Soldier Boy (2 page)

The laughter started low in her chest and burst forth.
Vada
grabbed the front of the coat. Usually, she was the one to ask the guy out. He’d beaten her to the punch, and he’d been so awkwardly cute about asking.

“I am at this party until midnight, but if I slipped off I doubt anyone would notice. What about you? Any exciting plans beyond the party?” She nudged him to the darkest corner of the porch. “Or do you tell every girl she’s sexy?”

“I...” He blushed again.

The man got embarrassed so easily. If they ended up seeing each other beyond the night, he’d either have to get a whole lot more comfortable with her bluntness or they wouldn’t have any sort of future. She snorted to herself. A future? She only knew his name!

“I’ve only had four girlfriends.” He averted his gaze. “I’m twenty-six, and I’ve only been out of my home state of Pennsylvania because of the Air Force. Most of the women I know have told me I’m boring.”

“That’s okay, baby.” She caged him in her arms. The awkwardness continued to endear him to her. Such a shy man. She trailed her fingers down his cheek. “We don’t have to go get married right now. How about a glass of cider? You can tell me all the things you like or dislike about Halloween.”

“I’d like that.” His blue eyes glittered in the low light. “I really am glad I came to the party.”

“Me, too.” She disengaged from him long enough to stroll into the kitchen. She fanned herself with the open refrigerator door. Damn, he was fine and shy.

“What are you doing?” Maya nudged
Vada
with her butt. “You’re letting out all the cold air.”

“I’m looking for the cider.”
Vada
grabbed the plastic jug, then closed the door. “I’m thirsty.”

“That boy out on my back porch isn’t quenching your thirst enough?” Maya narrowed her eyes and a sly smile spread across her lips. “He’s cute. Levi said he’s really shy. He talked to you, right?”

“Is this high school?”
Vada
poured cider into two plastic cups. “Yes, he talked to me. Yes, he’s shy and yes, he’s handsome. He’s also in the Air Force.” She closed the cider. “I like him.”

“
Vada
?” Maya’s eyes lit up. She clasped her hands together. “Does this mean you’re ready to enter the dating pool again?”

“Maybe.”
Vada
adjusted the front of her dress again. The girls were about to burst from the bodice. “Let me do this my way. I’ve dated guys you’ve suggested, and it was a disaster. Terrence found me, and that was hell. This is something I have to navigate on my own.”

“Okay, but if you need me, shout. I will break his legs if I need to.” Maya winked, then headed back into the living room.

She’d break his legs.
Vada
shook her head, then picked up the cups. Instead of being in the corner where she’d left him, Charlie sat on the back steps. He’d removed his hat and rubbed his fingers through his short blond hair. She liked guys with a little more hair, but the close-cut soldier look did something for her. She longed to run her fingers over the prickles. Would that turn him on?

“I’ve got cider.” She maneuvered down the steps, then sat beside him. “This dress is certainly not made for dancing. I can barely walk in it.” She handed him one of the cups. “I wanted to go as a mummy or a disco diva. I’ve got a big-ass, blue, curly-haired wig that would’ve looked fine with my shimmery black jumpsuit.”

Charlie sipped the cider. “That would’ve been very sexy.” He glanced over at her. “I like how you speak your mind.”

“It’s been a blessing and a curse.” She pulled the coat tighter around her shoulders. “Most of the time people accept me being loud because I don’t pull punches. I’m honest, but I try like hell not to be mean. Sometimes, my being myself isn’t good enough.” She stared at the cup. Terrence had hated her forthright approach to life. He used to tell her she spoke, then thought, then forgot to apologize.

“I don’t speak up much. I’m the type that follows orders.” He rested his elbows on his knees. “Like tonight. I could’ve said no, but I went along with Levi’s suggestion. Keeping quiet has been a curse for me. I don’t like to hurt feelings, so I keep quiet. Probably sounds dumb.”

“Nah.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “You’re easy to talk to. You listen, which is hard for most people to do. Maya is good at listening, but since she and Levi got together I don’t see her as much.” Since she’d split from Terrence, most of her friends had kept away from her. She draped her arm on Charlie’s thigh. “I need
a someone
like you to balance me out.”

“Yeah?” Charlie slid his fingers into her hair and massaged the back of her head. “Would you smack me if I said I wanted to kiss you?”

She moaned and leaned into his touch. The man had magic in his fingertips. “Why haven’t you?”

“Kissed you?” Charlie asked. Why hadn’t he made a move? Beyond his shyness, he wasn’t sure if she wanted him to kiss her. “Yeah, I do want to kiss you.”

Vada
didn’t give him a chance to say anything else. She moved the cup from his hands, then scooted closer to him. The moment her lips touched his, sizzles shot across his skin. His nerve endings tingled, and all rational thought slid from his brain. He pressed his knees together to increase pressure on his dick. She stole his breath, made him hyperaware of his surroundings and got him rock hard.

He nibbled on her bottom lip, then sucked her tongue into his mouth. As much as she seemed to enjoy taking control, she also seemed to appreciate giving over control. She splayed her hand on his chest over his heart.

Beneath the coat, he wrapped her in his arms. She fit against him like a glove. Her breasts pillowed on his chest and her warm breath fanned over his skin. They bumped noses a couple times and his teeth clashed against hers, but he loved every minute of the kisses.

Vada
pulled away first, but only a fraction of an inch. She glanced toward the house, then hiked up her skirt. Something tore.

He must’ve given her a questioning look because she shrugged. “The side seam split. It was my intention. Gives me more room to move.” She glanced at the door again, then crawled onto his lap and draped her arms around his neck. The bodice of her dress drooped, offering him an even more enticing view of her breasts. He longed to press his face into the
vee
of her cleavage and lose himself in her blunt sweetness.

The coat hid her assets, but he didn’t mind. He palmed her ass and resumed kissing her. From his head to his toes, he came alive. Nothing had ever felt as good as holding her. Nothing tasted the way she did. Her perfume wrapped around him and her hair tickled his cheeks.

“Want you,” he whispered.

“Yeah?” She nodded. “I want you, too.”

“Where?” They needed to get off the porch and away from the Halloween crowd.

“Upstairs.” She inched off his lap, then clutched the coat to her breasts. “I’ve got a room we can use, plus Maya owes me one. Come on.”

Running off for sex with someone he barely knew wasn’t his style. He liked to get to know his partner first, but something about
Vada
made him crave her. He yearned to please her. He slid his hand into hers and allowed her to escort him to the second story of the house.

When they reached the top of the stairs, her wig slipped and plopped onto the floor. Her real hair stuck out in thick hanks.
Vada
froze, then touched her head. Her eyes widened as she looked back at him.

“What?” Charlie moved the wig away from her feet. “I like the natural you. There’s a wildness to you that you’re trying to rein in, even though that’s who you are. Let that woman be free with me.”

“You keep talking like that and I might not let you go.” She opened one of the doors and dragged him into the room.

He didn’t protest, so much as he tripped over his own feet. God. The nerdy man he’d tried to hide was dying to come out. Losing his balance, he pitched forward but managed to right himself before he tumbled to the floor.

“You need to be yourself, too,”
Vada
said.

He closed his eyes and measured his breaths. He needed to center and regain his focus. In a matter of a couple hours, she’d managed to turn his world upside down. She was right, though. He did need to be himself. He’d tried to be what the other women in his life wanted and hadn’t been happy.

He deserved to be himself and get the girl. Was
Vada
the girl for him? Too soon to tell, but he wasn’t going to push her away. He didn’t believe in love at first sight, but he did trust fate to intervene when he needed a kick. Maybe
Vada
was that kick to jumpstart his life. He definitely wanted to see where things would go after the night. She made him laugh, think and want to fuck so much.

“You’re thinking again. About what?”
Vada
asked.

“Help me find myself.” Charlie opened his eyes and drank in the sight of
Vada
. Her curves shimmered in the moonlight. “Help me embrace what I want. I’m very attracted to you.”

“Good thing I brought you up here to fuck.” She winked. “You’re the man I want, Charlie. Just you.”

“All you’ve got to do is take me.”

He’d been bold. Order, rules and passion… He needed all those things and he believed he’d found a start with
Vada
. She turned him around and nudged him onto the bed. Moonlight streamed into the space, illuminating the walls in soft white light. The glow glimmered on her hair, giving her the look of a halo.

He’d bet she was far from angelic, and that’s how he’d come to like her
—
she kept him on his toes…kind of.
Vada
unbuckled his belt, then popped the button on his pants. She wrapped her hand around his erection through the cotton of his boxer shorts and stroked him.

He groaned and thanked God the music on the first floor was loud enough to drown out his noises.

“Like that?”
Vada
crawled on top of him, straddling his lap. She leaned over him. “I want to feel you inside me. You don’t disappoint.”

He didn’t? He’d been fairly content with his length, but to have his partner tell him she liked what he had made his day.

“We need a rubber.” Charlie patted his hip for his wallet. He’d kept a condom in his billfold just in case he ever needed it. He’d only had to replace the rubber twice and wondered if the thing would even be good any longer. Fucking balls. Why was he worrying about the condom when he could be buried to the hilt in
Vada
? Because he overthought most everything.

“Stop worrying.”
Vada
reached past him and dug through the drawer of the nightstand. “I’m always prepared.” She kept her gaze on his as she tore the condom wrapper open, then slid the latex over his dick.

He moaned. A few more tugs and he’d come apart. Damn it. He wanted to last longer than that.

“Eager?”
Vada
hiked her dress up past her hips, revealing more and more of her mocha skin.

He’d never seen anything so sexy in his life. He reached for her.

“Not so fast, soldier boy.” She moved her panties to the side, then rubbed her cream on his dick. “You’re as hot as I am.”

He’d burst into flames in a few moments if she didn’t allow him to sink into her pussy. He grasped her hips and seated her on his cock. Inch by inch, he filled her and groaned at the pressure.

“So tight,” he mumbled. “God, you’re holding me in.”

Vada
leaned forward and clutched his shoulders. With each thrust, she rocked forward and her breasts threatened to pop free of the sparkly dress. He longed to grab the straps of the gown and tear the fabric to reveal the rest of her, but he held back. She tilted her head back and dug her fingers into his shoulders. Her breaths turned ragged and she shook her head again.

“I’m right on the edge,” she panted. “Wow.”

“Me, too.” He planted his feet on the bed frame for better leverage and rocked his hips. Each time he surged into her, he barreled closer to orgasm. The heat in his body centered in his belly. He couldn’t think. Nothing existed except them. No Halloween party or dancers or even the music. Just her.

“Harder,” she gasped.

Charlie obliged. He held her tight to his body, then turned them both over, which pinned her beneath him. He braced his knees on the mattress and draped her legs over his thighs. Not that he could look away, but he stared into her dark eyes. For a moment the world seemed to slow down. He surged forward and buried himself to the hilt in her. When she opened her mouth, no sound came out. She closed her eyes.

“Come for me,” he coaxed. “You’re blowing my mind.”

She didn’t say a word, but a lazy smile curled her lips.
Vada
shivered. Her cunt tightened around him, pulling him in deeper. The pressure broke his restraint. He gritted his teeth and shot his load into the condom. A low groan escaped his lips as he collapsed on her.

“Charlie,” she breathed. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” he said, dazed. The room spun, and he fought to catch his breath. She’d overwhelmed him in a great way. Instead of pulling out or rolling onto his side, he remained inside her and basked in the wobbly, warm sensations. He rested his weight on his hands and knees to keep from squishing her.

Vada
seemed to glow. She looked happy and sexy. He’d been a lucky man to have found her.

“This is sexy as hell, but you’ve got to get off me.”
Vada
opened her eyes. “I need to breathe.”

“Sorry.” Charlie pulled out of her and tossed
  the
spent condom into the closest trash bin. He wasn’t sure what to say or do. He stuffed his deflating erection back into his boxers and pants, then sat on the edge of the bed.

“Charlie, don’t go. Lay with me.”