inevitable, that even Mark’s strength, would not be enough to keep them in each other’s arms.

The tension of the moment was shattered when Julia’s stomach gurgled, making them both laugh.

“I could do with some food, too.” He stretched his shoulders before walking over to rummage the pockets of his vest.  After a moment he brandished two energy bars in a triumphant wave.

“Yeah, they’re not going to cut it.” She grinned, patting his arm in consolation. “I don’t know about you, Colonel, but I used up a hell of a lot of energy last night.”

Mark’s smoldering stare travelled the curves of her body and lingered on her breasts, before returning to meet her eyes.  She felt heat suffusing her face and crossed her arms over her middle, which only served to drag his eyes down again.  He ducked his head, rubbing a palm over the back of his neck as he chuckled. “More than the usual post-mission debrief.”

“Oooh!” Julia ducked out into the morning sun before Mark could think to stop her. “Back in a sec.”

Julia ran across the open ground, snatched up her abandoned backpack and started back, only to be struck still by the sight of Mark standing alert and wary, pistol in hand, in the cave’s entrance.  Every line of his body radiating a tension that was both terrifying and arousing.  He was just so damn sexy; all tall, dark-haired, and rugged good looks, with strong arms and muscled torso.  She could have studied him all day.  But he was also a soldier.  Trained to kill, and trained to protect.  If he had to, he would give his life for what he believed in.  It was a thought that both fueled her desire, and plunged through her soul like a cold unyielding blade. The mere thought of losing him created an emptiness so intense, it left her breathless and chilled to her very core. 

Already so much a part of each other, Mark sensed her distress and turned from his recon of the empty beach to see her frozen in place.  Julia’s fright dissipated in the warmth of Mark’s smile as he signaled for her to hurry.  She sprinted back to his side and answered his puzzled look with a wobbly smile.

“Food.”

She held up her backpack in triumph and Mark holstered the pistol before joining her where she sat cross-legged on a worn picnic blanket, pulling items from the various zippered pockets.  A digital camera with a portrait lens, bottle of water, a tattered paperback, and a container of corned beef sandwiches, grapes, two chocolate muffins, cheese, and crackers.

“There should be something here that’s salvageable.”

“Maybe.” Mark agreed, opening the container and taking a cautious sniff before choosing a sandwich and offering the container to her.

They ate in companionable silence, moving onto the grapes, cheese, and crackers when the sandwiches were finished.  Both of them too ravenous to talk.

Julia had lost the panicky desolation with the last of their meal and was feeling playful.  She snapped a picture of Mark - mid-chew, his eyes closed in an expression of bliss.

“Hey!” He exclaimed, tossing his last cracker and lunging for the camera she held out of his reach.

Mark had her on her back in the blink of an eye, his long body pushing her into the soft sand.  A holstered thigh wedged between hers while sharp eyes feasted on her lips as Julia’s breath came in short rapid gasps.  His forefinger traced the shape of her lips just as she’d done to him earlier.  He built their anticipation, waited, his mouth a hair’s breadth from her own.  She was about to beg him to kiss her, when Mark finally lowered his lips to hers in a tender peck.  Julia moaned in disappointment, flushing hot at his chuckle.  But she went willingly when he pulled her upright; her forgotten camera now in his hand.

“Oh.”

He was good, she’d give him that.  Mark clicked the shutter on that unflattering moment of realization.  She laughed when his arm circled her waist to pull her close and he kissed into the soft opening of her mouth. 

The camera clicked again.

“Can we take a nice one too?”

“Didn’t you like that one?” He kissed her before she could reply.

Another click.

“Hold it out.”

She snuggled into his side. Mark clicked the shutter and turned the camera around so they could both look at the screen.

“Yes.” Julia nodded, following the contour of Mark’s jaw without touching the screen.  “Much better.”

It was a head and shoulder shot of them together, eyes giving away their total happiness in each other.  How lucky they were to have found, not only love, but their soulmates as well.

“Let’s go for a walk.” She got up and gripped his wrist to haul him to his feet.

The cave would forever be their sanctuary.  But her happiness could not be contained.  She needed wide open space for her heart to soar.

“Not a good idea.”

Julia could feel his apprehension in the tightening of his biceps beneath her palms, and the way he kept his eyes from meeting hers.  “Wh-”

“I can’t protect you out in the open.” Mark tugged her across the inches that separated them. “They’re coming for me; it’s just a matter to time.”

It took a moment for her to understand he wasn’t referring to his team, but the Arcadians, or even Darvac. 

“Okay.” Julia sighed, running her fingers through the chaotic tangle of her hair.  This was her world, but to Mark it was an alien planet. “What will it take for you to leave this cave?”

She could see him thinking, and it was making her edgy. 

“You’re not a vampire are you?” Amusement rumbled through his chest when she tucked her fingers in the neck of his tee, as if checking for sparkly skin. “No melanomic conditions that’ll be exacerbated by the hole in our ozone layer?”

He pulled at her wrist, brows drawn together. “There’s a hole in the planet’s ozone?”

“I have sunscreen, SPF75.  Curse of the redheads, our skin has two colors, pale or lobster.  No tanning for me.  You can use some, though I wonder if you’d be allergic to its contents…” Julia chuckled at herself and her habit of being distracted by random tangents of thought. “I know you’re worried, but I haven’t seen anyone on the beach for days, except you.  You’ve got your weapons; will you please come for a walk with me?”

Julia wrapped her arms tighter around his hips and batted her lashes at him. Mark huffed out an exasperated snort and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.  “Okay, you win, Beautiful.”

~*~

They walked from the cave’s cool dim interior out into the dazzling sunshine of late morning and along the sand to the tree-crested island in the middle of the beach.  Julia led the way, climbing up the jagged rocks to the plateau with Mark right behind her.  When they reached the top, he stepped around her to pace the outer rim and survey the seascape from every angle.  Julia had spread the blanket in the sparse shade of a tree and sat with her arms around pulled-up knees, admiring
her
view.  He stood with his back to her, one booted foot raised on a rock and hands splayed on his hips; a quiet watchfulness in the taut line of his shoulders.

“It’s a good vantage point.  Can see anything coming.” He said, relief in his tone.  “Beautiful too.”

Arousal surged beneath the surface of her flushed skin as she called to him with her eyes.  It took a moment for her message to travel the distance between them, but when it did, Mark moved with predatory grace and was crouching at her feet in three long strides.  His momentum carried him forward, pushing her onto her back as he laid his weight over her; all three of his weapons pressing hard against her as he plundered her mouth.  Julia pushed against his chest until Mark realized she wasn’t kissing him back.  His eyelids fluttered open in wary confusion and he lifted his torso, supporting his weight on his forearms.

“Let’s take this off first.” She suggested, tugging down the vest’s zipper.

He smirked and took one arm out, then the other, before dropping the vest next to the backpack.

“Much better.” She murmured, and fisted the front of his tee to pull him down.

She struggled playfully, thrust her breasts up.  Mark growled deep in his throat and grabbed both of her wrists in one hand, pinning her with his whole body.  He kissed like he was starving, took all she had to give, until the world faded away; left her with nothing but the scent of his skin, and the feel of his lips on hers.

Her shirt fell open as he freed the buttons, his mouth following in the wake of his fingers.  Mark suckled her nipples through the lace of her bra and splayed his fingers down the contours of her flanks; knuckles grazing over the curve of her hips.  Julia writhed in his arms; arched into the touch of his lips on her flesh.  He took pity on her, teasing with long languid kisses that stole the echo of his name from her lips.

“Let me go.” She pleaded, her hips grinding up with a life of their own.

“Will you be a good girl, Julia?”

“I doubt it.”

He arched into the sharp twist Julia applied to his nipple through worn black cotton, ground his hips into the palm of her other hand, and shuddered as she squeezed him.

“Glad…to hear it.” He stuttered, and unbuttoned Julia’s jeans with eager fingers.

She lay naked on the blanket with Mark kneeling between her thighs; watched with a hungry gaze of summer-blue as he stripped himself of tee and holster, and shoved his BDUs down his thighs.  He reached for her with large hands, fingertips biting hard into creamy flesh, as he lifted her and sheathed himself home.

“Mine.” He growled, taking what he craved with one fierce possessive stroke after another; leaving his mark in her flesh.  The undefined power of their connection as overwhelming as it had been the night before.  And Julia, could do nothing but wrap her thighs around his driving hips, tug her fingers through his hair and hang on for the ride.

Their bodies were dappled with sunlight as they lay entwined in the aftermath of their passion.  Mark’s arms were wrapped around her waist and his head was nestled in the crook of her neck.  Julia twisted and untwisted the chain of his dog tags where it rested across his nape.  The tiny silver balls curling over her nails and leaving tiny imprinted dots on the pads of her fingers.

“Julia?”

“Mmmm.”

“I love you.”

“I loved you first.” She pressed a kiss into the top of his head and smiled as he relaxed into sleep; his trust in her heavy and reassuring along her side.

Julia lay next to her sleeping colonel, listening to the crashing of the waves and the wind in the tree overhead, as Mark’s breathing slowed and deepened.  Her battered warrior was sexy even in sleep.  She ran a gentle finger along the arch of his brow and stroked the laugh lines at the corner of his closed eye.  The corner of his mouth quirked at her touch, but he did not wake.