The Space Colonel's Woman (Dragonus Chronicles Book 1) by Jay Shaw Read Free Book Online Page B

and whispered soft against his lips. “Yes, Mark.”
    He groaned in surrender, arms coming up tight and strong around her back. 
    “Yes, Julia.”

 
    Chapter 6
    They sat draped in the blanket like shipwrecked castaways, eating a muffin and swigging water while their shirts dried on a rock in the afternoon sun.
    “I should really check those.” Julia said, eyeing the sand in the edge of his arm bandage.  “A lot’s happened since I put them on.”
    “I’d have to agree with you.” He grinned; a wicked gleam in his eye that would forever and always make her squirm and blush. “Ribs can’t be too bad, not with all we’ve been doing.”
    Mark ran the back of his hand in a slow line up the inside of her bare thigh to emphasize his point.  Julia climbed into his lap, a leg on each side of his hips.
    “This feels familiar.” He cupped her ass, pulled her as close as she could get with her jeans on.
    “It’s where all this started, I think.” She kissed his nose. “Although, you did miss the part where I put these on you.”
    Julia untied the knot on the head bandage and removed it with a gentle practiced hand; unwilling to have the wound start bleeding again.  A dark red line, surrounded by minor bruising, followed the shape of his eyebrow. “No need to redress this one.  How does it feel?”
    He raised a hand and prodded. “Itchy.”
    She took the bandage off his bicep.  It was messier than the head wound, but clean except for the sand marking where the bandage had been.  Julia dusted it away and wrapped a new field dressing in place.  The moment she had the knot tied, Mark folded her in his arms for a kiss.
    “What would I do without you?”
    A heavy silence echoed the words – said in jest – but struck too close to home for both of them.
    “Let’s not find out.” She suggested softly and brushed at the wisps of hair over his brow, smiling when they fell back into place.
    He tightened his arms and laid kisses on each of her eyelids and the tip of her nose.
    In a desperate attempt to revive their earlier camaraderie, Julia placed her hand on Mark’s holster and felt his thigh tense. “Are you going to teach me how to use this?”
    He looked into her eyes to gauge how serious she was. “Do you want to?”
    “Since I’ll be spending a fair amount of my time with a certain space pilot, a little fore-knowledge would be useful.” Julia fluttered her eyelashes in her best impression of a southern belle.  “You wouldn’t want me to be helpless, do you?”
    Mark laughed and lifted Julia off his lap so he could stand.  He came back with their shirts, helping her on with hers before putting on his own and shrugging into his vest.  They climbed back down to the beach and Julia took his hand, following him to a spot where their backs were to the rocks, and they were looking out to sea.  Mark released the strap on his holster and held the pistol out, butt first.
    “Beretta APX, holds seventeen plus one rounds.  When the clip’s empty, the slide will lock back.” Mark explained, the playful lover hidden behind the gruff exterior of a career colonel. “To reload, flick this.  The empty clip falls out and you shove the new one in until it locks, then release the slide.”
    He demonstrated with movements too fast for Julia to follow, before handing the weapon over.  She took it, a nervous twitch betraying her uncertainty as Mark moved in behind her.
    “When you have to, use your other hand for support.” He said into her ear as he lifted her arms.  “Identify your enemy.  Point and shoot, before they close in.”
    “Couldn’t be simpler.” She quipped, jaw a hard line where she ground her molars.
    No matter how sexy Mark looked with the APX strapped to his thigh Julia felt jittery just holding it.  The weight of a life held heavy in the palm of her hand.  She doubted she would be able to take that life, and she said as much.
    “You would if you had to.” He said, devoid of doubt,