FFS Elk get on with it will you? #Taxi!!!!
Anyway, if you want something done... (channels Norah)
And running out of synonyms (channels LetUs and curses Word's limited vocabulary)
Previously on... he'd been away for 3 weeks or so....
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Two and a half weeks of mud, tents, and campfires with two troops at full strength had been tiring. They had trained and drilled relentlessly, the banter and camaraderie bonding the units and distracting them from the fatigue and discomfort of the camp.
He'd been relieved by the lack of comment regarding the betrothal, but suspected that there had been plenty said out of earshot - he knew for a fact for Porthos had punched at least one of his comrades for some vague and unspecified reason. No matter, he could live with that if it meant he came back to this....
He curled himself more closely around her and buried his face in her hair, inhaling the scent of lavender and rosemary. God he had missed her, missed this. Which was ridiculous - they had barely had a week together before he'd had to leave. He shook his head at his unruly emotions and smiled as he ran his hand along her shoulder and down her arm, the dirt still ingrained on his hand contrasting sharply with her smooth pale skin. He kissed her neck gently, and worked along her shoulder. She murmured sleepily and leaned her head back against him as his hand ran down her side to rest on her thigh.
He had wondered, returning, whether she was really everything he remembered... She was, and he was again bewildered by his instinctive response to her. He thought about his first marriage - the disaster it had turned into, his anger and disbelief at the extent of his wife's deception, his disgust with himself that he could still love her despite her actions. And yet there was the regret, the overwhelming feeling that he had failed somehow. For all that he clung to the belief that his actions had been bound by duty, he could never escape the thought that he should have, could have done something differently. And how much of Kate's attraction was the prospect she embodied as atonement for his previous mistakes? The possibility of redemption she represented - if he could make this right then maybe he could finally escape his past. Could forgive himself.
He sighed and buried his head in her shoulder, then as she stirred slightly he ran his hand back up her side brushing his fingertips against the side of her breast and her back arched against him as she nestled in closer.
He kissed her neck again and she reached a hand up behind her - running her fingers through his hair as his lips worked their way along her neck and shoulder. She turned her head to return the kiss and tried to twist in his arms, only to be pushed back to her original position, which she decided, through the haze of sleep, was perfectly adequate. She squirmed as he ran his fingertips up and down her spine - felt his legs curled round hers and his erection hardening against her. He bit down gently on her neck and she shuddered in anticipation as his hand moved lower again: cupping a buttock, tracing circles on her thigh - teasing and stroking as his fingers gradually moved between her thighs, and then upwards.
She stretched an arm behind, trying to reach him as he grinned, gripped her wrist and then pinned it down on the bed - her body jerking against him now as his fingers reached inside her, thumb pressing down. He shifted, the tip of his erection teasing against her, moving his hand away to her breasts - nipples hard against his hand. Her reaction to the touch of his fingers was a sudden jolt, pushing back against him and plunging him inside her.
A cry escaped them both at the abruptness of his entry and he gasped against her neck - concern that he'd hurt her mingled with the instinct to push deeper. Her hand was still pinned down by his as she gripped a handful of the blanket and started to move against him, meeting each thrust and starting to shake against him as his hands moved across her body. He could feel her chest heaving, breath coming in short gasps as she suddenly tensed against him, then sank back with a satisfied sigh, making a half-hearted effort to meet his final thrusts. He lay with his arms around her and kissed her neck - salt on his lips as she pulled his arms closer and slept.