Then she looked across at me and pressed her hand over her heart. I badly wanted to kiss her, but all I could do was smile back.

After waiting to see if there would be any further RPG attacks, we slowly made our way back along the dried up riverbed.

An hour later, we got back to the compound, hot and tired but alive, which meant we were one up on the enemy. Caro immediately ran toward the make-shift bathroom that Grant had designated for her private use. The guys were laughing at her crab-wise run, and it made me proud to realize how much she lifted morale just by being here. She hadn’t been scared enough to piss herself, unlike some men I’d seen under fire for the first time. My woman was fucking brave. My woman.

I decided I wanted to do something to show Caro how I felt about her—and I’d do it under the guise of her impressing the shit out of everyone. Yeah, it probably wasn’t keeping things on the down-low, but I was going to make her a camp shower.

I rounded up a couple of volunteers and explained my plan. They all wanted to help do something ‘for the ballsy writer chick’.

I’d noticed a bunch of jerry cans earlier, so I filled them with tepid water while we rigged a shower unit by punching small holes through a rusting bucket and hoisting the cans overhead.

When we’d finished, I strolled over casually and squatted down next to her.

“How you doing, baby?” I asked quietly, making sure my voice didn’t carry.

“Pretty damn good,” she replied calmly, “considering I nearly got my ass shot off today.”

I couldn’t help grinning at her. “You are so fucking amazing, Caro.”

“You’re not so bad yourself, Sebastian.”

Some of the guys were staring at us speculatively, so I stood up and pointed behind me. “We’ve fixed you up a makeshift shower, ma’am.”

“Excuse me?” she gasped.

“The guys wanted to do something for you—they think you’re a ballsy woman. So they’ve made you a shower. You’ve got about two-and-a-half minutes of lukewarm water. How’s that sound?”

“What? How?”

She gaped at me in amazement.

“I just left some cartons of water out in the sun. They got pretty warm: all we had to do was hoist them up and make a shower head. You’re good to go. Except you won’t be able to take off your clothes, but it’s better than nothing, I guess.”

“God, I love you!” she smiled. “But I think I love them, too!”

I knew she was joking, but I’d be a lying bastard if I said I wasn’t as jealous as fuck.

She waved at the shower-building team and they cheered her loudly.

“I’ll be right back!” she smiled.

The gunny who’d been on patrol with us slapped me on the back.

“Get in line, buddy. We’d all like to tap that.”

I don’t think he knew how close he came to losing his front teeth as he strolled away. Luckily, Caro reappeared, and the sight of her wearing just a t-shirt and pair of short yoga pants, redirected my attention immediately. She looked happy, and that was enough.

I tore myself away to head back to the comms room, trying to ignore the boner in my pants at the thought of Caro in the shower.

I stayed on duty late until Grant allowed one of the Shiite terps to relieve me. Helmand was a Sunni area, so the theory was that the Shiite interpreters were the most trustworthy. But it was just a theory, and Grant had to acknowledge that I couldn’t man the radio chatter 24/7. I’d been awake for 41 out of the last 48 hours and I needed to sleep. With Caro.

I headed to her room and instantly felt relaxed as I heard her soft breaths. I tried to make myself comfortable at the bottom of her mattress, but she woke almost immediately.

“Hey, baby,” I whispered as she sat up. “I didn’t mean to wake you—I just wanted to see you.”

She rubbed her eyes and reached her hands toward me. “You’re too far away,” she yawned.

I knew the smart thing would be to go to my rack and sleep, but hell, you get all the sleep you need when you’re dead.

I tried to stretch out on the mattress next to her, but my boots hit the door.

“Fuck,” I swore quietly, “they’ve given you a damn hutch to sleep in.”

“At least it’s private, Sebastian,” she murmured, running her finger across my cheeks.

“Yeah,” I agreed, “that’s something.”

I leaned over her, taking the weight on my arms, and kissed her gently, just like I’d wanted to do all day.

I hadn’t planned on starting anything, but Caro seemed to have other ideas because she tightened her hands behind my neck and locked our faces together.

It was such a fucking turn on having her here, like this, in the middle of a fucking hellhole. She pushed her tongue into my mouth, hungry and determined, then she ran her hands down my back, gripped my ass and squeezed hard.

God, I wanted her, even if it was a dumb fucking idea.

“Are you sure, Caro?” I questioned.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Here and now.”

I groaned as she raised her hips, rubbing against my rock hard cock.

“But you’re going to have to get naked,” she added.

I sighed and pushed away from her, shaking some sense back into my brain which was definitely lacking any blood flow.

“It’s going to take some explaining if the Taliban attack and I run out of your room with my ass hanging out,” I reminded her.

She hesitated and I wondered what she was thinking. It didn’t take long before I knew.

“I don’t care if you don’t … time to get naked, Marine,” she ordered, rubbing her thigh against me again.

“Make me,” I teased.

Her eyebrows shot up.

“Okay, what can I trade you to get you to take your shirt off?”

It was my turn to be surprised.

“Trade?”

“Yes,” she said firmly. “I want you to take your shirt off, but it seems like I’ll have to give you something in return. If I agree to your terms, you lose the shirt. If I don’t agree, you get to keep it on.”

“For real?”

“Yes, Sebastian,” she stated, clearly issuing the orders. Well, okay then.

“A shirt for a shirt, Caro,” I challenged her.

This was about to get interesting—and she was wearing a lot less than I was.

Moving slowly, in a show that was so fucking sexy, she unbuttoned her shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra. My uniform jacket and t-shirt hit the floor and we were both naked from the waist up.

“So far so good,” she said, her voice low and husky. “I want you to take off your boots and socks.”

I thought for a moment, considering how I could raise the stakes, especially as she had fewer clothes than me.

“Okay, but I want you to touch your breasts, Caro; touch yourself until your nipples are hard.”

She followed my instructions quickly, running her hands lightly over her tits, toying with her nipples while she stared into my eyes.

“Fuck!” I said roughly, licking my lips, wanting to taste her, like now.

“Boots,” she snapped.

It took over half a minute for me to unlace my boots and lose the socks. My coordination was fucked because I couldn’t peel my eyeballs off of Caro who was now massaging her own breasts, teasing the nipples to peaks.

“I want you to take off your pants, Sebastian,” she whispered.

God, if Grant walked in now…

“And you have to lose those pajama bottoms, Caro.”

She kicked them off quickly, adding them to the pile in the corner.

I unzipped my pants, leaving the skivvies on. But she was out of clothes, and didn’t have anything left to trade.

“I want you naked, Sebastian,” she whispered.

“I want you to touch yourself between your legs, Caro. I want to see you come.”

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. I was confused—things had been getting pretty hot. Had she changed her mind?

“What?” I asked.

“Sebastian,” she sighed, “I can do that any night of the week; frankly I was hoping you’d do it for me.”

I grinned with relief. “Yeah, but it’ll be a real fucking turn on for me.”