Alive

It was late when they were finally able to leave the fundraiser. Her feet were aching from dancing in her heels all night. She could feel her dark hair was escaping from its elegant twist and she was pretty sure her mascara had even started to smudge. It was definitely time to go home.

These fundraisers were all the same. A whole lot of rich doctors in a large room schmoozing and trying to get other rich doctors to donate money to their respective fields. Her husband's field was trauma. 6 years as a marine had taught him to think fast and how to use anything and everything at his disposal to save a life. Now he still saved lives, but under much less pressure and with much better prospects.

She looked across at him and caught him looking at her. She smiled at him. He returned her smile, looking sheepish, and brought his hand up to caress her face gently. She leaned into his warm palm. She closed her eyes and sighed. They had been married for nine years and they were still going strong. Sure they had their fights, but what healthy relationship doesn't have a few bumps? It never took long before they forgot what they had been fighting about anyway, and the make-up sex was fantastic!

She felt his hand drift down her neck and over her shoulder. Her brown eyes met with his green ones as he pulled her closer to him. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes once more. The exhaustion from the night was setting in and she knew she was slowly drifting off to sleep. She could hear his steady heartbeat in her ear and she could feel his fingers tracing soft patterns on her arms. She loved it when he did that.

He kissed her awake when they arrived at home and led her gently through the house up the stairs to their bedroom. He dropped her hand when she reached her dressing table and she heard him start the water for their bath. She sat down and proceeded to remove the image she had pasted onto her face for the night. Off came the sapphire earrings and off came the makeup. She pulled the pins out of her hair and groaned as it fell freely down her back.

She saw him come up behind her and he lifted his hands to her hair. His fingers massaged her scalp gently, removing the aches from the hairpins. She knew that he loved her hair, he was constantly touching it, running his fingers through it. He loved to wash it for her and brush it out for her, something she, too, enjoyed. She grew it out especially for him and now it reached well below her waist and fell in black ringlets.

He disappeared again and she knew he was checking the bath. He knew that she liked it hot with rose scented oils. The steam and scent never failed to relax her and ease her tension. The night had been full of put-on-smiles and other benefit-necessary evils. She really couldn't stand the fundraisers, but he had to attend them and she would never make him go alone. He found them just as tedious as she did. She stood from her table and wandered into the bathroom where he was just shutting the water off. She sighed as she smelt the wonderful scent and smiled at how well he knew her.

The bath was deep and steamy and she quickly turned her back to him and wordlessly asked him to unzip her dress. He carefully pulled the zip down and slipped the red straps off of her shoulders. Her milky white skin was smooth beneath his hands and he placed a light kiss on one shoulder before helping her step out of the dress. The satin fabric floated gently down. He then lifted it from the floor and draped it on the back of her chair. He would send it for dry-cleaning in the morning. When he returned to the bathroom, she had already sunk into the soothing water and he quickly shed his suit before joining her.

She relaxed against his chest as she felt the tension leave her body. They lay together for a few minutes, but when the water started to chill, she felt his hands move to the shampoo. He carefully washed her hair and then her body. His hands gentle and soft, caressing her form. His fingers worked into the muscles of her back releasing the tight knots and letting the relaxation set in. She barely registered as he quickly washed himself before letting the water out and pulling her body from the bath.

He wrapped a towel around his waist before grabbing her towel and gently rubbing the water away. He took her into the bedroom where he dressed himself in his linen pants and found her night gown in her drawer.

The last thing she remembered before drifting off to sleep against his chest, in the warmth of their bed, was his kisses on her lips and cheeks and his whispers of love in her ear.

His nightmares usually woke her before they did him. His body tensing behind her, his arm gripping her tightly, almost painfully. He never spoke, but his eyes moved rapidly beneath his lids and his body was rigid as he fought against the unknown terrors. She turned in his arms, stroking his face gently and calling his name. Her fingers traced the lines on his face as she tried to bring him back to himself. His eyes flew open and a gasp left his mouth. Her whispers continued and her hands did not leave his face. They had been through this before. She knew what he needed. Five years later and the war still ruled his mind at night.

As his eyes grew accustomed to the dark, his gaze was fixed on hers and his hands pulled her tightly to him. He buried his face in her neck as his heart rate and breathing slowed down. She caressed his hair and whispered words into his ear that she knew he didn't understand. He simply needed to hear her voice. The words ran through his head like a mantra. He held onto them like a lifeline. I'm okay. You're okay. You're safe. We're safe. I'm here. Shh, you're safe.

It wasn't enough. Images of the nightmare tore through his mind in rapid succession. He pulled his face from her neck and fastened his lips to hers. He needed to feel something. Anything. Anything, but fear and cold and dead. He needed to feel alive. He needed her.

He swiftly rolled them both over, so that he hovered above her, his weight pressing her into the soft mattress. His hands where at her waist gripping her sides as he pushed his tongue between her lips. She immediately opened for him, her body willing to give him anything he needed from her. When his tongue touched hers, a moan left her lips and his heart rate increased for a different reason. His hands went down to her thighs before moving up again, under her night gown. He pushed it up to her shoulders before removing his lips from hers only long enough to pull it off. His mouth left open-mouthed kisses in a path down her neck to that spot just above her collarbone. He sucked and nipped and kissed her there. Marking her as his. She was his. Her moans and tugs at his hair brought him back to the present and he continued his journey to her nipple. Her hands were no longer gentle as they grasped at him, pulling him to where she wanted him.

He liked the sound of her heartbeat, racing in his ear as his tongue and mouth sucked and kissed her breast. She was safe, she was here. His one hand gave attention to her other breast, squeezing, pulling, flicking and rubbing. His other hand moved down her body to her thighs. His fingers easily found her slick heat and she cried out as he pushed a finger inside her, her moans and gasps spurring him on.

Her hands had not been idle as he ravished her body. At first she caressed his face, but when his mouth lingered too long at her neck, her hands moved to his hair and she began tugging at him in an effort to move him along. Now, in response to his delicious torture, her hands roamed his torso, taking their fill of his form. One hand reached down and slipped in under his linen pants and grasped his ass. The other soon joined it. When she moved her hands forward in an attempt to grasp his length in her hand, he nipped her breast in response and removed his mouth and his fingers. She gave a small huff of protest and he chuckled, the nightmare long forgotten, before moving his lips to hers.

"Please…" she gasped breathlessly into his mouth.

He groaned at her request and let her hands push his pants down his legs. When they were gone, he pulled her knee up and she wrapped it around his waist, opening for him. His lips hungrily sought hers and he devoured her once again. He pressed his hardness into her heat and he hissed at the contact. She was so wet. She wanted him. Him, with all his fucked up ways, all his nightmares and all his faults. She was his. She loved him. With that thought he thrust powerfully into her and filled her instantly. She cried out at his suddenness and at the sheer pleasure of it.

He knew her body almost better than she did. He knew how to move in the way that she liked, knew how to find that special spot that drove her crazy and he knew how to tell when she was close.

His trusts were deep and slow at first. He was savoring the feel of her. Her tightness pulling him in with every thrust. He twisted his hips and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath from her. She breathed his name and he knew it was a plea for a faster pace. Her hips were moving against his trying to get him to go faster. He gave in to her desires and his hips started to slam against hers. His moans joined hers and he cursed when she pulled her other leg up and wrapped it around his waist. His hands were pressed into the mattress either side of her head. He shifted his weight onto one hand and moved the other down to rub her clit. Her breath hitched in her throat and her moans reached a new pitch. She was close, he knew it. This was good because he could feel he release building in him.

He could feel the release as it washed over her and the way her walls tightened around him nearly sent him over the edge. It only took a few more thrusts before his climax washed over him. He trust once, twice, before he was spent and he collapsed onto her.

Their breathing slowed together and they were both silent as they basked in the bliss that they had shared. Her hands began caressing his hair again. His fingers traced patterns on her arms.

"Want to tell me about it?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"In the morning," he replied his lips kissing her temple.

They fell asleep in each others arms, having chased the bad dreams away. She knew what he needed. They had been through this before. Five years had passed and it grew easier and easier to pull him back from the war. She knew what he needed, he needed to feel her, feel alive, feel loved.

When they woke with the sun shining through the windows onto them and he opened his eyes and smiled at her, she knew he did. He had her. He was alive, he was loved.