“You like what you see, Caro?”

She nodded, silent now. I tried to get the words out, to explain what this moment with her meant to me.

“After tonight, well, we don’t know when … so I want you to remember me like this … when you look at me—see me like this, wanting you.”

I gripped my dick and stroked myself, letting the insane attraction that I had for this woman, the intense, terrifying love flood through me.

“And when I look at you, this is what I’ll be thinking about: close your eyes.”

She let her eyelids flutter close, and I sat at the bottom of the bed, gently pulling her legs apart as I kissed up her thighs.

My lips pressed against the damp curls of her pussy.

“This is me telling you that your body is mine.”

I dipped my tongue inside her, tasting and teasing, and she moaned and arched against me.

“This is your body telling me that I am yours.”

I nipped at her clit, and her hands tried to grip onto my short hair, instead pressing the flat of her hands against my head and forcing me deeper inside her.

“This is me saying that we need to be together.”

I stroked inside her with my fingers and she climaxed quickly.

“And that’s your body agreeing with me.

Her hands dug into my shoulders as she gasped, trying to slow her breathing. I sat up, pulling a condom out of my pants pocket and rolling it on quickly, resentful of the time it took me away from her.

Then I moved back onto the bed, my body hovering over hers. Caro’s eyes locked on mine, and she pulled her knees upward, creating a nest for me to settle my hips between her thighs.

I pushed inside her slowly, gritting my teeth with the pleasure that coursed through me, fighting the base urge to fuck her to a standstill.

Caro arched her back, then pulled my face up to hers, kissing me softly.

“And this is me saying that you’ve come home,” she whispered.

Her words brought tears to my eyes. Home: that word had never meant much to me before, but now it meant everything. Caro was my home—wherever she went, that was where I was meant to be. Forever.

The feeling was overwhelming: emotionally, physically, mentally. I answered her with my body, moving faster, moving deeper, taking her again and again, my dick thickening and heating inside her until I couldn’t hold on, coming hard and fast.

I rested on top of her body, my heart racing furiously. But then she pushed on my shoulder gently, and I just had enough presence of mind to realize that I was crushing her. I rolled onto my back, taking her with me so she was resting on my chest, her hair sweeping across my face and neck.

We stayed in each other’s arms, peaceful and silent for now.

Suddenly, an explosion erupted outside, rattling the windows of the hotel. Even as I was yanking Caro to the floor, on the side of the bed away from the window, I was calculating the likely distance of the blast, what kind of IED it might be, and whether there would be more explosions or gunfire. I counted to ten, but all I could hear was the sound of alarms from cars and buildings, voices shouting. I stood cautiously, moving to the side of the window and pulling the curtain open a fraction so I could peer out.

“Probably a car bomb—about half a mile away.”

Caro was still shivering on the floor, her eyes wide, but she didn’t look like she was going into shock.

“It’s okay, Caro. We’re okay.”

And we were, for now, but we both knew that luck could run out—especially in a warzone. Soldiers died every day, hundreds of civilians a week, and journalists, too. Lady Luck was a callous bitch.

I wanted Caro out of here, I wanted…

Caro stood up hesitantly, her naked body hardening my dick even as the sound of ambulances tore the night. But she was staring toward the window, and even though my body was reacting to her, I knew that wasn’t what she needed from me now—I wasn’t a fucking caveman. Well, not all of the time.

“Caro, are you okay, baby?”

“Yes, I suppose so. Just knowing that out there … you’ll be facing that soon.”

I held her in my arms, tight against my chest, willing to lay down my life for this woman, here and now.

“Christ, I know that, Caro, and it kills me to know that you’ll be out there, too. Please, baby, please, go home while you still can. I’m fucking begging you, Caro!”

I buried my face in her hair, breathing in her scent, glad to hold her but wishing she was gone.

“Please, baby. I need to know you’re safe. If anything happened to you now…”

Her arms crept around my neck, pulling my head down for a kiss.

“I have a job to do, Sebastian, you know that,” she whispered as her lips brushed across my cheek. “So do you; and I will worry about you every day. I pray to God that you’ll come home to me. Please, tesoro, promise you’ll look after yourself—no unnecessary risks?”

I sighed. It wasn’t what I wanted to hear—I wanted her to tell me she was catching a flight back to the US. I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

“I promise, Caro,” I said, my voice resigned.

“Then come back to bed with me,” she said, tugging my hand.

The night was slipping away too fast.

I let her lead me to the bed, then rested on my back as she wrapped her body around me. I was aware of every ticking second, every beat of her heart. When I felt her fingers brushing over my chest and stomach, I knew she was trying to distract me from my morbid thoughts. It was working.

My dick hardened again. Always again with her; it was never enough. She glanced down and her lips turned upward in an amused smile.

“Sebastian, if that’s what I have to imagine every time you look at me, I’m not going to get any work done.”

I smiled and kissed her hand.

“Let’s go back to Signora Carello’s place for our honeymoon, Caro. We could fuck for days without getting out of bed.”

If she wanted to pretend that the morning would never come, I’d do my damndest to hold onto the night.

She smiled and raised her eyebrows.

“What, you think she could just push food under the door so you can keep your strength up, because I have to say, Sebastian, you were getting a bit out of breath just now. I really thought the US Marines had higher standards of fitness: I might have to write about that in my next article. Of course, the research is incomplete—I’ve only documented one Marine’s fitness levels in detail…”

“And it’s going to stay that way,” I said firmly.

She laughed, and it sounded almost real.

“Feeling threatened? Me alone with all those horny Marines, I’m quoting, of course.”

“Not funny,” I grumbled.

“Okay, I won’t tease you. Yes, we could go back to Signora Carello’s, but there are lots of other places I’d like to see in Italy. Florence, the open air opera in Rome—I’d love to do that. But you know, I really like the idea of taking your old motorcycle and seeing upstate New York. What do you want to do?”

“Other than have a lot of sex?”

She laughed out loud, raising her eyebrows at me and shoving on my shoulder.

“My God! That’s exactly the same answer you gave me ten years ago when you were a horny teenager!”

“So? I’m consistent: I thought women liked that in men?”

Yep, she couldn’t argue with that.

I ran my hand between her breasts, toying with the chain that held her engagement ring.

“You have the most fantastic breasts, Caro. I can’t stand those fake ones, they just feel so…”

Ah, shit. Being in bed with one woman, and talking about others—not the smartest thing I’d ever said.

I wanted to bite off my damn tongue. But she just smirked at me.

“Hmm, I was thinking, maybe you should be one of those men who are strong and silent. You know, nice to look at, not so good at the talking.”

I nipped her shoulder then twisted around, pushing her into the mattress, letting her know exactly what I thought of that comment. And although she didn’t know it, she wasn’t the first woman to say something like that. I knew she didn’t mean it—but it stung all the same.