I loved Joe Liebgott more than life, but sometimes he made me so mad I couldn't see straight.

The war was finally over, and I'd come to meet him when he got off the boat. The reunion had been great; a flurry of hugs and kisses and introductions to friends who had come back with him. It was all that I'd been imagining it would be for the last three years.

I'd planned a weekend at a fancy hotel, a nice dinner, and us finally getting to relax into a life together. All had been going well until we left the jubilant atmosphere of the dock. Then, as the night wore on and more people asked him questions about his uniform and his service, I began to see the dark cloud his eyes. We had just returned to the hotel after dinner when I decided to ask him about it.

"Sweetheart, is something wrong?"

"No, why?"

"I don't know. You just seem… different."

"Well, no shit. I just got back from Hell. What did you expect?"

His tone caught me off guard. Joe had always had a sarcastic side, but he never really spoke to me that way. My open-mouthed stare only seemed to worsen his mood. He threw his hands up, startling me so that I backed away from him.

"What? What, Peggy? Did you really expect me to come back the same as I was when I left? Shit. All I wanted to do when I got home was relax for a little bit. Not get interviewed about my fucking war experiences. I don't need this shit right now."

I felt the tears pricking my eyes, and quickly tried to blink them back. His mouth was still twisted into a frown, but his eyes softened. He reached for me, but I pulled away and turned.

"I'm going to take a hot bath."

"I didn't mean to… Peg, wait."

"No."

I left him staring after me and walked into the bathroom, turning on the hot water and allowing my tears to fall. Deep down, I knew his anger wasn't meant for me. I could see on his face that the thoughtless people we'd encountered were getting to him. He had seen things, and probably done things, that he didn't want to talk about. But it didn't change the fact that his hateful tone cut me to the core. I just needed to get away from him to allow us both to cool off for a few minutes.

When the tub was full of steaming water, I turned off the water and began to undress. Sliding off my panties, I stood back up to pull my hair into a bun on top of my head. Joe's bare-chested reflection stared back at me in the mirror and I jumped.

"You scared me to death! What are you doing in here?"

He stepped close to me, so close that I could feel his breath against the back of my neck, and traced the curve of my hip with his finger. I shuddered, but repeated my question, moving to face him. He dipped his head to kiss my neck and shoulder, holding my waist and refusing to let me turn around. I looked up at him over my shoulder, and he met my questioning stare with a kiss that sent heat all over my naked body.

His hands trailed up, cupping my breasts and I leaned my head back against his shoulder so that he could kiss down my neck.

"I'm sorry, baby," he whispered against the shell of my ear. "I just let those people get to me. I'd never hurt you on purpose. I love you. So much."

"I know, Joe. I love you too."

He kissed me again and I moaned into his mouth as one hand slipped down my body. His voice was low and gravelly as he toyed with the bundle of nerves at my center.

"I've missed this. Dreamed about it over there all the time. Holding you. Kissing you. Touching your skin and feeling your naked body against mine. Hearing my name from your lips as I make you cry out over and over again." My knees were weak and my breathing shallow as he wrapped a free arm around my waist to hold me up, continuing, "That's it, baby. Tell me. Tell me what you want. Does that feel good?"

"Yes… yes. So good."

"Say you want me to show you what I dreamed about over there. To show you how much I missed you."

"Yes, Joe. Please…"

"Tell me that you want me, Peggy. Right now."

I couldn't breathe. He had never spoken to me like this before. Still sweet, but so chillingly demanding. He'd had three long years of waiting for this, and I could hear those three years of deprivation in his voice and feel his arousal pressed against my backside. His eyes in the mirror seemed to burn with pure, unadulterated desire. I brought this out of him. I'd never felt so sexy in my life.

"Take me, Joe."

"Fuck," he cursed in a long, slow breath.

He hardly ever cursed in front of me, and a small, satisfied smile crept to my lips. He caught it, and then erased it by running his hand up the inside of my thigh from behind and popping me lightly on my butt, stepping away so that I groaned at the loss of his touch.

"Put your hands on the counter."

The growl in his voice gave me chills, and I did as he said. In the mirror, I could see that he had removed his trousers and he stepped forward again. The instant friction caused us both to curse this time.

"What was it you said a minute ago?"

"Take me."

He shifted against me, teasing me and taking a firm grip on my hips, before leaning forward and ordering into my ear, "Say it again."

"Take me, Joe. Please, take…"

I didn't get to finish. He slid roughly inside me in one swift motion and I cried out. The sound urged him on, and he repeated the motion several times, hard and fast, before finding a steady rhythm against my hips.

"So beautiful… feels so good…"

He was talking out loud, but more to himself than to me. I could hardly formulate words. He was pulling my body backward to meet his, driving deeper with every movement, and the most delicious feeling was building inside me. I gasped his name.

"That sounds so damn good coming out of your mouth. What is it, baby? You like this?"

"Don't stop."

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna stop. Been waiting three years to be inside you, and you are all mine tonight. You hear me? All fucking mine."

He punctuated the last three words with a hard thrust of his hips, and my knees went weak again. He caught me around the waist and turned me around to face him, crashing his lips to mine as he lifted me. A moment later, my legs were around his waist and he was inside me again, carrying me back toward the bed. When he reached it, he fell on top of me and immediately back into his tremor-inducing rhythm.

We were nearing the edge. I could feel our muscles tensing in anticipation. He slowed his movements, massaging my tongue with his own as he prolonged the pleasure as long as he could. My fingernails raked his shoulder blades as the stars exploded behind my eyes, eliciting a string of curses from him as he followed me over the edge.

As he promised, we spent the rest of the night wrapped up in each other's arms, talking, touching, kissing, and making love until the sun came up. Finally exhausted, we were drifting off to sleep, and he murmured against my ear.

"When we wake up, I'm gonna marry you."