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

  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.

  How would she survive letting him go, when they came for him?

  She pulled the camera from her backpack, zoomed to the area she’d been touching, and captured her feelings with a single click.

  The sound of the shutter clicking woke her from a sleep she wasn’t aware of taking. They really were two halves of the same whole. She opened her eyes to find Mark pointing her camera at her from the opposite side of the island. He sat on a rock wearing only his BDUs; the legs rolled up and bandages stark against tanned skin.

  “Sleeping Beauty awakes.” He announced, vowels wrapped in warm affection.

  “My favourite fairy tale.”

  “Why?”

  Julia sat up, crossed her legs and smiled when Mark’s gaze drifted to the sway of her breasts. “Well, Snow White’s prince wears lipstick and sings all the time. Cinderella had to go and get hers, and then he was more interested in having a pair of custom-made glass slippers.”

  Mark chuckled, amusement easing the lines military life had wrought on his handsome face. “I see your point.”

  “Give me a dark-haired handsome prince who can ride anything and loves the ocean.” Julia bit her lip as she watched Mark rub a hand through his hair and down to grip his nape. A self-conscious gesture she was coming to know well. “He’d have to be brave enough to fight for us…and maybe the occasional fearsome dragon.”

  His gaze was completely focused on her, and she felt the prickly heat of a blush rushing to color her face, throat, and chest. She quirked an eyebrow and smirked, but there was no way she’d ever be able to hide anything from the man before her.

  “Of course, it would help if he was a space pilot who wore a thigh holster and was really skilled with his hands.”

  “So Dante Jones is your man, then?” Mark grinned as he ambled back to Julia’s side and whispered, breath hot and shivery against her ear. “Or will I do?”

  Julia was distracted by the way he was cradling her in his arms. “Who?”

  “Space smuggler extraordinaire.” Mark stopped what he was doing to hold her at arm’s length, an incredulous expression on his face. “You’ve never seen Galactic Battles?”

  “No, can’t say I have. I’m liking the sound of this Dante Jones character though.” She squealed and thrashed her legs as Mark tickled the backs of her knees. “Is he good with his han-”

  Mark ended any further discussion by showing her just how skillful his hands were.

  ~*~

  “We didn’t go for our walk.” Julia said, a while later. “Shall we go now?”

  He stood in one lithe movement and stretched out his hand to pull her to her feet. “Yep.”

  They climbed down to the beach, Mark turning to draw her into his side when she reached the sand. She knew he was feeling more at ease here because he only had his pistol with him. The vest and T60 left by her backpack up on the island.

  It was a heady experience being with Mark. Julia breathed deep, inhaling the fresh salty air and smiling with the pleasure of the action. He laughed and she turned to face him; walking backward toward the drag of the ocean against the sand, reluctant to leave its lover’s side. “What?”

  “You.”

  “What about me?”

  “Amazing.”

  “Thank y-oooh!” She squealed as her feet were lapped at by a freezing wave, foamy bubbles popping between her bare toes.

  Mark laughed, a deep belly-laugh that had him holding his sides and wheezing. The next wave was bigger and splashed her to the rolled up hems of her jeans. She raised her eyebrows at Mark when she heard yet more laughter and flicked her toes; salty droplets splattering him from pecs to knees. The shocked look on his face was terribly funny and Julia snorted out her own bark of laughter. Mark lowering his brows in determination was her only warning.

  She turned tail and ran.

  The thrill of the chase flared in Mark’s eyes as he took up the challenge. With the ocean surging around her ankles Julia got maybe five meters. She knew he was right behind her, could sense him closing in, but was too busy laughing to do anything about it. He sprinted the distance between them in three seconds, his hands grasping air as Julia dodged and weaved.

  Her heart pounded at the thought of what he’d do to her when he caught her. The primal instinct grew hot and urgent in her belly, sparked by the cool fire of adre
nalin. She changed direction, lifting her legs as she waded over the incoming wavelets. Mark feinted left, and lunged for her as she fell into his trap by running right. He held her wrist in an iron grip, a devilish grin on his face as he scooped water with his free hand. Splash after splash of icy water soaked her shirt, plastering it to her breasts and hardening her nipples as she gasped for breath.

  But then it was Mark’s turn to be evasive. Instead of pulling against his grip, Julia closed the gap between them, intent on pressing her breasts against his warm chest. He walked back, hands raised as if to keep her away.

  “No, Julia.”

  Excitement thickened his tone as he watched her unbutton her shirt. She reached him where he had stopped still, and guided his hands to the sides of her breasts. She rubbed her nipples on his, fitting her palms to the curve of his ass and whispered soft against his lips. “Yes, Mark.”

  He groaned in surrender, arms coming up tight and strong around her back.

  “Yes, Julia.”

  Chapter 6

  They sat draped in the blanket like shipwrecked castaways, eating a muffin and swigging water while their shirts dried on a rock in the afternoon sun.

  “I should really check those.” Julia said, eyeing the sand in the edge of his arm bandage. “A lot’s happened since I put them on.”

  “I’d have to agree with you.” He grinned; a wicked gleam in his eye that would forever and always make her squirm and blush. “Ribs can’t be too bad, not with all we’ve been doing.”

  Mark ran the back of his hand in a slow line up the inside of her bare thigh to emphasize his point. Julia climbed into his lap, a leg on each side of his hips.

  “This feels familiar.” He cupped her ass, pulled her as close as she could get with her jeans on.