Page 49 of Princess and Country

My hands cupped Jeff’s cheeks as he kissed my tears—and my pain and worries—away.

I unbuttoned his shirt with shaky fingers. Butterflies took off deep inside me.

Jeff gripped the hem of my shirt and peeled it off me.

Our mouths crashed in a dance we’d rehearsed an infinite number of times. We took everything from each other, then gave it all back, a million times bigger and brighter.

Jeff leaned back.

“To answer your question, I packed the blue dress after I picked it up from the dry cleaner yesterday. It’s in your red bag.”

My lips landed back on his, hungrier and wilder.

Jeff tore each piece of clothing off me.

Our skin met, hot and sweaty, needy for each other’s touch. I memorized each inch of him. I had no idea when we’d be together again. Somehow, it felt like the last time. I imprinted myself in his scent. I carved his skin with my fingernails, etching myself on him.

I kissed his jaw, neck, his chest and lowered myself down his body until I could taste the very last inches of him. Jeff vibrated inside my mouth. He groaned. I moaned. His fingers fisted my hair, setting the pace. My tongue twirled around the tip of his cock as I pumped the base with my hand. His body stiffened.

“God, Dah, I can’t believe we won’t be able to do this for months—” I sucked harder, stealing his ability to form words away.

Our gazes met. The back of my eyes burned with unshed tears at the thought of being apart for so long.

Tears I refused to cry for now, not willing to spoil this moment between us.

My heart bled. Everything in me became a blaze. A flame of desire and love. And a fire of pain and goodbyes.

“Don’t cry, Princess,” Jeff said, pulling me toward him. “Don’t cry.”

My man laid me on my back as if I were made of feathers. His hands found my breasts, and he kneaded them, molding them to fit his hands. He pinched my diamond-hard nipples.

I let out a loud cry.

A cry of love. Of loss. Of fear. Of pleasure.

His tongue teased the flesh under my earlobe, making its way down to my wet and throbbing center. Every fiber in me screamed his name. Screamed to be touched. To be loved. I needed him to singe himself into me.

Jeff’s tongue flicked over my clit as his fingers entered me. Slowly at first, then with purpose. To shatter me into a million pieces and build me back into a more powerful version of myself.

My boyfriend ravaged me with his tongue. Pleasure, simmering deep inside me, surfaced as his fingers dived in and out of me at a frenzied pace. I rolled my head back as heat washed over me. Jeff’s tongue entered me, and everything went black. My body trembled. I breathed out in quick jolts.

“Jeff—” I screamed his name, and he swallowed my gasps, his lips over mine, with the promise that everything would be all right.

When he unrolled a condom over his length, I squirmed on the mattress.

I hated the idea Jeff had enlisted in the Army. I’d never thought he’d go through with this. I thought he loved his job. And that he wouldn’t risk his life for some grand life ideal. But he’d always supported my dreams, and I’d forever support his. No matter how they pricked my heart like a million needles.

Jeff thrust in and out of me. I felt him everywhere. Inside and outside of me. The electricity in the room could light up a stadium. We were combusting together. Two poles of a magnet coming together. Uniting. And exploding.

Jeff fastened his grip on my hips as he rammed into me. Hard and fast.

It was the heartbreak of being apart. It was love. It was a promise to always find our way back to each other.

My body tensed as I came undone.

The orgasm broke me.

It burned me down to ashes.