Soldier's Choice (8 page)

At last, he began to move.

This time there were no long, slow strokes. His urgency matched hers as he glided in and out. She was slick and hot, her walls contracting around his thick length. Deliciously dizzy, she matched him thrust for thrust until her climax reached the shattering point.

She wrenched up and clung tightly to him as he released a guttural cry and spent himself. His teeth grazed her shoulder, spiking a fresh orgasm that had her squeezing him into a shuddering gasp.

He fell into her and rolled on his side, bringing her along to cradle against him. “Don’t move,” he murmured. “I need the support. Think all my bones melted.”

She was only too happy to stay put. The solid warmth of him beside her completed the glow from the best sex of her life—and she wanted to hold on to the illusion that it wouldn’t be the last. That they could have this and more, forever.

Bathed in the comfort of Reese’s arms and her willful ignorance, she drifted off to sleep.

* * * *

Reese came close to falling asleep. But his mind wouldn’t stop churning, so he ended up simply staring at the woman by his side for a long time, as if he could memorize every inch of her face and body to keep with him when she was gone.

He knew he couldn’t have forever. Whatever dark seed had been planted in his father, it had taken time to cultivate, to grow into the evil that eventually burst out and turned on those who were closest to him. And since Reese ended up following in his footsteps, the same fate was probably in store for him.

He was determined to be alone when that happened.

An hour dragged by before he finally decided to get up. He disentangled himself gently from Luka, making sure she was still asleep, then slipped into a pair of shorts and headed for the kitchen. There, he grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet and tossed back a shot.

It would’ve been easy to keep going, to drink straight from the bottle until he collapsed. But passing out wasn’t sleeping. He’d still be just as exhausted—and as a bonus, he’d feel like shit too. So he put it back on the shelf.

Just as he closed the cabinet, a voice said, “You weren’t kidding about the sixties explosion.”

He turned to see Luka in the doorway, wearing nothing but panties and a shirt. His cock immediately stirred, and he was glad it hadn’t recovered enough to rise fully to the occasion. “Hey,” he said. “Sorry I woke you.”

“It’s all right. I’ve always been a light sleeper.” She took a step forward and stopped. “Mind if I come in? That is, if you weren’t heading out.”

“No, I think I’m up for a while,” he said. “Come on in, if you can stand it.”

She grinned and sat down at the kitchen table. “Did they steal this from a diner? It’s kind of…truck stop retro.”

“You don’t think it goes great with the floral linoleum?”

“Yeah, and the fridge from the Great Depression,” she said. “Does that thing even have a freezer?”

“Sort of.” He opened it and showed her the frost-caked square of plastic at the top. “It’s an icebox. And that’s about all it’s got room for, too.”

“Wow. No wonder the Wards ate out all the time.”

Reese closed the fridge and wandered over to the sink, suddenly at a loss for words. Not that he couldn’t talk to Luka. But having her in his house, dressed in practically nothing and making herself at home, was beautiful and painful at once. He wanted this to be normal. An everyday miracle.

“Reese?” Luka said softly. “Can we…talk about something?”

His heart wrenched. He turned to face her, and she must have read the misery in his eyes, because she said, “Still friends. Okay?”

Somehow, that hurt more. But he tucked the pain away and sat down across from her. “Still friends,” he said. “All right, then. What is it?”

She drew a deep breath and folded her hands on the table. “I have to ask you something, and you’re probably not going to like it,” she said. “But I need to know the truth. Can you give that to me?”

He swallowed. “I hope so.”

“Me, too.” She lifted her gaze to him, and her green eyes glittered as she struggled for words. “The day you broke up with me, before you left…what really happened?”

He closed his eyes as the memories washed over him. He’d never told anyone about his father—all through school he’d hidden the bruises, cutting classes when the damage was too bad to hide and making up excuses the few times anyone had asked. Like the cabinet story he’d told her. But maybe if he explained this, she’d understand why they could only be friends.

The fear and anticipation in her face burned him, and he almost couldn’t speak. Finally, he decided to just get it over with. “I didn’t walk into a cabinet,” he said. “Guess you already knew that, though.”

Her jaw clenched. “It was my brothers, wasn’t it?”

“No!” The surprise that bled through the word might’ve been funny under other circumstances. “They ribbed me a couple of times, especially Mark. But they never touched me.”

“So…what happened?”

He stared at the table. “My father.”

“Oh, God,” she whispered. “He
hit
you?”

“Yeah, he hit me.” He made an abrupt sound that was almost a laugh. “It was his second favorite thing to do. After hitting my mother.”

She was silent for a moment. Then she reached across the table for his hand.

Without thinking, he flinched away.

Damn.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s not you. I just…”

“It’s okay,” she said gently.

He knew it wasn’t, but he appreciated the effort. “That night, he…” Reese lifted his head slowly. The pain in Luka’s eyes mirrored his own, and what he said next would only make it worse. But all he could do was go on. “He found out about you and me,” he said, his voice emerging flat and toneless. “I wasn’t hiding it from him. But he’d never given a shit about anything I did, until he got it in his head that I was throwing my life away with you. Because of your…reputation, I guess. So he decided to remedy that.”

A few tears slipped down her cheeks, and his heart broke. “He hit you because of me,” she whispered.

“No,” he said firmly. “You were just a convenient excuse. My father
informed
me that I was enlisting, and let me know in no uncertain terms that if I didn’t, my mother would pay for it. Then he beat the hell out of me. With his fists, and his belt.”

Luka stared at him. “How could he…Reese, that’s awful. I am so sorry.”

“I couldn’t tell you. Not then.” He had to look away as his hands clenched into tight fists. “He’d been getting worse, having more episodes. Most of the time I could get him to come after me instead of Mom. But I was terrified he’d start on Georgia.”

“Your little sister,” she said.

He nodded once. “They locked him away while I was in Basic,” he said. “At the VA—the hospital. Not prison. If that hadn’t happened, I don’t know what I would’ve done. They wouldn’t have been safe without me for five years.”

“So…” She drew a trembling breath. “Your father told you to break up with me, and then forced you to join the Marines.”

“Yes.”

She said nothing for so long, he started to think she didn’t believe him. Then she rose slowly and walked around the table toward him. His body wanted to stiffen, but he forced himself to relax as much as possible. He didn’t want to hurt her again.

When she reached him, she stooped beside him and gestured at his clenched hands. “Can I…”

He gave a slow nod.

She took his hand gently, and her warmth flowed into him. “Thank you,” she half-whispered. “I know how hard that was for you. I could see it in your eyes. But you did it anyway, and I understand now.”

 “Luka, I…”

“It’s okay,” she said. “You don’t have to say another word.”

He shuddered. “Stay with me tonight,” he rasped. “Please.”

“I will.”

He stood and embraced her. For a long time he didn’t move, as if holding her could somehow change the past and create a new future—one where they didn’t have to be apart. Where he wasn’t damned to live in the shadow of his father’s rage. But the present, the reality, marched on unchanged.

Eventually he led her back to the bedroom. And with Luka in his arms, he finally fell into real sleep.

Chapter 8

For Luka, sleep didn’t come easy, or fast.

She laid there until the first light of dawn stained the windows, wondering if the pain would ever stop. Imagining the hell he’d been through—not just that night, but for years after with what must have been brutal training, and being shipped off to a war he never wanted to fight. Being separated from a family he needed to protect. All because of her.

Because she was trash, and everyone knew it.

At last she fell into a fitful doze, fragmented with unremembered nightmares that made her heart race and her breath freeze. When she woke fully, she was alone.

It stung to find him gone. She should’ve expected it, and it was probably easier for him this way. But she’d asked for this. She wanted to know the truth, and now she had it. Considering the circumstances, it was a miracle he’d even spoken to her when he got back.

Well, from now on she’d stay out of his life.

She got up and found her clothes, grateful that she’d driven here last night. She could have walked home, but it would be a good half-hour trek and she just didn’t have that much energy. She’d never felt this drained, this empty.

As she headed out of the bedroom, she heard a voice. Reese, speaking in low tones from what sounded like the kitchen.

And female laughter responded.

Dull weight settled in her gut. Had he really found someone else so soon? Or were they “just friends” because he was already involved?

No. He wouldn’t do that—not while she was still here. There had to be another explanation.

She peeked into the kitchen and immediately felt like a fool for ever thinking that. The girl at the table across from him had to be his little sister. She was twelve or thirteen, willowy and graceful with long, brown hair and blue eyes that were darker than his. Each of them had a mug, and there was a sketchpad between them with a half-finished pencil drawing that Luka couldn’t make out from here.

Reese stared at the drawing, and then looked at Georgia. “It’s a…giraffe.”

“No!” She giggled again and picked up the pencil beside the pad. “You’re terrible at this, you know.”

“You haven’t seen terrible yet. Wait until it’s my turn to draw.”

Laughing, she started to add to the picture. “Okay, you get two more guesses and then I win.”

Luka’s heart wrenched as she watched them together. She could feel the simple love between them, just as strong as her own relationship with her brothers. And they’d been kept apart for five years. It must’ve been awful for him, missing so much of her growing up.

She decided to leave. But as she turned to go, Reese said, “Hey, Luka. Want to join us?”

Georgia looked up in surprise, and a smile broke across her face. “I know you,” she said. “You work at Magic Mags, right?”

“Yes, I do.” Inwardly surrendering, Luka walked into the kitchen. “And you’re Georgia,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too. Hey, I bet you’re better at this than my brother.” She held up the sketchpad. “We’re playing Pictionary…sort of. This is a movie.”

Luka smiled. The drawing was actually pretty good. It was a fast sketch, but clearly a horse with ocean waves behind it. “Seabiscuit,” she said.

“Yes!” The girl’s laugh was infectious. “See, Reese? It’s not that hard.”

“Still looks like a giraffe to me.” He smirked and stood. “Want some coffee?” he said. “It’s probably not very good, but it’s still hot.”

“Sure. With cream and sugar, please.”

“Will do.”

As he headed for the counter, Luka sat down at the table and nodded to Georgia. “Don’t listen to him,” she said. “It doesn’t look anything like a giraffe. He’s just being a big brother.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” she said, grinning. “Do you have a big brother?”

“Three of them.”

“Wow! That must suck.”

“I heard that,” Reese called over his shoulder. “Come on, now. Big brothers aren’t all that bad.”

“Once in a while, anyway.” Luka winked, drawing a giggle from Georgia.

The girl flipped to a fresh page on the pad. “Wanna play?” she said. “I bet you draw better than him, too.”

“Well…all right. Maybe one round.” She took the pencil and laid the pad on the table. “I like movies,” she said. “Let me think of one, and I’ll give it a shot.”

Reese was suddenly beside her, setting a mug on the table. In it was the darkest coffee she’d ever seen. Adding cream had only turned it the color of mud—the stuff looked like it could walk and talk on its own. “Well, that looks…strong,” she said.

“Yeah, that’s the word. Or terrible.” He sat down beside her. “Don’t worry. I won’t be insulted if you take a pass.”

“I’ll  think about it,” she said. “Looks like just considering a sip of that would be enough to wake me up.”

His genuine laughter startled a smile from her, and she concentrated on the blank paper instead. She couldn’t afford to start hoping again, when she knew there was no chance. “Okay, I’ve got something,” she said without looking up. “Here goes.”

She started sketching, a rough figure of a man in sunglasses standing on a road. After a minute she wondered if Georgia would know this movie—it had come out before even Luka was born, but she’d watched it with her brothers more than once, and by herself a few more times. It was a great movie. Still, she figured at least it would keep the girl guessing.

She sketched a second figure, taller, wearing a zippered jacket and holding an old-school portable TV. Then a cloud above him, a suggestion of rain. Finally she realized the room had gone completely silent.

Frowning, she looked up. They were both staring intently at the paper. “Um,” she said. “Isn’t anybody going to guess?”

“Wow,” Georgia breathed, with something close to reverence. “You’re
really
good. Reese, she can draw Tom Cruise!”

“And Dustin Hoffman,” he said.