Captain O'Reilly's Woman - Ashes of Love 1 (21 page)

But by mid-July, both houses were again closed down and they, the girls and the dog climbed into a military helicopter and flew to Kentucky.

Sergeant Samantha O’Reilly and Major David O’Reilly took up their new duties...she as a first-year medical student, he as the new CO of Reclamation Programs for the north-east. It was a huge promotion for David and one which, he was assured, he’d earned and hadn’t gotten just because of his wife’s RI status. It also meant that, for the next four years, they stayed in one place, going home for Christmas and six weeks every summer.

Sergeant Tom Stevenson was transferred in that summer and created order out of chaos by setting up a nursery, which eventually became a playroom in an office adjoining David’s. The sergeant vetted potential nannies with the same fierce attention he applied to everything and somehow managing to cuddle one baby when required, scratch the dog behind its ear
and
keep up with David’s paperwork. When the girls were old enough, he picked them up from the base’s daycare centre where they spent a full morning, Monday through Friday.

And, as promised, he kept the office safe and fully baby-proofed at all times.

As soon as Samantha graduated, she was automatically given the rank of Major. She’d teased David about that, them being the same rank. But the head of reclamation programs stumped them both when he retired and appointed David as his successor. So even before she made Major, David was a full-bird Colonel. She worked in the on-base hospital. Times being what they were, she’d trained as a surgeon but spent two afternoons a week at the hospital in town, in obstetrics.

The following summer, on vacation, they got pregnant a second time and David was shocked to learn that Samantha was again expecting twins. “Well, my father’s a twin. And so was my maternal grandmother so I suppose I should have seen this coming,” Samantha said calmly as she watched the ultrasound monitor. The medic shifted the probe over her gel-covered abdomen and she pointed to the monitor. “There’s one heart. And another. Just two I think.”

“Damn well
better
be,” David muttered, then his mouth thinned. “Having to go through you giving birth to two is quite enough thank you.”

She ignored his grumbling and her eyes flashed as she saw something on the monitor. “Is that a...” she whispered intently then glanced up at the medic. “Grab a picture of that.”

“What?” David asked, his eyes darkening with worry as the medic flipped a switch then, after a few seconds, a small square of paper rolled out the side of the machine. His brow relaxed when Samantha smiled up at him.

“That, my love, is a penis,” she said, pointing back at the monitor.

David squinted and looked closer. “Not very big,” he blurted out without thinking. “How can you tell?”

Both Samantha and the medic laughed. He switched off the machine and wiped off her belly with a cloth before helping her to sit up.

“Looks good and healthy, doc,” the medic told her brightly. “Both babies. See you at rounds tomorrow,” he added as he stepped out of the room.

Samantha turned to her husband and gave him a lopsided grin. “It might be small now, but with your genes, he’ll make some woman very happy some day.”

David’s cheeks reddened but he laughed—that full, loud and lusty laugh that only David was capable of—and helped her put on her shoes. But not before glancing around and giving her polished toes a quick kiss.

Epilogue

After thirty years in the military, General David O’Reilly retired. He and his wife, Doctor Colonel Samantha O’Reilly and their four children, three girls and one boy, moved back home. They spent their summers on the island and winters in their house just outside of town. Samantha became the chief of staff at the local hospital and David was appointed as the town’s mayor. He did some consulting work for the Army but mostly he spent his time taking care of the children and operating a part-time fishing-charter business.

During their last two years in Kentucky, Samantha was thrilled to be able to renew her friendship with JT Winters. They’d kept in touch over the years but hadn’t spent much time together.

Captain JT Winters had been promoted to divisional head of reconnaissance operations. As a young man, he’d seen up close just how much influence recon units had in people’s lives—for good and bad. He’d signed on almost as soon as Samantha had left for Kentucky and had been in recon ever since.

And, as Samantha had predicted, he’d grown into a full-blown hottie with massive shoulders, discerning blue eyes and heavy muscles covering every inch of his athletic, six-foot frame. His hair had darkened with age, into a burnt orange with sun-licked strands of yellow. He wore it long and held back with a neat, metal clip at the back of his neck, even though he didn’t do much field work anymore.

His wife, a tall, willowy woman who was eight years older than him, liked it long, he said whenever Samantha bugged him about getting it cut.

When David and Samantha retired from active service, Lieutenant Tom Stevenson became JT’s ADC.

*
   
*
   
*

It came as a surprise when, the following summer, Samantha discovered she was again pregnant. Their older daughters, now fourteen, were pleased at the prospect of having real babies to play with. The ten-year olds were neutral but didn’t complain when their television room, on the first floor, was moved up to the second to make way for a new nursery.

David O’Reilly who, thirty-six years earlier, terrified and alone in the wake of the Great War, had dug graves for his family in the backyard of their home in the city before making his way north to the only other home he knew, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his friend, Doctor Nichol. David held her hand as his beautiful wife gave birth to two more healthy, squirming O’Reilly’s. And, with a clarity that startled him, David flashed back to the wall of their bedroom on the island. He pictured the neat, cherished row of photos, now a little faded, of his parents, sisters and him as a child. Neat rows of new photos surrounded the old ones. Pictures of him and a smiling Samantha in the boat, then her and babies Lynn and Mary Rose. There were later photos of the children as they grew, him with some grey in his hair now, Samantha leaner than she’d been when they’d married but with a fire and confidence in her remarkable, cinnamon-colored eyes that still took his breath away.

And one black-and-white photo, hand-tinted in shades of purple. It hung at Samantha’s eye level. It was a picture of him from the back, butt naked, jumping into the lake off the end of the dock.

End

About the Author

Gwen Campbell got her start in the magazine industry, writing everything from news stories to children’s fiction to obituaries. When the company she worked for succumbed to economic turndown, she looked at her bank book and gave herself one year to pursue writing full time. The deal was if she made money, she didn’t have to look for a real job. It’s worked out pretty good so far and she still doesn’t have a real job. A life-long believer in romance, she now writes romantic fiction. Gwen is married and she and her husband contribute the success of their relationship to making a point of saying “I love you,” at least once a day, sometimes saying, “Yes, dear,” just because, and making sure the toilet paper always comes over the top of the roll. She says her best sticky-plot resolutions come to her while dog walking.

Book Excerpts

Following are some excerpts of other hot erotic titles from Shadowfire Press.

If you enjoyed this futuristic novel
Captain O’Reilly’s Woman
by Gwen Campbell you might also like Gwen Campbell’s
As My Warrior Commands
, a scifi themed
Frontiers of Love
title.

When a kingdom crashes down around her, will his love be enough to save her?

Sibyls are old crones. Everybody knows that. So what’s a warrior supposed to think when a beautiful young woman turns up in the middle of a siege, says she’s a sibyl, predicts the downfall of a kingdom and tells him he’s going there with her to prevent it? He does what any hot-blooded warrior would do. He follows the woman. She’s intelligent, brave, can see the future, has an ass he can’t stop staring at and she knows how to make him laugh. What he doesn’t know is that the sibyls have predicted the downfall of the Kingdom of Jareb-Phar if a young sibyl enters their throne room. What they don’t know is if her arrival will be coincidental or cause the kingdom’s fall. The only thing the warrior does know for sure is that beneath his beautiful, young sibyl’s discipline is a woman as lusty and wanton as he is.

Here is a short excerpt from
Frontiers of Love 2: As My Warrior Commands
.

Touching her arm, Thain encouraged Jessica to take another bite of hard bread. They’d eaten the last of the soft two days ago. He had a sense she dipped it into her tea, bit off a piece and chewed only to make him happy. They’d left the flood waters behind that morning.

For the most part they kept to their own, dark thoughts. Because a full bath was impossible, both Jessica and Thain stripped down in the failing light and dragged wet cloths over their bodies. Again, Thain had to discipline himself to look away. The beautiful Sibyl stirred him more with each passing day. As a Warrior, he was trained to ignore the distraction of women—when necessary. His discipline had never been so thin. Jessica had laid her leathers out to air and sat wrapped up in one of his drying cloths. It provided adequate coverage but Thain couldn’t stop looking at her smooth shoulders, the curve of her knee. He adjusted his seat and wished his damned hard-on would go away. His balls had ached for days.

When they finished eating, he reached for her metal plate. Leftover food slid off hers and landed on her leg.

Thain had noticed she trimmed the fat off her meat. He found it odd but didn’t mind. It meant more for him and he’d taken to cleaning off her plate for her. Without thinking, he knelt in front of Jessica and licked her thigh, picking up the perfectly good piece of fat while he cleaned her skin.

Jessica gasped—then moaned.

Damned Warrior. He’d got right past her defenses. Thain’s warm breath, the rasp of his tongue sent shivers up Jessica’s leg, straight to her pussy. It spasmed and she couldn’t stop her response.

Thain grinned wolfishly. He’d thought this Sibyl incapable of lust...or a master of it. He touched his tongue to her skin and watched her reaction.

“Stop,” Jessica breathed. She gripped his hair but pulled as much as she pushed.

Setting the plates aside, Thain wrapped his fingers around her thighs and licked her skin. Jessica was the sweetest, softest thing he’d ever touched. He inhaled her scent, the heat of her body, the spiciness of her arousal. She wove her fingers into his hair and this time made an effort to push him away. Thain resisted her easily and dragged his tongue along the primly shut line of her legs. He pulled gently and Jessica allowed him to ease her knees apart.

There was no more need to resist her. She clearly wanted him and he’d wanted her from the moment he’d laid eyes on her. Six days of riding with her soft body pressed into his...nights lying beside her had taken their toll. Thain’s cock was rock hard and ready to make this beautiful Sibyl his.

Or you might enjoy reading
In Heaven’s Arms
, a
Finding Love: Memorial Day
themed contemporary story by Persephone Jones.

Two wounded souls find healing over the Memorial Day weekend.

Hawaiian tattoo artist Koal Kalani is a man making peace with death. Having lost his daughter and ex-girlfriend in a car accident, he is no stranger to heartache. So much so that when he encounters an unnamed woman in the cemetery, he is drawn to her for reasons known only to those in the midst of sorrow. Though their exchange is brief, it leaves him wishing the angelic stranger will take him up on his offer to visit him at his shop in town.

School teacher Madalyn Maris is still looking for the strength to move on after the death of Matthew, her beloved Marine Corps fiancé. A year after her devastating loss the unexpected happens. She meets a man in the cemetery, one with bottomless dark eyes, a leather jacket, a warm embrace…and a business card for a tattoo parlor.

With a lifelong fear of needles, Maris can hardly believe it when she stretches out beneath Koal’s masterful hands. But something about the tall, dark, and handsome Hawaiian puts her fear at ease and her libido in overdrive...

Here is a short excerpt from
In Heaven’s Arms
.

“So, how much do I...”

He took a step toward her and took her by the hand, his black coffee eyes simmering with intensity. In a second, she knew his intentions. Without saying a word, his eyes roamed the features of her face, down her chest, her body, all the way to her feet and back up again.

Her heart started beating double-time. He led her into the back of the shop to what appeared to be a dimly lit break room of some sort, equipped with a table, a black leather couch, a few chairs and a kitchenette. The most important thing she noticed however was they were completely alone.

Koal placed her hand on his chest and took hold of her at the waist. “C’m here.”

“I shouldn’t b—”

This was wrong on so many levels. What was she doing? First hugging a stranger in the cemetery, stripping down to her underwear for the same stranger, letting him give her a tattoo. Never mind what went on inside her head...

She watched his head tilt slightly to the side as his face descended toward hers. Upon feeling the soft strength of his mouth, she closed her eyes and let his kiss take her over. This was the kind man from the cemetery. The man who’d held her while she fell apart. Koal. When she opened her heavy eyelids he was looking at her, searching for a reaction. A reaction she couldn’t decide on. Truly, she didn’t know whether to slap him, cry or both. All she did know was that she wanted him to kiss her again.

Miraculously her lips gravitated to his as if pulled in by some unseen magnetic force. They kissed again, this time when their lips met it was deeper and more wanton, their tongues lashing at each other as if in combat.

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