I reached for her again, but then paused, watching her eyes roam over my body. Most women liked what they saw—I hoped it still worked for her. Her fingers hovered over the top of my left arm.

“You got a tattoo?”

Yeah, women always liked that.

“Standard Marine issue,” I joked.

I’d got the ink back in San Diego just after I’d graduated from boot camp. Most of my graduating class had done the same thing.

I let her fingers trace the shape while I slowly stroked the silky skin of her back.

“The Marine insignia, right?” she said. “What does it stand for?”

I smiled—I had no doubt she knew exactly what it stood for, but if she needed to take a moment, that was fine by me.

“The eagle represents the nation, well, protecting the nation—see the way its wings are spread out? The globe is our worldwide presence, and the anchor is because of our naval heritage.”

Then she squinted her eyes to read the words written on the ribbon in the eagle’s beak.

“Semper fidelis—always faithful,” she whispered, her eyes serious.

I nodded. I wanted to tell her that I’d never stopped loving her, although I wasn’t sure that was entirely true. She’d haunted me for so long, there were times when it had felt more like hate than love. I was one fucked up mofo.

She pressed her lips over my tattoo and then lay back on the bed, pulling me toward her. This time there was no uncertainty in her eyes, and I pressed her down into the mattress, kissing her hard. I let myself reach up to touch her beautiful breasts, my fingers roaming over the firm flesh, gliding my fingers under her bra and teasing the nipples until they were rigid.

I snapped her bra open easily and pushed the shoulder straps over her arms, tossing the lacey scrap of material onto the floor.

I tasted her, grazing my teeth over those tight little buds, hearing her biting out a moan of pleasure as she arched her back. I hooked my hand underneath, half lifting her off the bed.

She responded by dragging her nails down my spine, making me hiss with an edge of pain. My hips ground against her and I sucked the skin on her shoulder, biting hard enough so she could feel my teeth.

Her hands were all over me, and I was lost in the sensations of everything she was doing, but then she slid her hand inside the front of my jeans, and squeezed hard enough to make me see stars.

“Fuck, Caro!” I groaned.

Taking her lead, I pushed my hands underneath her waistband, stroking her ass, then moving to the front of her jeans and running my fingers under her panties, pulling gently on the soft curls, massaging her in slow circles, letting my index finger drift lower.

A woman didn’t have to go bare to turn me on. Maybe because Caro had been my first, I’d always had a thing for manicured pussy. I’m not saying I liked an 80s bush, but completely bare was always something of an anti-climax. Just sayin’.

When I realized how wet she was, I nearly lost it; instead I forced myself to have some fucking control, and moved my fingers in and out slowly, building her up until she was crying out and moaning.

That just about finished me. I sat up quickly and unzipped her jeans, hauling them roughly down her legs, before catching my fingers through the fragile fabric of her panties and tossing them to the floor.

Now I had her naked, I touched her everywhere without apology: her chest, down her stomach, across her hips and along her thighs. Then I went for her sweet spot with my index finger, pressing hard, back and forth. Target identified, take aim…

She groaned, and pushed my hand away.

“No. You. I want you,” she gasped.

Oh fucking yeah!

I unzipped my pants and stood to let them drop to the floor, but before I could lie down again, she knelt up on the edge of the bed, pushing her breasts into my chest, and grabbed a handful of my ass. Then she tugged my briefs down my hips and finally my dick was locked and loaded and ready for her.

She licked her lips in a way that had me breaking out in a sweat, and I bit back a groan as she ran one hand down my shaft and squeezed my balls with the other.

“Fuck, Caro!”

She rubbed the thumb over the sensitive head of my cock, and I couldn’t help the shudder of pleasure that flooded through me.

I was one second from throwing her down and plowing into her, but then I remembered something pretty fucking important.

“Are you on the pill?”

She shook her head, a disappointed expression on her face. “I don’t usually have a need for it. Please tell me you have condoms, otherwise ‘making out’ is all we’re going to be doing.”

Did she really think I was unprepared? I bent down and pulled a pack of condoms from the pocket of my leather jacket. Oo-rah!

“Just wondering,” she said, glancing up at me, a small smile threatening to break into a full-on grin, “but when did you buy them, or are they old stock?”

“Nope, new packet,” I said, and tossed her the small box. “Check it out.”

She toyed with the packet for a moment before looking up at me.

“So, no need to practice putting one on then?”

No way, baby. I knew she was teasing me, reminding me that as a horny 17-year-old, I’d admitted to her that I’d practiced putting on a condom so I’d be good to go if and when we ever got it together. Even then I’d been the poster boy for latex. I guess you could say I’d been wrapped and ready ever since.

“Well, I haven’t practiced that recently,” I said, challenging her with a look, “but I think I can remember what to do.”

“You’re avoiding the question,” she said, her own challenge evident in her voice. “When did you buy these?”

“Second day of the hostile environment training.”

Her mouth dropped open with surprise.

“But you were still mad at me then!”

“Didn’t stop me wanting you,” I replied truthfully.

She shook her head even as she smiled.

“Hmm, well. Let me see if I can remember what to do.”

My smile was pretty damn big by now, and I stood in front of her with my hands on my hips, my dick making his own feelings pretty damn clear.

She tore open the box and pulled out a foil packet, running it down my length, and smacked it against the tip, making me jerk back.

“Whoa, careful!”

“Wimp!” she laughed “I thought you were a Marine not a mouse.”

“Just be careful with my weapon,” I shot back.

“Close your eyes and relax,” she said, her voice suspiciously soothing.

“Why, what are you going to do?” I asked warily.

“Don’t you trust me?” she smiled.

“Not with that look on your face,” I muttered, but closed my eyes anyway.

I heard the foil being ripped and I was expecting to feel her hands on my dick, but it was her warm, wet mouth that surrounded me, making my eyes fly open in surprise.

“Fuck!” I hissed, as she stroked me up and down, sucking gently.

I rested my hands on her shoulders, hoping my knees didn’t give way, and couldn’t help flexing deeper into her throat. She pulled back slightly, unwrapping her lips from her teeth, and making every part of me tremble. She sucked harder, and I was close to losing it.

“No, baby,” I hissed, clenching my jaw. “I want to be inside you.”

She didn’t respond right away, and I faced the unappealing idea of pulling out when her teeth were still exposed. But then she gave another not-so-gentle tug and released me.

I shook my head, letting her know with my eyes that she wasn’t going to go unpunished for that.

Caro just smiled up at me and ran her hands over my ass.

I nodded at the condom. “Just put that fucking thing on, Caro. You’re killing me here.”

“Oh, don’t be such a baby, Sebastian,” she scoffed. “We’ve waited ten years; you’re not going to expire in the next 30 seconds.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” I muttered.