Soldiers in Love

Chapter 3: The Real You-4

“Wait! Don’t go.” I hauled myself from the pool. I padded over to the chaise and grabbed two towels. I handed him one.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, wrapping it around his shoulders. His eyes roamed over my bikini clad body almost longingly. His look was so intense that I shivered.

“I-I’d better check the meat,” I said to fill the sudden silence.

Daniel nodded but didn’t say anything.

Stooping, I picked up his wadded up shirt and shook it out, meaning to hand it to him. Something fell out of the pocket and hit the concrete with a metallic thud. I picked it up. It was Daniel’s dog tags. One set was his and two more that held the names of two men that I assumed had been in his platoon.

“They gave them to me,” he said, staring at the tags in my hands. “Well their wives and mothers gave them to me. So I’d never forget them. ”He swallowed hard as if it pained him to think about it. “How can I forget when I think about them every day and relive it every night?”

I handed him the tags, catching his fingers between mine. “I know-”

“No. You don’t know.” He took the tags and put them around his neck, wrapping the towel tighter around his shoulders.

I tried not to feel hurt as I went over to the grill and moved the kabobs onto a serving plate. From the corner of my eye, I saw him approaching. He clutched the towel closed with his right hand and had his shirt wadded up around the left on, hiding the discoloration on his hand and part of his arm.

He stood there watching me for a moment. “Can I help you?” he finally asked.

“It’s cool,” I said, gingerly laying the last of the skewers onto the plate. “I got it.”

“I like to earn my keep,” he said softly. “My dad always said if you don’t work, you don’t eat.”

I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Well, you’re my guest. And where I come from. The guest doesn’t have to do anything but show up.” I paused looking at him fully. “How many times did you not get your dinner?” I asked quietly.

Daniel didn’t answer at first. Then he said, “I’ll go get the salad and drinks.”

I didn’t argue with him. “Thanks.”

At last we could sit down to eat. The food was delicious, if I do say so myself. Daniel seemed to be enjoying his meal as well. I glanced at him noticing that he now wore the towel around his waist. The setting sun beat down on his back and once again, I noticed the scars that covered his shoulders and chest. I felt sad for him that he’d had to endure that type of pain. Whoever this Dalia was, I hated her for what she’d either done directly or indirectly to this beautiful man. I fervently wished that I could find her and give her a taste of the lash. Let her see how it felt and leave her body so marked up that she would feel bad about showing herself to do something as simple as going swimming. I looked away before he caught me staring and hid himself away from me again.

After dinner, we lounged around the pool. He seemed a bit more at ease now, if him meeting my gaze sometimes meant anything. The air turned cooler as the sun continued to set. I pulled my shirt and shorts on and I noticed Daniel pull on his shirt. He’d also been eyeing the hammock. I started to invite him to sit with me in it, but decided to let him make that call.

He reached across the short space between us. “Would you like to sit with me in the hammock?” he asked, taking my hand. “The sun is about to finish setting. It will be beautiful and we can watch the stars come out. If you want to.”

I squeezed his hand. “I’d like that,” I said.

He settled into the hammock and I molded myself to his side. He wrapped his arms around me and I snuggled closer, enjoying the feel of his body so close to me. There was something intimate and familiar about lying here like this with him. I shivered.

“Are you cold? Do you want to go inside?” he asked.

“No, no,” I said. I wasn’t sure how he’d take it if I told him about the thoughts that were running through my head about him and me in this here hammock. How was I to explain that what I was thinking about him right now was making me shiver from desire, not the cool air?

But Daniel seemed to understand as usual. He shifted to lie on his side, careful not to dump us both out of the hammock. He pulled me close again and I wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Better?”

I nodded against his arm. Heat washed over me in wave after wave as potent desire for this man filled me. How could I feel this way for a man that I barely even knew? But I did feel it. I wondered if he felt it too. I felt right with Daniel. Something that I’d never felt with Conrad. Another shiver ran through me and Daniel tightened his arms around me.

“Maybe we should go inside,” he murmured, his voice oddly thick.

“It’s not the cold that’s making me shiver,” I whispered. It was the heat of his body next to mine, pressing into me from shoulder to toes. It was the sudden fierce longing to touch and be touched. It was the way that he was looking down at me right now.

Gently, he lifted my face to his and kissed me. I tightened my arm around his waist, sighing against his mouth just before his tongue filled my mouth. The kiss was hot and demanding and I let him know just how much I wanted him and he gave me back the same. The hand cupping my cheek slid down until he cupped my breast. I gasped at the feel of his warm palm against my skin. Daniel groaned softly as I slid my hands up under his shirt to touch his flesh. Daniel shifted until he lay on top of me. I ran my fingernails up and down his back over the scars that marred his skin. Daniel pulled his lips from mine and looked down at me.

“Don’t pull away from me, please,” I whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you. I only want to touch you.”

He stared down at me, his eyes wide. But he didn’t pull away. His eyelids fluttered closed, hiding his pretty blue-green eyes from my view as I ran my fingernails along his back and shoulders.

“It’s been so long,” he murmured. “So long since someone has wanted to touch me.”

“I want to,” I answered back. “Will you let me?” I trailed down over his chest to where his heartbeat pounded out a steady rhythm. “Will you allow me to touch all of you?”

“All of me?”

I nodded. “I want to touch you here,” I rotated my hips against his. He groaned softly. “And here,” I said as I pressed my hand between us against his chest.

Daniel caught my hand and held it between us against his heart. We stared at each other for a moment before he leaned down and kissed me again. His mouth made a path down my throat to my chest. He pressed a kiss on the place where my heart pounded, threatening to burst free.

“Hold me close, darlin’” he whispered against my ear.

Instantly, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close to me. He shifted to allow me to wrap my legs around him as well, closing him completely in my embrace. His soft sigh brushed like a warm caress across my neck. I looked over his head to watch the last of the sunset. The sky was dazzling with brilliant oranges and pinks mixed with a reddish-purple that I’d never be able to copy. Right behind that the midnight blue of the early night sky took over. It was beautiful.

“You’re missing the beautiful sunset, sweet man,” I whispered into his hair.

Daniel lifted his head and looked over his shoulder. The fading rays of the sunset bathed his face with its colors, making him look like an angel fallen to earth.

“Wow,” he breathed. “That was gorgeous, wasn’t it?”

I idly stroked his back, watching his face. “Yes,” I murmured. “Daniel?”

“Hmm?” he answered, still looking at the sky.

“Were the sunsets as beautiful overseas as they are here?”

He sighed. “Yes they were.” He turned his head to look at me. “At least the few that I was able to see were. There’s not much time for looking at sunsets when you’re watching out for enemy fire.”

“I guess not.” I glanced up. “Look Daniel,” I said pointing at the sky. “Look at the star over there.”

He followed my pointing finger. “A shooting star. Quick, make a wish darlin’. We’ll share it.”

I closed my eyes, silently wishing on the star as the kids did in the fairy tale. The only difference was, we never knew if the child’s wish ever came true. I opened my eyes and looked at Daniel. He picked that moment to look down at me.

“What did you wish for?” he asked me softly.

“You’re not really supposed to tell what you wished for,” I said with a smile. “They say your wish won’t come true.”

“That’s fairytale bull,” he said softly. “If you tell me what you wished for, I’ll tell you mine.”

Well since he put it that way…… “I wished that-” I broke off. “I can’t tell you. It’s stupid and embarrassing.”

“Why?” He turned my face back to his. “Nothing you can say is stupid. Tell me.” When I didn’t answer, he said, “Okay. I’ll tell you mine. I wished that I could one day earn your love. And that you’d see past the scars to the man beneath.”

Tears filled my eyes. “That’s sweet,” I whispered. “I wished for the same thing. That you’d love me.” I stroked his cheeks with my thumbs. “Sometimes, people’s scars aren’t always on the outside.”

This time when we kissed, it was like coming home. Funny how we both wished for the same thing. Both of us were starved for love and affection. Flo’s voice echoed in my mind, warning me not to let him get too close. But I squelched it.

Daniel kissed me, unaware of the battle going on in my mind. He slowly began to rotate his hips against me and I moaned softly. I tightened my arms and legs around him as our kisses became more and more passionate.

All of a sudden, the hammock flipped, dumping Daniel and I onto the ground. He lay on his back having taken the brunt of the fall. I lay sprawled on top of him. Suddenly, a sound floated past my ears. It was a deep husky laugh. And it was coming from him. It sounded like music to my ears and I stared down at him, amazed at how young he looked, how handsome when he wasn’t guarded. I couldn’t help myself as I leaned down and kissed him. His arms tightened around me and he kissed me back.

“Shall we take this inside?” I asked him.

“Are you sure?”

I nodded. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”