Valentine from a Soldier(6)

The only kind of food fight I wanted to get into with Ryan involved him licking chocolate syrup off my body. But since we didn’t have any, and I wouldn’t exactly have put up a fight if we did, there was no sense in mentioning it to him right now.

“You look cute when you’re trying to be mad at me,” he said.

“I’m not mad at you,” I replied with a laugh.

“Exactly. ‘Trying to be’ were the key words.”

I opened my mouth in protest but suddenly found myself speechless for the first time all night.

“Here, have one of these,” he said, passing the plate of chocolate-covered strawberries over to me. I took a bite of one and felt his eyes on me, watching my every movement. All of a sudden it felt like our playful evening had taken on a different tone. I licked my lips and then brought a napkin to my mouth, not wanting chocolate all over my face or to have him think I was making a suggestive come-on. I watched his gaze lower, taking in my cleavage, and then his eyes hastily returned to mine, as if he didn’t want me to know where he’d just been looking.

“You’re really pretty,” he said. “I can see why that drunk guy was hitting on you at the bar.”

I found myself flushing as I gazed back at him. “Right, but you weren’t when you sat down beside me.”

“No, I just wanted to order a beer,” he said with a grin. “But I’ll tell you what, meeting you was the best part of my day.”

My heartbeat sped up as I looked at him. Certainly he wasn’t just feeding me lines. I mean he was already in my hotel room for God’s sake. “It was that bad of a day, huh?” I joked, attempting to keep things light.

“As a matter of fact, it was kind of bad. But even if it had been perfect, it still wouldn’t have topped this.”

I smiled, because even though I hated to admit it, I felt exactly the same way.

“I know you’re probably leaving tomorrow,” he continued, “but if you’re still here, what do you say we go sightseeing together?”

“So you want to make plans even though you know I’ll probably have to stand you up?”

“Life is short,” he said with a shrug.

“How about you call me in the morning,” I said, not willing to let this be our last conversation. I couldn’t bear to agree to meet him somewhere tomorrow and then just never show. I’d been trying to reschedule my flight all afternoon and probably would be long gone by whatever time we arranged to meet. If he called me tomorrow morning, I’d at least have a chance to say goodbye.

“I can do that,” he said, his voice low. He stood up, and I followed suit, suddenly feeling like the little table in my hotel room was a huge obstacle separating us. He was so close yet so far away. Ryan gestured for me to go ahead, and I slipped by him, our bodies barely brushing against one another as I walked across the room. I could feel his eyes on me the entire way, and as I reached out to unlock the door, something inside me made me turn back to him once more.

He walked over, his blue eyes piercing even in the dim light. The five-o’clock shadow across his face made him sexy as hell, and my eyes ran over his strong jaw and chiseled face before I once again met his gaze. Now on the pretense of him leaving, we were standing face-to-face in front of the door. I could feel the warmth radiating off his body as he stood only inches away, and the electricity between us was palpable. Slowly he leaned down, the air growing thicker. I could hardly breathe as his face hovered near mine, and then he was kissing me at last.

His warm mouth and full lips were soft against my own, his kiss somehow both gentle and hungry at the same time. I raised my hands to his face, running them over the stubble on his cheeks and strong jaw, holding him to me. Stretching up on my tip-toes, I kissed him back, not wanting to let the moment between us end. His gentle kiss gave way to something more, and soon his tongue was gently pushing inside my mouth. I backed against the door as he stepped even closer, neither of us speaking a single word. His mouth hot on mine, I was finding it hard to concentrate on anything else. Ryan was supposed to be leaving, but somehow none of that mattered when he was kissing me this way. His tongue thrust inside my mouth, exploring, and I felt the stubble on his face rub roughly against my skin in his eagerness. He planted heated kisses along my neck, causing my breathing to become shallow. I tilted my head back, closing my eyes and gasping against the door, as an electric current shot straight through me. He lowered his mouth to my chest, kissing the tops of my breasts as they rose and fell beneath his touch. Finally he raised his mouth back to mine, and his full lips crushed against my own again and again.