After making out in the sand, Aria and I went back to her place. She cooked a Thai eggplant basil stir fry for dinner. It was spicy and sweet, just like her.

“Come here, babe.”

The need built up in me, consuming my mind. To kiss her, to taste her, to fuck her.

My mouth claimed hers, but this wasn’t a sweet, romantic kiss like we had shared on the shore. This kiss was filled with lust and longing. If I had missed her so much after only being away from her for a week, how could I possibly deploy away from her from months?

I wouldn’t, couldn’t, think about that now. All I could think about was how impossibly hard I was and how anxious I was to take her.

I wanted her differently than I had wanted her before. I wanted to fuck her hard and rough. Would she scare when the gentleman officer was replaced by a dirty Navy SEAL?

With one arm, I removed her shirt off and quickly snapped off her bra. She took my lead and unzipped her shorts and pushed down her panties. She grinned as they fell to the floor. Then I lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around me before I slammed her back into the wall.

I parted her legs and slid my finger into her tight pussy.

“I want you so fucking bad, Aria. Every night in San Clemente, I was counting down the seconds until I could fuck you again.”

“Then do it, Erik. Fuck me.”

I dropped my shorts and pressed the tip of my cock to her opening. She gasped as I slowly entered her. She was slick and wet and felt like heaven.

My mouth crushed against hers, furiously kissing her while I fucked her. She bit my lips, and I pinned her wrists to the wall. Harder, faster, deeper. She met my rhythm, and her breath came in spurts.

I released her wrists, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. I cradled her gorgeous ass with my hands, kneading her into me.

I couldn’t stop fucking her. I pounded into her again and again. Dying for her release, for my own.

“Erik! Erik!”

Every time she screamed my name I fucked her harder, deeper. My mouth found her nipples and I sucked until her screams turned into moans. Her pussy clenched around my cock, catching and releasing. I didn’t want to stop—I wanted to fuck her forever. I slammed into her with a final thrust, and she exploded around me as I joined her in pleasure.

I stood still and took a moment to capture this beautiful picture in my memory so I could return to it forever.

When our bodies finally separated, I gave her a kiss. “I’m crazy about you, baby. You know that?”

She nodded, and I swore I saw a sheen of tears in her eyes. “I feel the same.”

Life was good.

But I needed to ask her something.

I took one more long glance at her naked body, and I finally forced myself to step away from Aria. Our sexual chemistry was off the charts. Definitely enough sparks and memories to get through the long nights I would have without her when I deployed.

I gave her another long, lingering kiss and then went into her bedroom to change into my pajama bottoms. She followed quickly after me and threw on panties and a tank top, and we both prepared for bed.

I’d never lived with a girl, and I wondered what it would be like to come home to Aria, build a life with her.

She climbed under the covers, and I joined her.

Nibbling her bottom lip, she stared over at me. “What are you thinking about? You have a pensive look on your face.”

I took a deep breath. I felt closer to her than ever. Now was my chance to truly open up to her. Tell her not only what I was feeling, but about my business, too.

I pulled her onto my chest and stroked her hair. “Lots of stuff. I never told you about my startup, did I? TritonFix?”

Her eyes widened. “No. I didn’t know you could have a company while in the Teams.”

“You can actually, you just have to get approval from your command. They make sure you aren’t giving away top-secret information or disparaging the Teams. Hell, this one guy, a great SEAL, was recently caught making porn with his wife and some other women. He’s probably going to lose his retirement.”

“Wow. That’s crazy. So, what’s your business?”

“I provide consulting to businesses. Basically, I teach entrepreneurs how to apply military leadership within their companies. We conduct team building activities, go over different methods to build support structures in their office, and teach effective communication strategies. Honestly, I love it.”

She turned to face me. “That’s awesome, babe! You’re so ambitious . . . which I think is super sexy by the way. I can see why they would hire you. You were so great with me out on the “O” course. More encouraging than my own coaches.”

Her words invigorated me. Now was the time to ask her to meet my client. “Thanks, sweetheart. That means a lot to me. You know, I think it’s the type of business you would be great in. Clients would love to work with a Stanford grad Olympian. If you aren’t busy next Friday, I’m taking a potential client to dinner. Would you like to join me?”

The second those words left my mouth, I wished I could retract them. In an instant, the expression on her face went from adoring to a suspicious.

Her voice lowered to almost a whisper. “Why? Why do you want me there?”

“Because I’m proud to be dating you. Because you are beautiful. Because we are a couple.”

“We aren’t a couple.” She rolled away from me and pulled the covers over her chest. “This is why you asked me out, right? You wanted to use me.”

“What? No. Of course not. I was attracted to you and impressed by your accomplishments.” Yes, I had initially pursued her with that intention, but I genuinely liked her. I wanted a future with her for fuck’s sake.

“Sure you were. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve been used before.”

“I’m not using you, Aria.” Fuck. Why was she reacting like this? Was it that wrong to want her to go with me to meet a new client?

A few minutes of awkward silence passed, so I nudged her. “Hey, I’m sorry I asked you. I didn’t think it would be a big deal. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“I’m just tired. Good night, Erik.”

She didn’t even turn around to give me a good night kiss. I decided to let it go and try to get some sleep, but I was becoming increasingly frustrated with her moods. What was she holding back from me? She was blowing hot and cold, and it was driving me insane.

But I refused to give up. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Aria was the one for me, even if she didn’t see me as her man.