I wince as I sit down to drink my cup of coffee. Decklan was up and out of here early this morning. He looked delicious in his running shorts; I was tempted to convince him to stay, but too tired to do anything about it. He said he would be gone most the day because he had to make up for the time he missed yesterday. He said it with a grin on his face, so I know he had no regrets.

We haven’t talked about anything going on between us. I fly out in two more days, and I don’t want to think about. The no strings attached approach seems to be working for me. At least for now. I call Grace and tell her all about Decklan. She spent ten minutes squealing into the phone that I lost my virginity like I was in some private girls’ club now. Of course, the first thing she wanted to know was how big his cock was. I laughed until my stomach hurt. There was no way I was sharing that with her. She’d be so jealous.

I take a long, hot shower and take extra time shaving my legs and my bits. I only put on a little bit of lip gloss after braiding my hair down the side. I slip on a sundress and a pair of sandals and head out for a walk around the base. This time, I don’t care if Luke sees me.

Several groups of men are in a field doing a routine of exercises. I see Decklan off to the side, standing above four soldiers on the ground doing push-ups. He gets down on one knee and starts yelling at one of them. It’s Luke. I can see his black eyes from here. I hate that they’re no longer friends. I know how much Luke liked him.

Luke gets off the ground and starts puking. I almost feel sorry for him, and then the woman I caught him with stands beside me. “He never loved you, you know.”

I ignore her comment.

“He wanted to be able to go back home and take it easy. He knew you would make plenty of money and he could go hunting and fishing on your dime.”

I still ignore her.

“I’m the one he wanted in his bed every night.”

I break my silence. “So are you the one he got pregnant and paid to have an abortion?”

Her mouth falls open. “No!”

“Well then, I guess there was someone else he wanted in his bed, besides you.”

She purses her lips together and storms off. I giggle to myself.

I see Decklan head back over to the group of men in the middle. Luke is coming through the gate. He changes his direction when he sees me. I stand firm in place.

“You fucking bitch!” he yells when he’s three feet away from me. “Because of you, I’m being transferred out of here!”

“How is any of this my fault? You’re the one that planned on using me. You deserve whatever you get!”

“You did this because I hurt your little feelings, didn’t I? Because I had no desire to fuck you!” His voice is carrying.

Tears gloss over my eyes. “I thought you were a nice guy, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. You’re a complete asshole!”

He grabs me by the elbow. “You didn’t want a nice guy obviously, or you wouldn’t have gone running to the cocky captain!”

Next thing I know, Luke is being body slammed to the ground. Decklan’s knee is in the middle of his chest. His face is contorted in anger. The vein on the side of his neck is throbbing as his face grows beet red. Spit spews out of his mouth as he yells at Luke.

“If you ever lay a fucking hand on her or talk to her again, I will beat your scrawny little ass until you wish you were dead! Now, go back to your barracks and pack your shit!” Decklan releases him.

Luke scrambles off the ground and takes off in a run, never looking back.

Decklan doesn’t say a word to me. He heads back through the gate and yells at his men to resume what they were doing.

That had to be the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, but Luke’s words echo in my ears. Hearing him say he “had no desire to fuck me” stung. I’ve misjudged him so badly; maybe I’ve done the same with Decklan. I want him to be a nice guy, but I seem to be a really bad judge of character. Instead of standing here crying, I feel the need to run. I head back over to Decklan’s house and change clothes. I sit on the step and lace up my shoes. Then I take off in the direction of the climbing wall I first saw Decklan.

I’ve run so fast that I’m out of breath by the time I get to the wall. I lean over and suck air into my lungs. I stand in front of the massive wall, trying to figure out how to get over it. I put one foot up and reach for a space between the wood. I continue this process until I’m halfway up the wall. The spaces get further apart and smaller. My foot slips, and I find myself hanging by one hand. I’m determined to climb it over. To make things even more difficult, it starts to rain. I manage to get my footing back and pull myself flush with the wall. I lift my face to the sky and let the rain pelt down on me. I blink back the water and start climbing again. The rain has made the wall slick and muddy, so I move slowly until my hand makes it to the top. I start to cheer until I realize I can’t pull myself up and over it. Every time I try, my arms give out, and I slide a little further down.

I feel a large hand on my ass, pushing me upward. I glance down, and Decklan is right behind me. “You can do it,” he says with a mixture of mud and rain covering his face. I hold on tight until he’s right beside me. “Reach up again and grab the edge.”

I do as he says. “Now, bend your elbows as you pull up, don’t let them straighten, and keep them tight.” I watch as he does it, and I follow his lead. My biceps are on fire as I pull myself up. I let out a scream and pull hard. I work my foot over the top and straddle the wall. Decklan is in front of me with a beautiful smile on his dirty face.

“Now the fun part,” he says, pointing down. “Be careful—the landing will be slick with the rain.”

I study his movements as he climbs down. “Come on,” he yells from the bottom.

I throw my other leg over and copy what he did until I lose my balance near the bottom and land in the mud. I burst into laughter. Decklan jumps in the air and lands beside me. My laughter comes harder until it turns into sobs. He wraps his arms around me, and we lay down in the mud. He runs his hands through my hair and lets me cry. He leans up and kisses the combination of my tears and mud from my face. “He’s an asshole, baby. Don’t listen to a word he says.”

“I know he’s an ass, but him saying he had no desire for me hurt.”

“I want you more than I’ve wanted any woman in my life.”

I snort. “You’re just saying that.”

He takes my hand and presses it into his hard cock. “Does this feel like I’m just saying it? My heart nearly stopped when I saw you climbing that wall. All I could think about was you falling and getting hurt.”

I sniff a few times. “I think I’m ready to get up now. There is mud in places that mud doesn’t belong.” His deep chuckle vibrates through me as he helps me off the ground.

“I’ll make sure to clean all the spots for you.” He kisses me with so much passion that I never want the kiss to end.

The mud splashes further up my legs as we run back to his house. He starts stripping his clothes off on the porch. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He walks in his house stark naked and comes back with a towel. He holds it out for me to step behind and peel out of my clothes.

Once inside, he takes my hand and leads me to the shower. I glance in the mirror and start laughing again. I’m a total mess. There is mud up my nose and streaks running down my face. There are globs of mud between my braid.

I duck my head under the spray of the hot shower, and I can feel the mud melting off me. I open my eyes when Decklan starts lathering my hair. I pull the tie out of my braid, unwinding my hair. My eyes close as his fingers massage into my scalp. It feels so erotic. He rubs my ears and then down my neck. I lean into his hands, relishing the feel of them on me.

He squeezes body soap into his hands and works his way down my body. My nipples harden as he thoroughly washes them. I open my eyes to see him biting his lip. His eyes follow wherever his hands touch. I feel like he’s making love to my body with each touch. He washes my stomach and moves further south. His fingers linger between my legs, and he cleans inside of me. I’m on the verge of coming when he slowly pulls out of me. I watch his cock twitching. I want to reach out and touch him, but I don’t. I get the feeling that this isn’t about sex. It’s about taking care of me, so I let him.

He squats down and lifts up each of my feet, scrubbing between my toes. Once it’s clean, he lifts my foot and kisses the bottom of it. He then moves to the other one. He stands and turns me around. He starts at the top and works his way down again.

“Rinse off,” he says when he’s done.

I step under the water, letting it soothe me.

“My turn,” he says, handing me the shampoo and soap.

I mimic everything he did. I wash his short hair, massaging as I go. Down his neck, to his muscular chest. I wash his arms and kiss his biceps. Down his belly to his enormously engorged cock.

“Careful,” he says, watching my hands stroke him clean. I cup his balls, cleaning thoroughly between his legs. I squat and keep washing him until the front of him is completely done. I twirl my finger in the air for him to turn around. I lean into his back and place little bites as I wash the mud off. His hands are flat on the tile in front of him. I make it to his ass and spend a little extra time massaging the area. I hear him chuckle. I reluctantly move further down and wash the back of his legs and feet.

“Rinse off,” I repeat his words to him.

When he’s done, we stand and stare at each other for a moment before he starts kissing me. It’s a soft kiss at first, but it builds into something neither one of us wants to stop. I never knew a kiss could be so heated. He picks me up, and I wrap my legs around him as he enters me. It starts the same way as the kiss, soft and slow until he’s thrusting into me so hard my back is smacking against the tile wall. If he had not claimed me before, he was doing it now, and my body was letting him. I accept everything he is giving me. My body would feel it tomorrow, but at this point, I need it as much as he does.

I scrape my nails down his back, and he arches, hissing. He shifts his angle, and he slides so deep into me, my body can take no more. I explode, screaming out his name. He keeps moving his hips until he jerks inside me.