Chapter 6

Six

F ord's platoon had been locked down in training for a week, and Angelina was going nuts without seeing him. Their whole relationship had been so whirlwind, and now being separated was killing her.

She missed their late-night talks after he made her come several times. And their early morning moments of soft touches when she brought him coffee and softer kisses goodbye.

She sighed.

"Professor Dawn."

She stood at the familiar voice. "Sam!" She hurried around her desk and strode to the door to meet him, her heels clacking.

"I see the university is running smoothly without me in this department."

"Well, time is a constant wheel of change. But we do miss you."

"I see Robert is gone." Sam had been one of their friends when she and her ex were a couple.

She nodded. "Good riddance too."

"Ah, so not a pleasant parting. I always thought you'd get married."

She needed to change the subject and fast. "What about you? How's Tampa?"

"Hot, but we love it there."

She arched a brow. "We?"

He cleared his throat. He was a tall man, slender and wearing jeans and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. She'd always thought Sam was attractive, but it wasn't like that between them. They were friends and had nerdy science talks.

"Yes, I'm engaged," he said.

"That's fabulous!" She threw her arms around him in an embrace. He hugged her back, but she felt the hesitation in his action.

She pulled back.

"That was new. You've always been so reserved, Angelina."

"Things change, didn't I tell you?" She couldn't hold back her smile.

"I want to hear all about it. Is the Rise and Grind still there?"

"Yes, but after the day I've had, I'm thinking Walker's is a better choice. Let me get my bag."

They walked out together, navigating the street leading from the university to the bar as they talked new scientific discoveries and argued about old ones. She was grateful she hadn't worn her red heels today—but not very happy about Ford being absent. She missed him like crazy.

Sam filled her in about how he'd met the woman in his life and asked about her own relationships, but she wasn't quite ready to discuss that. Especially since she wasn't entirely sure where any of it was leading.

The days separating her and Ford had taught her one thing, though, and that was how she truly felt about him. But he deserved to hear it before old friends did.

The minute they entered Walker's, Sam took her by the arm and led her through the dark maze of tables to a seat. Seconds after they were settled, a perky brunette took their order and bounced away.

"Some things never change," Sam said, watching her go. "The servers here are perpetually twenty-one, and you always order a whiskey sour." He smiled at Angelina.

She smiled back and then glanced around and froze. There at the bar sat Ford. He hadn't told her he was off-duty, and her heart gave a hard pang as pain tore through her. But that was nothing compared to the shredding it received when a pretty dark-haired bartender leaned across the bar and kissed him.

F ord heard the crash followed by a sharp cry he recognized as Angelina's. His balls drew up tight at the sound, but he knew what she'd just witnessed.

He glared at Liberty. "Find someone else to make Ren jealous, dammit. I'm not your toy."

Angelina was running toward the exit. The table where she'd been sitting was tipped over along with her chair. A tall man ran after her. "Angelina, wait," he called.

Fury struck Ford. In two steps he had the man by the shirtfront and was shaking him. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Who the fuck are you? Let go of me." Sam wrenched away and shot out the door after Angelina.

Ford stormed out too. She hadn't made it far. She leaned against the building, arms wrapped around her middle and tears running down her face.

The man-made it to her first and drew her into his embrace. She didn't move to put her arms around him, but the entire view sliced Ford in two. He'd been gone for a fucking week and she hadn't hesitated to find male attention. She'd come to Walker's on a goddamn date, and all he'd been doing was stopping to have a drink with his buddies after a long week of abusing their bodies in preparation for war.

But Liberty had kissed him and Angelina had witnessed it.

Dammit.

"I suggest you let go of my girlfriend," Ford said in a hard voice.

She gasped, and the man loosened his hold. "Look, buddy, I don't know anything about a boyfriend. Angelina and I are old friends."

Before the words were out of his mouth, Ford gripped him by the shirt and cast him aside.

"Stop it! Sam is my friend," she cried, her tears drying up as anger flushed her face and sparked in her eyes. She stepped up to Sam and hugged him. Ford growled low in his throat, but they didn't break apart for a long minute.

Sam said something low to Angelina.

"It's okay," she said. "I'll come find you tomorrow to talk, all right?" She gave him a parting squeeze. The man glared at Ford before walking away.

Angelina stabbed a finger into Ford's face. "What the hell are you doing with a bartender?"

"I could ask what the hell you're doing with him !"

She waved a furious hand. "Sam is an old friend who used to teach in my department. We were catching up after I hadn't heard from my so-called boyfriend in a week, believing he was training. Instead, he's in there kissing bartenders!"

"Liberty is an old friend too."

Angelina spun on her sexy-as-sin heels and strode off. He caught her in two long steps and held her prisoner. "You aren't walking away from me. You've got the wrong impression about me and Liberty."

"Oh yeah? Well you have the wrong impression of me and Sam."

He stared down into her face, his heart drumming wildly at the thought of losing her to a misunderstanding. "Look, I missed the fuck out of you."

"Looked like it!"

He kissed the angry twist right off her lips. When he pulled back, she gasped but he kissed her again, softer this time, showing her the promise behind his action. He was going to make her understand—and get information about this Sam guy—and then he was going to take her back to her place and make her scream his name all night long.

"I missed you, baby. All I could think about was getting back to you, but the guys insisted I stop at Walker's. It's a tradition with us after a long exercise like this, and I hadn't been there two minutes before you saw..."

"You kiss that woman," she huffed.

He brushed aside a loose tendril of her hair that had caught on her tear-wet face. He ached at the thought she'd been hurt.

"No, she kissed me. Liberty is the owner and she's been in love with my buddy Ren for a year. Neither of them will admit it, and they play games. He was in there semi-ignoring her, and she didn't like it so she tried to make him jealous."

Angelina snorted. "You have all the right words, don't you?"

"Because it's the truth. Your turn. Why were you cheating on me with that stuffy prick?"

"Sam's a great guy—he isn't at all stuffy." The spark was back in her eyes and had brought reinforcements. She looked ready to storm away again, so he held her by the upper arms, refusing to let her go.

"This happened with my last girlfriend too. I wasn't deployed two weeks before I heard she was shacked up with another private. Is that where you were headed? You didn't make it a week."

He knew before the words were fully out of his mouth that he'd said the wrong thing. He'd let his baggage and anger over his past wrong spew all over what he had with Angelina.

She slapped him. He took it like a man, because he deserved it. But when she raised her hand to deliver a second slap, he caught her hand and folded it into his. Looking into her eyes, he said, "Stop. Baby, this isn't right. I've thought about you day and night and I don't want things to be this way."

Her chest heaved, and she released a silent sob.

"Jesus, baby. C'mere." He wrapped her tightly against his chest, hating how she was trembling. But he was shaken too. He smoothed his hand over her hair and breathed in the scent of her that he'd missed so much.

"I'm not with Sam. I'm not cheating on you, Ford," she said unevenly.

"I'm not with Liberty. We'll go back inside and I'll make her tell you."

"I believe you."

He drew back to look into her eyes. "You do?"

She nodded. "Do you believe me?"

He didn't hesitate when he said, "I do, baby. God, I've missed you so much. All I want is to get you in my bed and hold you."

"Just hold me?" Her voice held a teasing note that made his cock jerk.

"Maybe more than hold. Do you need to go back inside and talk to Liberty?" He stared into her face and brushed away her tears. He hated that he'd caused them.

"No, I believe you, Ford. Let's go to my place."

T hey didn't make it two steps into her bedroom before he was stripping her. Tearing off her clothes and tossing them all over the place. She attacked his uniform, aware of how masculine and fucking hot he looked in it.

His muscles were big and warm, and she couldn't get enough.

When they were nude, they fell into bed, lips meshed together in a wild kiss.

"I missed you. Need you," he groaned between sweeping passes of his tongue.

"Take me, Ford." She pushed her pussy against his erection.

In one smooth glide, he joined them. Then as if realizing his error and the fact he was bareback, he went still. Before he could jerk out of her again, she wrapped her legs around him and held him.

"I wanted to surprise you with this, but I started the pill before we began seeing each other. Things just hadn't kicked in fully so I couldn't say anything. Now…you better fuck me and give me all your cum. No holding back."

His eyes were blurred with lust and she saw how much effort it took for him to remain still inside her. "But they are now?" he grated out.

"Yes, I'm protected."

"Fuck." He shoved into her to the hilt. She cried out at the intense feeling of every ridge of his hard cock filling her. He found her nipple and pinched it as he slammed into her again and again.

She locked him in her hold and bucked upward to meet his thrusts. "The sensation's too intense. Ford, I'm c—" Her body spoke for her, throbbing around his length hard and fast. The way it's always been between them.

He claimed her mouth, stealing her cries, stiffened and then pumped into her madly. His big body flexing and roped under her hands. When he roared his release and the first jet of his scorching cum bathed her inner walls, she came again.

"Baby. Fucking yes." It went on for a long minute, and she watched his face contort in bliss before finally relaxing.

He collapsed, half-rolling off her so he didn't crush her. Their bodies were still joined, though, and she relished the full feeling of his cum inside her and coating her thighs.

"I've never...that was..." He didn't seem capable of words.

She caressed his side and stared into his eyes. "You've taught me how to lose control, Ford, and I'm addicted now. You've created a monster."

He rumbled. "I'm addicted to you, Angelina."

She leaned up and kissed him squarely on the lips. "You graduate in three weeks. We can keep this under wraps for three weeks, can't we?"

"Yes, but I'm not willing to go a minute longer than that. As soon as that paper's in my hand, I'm grabbing you, bending you over my arm and kissing you for everyone to see."

She brushed her lips over his gently, emotions stealing the last of her reservations. "I love you, Ford, and I'll be proud to shout it to the world."

After his cock slipped out, he reached between her thighs, finding her slick and some of his cum oozing from her body. Using his finger, he pressed it back inside. "I don't want a drop of my seed leaving you until I say so."

"Control freak," she teased, nipping his lower lip.

He reached over and grabbed something off the side table.

She sat up. "What's this?"

"A ring."

She blinked looking at the diamond ring he held out to her.

"I'm not a huge romantic but I love you, Angelina. Will you marry me? You showed me how to lose control and find it, baby. You stole my fucking heart." His eyes glowed.

Her heart thudded in her chest. "You say it like it's a bad thing."

He hovered over her, his lips a scant breath from hers as he started to grow hard against her hip again. "It's the best thing in the world. I trust that you'll keep my heart safe."

"Yes," she whispered at first holding her left hand out.

"What's that?"

She yanked him over her again, angling her pussy toward his growing erection and she guided his ring over her finger. "Yes, Ellis Ford. I'll marry you and keep your heart safe as long as you do the same for me."

"I promise," he said around the larges smile she'd seen on the man.

She returned one of her own. "Now I trust that you'll keep me cumming until dawn."

"Nope, I have a long leave. I'm not letting you up for air until Tuesday, Angelina." He kissed her, and they didn't surface for a long time.

T hank you for reading Belonging to Her Soldier! Turn the page for Red Hot Christmas Virgin—a second chance romance.