Cherry Girl (Blackstone Affair) by Raine Miller Page B

time we had left.
    Facts were facts.  Elaina wanted me as much as I wanted her.  Nobody here was underage, nor an innocent either.  That fact bothered me and then it relieved me, too.  I wasn’t the first man to be inside her but then I didn’t have to worry about deflowering a virgin either—something I’d never done, and had no desire to experience.  No, I had my girl now, and she was all I wanted.
    Elaina was an adult woman.  We had the blessing of her family who knew she’d stayed at my place overnight a few times already.  They had to suspect.  So, why was I feeling like a horny teenager about to sneak a shag?
    “Are you coming, babe?” she called out to me again.
    Oh yeah, darlin’, I will be and so will you.
    I stepped into the bathroom to find her plastered against a similar window with basically the same view I’d just been staring at, but Elaina’s was over a giant bathtub I hoped we got to enjoy together at some point.
    Stepping up from behind, I wrapped my arms around her and rested my chin on the top of her head.  “Beautiful,” I said, inhaling the scent of her that had become my addiction.
    “I know, it really is,” she said, bringing her hands up to tuck over where my arms intersected.  I loved whenever Elaina touched me.  And I soaked up every single touch she offered no matter how small or how fleeting.  The unique feel of her hands reaching out to touch me meant something.  Knowing she gave to me so freely also meant something, and I would cherish the memories of our time together when we were separated.  It would get me through the rough patches.  I hoped.  I got a flash feeling of panic at the thought of leaving her behind in England once my R & R was up.  Don’t think about it.
    I turned her around and took her face in my hands.  I held her to me, searching her questioning eyes and tracing over her beautiful features, memorizing every small detail of what made Elaina the most beautiful woman in the world to me.
    “I wasn’t talking about the view,” I told her, before I took her mouth with mine.
    I kissed her for a long time in front of that picture window.  I cherished my girl until I was good and satisfied .  Until I’d tasted her enough to let her go so I could make good on my promise to stare at her over dinner. 
    We were definitely a little late.
    Elaina’s blush at the server when he came to seat us, and the looks of the other guests, probably guessing the reason behind our tardiness to dinner, caused all kinds of protective urges in me.  One look at Elaina, and anyone could see from her flushed complexion and puffy lips from all the kissing, to get a pretty good idea about what we’d been up to.
    I slid my hand possessively down to the small of her back and led her to her chair, seating her first , the way my gran had taught me.  I wanted all those people to know she was mine.  If I could’ve managed it without everyone believing I was a complete nutter, I would’ve made an announcement too.  This beautiful girl is mine, people, and she loves me.
    I figured either way , I came out winning, nutter or no.  I still got to stare across the table at her over dinner.

 
    9
     
     
     
     
     
    “What do you like best about being a captain in the Special Forces? You don’t talk much about it.”
    “We’re not supposed to talk about it, darlin’.”
    Her face fell and her lips made an adorable pout that made me want to do things to them that required a locking door.
    “Well, what can you tell me?  I need to know something about what you do over there in Afghanistan.”
    I shrugged over my plate of perfectly cooked venison and gave her the most honest answer I could.  “I t’s just work that’s been a good opportunity for someone like me I suppose.  Hard work and very dreadful at times.  Lonely.  Harsh.  Dry.  Fucked up.”  I looked up from my dinner into her caring eyes, and for the first time ever, wished I wasn’t a soldier.
    “ Sounds