Raul had begged Jack to leave the Rangers, head Ari's bodyguards permanently, and she was pretty sure he'd been considering it. He was near the end of his current enlistment, less than a year away as she recalled. But, of course, her actions the night of her mother's funeral had put paid to that.
She'd held up through the day solely for her father's sake. Raul looked worn down, exhausted with grief. She'd stood steady at his side, tears streaking her cheeks but her slim body unbowed, taking strength from Jack's quiet, solid presence at her back, in a civilian suit but still just as fearsome as in his full combat gear, his dark scowl warning off anyone who pressed too close.
And afterwards, after Mama had been laid to rest in the Monterro family burial vault, after Raul had been led away by the President, his own expression grief-stricken, Ari had stood alone and lost, swaying, until Jack's strong arm went around her.
“Come, Miss Monterro. I'll take you home.”
Home, where everything reminded her of Mama. Home, where all she wanted to do was cry and scream and rage at an unfair world, where women suffered and died for the wars of men. Somehow, her grief had turned to fury and she turned on Jack, beating her tiny fists against his broad chest and screaming incoherently, tears flooding down her cheeks. He'd shared one glance with her other guards and scooped her unceremoniously up over his shoulder, taking her to her private quarters as she kicked and screamed. Dumping her on the lounge, he stood over her, looking down at her.
“There. Now you can do what you like and you won't make a fool of yourself. I'll never tell, Ari. Scream all you like, hit me if you need to, take it out on me. I don't mind.”
His stoic acceptance broke something in her, something wild, and she leaped to her feet, standing on the couch to put herself on a level with him, finally able to look properly into his green eyes.
“What if what I want is this?” she asked, reaching out to grasp onto his broad shoulders before she leaned forward to kiss him.
Startled, Jack had pulled back. “Ari…” was all he got out, though, before she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, her lips plastering to his again.
He hadn’t resisted her after that, not when she started tugging at his tie, ripping at the buttons of his shirt, fighting to get him out of his clothes. His strong fingers had gently pressed hers aside before he removed the items that she wanted gone so desperately, showing her what she wanted to see, the thick muscles of his upper body, the strength of an elite combat soldier used to marching for days on end with a heavy pack of weapons and ammunition.
“You’re sure?” he asked her one last time. Ari nodded, yanking at the zip of her dress, cursing under her breath as it stuck, until once again he took over, moving around behind her and easing the zipper down gently. Slowly, he pressed a kiss to her shoulder as he pulled her sleeves down her arms. Ariana’s eyes fluttered shut as he unclasped her bra, hands sliding around in front of her to lightly cup her breasts.
* * *
Jack marveled at how soft Ariana’s skin felt under his roughened, callused hands; her breasts were silken smooth apart from her nipples, hard little berries between his fingertips as he tweaked lightly, testing how sensitive she was, how hard she liked to be touched. Her soft moan told him that he was definitely on the right track, and he lost his head entirely when she whispered his name and trembled, her head falling back against his shoulder.
“Ari,” he whispered huskily, letting his hands drop from her breasts, only to lift her up in his arms even as she whimpered a protest. Carrying her easily over to the bed, he laid her down on the silken sheets, gazing wonderingly down at her as she reached up to him.
“Come to me, Jack…”
He could have denied her nothing at that moment. Kneeling on the bed beside her, he reached to remove her shoes, slide his hands gently up her slender calves. She closed her eyes and smiled, lifting her hips so that he could more easily remove her dress, her panties, the garters holding up her sheer stockings.
“You are so beautiful…” delicate and fragile, she was the most perfect thing Jack had ever seen. Terrified of hurting her, he hesitated until she grabbed his hand and brought it back to her breasts with a whispered;
“Please, Jack.”
All thoughts of hesitation gone, he kicked off his shoes, lay down on the bed beside her and drew her into his arms. A tiny voice in the back of his mind pointed out how stupid he was being, but Jack had no intention of listening to his conscience just then. Not with Ariana warm and willing in his arms, her slender hands eagerly exploring his chest and shoulders, pleasured little sounds coming from her throat as he caressed her breasts. She arched into him; determined to pleasure her, he shifted down the bed, took one peaked nipple into his mouth, flicking his tongue over it teasingly for a few moments before closing his lips to suckle.
Ariana cried out, her fingers running over his close-cut hair, nails digging in lightly, letting him know that she wanted more, wanted him to keep going. One large hand skimmed gently down her stomach, parted the thatch of silky black curls at the apex of her thighs, teased lower. Her knees parted, hips lifting, and Jack groaned as his questing fingers found her already wet, her slick coating his fingers.
Her head fell back as he applied the tip of his index finger to her bud, rubbing in a swift, tight circle that sent her quickly spiraling upwards, her nails clawing at his shoulders. He kept licking and suckling at her breasts as that remorseless finger drove her on, stimulating her until she was crying out mindlessly, begging desperately for more, trying to pull him closer.
One long, slender leg hooked over his hip, Ariana tugging frantically at Jack. “Please, Jack, please,” she sobbed, “I need you, please…”
At least he could be quite sure she wasn’t mistaking him for someone else, Jack thought vaguely as he moved back a little.
“Easy,” he soothed, “gonna give you what you want, my darlin’. But I’m not gonna rush this; you deserve more than that, deserve everything good I can give you.”
“Please, I need…”
“I know what you need, my darlin’,” he kissed slowly down her stomach, tasting her, tracing his tongue over her skin in teasing patterns. His hands wrapped around her knees as he shifted lower, lifting them over his shoulders to bracket his head. “Gonna give it to you, too,” Jack whispered, nibbling lightly at the delicate crease where her inner thigh met her body before moving onwards to sweep his tongue slowly over her folds.
* * *
Ariana found herself drifting on a quiet haze of remembered pleasure as her mind disassociated from the unpleasant future awaiting her, taking her back to that long-ago night of bliss in Jack’s arms. She was glad beyond measure that she had never told him the truth, that he was her first, because she was absolutely certain that he would have stopped. That he wouldn’t have shown her what ecstasy could be found between lovers, what passion she was capable of.
Jack had been utterly unselfish, determined to bring her pleasure, and what pleasure it had been! His expert hands and mouth had brought her to the brink time and again before he finally let her fall; and when she did, he was waiting there to catch her in strong, steadying arms. Finally stripping off his suit pants, he’d found a condom in his wallet and used it, protecting her when she was far beyond caring anyway.