I ran my hand across the back of her head, only stilling her once I was spent. She released her suction with a massive inhale, then sat back on her haunches, panting hard.
My heart raced and bolts of lingering release ricocheted through my cock as I stumbled to my feet. “I love it when you suck me off after I’ve been inside you.”
She snickered. “I know you do.”
I chuckled, then cursed when I saw the floor.
Hallie glanced sideways and burst out laughing. “I am not taking responsibility for that!”
“Thank fuck for vinyl flooring,” I drawled, shaking my head at the takeout now scattered and smeared near my feet.
Hallie rose to hers and stepped around the strewn noodles. “Just as well that I’d had my fill.”
“Of the food, or me?”
She halted mid-bend while picking up her jeans. “Never of you, Ayve.”
With that, she strode for the bathroom, ass out and teasing me from below the hem of her shirt, leaving me with my dick in hand and a stupid-as-fuck grin on my face.
Hallie was one woman I never got tired of, and I doubted if I ever would. She was fierce and full of anger at times, but every now and then her steely exterior would soften. It was within those moments that I fell for her the most. Those snippets of time offered up a small, yet infinitely significant slice of pure tenderness. I knew she had more in her soul, but from what she’d told me of her broken childhood, it was no wonder she shielded herself from catching feelings by drowning herself in pleasure.
Now that she was fleetingly back in my life, her being with other men gnawed at me. I wasn’t naive enough to assume that she’d changed after she left the army, but it really fucking bothered me that there were other men in her life besides me.
I redressed then made for the bathroom where I leaned a shoulder against the door frame. “Hells?”
She glanced up from washing her hands. “Yeah?”
I moved closer and brushed a strand of auburn hair off her cheekbone. “How many others are there?”
Her bright hazel eyes searched mine. Back and forth, until they blinked once. “Three.”
I nodded slowly. “Including me?”
“No. Plus you.”
Pushing the bite of jealousy away, I kept my composure and leaned my ass on the vanity. “Let us be what we once were. You and me against the world. Not needing anyone else. I don’t like sharing you, Hells, and I don’t want to anymore.”
A puff of humor-filled breath left her mouth. “My life is here now, Ayve. Yours isn’t. We both know that long distance doesn’t work. Not for someone like me.”
I took her chin and angled it toward me when she looked away. “Which is unfortunate, because for me, you’re worth the effort.”
“Avery...” The way she breathed out my name was laced with weight and resolve. It compounded the unease in my chest. “Just because we’re passing ships doesn’t mean we can be what we once were.”
“Don’t lie to yourself, Hallie. I hear the ache in your voice.” I leaned closer and spoke against her cheek. “I hear your throat tightening around each word. I can see in your eyes that you are fighting against what you feel, just like you always had.”
I brought my hands to her face and cupped her arousal-heated cheeks. “I’m in San D for the next two weeks for a class at the naval base. While I’m here, I want to be your every night, Hells. Like we used to, but more.”
“Two weeks?”
“Yeah,” I whispered and nodded.
Our eyes searched each other’s with an air of desperation to make our limited time together count. If she agreed, I had two weeks to change her mind about giving long distance a shot. The odds were stacked against me and then some, but if the look in her eye was anything to go by, I owned Hallie’s heart as much as she owned mine.
“No strings.”
I agreed simply to appease her. “No strings.”
She turned her head and bit my thumb, then kissed it a moment later. “Deal.”