CH.1
"Sorry, Todd. My hands are killing me today. That's the best I can do. I hope it helps." Beth clasped her hands in front of her. Feeling a little dizzy, she struggled to sit down on the nearest stool.
Beth had arthritis in her hands and was unfortunately also suffering from a migraine this day, but Todd asked her for a bit of shoulder massage. He had some residual pain from an injury he received during boot camp and was really suffering. She was a good friend who never hesitated to help her friends out. They always seemed to be pulling or tweaking something or other.
"You should have refused me," he said. His voice sounded rough like he was a little ticked off.
"Oh yeah. Right." She made no effort to hide her sarcasm.
He glanced swiftly up at her. His black eyebrows pulled together. "I wouldn't have forced you. You can always say no."
He stared at her for a long moment, and it was Beth who looked away first, "But thank you, the pain in my shoulder is better."
He had two fingers pressed against her pulse, and Beth realized he was checking her vitals.
"Really, I'm ok." She assured him.
"Your pulse is rapid,"
Beth laughed weakly, "what a surprise."
Todd pretended not to know how much he affected her. Her heart rate was frantic because he was touching her, and he knew it.
He released her and gave her a questioning look.
"It doesn't matter," She waved her hand dismissively. "So what are you, a medic or something?"
"I have some training, ya,"
"Is that required in your uh position? I mean, you're, army right?"
"Yeah," he agreed. "I'm Army, trained as a medic, but it's not my specialty."
He hadn't stepped back. He still stood too close. Beth looked at him expectantly.
"What?" he asked.
"So the obvious question is, what is your specialty?" she said with a flash of her eyes and a grin.
There is no way he could have missed the suggestion in her tone, but his response was formally polite.
"I'm with Joint Task Force 2. JTF2 is what most people call it,"
Unable to stop herself, Beth reached out and traced her fingers over his T-shirt, where the word ARMY was printed in black that had faded and cracked from washing.
"JTF2?" She glanced up at his face, and her breath caught.
Todd's eyes were locked on hers. There was no formality there; if anything, the expression on his face was shockingly intimate, as if he knew the direction of Beth's thoughts. But didn't he always.
"Yeah, It's a special unit for certain, uh, military tasks," he said quietly, "I'm training in Ottawa right now."
"Oh," she murmured. Her fingers continued to trail across the letters as her gaze drifted to Todd's face, lingering on his mouth. Where the rest of his face was dark, hard angles and chiselled planes, his lips were full and rounded. He had a beautiful mouth, made for kissing.
She wondered how he would react if she stood up and pressed her lips against his. She'd had the urge to do just that since she'd watched him sip from his coffee earlier. She actually fantasized about kissing him since their date several months ago and also dreamed about his chocolate skin against her tan skin since the first day they met over 2 years ago.
"That's good," she finally managed to say, moistening her lips, "because I am a firm believer in, um, supporting our troops."
"You're a dangerous woman," he said softly, and he cupped her elbows in his big hands and drew her to her feet.
Beth stared up at him, mesmerized. "Why?"
"Because you make me want to do things I have no damned business doing."
His voice was no more than a husky rasp, scraping gently across Beth's heightened senses and causing heat to unfurl and blossom between her thighs.
"Like this," he said and bent his head towards hers.
Her lips were incredibly soft. Todd sensed her surprise. For just an instant, she stood stiff and unresponsive. He also knew the second her resistance melted. She made a soft mewling sound of pleasure, and suddenly her arms were around him, and she was kissing him back, hungrily.
Todd knew that kissing her was a mistake. A huge atomic mistake. He had no business getting involved with Beth. She was his friend; they weren't supposed to cross those boundaries again. It hadn't gone very well the first time. Besides, he was leaving for Yugoslavia in two weeks.
He hadn't planned on kissing her, but then she looked up at him through her thick lashes, and he'd been trapped in the incredible depths of her green eyes. Beth was attractive, but he hadn't had a genuine appreciation for her until he went away and realized he missed her. Missed her more than a friend should. Because she was around, in the years since their one date, Todd had struggled not to think about her.
However, now he was. He was looking into Beth's eyes and kissing her lush, pink lips. That, combined with the sultriness of her voice, and he was powerless to resist her. Any thoughts of pulling away were buried beneath the steamroller of sensations he felt when her tongue made a tentative exploration of his mouth.
His hands, which were still cupping her elbows, slid to her back, and he pressed her more fully against him, amazed at how delicate she felt in his arms. She scarcely came up to his shoulder, and he had to hunch over a little to reach her. But as small as she was, there was no mistaking that she was every inch a woman.
He touched her many times over the years and had been aware of their difference in size and how arousing it was. Although she was tough, playing ball with him and the guys, he was surprised at how fragile she actually felt now, in his arms.
He slid one hand down over the curve of her bottom, and she responded by pressing her hips against him. Her hands were on his head to hold him captive as she slanted her mouth across his. She wasn't just kissing him; she was devouring him, her soft lips feasting on his. Her tongue performed an erotic dance in his mouth. She made a little noise in the back of her throat, somewhere between a whimper of need and a moan of pleasure, and he was undone. It was the most erotic sound he'd ever heard and caused lust to jackknife through him.
He groaned in defeat, cupping her butt in his hands, lifting her to the edge of the counter. Her legs hooked the back of his thighs. He dragged his mouth from hers enough to look down at her flushed features. Her eyes were clouded with desire as she pulled his head back down to hers.
"Jesus," he said against her mouth, his voice no more than a ragged whisper. "I could kiss you like this all day,"
He felt her smile, and then she slid her hands beneath the hem of his shirt T-shirt. They were silken soft, and warm against his bare flesh. "So what's stopping you?"
Her whispered challenge was enough to snap the last of his self-restraint. With a soft growl of capitulation, he captured her face between his hands and fastened his lips over her. She tasted heady and delicious; he hadn't exaggerated when he said he could kiss her endlessly. Less than twelve hours earlier, sex had been the last thing on his mind. Right now, it was all he could think about.
How long had it been anyway? Too long. At least six months. His most recent sexual encounter had occurred shortly before he left on his last deployment. The woman had been a buddy's friend, guaranteed to show him a good time without any questions asked or any future expectations. He could remember her name and her face but damned if he could remember what the sex had been like. Just two minutes of kissing Beth had pretty much obliterated any memories of that dispassionate coupling.
She was so responsive, both greedy and giving all at once. Todd focused on the exquisite pleasure of touching her. He was free, at least for the moment, from the excruciating pain in his shoulder, and he intended to enjoy every second. He took his time, tracing the contours of her lips with his tongue and nibbling at the corners of her mouth while alternately letting her give him hot, open-mouthed kisses that caused heat to spiral through him.
Beneath his shirt, Beth's palms smoothed across his rib cage, around to his stomach, up over his pecks. Todd slid one hand down the length of her back and lowered to cup her buttocks and pull her right to the edge of the counter, where he pressed himself against her centre. Beth made a soft sound of approval and tightened her legs, drawing him closer.
More than anything, Todd wanted to lay Beth back on the narrow countertop, peel her clothes from her body, and pay homage to her curvaceous body and the secrets now hidden from his sight. But he needed to slow down.
Slow down, slow down, no, wait, wait, wait...stop! He yelled to himself inside his head.
He needed to stop. He had no business getting involved with Beth, especially knowing he couldn't offer her anything more than a superficial relationship. He'd make love to her, at least during the short periods he'd be home, and then disappear again, sometimes for long periods, and he wouldn't be able to explain why. It was all part of the job description.
Reluctantly he dragged his mouth from hers, and when she would have protested, he pressed her face gently into his shoulder. He breathed in the clean fragrance of her hair, aware they were both panting as if they'd sprinted up several flights of stairs.
Todd sucked in a deep breath, waiting for his heart to regulate itself. He could feel the rapid rise and fall of Beth's chest against his own. Her hands were still beneath his shirt, and her fingers rubbed slow circles on his skin.
"Why'd you stop?" her voice was muffled against his chest.
