Oh, Mark.Her throat tightened painfully. He’d always seemed to prefer to be on his own, but had it been by choice or simply because he’d never felt like he truly belonged anywhere else? “Your unit was like a family to you.”
He didn’t respond, still staring up into the pine boughs overhead.
“And then you lost them too.” She blinked back tears. For the first time, she felt like she understood some of what he’d been through, what it had been like for him growing up on his own. Never to have a place or a family to call his own. “I’m so sorry.”
“No reason to be,” he said, his voice slightly gruff. “No one on my team lost their life, which was damn near miraculous. I’m still in one piece…well, mostly.” He cracked a small smile.
“You must have felt so alone again though, having to leave your team behind.”
“That was tough,” he admitted.
Jessica watched him for a moment in silence, her heart bursting with all kinds of emotions. Huge, powerful things she’d felt only once before, and only for the man beside her. “Thank you for sharing this with me. It really means a lot.”
“You mean a lot, Jess. You always have.” His arm tightened around her.
And dammit, there was no denying it. She was in love with him. Maybe she’d never stopped. “You too, Mark. So much.”
“When things were tough, I’d think about you.” His voice was gruff.
And she had officially turned to mush in his arms. “Really?”
“You got me through a lot of long nights.”
She blinked back more tears. “I don’t…I don’t know what to say.”
In answer, he tugged her on top of him, lifting his head to kiss her. She met his lips, kissing him back with a hunger that bordered on desperation. He’d opened up to her in a way he never had before, in a way that maybe he hadn’t with anyone else before. And in doing so, he’d given her hope that there might be a future for them after all.
She lay sprawled across him, his hard contours softened by the layers of clothing between them, but there was no mistaking the bulge in his jeans, pressing urgently against her. They kissed as their hands explored and the air grew thick and hot between them.
“Mark,” she whispered. A shiver ran through her as he kissed her neck, his scruff teasing her delicate skin.
He shifted her to the side and reached outside their shelter for his backpack. “You don’t want to get naked in pine straw. Trust me.”
She pressed her hand against his heart. “I trust you.”
***
Mark lay tangled in Jess’s arms inside the sleeping bag. One of her thighs rested between his. Her face was pressed against his neck, and she was breathing just as hard as he was.
“Wow,” she whispered.
“Yeah.” He tightened his arms around her.Wowseemed to describe everything between them these days. He’d been lost, adrift on his own, for most of his life. But when she was in his arms? He was home. It didn’t matter if they were in a makeshift shelter in the middle of the woods or her bed, as long as he had Jess.
“I don’t want to move…like at all,” she murmured. “But I’m starving.”
“Same.” As if to prove his point, his stomach rumbled like a hungry animal.
Jess laughed, still making no move to leave the sleeping bag. “So what’s for supper, Mr. Survival Expert?”
“PB and J sandwiches and beef jerky, and if you’re still feeling adventurous, I can show you how to get to the edible part of pine bark.”
She lifted her head to give him a funny look. “Pine bark?”
“It’s surprisingly nutritious.”
She smiled, looking so goddamn beautiful, all glowing and mussed from sex. “I’m definitely feeling adventurous today so let’s do it.”
“After you,” he said, since she was still lying on top of him.
