Mark had taught me how to find that place inside where snipers operated best, when emotion and doubt and confusion fell away, leaving just the mind and will. It took me a long time and a lot of training prior to having Andrea to reach a level even approaching his, but I used it often. Working communications for his missions, I had to go there in order to focus on the task at hand and not worry that my husband was potentially getting shot at on the other end of the line. It had even helped in delivering Andrea, allowing me to suppress the pain enough to let Tabby do her best to help take over communications.
By the end of my training, I was exhausted, mentally more than physically. Focusing on such precise control for so long is just tiring. Still, I was happy. It was a lot better than I'd done the week prior, and while I wasn't quite ready yet, I was making progress. "Let's go home."
On the drive back, I noticed Mark kept looking over at me. "What?" I asked, smiling at how silly I felt. "Do I have some gunpowder on my face or something?"
"No," Mark replied huskily. "You're just so sexy, it's hard."
Suddenly, I felt it too. It had been a long time since we'd had sex, one of the side effects of his late nights and a very young baby at home. But that day, it was just the two of us, and we were being who we loved to be. More importantly, we were with the person who was most important to us. "Can you make it home?"
"Hell no," he said, reaching over and putting his hand on my thigh. His touch was hot and arousing, and my hands twitched, the car swerving in our lane before I straightened out. "But don't crash."
We drove on in a silence that was heavy with anticipation, constantly exchanging little glances as we looked, searching for a place to pull off the highway. Finally, three miles down the road, I saw a turn-off onto what I knew was a mostly deserted country road. Taking it, I drove along until the highway was invisible in the rear view mirror, and on until the road opened up on the left side slightly. The woods were deep in this area, heavy old growth that earlier in the year would be heavier with hunters. The early spring sun was barely warm enough, but I couldn't wait any longer. I threw the car into park and reached into the back seat, grabbing a blanket that we had brought in case the wind had picked up.
"In here or over there?" I pointed to a small clearing in the trees, thick with fallen pine needles and clear of even traces of snow. It had been over a year and a half since we'd had sex outside, the last time being during my training in Eastern Europe, but right then I didn't care. I'd have stripped butt naked on the fifty yard line of Spartan Stadium if Mark wanted me to.
Mark opened his door and got out, me right behind him. Instead of heading for the clearing though he stopped me at the front of the car, taking the blanket out of my hands and spreading over the hood.
"Warmer here," he explained as he turned, wrapping his arms around me fiercely and kissing me with unrestrained passion. I returned his passion with my own, clutching at his jacket and kissing him back as hard as I could. He pressed me up against the car, which I had to admit was warm, his hands busily working at the zipper on my jacket while I returned the favor.
In my haste, I jammed the zipper on his old fashioned military field jacket, tugging uselessly until I grew frustrated and pulled as hard as I could. With a metallic ping, the teeth yanked free, the brass clasps destroyed as I pulled his jacket open to feel the slick, tight fabric of his thermal Under Armour top beneath. I noticed it was a new one, black with white patches rather than the all black he'd always worn before. "New duds?"
"Uh-huh, thinking of wearing them at night," Mark replied as he got my jacket open and pushed a hand inside, his strong hand roughly caressing my breast. It would have bordered on painful if I hadn't been wearing the exact same type of shirt he was, the slick fabric lessening the grip enough that it was amazing instead. Fire flooded my skin, my nipples aching under the warm fabric as we kissed again. I reached up and tweaked his nipple through his top while I spread my legs and wrapped them around his waist. Even through the heavy fabric of our pants, I could feel the heat and iron hardness of his cock. We rubbed together through our clothes, groaning as we reconnected.
I'd been naked with Mark since Andrea was born, we would take time to hold each other in bed, or to sometimes even shower together. But exhaustion or the cries of a baby had inevitably killed nearly every prior encounter. Even the ones we'd had felt rushed, the fumbling of two people who wanted more than what time and circumstances were permitting them, most often not even given the time to come to orgasm before being pulled apart by something beyond our control. Here though, on this deserted country road that was barely more than a fire trail, I felt closer to him than since before our daughter's birth, even through thick layers of clothing.