Chapter 2

Two

F ord settled at the bar and gave Liberty, the pretty little owner, a chin nod of greeting. She sashayed over with a smile, all hips and sexy legs in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt sporting her bar's logo—Walker's.

"The place isn't busy for it being a Saturday night," Ford said with a glance around. Hell, his crew wasn't even here. The group of guys he hung with must be scattered tonight, doing their own things.

Jace and Valor were already spending most of their free time away from the hangout, but Ford couldn't blame them. If he had a soft little woman to go home to?—

He almost knocked over the beer Liberty handed him. What the hell was he thinking? He was in no position to have someone permanent in his life. He could be sent back to Afghanistan at a moment's notice and he refused to leave some wife sitting here to cheat on him while he was away.

Fuck, now his baggage was surfacing. He picked up his beer and downed half of it.

Liberty leaned against the counter and smiled. "Hard day, soldier?"

She was always flirty, but not with him.

"What's up with you? You and Ren off again?" She'd been fucking his buddy for almost a year. When they got along, it was an all-consuming thing on both of their parts. None of them could even look at the couple without feeling their beer rise up their throats.

But when they were off...

Her lips compressed for a moment, and then she nodded. "You could tell?"

"Yeah." He sipped his beer more slowly.

"How?" She brushed her long blondish hair over her shoulder.

"For one, you're flirting with me. For two, you're walking straight instead of bowlegged."

She threw her head back and laughed. The sweet sound gained attention from nearly every guy in the bar. In this world, a pretty, willing woman was worth her weight in ammo.

She ran a hand over the clean bar top, her pink-tipped fingers grazing the backs of his. "You're always good for a laugh, Ford."

He straightened at that. "What did you just say?" Nobody thought he was a comedian. He was known as a hard-ass, rarely smiling. He got what he wanted when he wanted it, and that didn't happen because he oozed happiness and glitter.

"You look surprised." Liberty laughed again.

Bringing his beer back to his lips, he said, "Yeah. You could say that."

She leaned her delicate elbows on the polished bar top, her face inches from his. As she smiled into his eyes, he realized why Ren couldn't stay away from her for long. She had a spark most men couldn't ignore.

"You're surprised to find out I see through your steely exterior?"

"There's nothing to see. I'm steel through and through."

Her smile was crooked and a little sad. "All you soldiers like to believe that. But someday a woman will turn you to sweet pudding and you won't even care. Not a bit."

It was his turn to throw his head back and laugh. The notion was ludicrous and Liberty was wrong, but she could go on believing that of soldiers. Most of them actually were strict, rigid assholes like himself. Maybe that was why she and Ren couldn't work it out—she wanted to believe there was more in him than there really was.

He pulled out some cash and paid for his beer before standing. "I won't disillusion you further, Liberty. I'm heading out."

"Already?" She seemed a little let down, probably because none of his crew was here for her to talk to. It was no secret she favored them.

"Sorry, sweetheart. I've got a five a.m." He gave her a mock salute that had her laughing again, and then she sashayed down the bar to talk to some other guys.

Ford went into the muggy Carolina summer night air. He had a weird sensation in his chest, as if he'd just found out that a sniper was in a perfect position to pick off him and his platoon.

He walked down the sidewalk with no real destination in mind. He hadn't been lying when he'd told Liberty he had a five a.m., but he didn't need sleep. And he was restless.

For a moment, he considered going to Willow's Pond and staying in the cabin. Valor and his pretty little woman had bought the place, and they all had a standing invitation as well as access to the locks. But the pond was farther than he felt like going tonight, and he felt an inexplicable need to find something new and exciting.

He could also hop on his motorcycle and drive until dawn lit the sky. But his CO would kick their asses at five o'clock, and he hated feeling like he'd been run over by a tank.

He also had a paper to write for Professor Dawn. A smile curled his lips. He had a hard time thinking of the gorgeous woman as anything but Angelina. The name suited her so well—feminine, exotic. She was one of those women with an air of mystery surrounding her, and he had a feeling she'd seen and done a hell of a lot in life. It was what made soldiers tougher, and it most likely worked the same with women.

The way she'd gone head-to-head with Ashwood today spoke of her character. What Ford wouldn't give to go up against her in the bedroom. Images of plunging his hands into her hair and his tongue into her warm, wet mouth invaded his head.

After class earlier today, he'd gone to the showers and jacked off to images of her spread and soaking for him. Him spilling his hot cum all over her creamy body and tongue.

He was hard in an instant, his worn jeans too tight. He needed a wild night with a wilder woman. He could go back to Walker's and find more than one willing babe. But in his present mood, that would only get him off, and well, he wanted something a little different tonight.

Without realizing it, his feet had carried him all the way to the university. He wasn't under any disillusion as to why—his thoughts of Angelina had lured him here.

But the place was dark, locked uptight.

For the best. Fucking her would make things awkward in class.

Yeah, he was an asshole looking for pussy, that was all. And Angelina wasn't a woman who would let herself be his conquest. But fuck, he wanted her bad.

A ngelina kicked off her heels and sank to her sofa, groaning as she stretched her toes. She'd been on her feet far too long today, and in those torture devices. She tipped her head and admired the sleek red leather she'd chosen over her normal black ones.

They are pretty, though.

She didn't often wear them to teach a class, because she was an active professor, always on her feet, pacing and circling the group of students.

But today when she'd chosen a gray sheath dress, she'd eyed the red heels in her closet and on impulse, grabbed them. The results had been devastating—not to her feet as much as to Ford.

The guy couldn't keep his eyes off her today. Her whole body felt singed from head to…well, to the tip of her red stilettoes.

She groaned again, this time because she'd purposely teased her student. He was most definitely one of the cockiest men she'd ever taught, but something about him made her want to push his limits.

A big no-no that would get her fired. No fraternizing was a rule worldwide, and she was a stickler for rules thanks to her daddy.

Pushing out a sigh, she wiggled her toes once more before getting up and going into her bedroom. There, she reached back for her zipper, catching the pull and easing it down from the top and when she couldn't reach anymore, twisted her other arm to reach her mid-back.

Each time she'd caught Ford looking at her, she'd felt as though he were undressing her with his eyes. That heavy-lidded stare ignited her, and she'd had to walk several feet away so he didn't see her hardened nipples.

She dropped her dress and carefully draped it over the hamper with her other gentle washables. Then she unclasped her bra and let her full breasts spill out. Hard, eager nipples and all. She caught them in her hands, moaning at the pleasure. She was so sensitive here—she liked being sucked for hours before she actually got around to more foreplay. But it had been a long, long time since she'd had a man in her bed and between her legs giving her multiple orgasms.

She ran her palms over the hard tips, making them ache and pucker. Closing her fingers around each bud, she pinched lightly. Then harder.

Her breathing hitched and a noticed warmth of liquid pooled between her legs.

As she collapsed onto her bed, she shimmied off her panties and spread her legs wide, her feet on each edge. Focusing on her nipples again, she closed her eyes and let herself build. Her imagination ran away with her, sweeping her up in the arms of a big, strong soldier, his lips scorching on hers, on her nipples.

On the bare, wet folds of her hungry pussy.

She flicked her nipples, and juices squeezed from her wet pussy. The cooler air of her apartment teased her soaking heat.

"Ford," she whispered, testing his name on her lips. A wave of lust skittered over her skin and she gave herself up to it.

Might as well purge him from her system before she could lose her head and act on it.

She twisted her nipples hard, and while they were still stinging, she used one hand to spread her pussy lips as she sank a finger into her tight sheath. Her toes curled instantly.

Her inner walls clamped on her digit as she cried out softly. For a dizzying second, she thought of Ford entering her here and how fast she'd come for him. He'd demand it from her and then work her body with his. Wrap her body around his larger one until she did anything and everything he commanded of her.

The idea sent her out of control. Bucking her hips, she sank her finger deeper while stroking her clit with her thumb. Back and forth. In and out until the sticky sound her juices filled the room.

She came the first time with a wild scream, Ford's name on her lips.

And while she was still ripe and ready, needier than ever in her life and aching for her sexy soldier, she thrust two fingers into her pussy. Juicy sounds filled the room, along with her noises of ecstasy.

She still pulsated from her first release, but she was quickly building toward a second. She'd always been a multiple-orgasmer, and stopping at one felt like she was cheating herself.

I could lie here all night and finger myself and purge him from my system.

Each time she sank her fingers into her pussy, she thought of him stretching her wide around his thick cock. She knew he would be thick like everything else on the man. Batting her clit with her thumb only drew long, guttural moans from her. She spread her thighs wider, tipping over the edge of bliss.

Coming with a scream, Ford's name once again falling from her lips. Pounding her fingers into herself as she envisioned the soldier's big cock. Cum flowed over her fingers and trickled down the crack of her ass to wet her bedding. She'd have a wet spot and need to wash her covers later, but she didn't care.

She was going to soak this bed for Ford before the night was through.

And then tomorrow, she'd get up and stand before him again, composed and at peace, with him none the wiser and her job intact. Because if she didn't release all of her pent-up desires for that man tonight, then she was going to act on her impulses and be in big trouble. On that thought, maybe she should invest in a vibrator.