Captain O'Reilly's Woman - Ashes of Love 1 (3 page)

“It’s so peaceful here,” she said quietly, finally breaking the comfortable silence between them. “I could almost forget I got that little blue letter.”

David murmured in quiet agreement. He leaned back on his elbow, waiting for her to continue. Levering one knee up he leaned toward her, just a little.

“How do I choose?” she asked quite suddenly, glanced down at her body then up at him.

He held his tongue for a moment, waiting to see if the question was rhetorical. When she didn’t say anything else and kept looking at him, he knew she expected a response. “Choose whom?” he clarified. “The man to teach you about lovemaking or the one to father your child?”

“Both.”

“Won’t they be one in the same?”

David watched her remarkable eyes widen just a little. “I...didn’t think about that. Maybe. I guess.” Sighing loudly, Samantha moved her arms and lay down on her back. She stretched out beside him. For the first time, she removed her khaki-tan cap and his breath caught at the sight of her lustrous hair.

“No. Maybe they won’t be the same,” Samantha said suddenly and lay her forearm over her eyes.

David didn’t even try to stop himself from looking at the full length of her body. From her dusty boots to the length of her legs, to the slight gap between the tops of her thighs that made his balls ache. The luxuriant flare of her hips and the sweetly sloping indent that was her abdomen. The solid rise of her ribs. Her breasts and his hand ached to reach for her. He held it firmly in front of himself and looked back up at her face.

She moved her arm away from her eyes and again propped herself up on her elbows, looking at him intently. “I think I’d like to compartmentalize this. It doesn’t feel so overwhelming when I think of it as two, possibly doable tasks.”

To give his aching hand something to do, he brushed an imaginary piece of dirt off the blanket then looked back at her. “Fair enough,” he replied non-committaly. David watched her pick up her cup and take a long, deliberate sip of her tea before setting it aside. “Who do you want to pick for the first task? Or more appropriately,” he added when her brow furrowed. “What kind of a man do you want to pick?”

“Good question. Sir,” she exhaled audibly and lay back down. Her fingertips drew light circles on the surface of the blanket.

Everything about her was so unconsciously sensual, so utterly female she took his breath away.

“Somebody I could trust,” Samantha said thoughtfully then glanced over at him. “It’s a pretty, um, intimate experience. Right?”

“Uh huh,” David nodded quietly, trying to suppress a wry smile and not being entirely successful.

“Who wouldn’t hurt me. Maybe who knows what he’s doing. But he has to like me,” Samantha added adamantly. “He has to think I’m pretty and not just some easy score.”

“What man wouldn’t?” David said recklessly.

She looked up at him. Her eyes were wide and shone in the sunlight.

“You’re beautiful and smart and everything any man worthy of the name could want.” With a low moan of regret, David flopped down onto his back beside her and drove the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Shit I am so busted for saying that to you.”

“You...think I’m beautiful?”

The sound of Samantha’s soft, vulnerable voice brought his head back up. She was on her side now. Leaning toward him. So close that he could smell her warmth. Soap. The sweet tea on her breath.

He swallowed convulsively. “Double shit on a stick,” he murmured anxiously. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like...what?” she asked nervously. She blushed violently when Captain O’Reilly squirmed his massive body away from hers, putting some space between them. She blushed even brighter when she looked at the unmistakable outline of his erection beneath his fitted khakis.

“It’s hard...” He gritted his teeth at the unintentional reference to his obvious arousal. “Triple shit on a...
difficult
enough to think about somebody...somebody who isn’t me having you.” David surged to his feet and stepped away from her, putting more space between them. It was out now and he didn’t care that he’d just destroyed his career. He sighed with painful resignation. “Without you looking at me like you want me.”

Samantha’s small gasp turned him back to her. He wanted more than anything to take back what he’d just said—for her sake, not his. She looked so embarrassed. Vulnerable. Exposed in a way he’d never seen before. Wordlessly, he walked back to her and knelt beside her. “Why did you come to me?”

She shook her head and started to move away. He stopped her with the firm pressure of his hand on her arm.

“Why? Did you come to
me
?” he repeated pointedly. He used a voice disciplined by years of leading men, issuing orders, but also spoke with a tenderness that was as unfamiliar as it was genuine.

He felt her tremble and couldn’t help stroking her lightly with his thumb.

“Because I want it to be you.”

Chapter Two

A little over two weeks later, David was sitting behind the wheel of his personally owned vehicle. It was a Jeep he’d bought out of the motor pool and had refurbished and painted a bright blue. It had chrome everything, a whip antenna, tires that could climb Everest and custom leather upholstery. He glanced over at the small woman sitting beside him.

Samantha was wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat and her long hair rustled in the wind blowing through the open cab. She had on pretty little yellow sundress that he couldn’t take his eyes off, with her bare, tanned knees peeking out beneath.

He hadn’t hesitated a second before agreeing to become her lover, and he hadn’t touched her since that day at the deserted farm. He’d barely spoken to her. But the words they
had
exchanged set their plans. Drawing on his painful memories of junior-high health class, David had asked her when her next period was due. She’d blushed prettily but had answered him readily enough. They’d each schedule a three-week leave of absence after its expected end. She’d be fertile sometime during that window. If she didn’t conceive that month, they could try again later.

David felt his chest swell. He was going to be a father.

With disciplined pragmatism, he put that thought aside as premature and ran through their battle-plan instead. Samantha’s request for leave had been approved automatically, mostly because he approved it. Besides, she was now officially RI. Anything she wanted, she got, and military regulations no longer applied to her. If anybody noticed that her CO asked for leave at the exact same time, they hadn’t said anything. It would be stupid to. The Army wanted her pregnant and if she’d chosen her squadron commander to do the deed, they sure weren’t going to argue.

He adjusted his grip on the wheel and shifted the Jeep up into fourth gear. The roads were good around here because the Army had reclaimed the area years ago. They were off the highway now and less than an hour away from his family’s old cottage. It sat on a pretty island, isolated and loved by generations of O’Reilly’s. Now, for the first time, David could hope there would be others after him to enjoy it as well.

It was a perfect spot for a honeymoon and he realized that’s what he thought of this as. He wanted time with Samantha. Time to teach her everything he knew about loving. Time to brand himself so deep on her heart she’d stay with him for a lifetime. He was pretty sure he wanted to marry her as soon as they found out she was pregnant.

Fraternization between Captain and Corporal was strictly forbidden but he’d made a discreet inquiry. RIs got what RIs wanted. So if she wanted him, she’d get him.

He just had to make damn sure she did.

“Thirsty?” he asked suddenly, pointing to a road-side stand.

Samantha turned to him and nodded. Her smile lit up her face and he wondered how he’d managed to make it this long without her.

Handling the big Jeep carefully, he pulled over and parked.

“Good choice, Captain,” Samantha said happily then trembled when he lay his hand on her forearm. His thumb stroked her gently.

“You should call me David.”

Inside, they were greeted by a clerk who looked barely old enough to be out of school, and looked over the fresh produce and baked goods. They filled two sacks which David paid for before carrying them out to the Jeep. In this part of the country, as in some others, currency had replaced barter. This area was one of the first the Army had reclaimed. It had come far in the intervening years. Cold drinks in hand, they wandered over to a little mini-putt course off to one side of the stand.

“Do you play?” he asked suddenly. His shoulder brushed hers.

“Badly. But I love it,” she answered, laughing.

“Well then let’s play, Samantha,” David enthused. “It’ll do my ego a world of good to whip your behind.” She followed him to a little kiosk, picked out a putter and a ball then turned to look up at him. There was a quiet, womanly smile on her face.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you use my name.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yes.”

David inhaled sharply and leaned over her. Lifting the brim of her hat he pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her forehead. “Get used to it, Samantha,” he breathed against her skin, smiling when she trembled. “I’m not just some stud for hire. I’m in this for the long haul,” he added with quiet surety then leaned away from her to gauge her reaction.

“
Wow
,” she said breathlessly, feeling a little overwhelmed by his intense, unexpected sensuality. “I mean I always thought you were hot but I never imagined you’d...” Her voice trailed off self-consciously when she caught a glimpse of his utterly male smile.

“I have been helplessly in love with you from the moment I saw you climb off that recruitment bus two years ago,” he admitted quietly then pressed a kiss to her neck, the base of her ear. When he felt her shiver in response he smiled.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I couldn’t,” he replied with quiet bitterness, kissed her neck once more then replaced her hat on her head.

Samantha blinked up at him. She’d always had a thing for Captain O’Reilly—
David
, but had put it down to infatuation. A Pygmalion thing. Now, all she wanted was for him to kiss her neck again because it had felt wonderful. Maybe even the most erotic thing anybody had ever done to her.

Maybe? Hell...it definitely was.

“What are you thinking?” he asked quietly, breaking into her warm thoughts. When she blushed, he pushed. “Tell me,” he insisted with a gentle smile.

“That...I’d like you to kiss me again. If it’s all right?” she asked nervously.

Samantha felt her shoulders go down when David’s full, lusty laughter rang out. He wrapped his bear-like arms around her and hugged her fiercely. Her small body rocked with his. Again he dipped his head and feathered his lips across her neck.

“I will always want to kiss you, Sam.” He said her name like an endearment and Samantha realized she was grinning ear to ear, and that she really liked the feel of his broad, muscular back beneath her hands as she returned his embrace.

“Um, sorry to interrupt, Captain. It still is Captain, right?”

He turned to find a man wearing a white apron and t-shirt, standing a few paces away. In his fifties, he had graying hair and narrow shoulders. David thought he looked familiar but couldn’t quite place the face.

The man held out his hand. “Rawlins. Jacob Rawlins.” He turned back toward the sound of crunching gravel. A tall woman, about the same age as Jacob was walking toward them. Her one arm was covered with old burn scars...someone else who’d survived the Great War.

David smiled suddenly and took the man’s hand. “Jacob. How’ve you been? It’s been, what, two, three years? You’re looking good. You too, Mrs. Rawlins,” David said, looking the woman directly in the eye. His smile widened. Looping his arm around Samantha’s shoulder, he drew her to his side. “The Rawlins were friends of my parents. Mrs. Rawlins here is the best baker in town.” He turned back to them. “This is Samantha Cooper.” He introduced her with unmistakable fondness.

Samantha shook their hands but found herself wondering why they were looking down at her with such open pleasure.

Jacob Rawlins handed David the neat brown sack he was holding. “The Misses wanted me to give this to you. We weren’t sure at first it was you when you pulled in. Your vehicle’s different than the last time but as soon as she caught a glimpse of you she called out that
Captain O’Reilly was here
and rushed out back to pack up a tin of her baking for you to take to the lake.” He looked down at Samantha fondly. “For you and your woman.” His gray eyes sparkled when he looked at her. “This man here brought our town back after the Great War. We owe him a great debt.”

“Now Jacob,” David murmured dismissively.

“No, let him say his piece, Captain O’Reilly,” Mrs. Rawlins insisted. Her voice was low pitched, beautiful even. Samantha got a sense that she said little but what she did say was important. “He was just a kid. Hadn’t been in the Army more than a year. But he managed to persuade them to bring a whole squadron here. They stayed six months. Cleared out a gang of thugs that had taken over the place. Rebuilt our little hospital. Repaved this road into town, got most of the businesses back up and running amongst other things.” She lifted her chin defiantly. “We don’t forget things like that.”

David looked down at the ground, fingering the sack in his hand, uncomfortable with their praise but forced himself to accept it graciously. “You’re welcome,” he said quietly and smiled unconsciously when he felt Samantha’s arm come around his waist and hold him closer.

“How long have you owned this place?” Samantha said brightly, kindly, breaking the silence that had fallen. David tightened his arm around her shoulders, touched her bare arm with his rough fingers. The way she leaned into him made him hope she felt more than heard his quiet sigh of gratitude.

“Two years this fall,” Jacob Rawlins answered happily. “We pull in a lot of the summer trade but we also do a brisk business in town at the Saturday morning open-air market. My produce and the Missus’ baking,” he added with pride. “We’re looking into building up a dairy cooperative this winter. Cheese and such. Ice cream for the summer trade. A number of local farmers are already in on the plan.”