Read Online Army of You & Me by Billy London - Free Book Online

Army had fulfilled each and every one of his expectations and more.
    With his ex-wife, things had been stuffed into a barrel that tumbled down a hill of drama, gathering speed in an unstoppable force until it knocked them clean off their feet. He hadn’t wanted to get married, but he did what he had to for the sake of practicality, for the sake of a potential child. Ultimately, he’d done the right thing. The Army still came first. No one and nothing had ever tested his loyalty to it. Until now. He didn’t want to make reactive decisions, be panicked into taking action because of another tour.
    Why was he having a conversation with himself, challenging his career over a woman who wasn’t even his girlfriend? Yes, he’d spent the last several weeks slowly gaining her trust through dinners and galleries and exhibitions. But ‘The Talk’? Not yet had. Madeline was exemplary at distraction – enough that they had no labels for what they were as a couple. More than friends. Not lovers. She was a woman he’d slept with but never once had sex with. A woman who loved him. A woman he loved.
    Of course he loved her. The idea of her trying to end things with him after meeting with her once had sent him into a frenzy. He’d had the brief vision of receiving a letter from her whilst on tour saying I’m sorry, Cain, it’s over . It’d given him a panic attack and now he was wasting more time having an unnecessary internal debate.
    Getting up, he swiftly snuck back into the Rose Room. Madeline was on her side, still sleeping. He toed off his boots and unbuckled his belt. Ignoring the tiny ripping sound as he removed his jumper, he slipped back into the bed. Immediately, Madeline turned over and snuggled against him.
    “You left,” she mumbled.
    Hiding a smile by rubbing his mouth against her forehead, he answered, “I didn’t want to wake you. Sorry. How did you sleep?”
    A yawn caught her and she rolled onto her back to stretch. “Amazing!”
    In her motion, one deep sepia coloured nipple popped out of the nightgown. Cain froze. He’d been tested to his limit, and the simple view of her exposed, rounded breast was enough to snap his self control in two. Without a word, he bent his head and took the beaded flesh into his mouth.
    “Cain!” she breathed. He braced his hand on her abdomen and felt the muscles beneath contract. The faint fragrance of jasmine mingled with her sleep-warm scent, sent blood rushing to his groin. This he understood. It didn’t need thought or debate or angst. He just needed her.
    As he coaxed her other nipple free from her clothing, Madeline’s hands slowly filtered through his hair, pulling him closer to her. His stubble rubbed against her breast, and a moan caught in her throat. She was restrained. Maybe she didn’t quite trust him, even if she did love him. Or maybe it was that she was in his parents’ home. He’d have to work to make her forget. His hand shot beneath the duvet, smoothing over cotton-covered skin until he caught the hem of the nightgown. She was naked underneath the cotton, he realised with a groan of satisfaction.
    His fingertips grazed unbearably soft curls that were damp with arousal. The breath locked in his chest, and he took a moment to compose himself before he edged higher. Madeline’s yelp burst across the room, her fingers tightening in his hair, almost yanking at the scalp. Touching her was just like skimming the surface of water – soft, slick, and wet. She arched into his touch, pushing down against his hand. Just as he circled his middle finger over her opening, fully intent on sinking inside to test her tightness, a knock sounded at the door, jolting them both from the cocoon they’d created.
    “Hello, Madeline?”
    Shit, his mother. Cain leapt from the bed and kicked his boots and belt under the bed and snatched his jumper up. Madeline simply pulled the bed covers to her neck and turned to her side with her back to the door.
    “Madeline, are you