One Night

Prologue

Spending ten hours on a flight that I didn't want to get off in the first place has only cemented this feeling I had while sitting in the airport cafe. The sight of distanced loved ones joined together once filled the air with an amorous companion to my loneliness-and yet that feeling has yet to reach my heart. Instead, I was drowning in my third cup of coffee since I landed and reading the final pages of the middle chapter of the latest Ruth Ware novel. I was growing tired of the lustful couples having returned from romantic weekends and the connections of family brought apart and now reconnected thrust in front of my face. However, it led to my gaze falling to a figure that made my heart skip a beat; but not for the reasons that other twenty-somethings would allow their gazes to linger for another moment. 

The figure, a man, was dressed in his military greens and bearing the same sadness in his eyes that I held within my own. It wasn't from inner demons we battled and kept hidden behind heroic forced smiles, but for the fact we arrived at an airport to nobody waiting to retrieve us. I was able to connect with him in that way as opposed to many others around me that were joined by their loved ones. 

However, I was not in the mood to make nice with someone because they wore a uniform. For all I knew, it was a ploy to pick up women at the airport. But even as this thought crossed my head, I felt the validity decrease as his uneasy smile faded back to a hardline as he resumed his sight back to the bear claw set in front of him. 

"All flights have been delayed due to the weather. Please go to the closest courtesy counter for information." A woman's voice came across the intercom as the man who was still in my peripheral vision seemed to grow relieved by this news. Me on the other hand, I just wanted to get home to my two bedroom apartment that I still had unpacked boxes now collecting dust after two years. 

"Excuse me..." a voice forced my focus from my book and onto the male figure who was now at my side, lean yet muscular and intoxicating with whatever choice of cologne he had upon him. 

I didn't bother much of a response other than lifting my head since he was a stranger. Handsome. But still a stranger. 

"You dropped this..." he spoke while lifting my wallet from an unknown location and bringing it to view. I had always been careful to keep my belongings close...and yet, somehow I allowed him to distract me so I didn't notice. 

"Thanks." I spoke colder than intended before I stuffed it quickly in my purse and turned back to him. "Do you have a name so I can thank you properly?" I continued, my tone still harsh, but the features of my face lightening. I have always been cursed with a resting b***h face-probably a big reason that few people approached me. 

"Luke." He spoke while offering his hand. I couldn't help but think of those hands trailing my body as they spoke of strength and hard work from the calluses and rough texture. For this reason alone, I set my hand out before he then felt my skin upon his own. Although I wasn't looking for it, I noticed his eyes dilate with arousal, and for a small moment I was able to feel relieved of our delayed flights-even if mine was a midway point. 

"Do you?" He asked me when our lustful gaze broke and he took my attention from my impure thoughts. I knew he was referencing my name and so I paused for a moment before finally releasing my identity. 

"Anna." He smiled, a half grin that accented the structure of his face as well as the stubble on the lower half of his face. He wore light hair that matched the facial hair and up until meeting him, I had always gone for the brooding dark haired guys...but there was something about him that made me change this taste. 

"Where are you headed?" The words left my mouth before I could stop them. He ceased any further steps before turning back to face me. 

"To my bearclaw." He answered before realizing someone had taken it. Turning back to me once more, I motioned for the muffin I ordered but never touched and watched him accept the seat across from me. 

"So Luke...where are you headed?" I asked again before seeing his expression grow somber. 

"Iraq." My heart stopped. "I got the orders suddenly last night and...well..here I am." Feeling the weight of the moment , I saw him attempt to change it by then asking me the same question. 

"Egypt." His brows shot up. "I was going for my hands-on experience and then my professor flaked at the last minute so I was sent back..."

"You seem more annoyed to be going back home than having to leave..." Just as he spoke this comment I received a text from that very professor. A text that should not have been sent to one of his senior students. 

"Miss having you next to me, please forgive me..." having someone like Nate believe I was at his s****l disposal was not only annoying but insulting as I was naive when I allowed myself into his bed-and now, I was tired of keeping his sheets warm for his wife; a detail I wasn't aware of until ten hours ago.

"Everything okay?" He asked me as I brought my phone face down onto the table. 

"Yeah...I'm just tired of this cafe." I lied, something he saw right through as he then offered to escort me outside for some fresh air. Although I had no reason to do so, I felt as though I could trust Luke. Maybe it was because he seemed to be nervous to be around me or maybe because it was 11 PM in a small airport neither of us knew well and we both wanted the company. Either way, without a second thought, I made my way towards the door behind him and into the mid-July air outside. 

As we walked around the entire airport, excluding where the planes had been kept, we spoke of every detail of our lives. I learned that Luke was born in Texas and joined the Army at eighteen after a girl broke his heart. 

I then told him I joined college and fell for someone who broke my heart-leaving out the details of just how recent it had been, before explaining that I was a literature major. He seemed saddened by my newe, but after learning about his troubled past, I didn't feel so keen an divulging in my own self pity. 

He lost both of his parents to an accident and was legally responsible for his 16 year old brother who was quite a handful from how he explained him. He told me of his fears of clowns and strength as a hard worker before asking about me. 

Compared to his own history, I didn't want to express every draining detail; and so I informed him of my moms death via an overdose and my dad being in prison for rape of an underage girl. The shock on his face was humorous, but the weight of admitting my patronage did not allow anything but a frown to form on my face. 

Sensing this, he then began to ask me rapid fire questions that continued through the entire night. I knew more about Luke in just 5 hours than I knew about Nate in the last 4 years. It was calming to know that I was able to smile for reasons more than a paycheck or a good grade. I actually felt understood and I think he had to. 

As the hours progressed, I began to feel more comfortable with Luke. We eventually came upon a small park complete with an equally sized lake. He told me about how he detested fishing and didn't have the patience-something we both shared a detail of. 

I began to walk around the lake before falling into the cold water, pulled up at the last moment, but not before half of my body was shocked by the lake. He began to laugh loudly, a moment I fell victim to as well before he brought me to face him. Using two fingers, he pulled the hair from my face and back behind my ear before then wiping dirt from my cheek. I noticed his eyes linger at my lips, but as I was about to speak, he had interrupted me. 

"Can I kiss you?" The question startled me as I had prepared for him to just grope me instead of asking. Perhaps it was him being a southern raised boy that gave him such old fashioned manners. But either way, it made my legs feel like jelly. 

I looked down to his lips before answering, examining their full existence and lightly moistened texture before leaning in as an answer. His fingers set within my hair before he brought his focus to my mouth. He moved slowly towards me until our lips bonded together in a perfect embrace. But within seconds of this, I felt the fervor of his desire. It was clear that he was a gentleman; but even gentlemen have hormones. 

His hand slid up the back of my shirt, directly onto my skin while he left behind goosebumps. No matter my thoughts or feelings regarding Nate, I was putty in Luke's hands. I had never been kissed with some purity laced with such lust. I could feel his body betray him by a growth between his legs and all I could imagine was him pleasuring me with that very growth. As my thoughts with this became more vivid, I brought my hands around the back of his neck and then into his hair. Within seconds of hand to hair contact, he brought me harder against him. This allowed me the chance to feel his body-the muscular physique beneath his clothes and the impressive erection pushing against me. 

I could feel my own arousal begin to dampen my panties and the wish I had for a relief to grow with each second of his lips pressed upon my own. But as his tongue made its way against my own in perfect synchronicity and his fingers were loose in my hair, I began to carry my hand towards his member-the only action that had made him pull away. 

Out of breath, he paused a moment before deciding to speak. 

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked in disbelief. "I'm the one who touched you…" I paused in horror. "You don't want me to?"

"I think my body has given you the impression that I want this." I could feel my stomach turn with nausea. "I do...but I'm leaving tomorrow and what if instead we plan for something when I come back?"

"You would rather wait than take advantage of the moment." I asked, now relieved to hear his reason for pausing our intense makeout session. 

"I don't want to give the wrong impression. I'm not the guy that sleeps with a girl before deployment and never sees her again.".

"Then don't be." I spoke to him. "Let me say what we are both thinking." He went to speak, but allowed me to continue before he managed to allow one word from his lips. "The possibility of us ever seeing each other again is slim to none. But we connected tonight and now see the strong s****l tension that has been there all night is matched with desire and lust." A blush washed over his cheeks before I forced him to look at me by setting my hands on either one of his cheeks. "I think we should have a chance to explore that before fate forces us apart….only if you want to…" my words hung in the air as he struggled with his moral dilemma and his physical growth as he bit his bottom lip. 

"Just one night...no restrictions or obligations. Just two people who want to have s*x with each other." He let out a nervous chuckle. "No expectations…" I spoke while allowing him the chance to feel my body pressed willingly against his own. 

"You're…" he struggled to speak as I presented a lustful look of my own that made his lips part. "You're killing me…"

"No hard feelings either way….I am just Carpe Diem-ing this moment….the question is if you'll do the same."

His eyes trailed my entire body, taking in my exposed cleavage and thick frame. I was nowhere near a model body, but it was clear that my curves were something I had been proud of maintaining. It was a detail he seemed to enjoy as well as his eyes lingered for a moment. 

"How many other girls would offer a night like this?" I asked as he looked off to the side before reconnecting with me. 

"I am not going to beg you, Luke...I just thought we could have some fun-" I turned to return towards the airport before feeling him take hold of my hand. I could feel the perspiration forming on his hands and the pulse raging against his hand and my own as he pulled me back against him. 

"Girls like you don't come along...but I want more than one night…" the words were charming, even tempting-but all I was capable of was destruction if he were to be present within my life beyond this night. 

"I'm sorry. It's tonight or not at all." The excitement of these words reached us both as he paused for a second before pressing his lips against mine. He held me in place for a long while, familiarizing himself with my tongue while his fingers continued to wrestle within my hair. 

"You won't think bad of me if I accept it?"

"I will only think bad if you don't." I responded as he clenched his jaw and saw him slowly nod. 

Excitement pulsed through me as I had never been this girl. Even with Nate, I had flirted for months thinking the professor and the student relationship would never cross that threshold; and now, I found that I was practically throwing myself at a man I hardly knew. But he wasn't just any man. He was the kind that knew how to kiss a woman-how to touch her...and I wanted him more than anything before or even after him. 

Luckily, a cute little hotel sat just a few blocks away, allowing us the chance to commit to this one night together. The hotel itself was well maintained with two large ferns set at the entrance and a pool set off to the side within a fenced perimeter. But neither one of us thought about anything but getting up to that room together. 

Unfortunately, the woman behind the counter was nervous by Luke as his handsome features made her quiver even without so much as having heard his voice-an effect he wasn't aware he had on women. Being forced to wait for her to place the items rightfully into the computer, I strolled around the entrance. 

Seeing a vending machine, I quickly purchased two Gatorades and two protein bars before feeling his hand approach onto my back. 

"Are you ready?" I nodded before keeping the items beneath my arm and moving towards the room. With our luggage also following behind us, we waited in the elevator for it to climb to the fifth floor as he noticed the items I had in my possession. 

"Thirsty?" He teased. 

"I will be." I spoke cheekily as I saw him swallow hard and smile wide with anticipation. 

As the elevator doors spread open, the ding alerting us of our arrival, I could feel myself grow nervous. After all, I had only known two men in my life in a s****l manner; my high school boyfriend and my illicit professor. But I was well versed in the erotic form the literature I would read while all alone in my small apartment back home. 

"Are you sure?" He asked me as we stood outside the hotel room door. I swear only silence sat around us as I saw the anxiety within his expression. I wasn't able to tell what made him so nervous, but he was definitely fidgeting with the room key and avoiding eye contact until I moved towards him. 

"We don't have to-" I tried to ease his mind. "We can just sleep-" his eyes fell to mine for a moment before he pushed me against the door with the weight of his own body. His hands were firm on my hips as he seemed to change from an inexperienced boy to a desiring man. 

"I am going to make you mine behind that door." He began, chills forming as he spoke. "You are mine for the night and I am going to make love to you until we pass out from exhaustion. You have no idea what you are in for…" his words left my mind whirling with the character he now portrayed. Maybe he would be my Massimo Torricelli or Christian Grey...or maybe he would just be a smooth talker. Either way, my poor panties were a calamity of his words and his overall presence. 

"Then show me." I challenged him as he brought the key to the slit in the door and pushed it open before pulling our things inside. From the second the door closed, I grew anxious to know I was alone with him. But it seemed that being behind this closed door had allowed him a confidence he didn't have before being alone. 

"Come here…" he spoke in a low tone as I moved to him as if I was born to fulfill his every wish; and I did so willingly.