First, thank you to ALL who have been reading and reviewing all of my stories. This one-shot is my present to you, but it comes with a challenge.

I wrote is with a particular trooper in mind, but I put no names in the story (not even for the female) so that you - my faithful readers- can fantasize about anyone you wish.

Here is my challenge to you. If you can tell me who my original inspiration for this story was, I will write a one-shot just for you, using the female name and the trooper of your choice. Enjoy, and good luck!


** HER POV **

"Baby? You're home."

I had dozed off on his shoulder on the way home from the movies, and I woke up startled. I'd had that same dream again. The one with the snow and loud noises. The one with the blood.

I got out of the car and started up the stairs to my apartment. His voice came behind me.

"You had that dream again, didn't you? Sweetheart, please look at me."

We stopped in front of my door and I looked up into his concerned eyes. He touched my cheek.

"I'm going to be fine. Now, get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow before I leave."

He leaned in, intending to give me a quick goodnight kiss, but I held him there until he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Come inside."

"You sure?"

I nodded. I needed him to stay a little longer. I needed to avoid that dream as long as I possibly could. It felt like a premonition and it rattled me to the core. My hands were shaking as I fumbled with the keys, trying to unlock the door. Finally, he took them from me, opening the door and allowing me to step inside first.

The door shut behind me, and I was suddenly nervous. I didn't know exactly what I wanted when I invited him in. I just wanted to know that he was close to me. As usual, though, he seemed to know exactly how to calm me down.

I heard him lock the door, and then he was standing behind me, his strong arms wrapped around my waist. I leaned back into his warmth, turning my face into his neck and breathing in his cologne. He lifted me slightly, picking my feet up off the ground so that I giggled. Then he walked us toward my bedroom, kicked off both of our shoes, and laid down across my bed, all without ever breaking his hold on me.


** HIS POV **

I knew she was terrified about me leaving to fight in the war, and I knew she was afraid that this dream she kept having was some kind of premonition about me. I laid us down across her bed, hoping to calm her nerves and get her to sleep.

She turned over to face me, still wrapped in my arms with our faces now just inches apart. Her lipstick was gone, and her makeup had been rubbed away over the course of the day. Her eyes were full of sleepy contentment and I kissed the tip of her nose. She always tried so hard to look good for me, and always did, but she was at her most beautiful in moments like these.

"Kiss me," she breathed against my lips, and I happily obliged, pulling her body into mine.

It started out soft, but I swept my tongue against hers and she clutched my shirt in her fists. The rest of the world disappeared. She overwhelmed my senses. I could feel the swell of her breasts against me, and the tug of her fingers through my hair. Her leg hitched over my hip, pulling our bodies flush, and I groaned. She shifted against me, and the friction sent fire through my veins.


** HER POV **

I felt one hand grip behind my knee, pulling my leg around him, then slipping underneath my dress and down my thigh as he rolled to pin my body beneath his. His arm held up his torso as he kissed me, but the weight of his lower body rested against mine, and the pressure was delicious.

He kissed down my neck and his back flexed beneath my hands. The white cotton T-shirt he wore was my favorite because it fit just snugly enough to define his flat stomach and the muscles in his chest. Right now, though, it was a barrier between him and me. My fingernails brushed his skin when I tugged on the hem, and he pulled away just long enough to rip the shirt off over his head before crashing his lips to mine again.

I could hardly breathe, and I didn't want to. I was watching his face. In the car, his eyes held concern and protectiveness. Now, he looked like he wanted to devour me, and I was more aroused than I could ever remember being. I moaned softly when he sucked the tender skin at my collarbone into his mouth and he moved against me, clearly strained against his trousers.

"Close your eyes, baby. Just feel."

One at a time, he undid the buttons on the front of my dress until it was gone, placing an open-mouthed kiss on each new inch of skin that he revealed and leaving goosebumps in his wake. When he reached my stomach I shuddered, and I could feel him smile against my skin. He rolled off one of my stockings, and then the other, running his fingers back up my now bare legs.

His feather-light touch and kisses along my inner thigh had me right at the edge. My senses were so heightened by having my eyes closed that everything he did was magnified. Having him so close to my most sensitive areas was the sweetest torture. I wanted to tell him not to stop, but I couldn't form the words. Then he blew the lightest breath across my center and stars exploded behind my eyelids.


** HIS POV **

It was, without a doubt, the sexiest thing I had ever seen in my life. My name from her lips in that moment made me feel like the most powerful man on the planet. I could have landed in Berlin and taken on the whole German Army by myself.

She almost dragged me back up to her mouth, unbuttoning my trousers as she went. Within seconds, what remained of our clothing was gone, and the soft blankets were pulled up around us. I couldn't stop my eyes from roaming her naked body, and when I reached her face again, she blushed under my scrutiny. God, she was perfect. I kissed her again, and whispered against her lips.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Our eyes met. There was no denying what we both wanted in that moment. She nodded at me with hazy eyes. They stayed locked on mine as I moved to join our bodies, trying to be as gentle as I could. She sucked in a sharp breath at the pain, her fingernails indenting my shoulders, and I paused when our hips were flush again to allow her body to adjust to the intrusion.

For a split second as she lay there beneath me, biting her lip to keep from crying out, I worried that I'd made a mistake and that she wasn't ready. I wanted to apologize and kiss her until it didn't hurt anymore. Just as quickly as the thought came, she pulled me down to her lips and kissed me.

"It's okay. You can move."

I did, slowly, finding a careful rhythm as I kissed along her jaw. Whimpers became soft moans. Her lips were against my ear and my body seemed to respond automatically to each new sound, as though it already knew exactly what she wanted and when she wanted it.

Her hand went to my hip, encouraging me. Deeper. Faster. Harder.

I pushed myself up on my arms so that I could watch her face. This time, she was biting her lip from pleasure rather than pain. Her eyes met my eyes and it was intense. Then her hips met my rhythm, matching me thrust for thrust, and I couldn't stop myself from cursing.

"Fuck, baby," I whispered, drawing the expletive out slowly.

I usually only cursed around the guys. I never used language like that around her, and I was surprised to see a satisfied smile on her face. She was proud of herself, and I found it irresistibly sexy.

"You like that? You like knowing you can do that to me?"

"I love it. So do you. You don't want to think right now. You don't want to watch your language. You want to let it all go and just be here with me." She had me there and she knew it, so she finished me off with three little words. "Then do it."

"God, baby girl, do you know how good this feels? You're so fucking sexy moving against me."

I didn't know how long I could last. Her body was so warm and soft, and it fit so perfectly around me that every time I moved, it pulled me closer to the edge. I couldn't go over yet. I had to make sure that she went first. I had to feel it. I closed my eyes and tried to draw myself back, wanting this feeling to last as long as possible.

She was watching me again, and bit down gently on my neck, shattering my concentration and causing me to groan. Then she whispered against my ear.

"You're thinking too much. Stop holding back. I'm right there with you."

Her eyes burned into mine, begging me. No. Daring me. Daring me to let go of that last shred of control and press her to this bed until neither of us could move. Daring me to give her, and myself, something to think about while I was gone. Daring me to show her exactly what I was going to do to her when I got my hands on her again after being away at war.

After the war. That hardly seemed possible right now, but there would be an after. Who knew how long it would take though? Would she still be here? Would she wait? She had said she would, but I needed to know. I needed to be sure.

"Marry me."

"Yes."

She said it without a second thought, as though there had never been a question. I was coming home, and I was coming home to her. That's all I needed to know.

I kissed her, exploring her mouth with my tongue. One arm hooked under her leg, holding it over my shoulder. She cried out my name as I hit a new spot inside of her, and the sound drove me forward. As promised, she was right there with me.

Her body was glistening and salty-sweet. My own damp skin slipped easily against hers. The friction of our new rhythm seemed to erase our vocabularies, and the words mumbled between our kisses were barely intelligible.


** HER POV **

It built slowly between us, almost in waves, until we were both so close that it felt like the air was buzzing around us. My body quivered. His hands and mouth ran over my lips, my neck, my breasts, and to the leg that was draped over his arm. His muscles were tense under my touch, and every movement drew sounds of pleasure.

I was gasping for breath now, so close that I felt like I might explode and begging him, although I wasn't sure what for. Obviously proud of the effect he was having, he smirked down at me as if he knew exactly what I wanted.

"What do you want, baby?"

"I don't know. Just…"

"Yes, you do," he interrupted, brushing a thumb over the bundle of nerves at my center. I cried out and he urged me again. "Tell me. Tell me what you want. Say it, baby."

The words came rushing out.

"I want to cum together with my husband."

That's all it took. My words drew another curse from him. He kissed me hard, and that final wave crested over both of us as we pressed "I love yous" into each other's lips. The stars exploded behind my eyes again, and through the rushing in my ears, I could hear him repeating my name as his own release came.

We spent the night tangled up in each other, talking, kissing, and touching as though we were trying to memorize every inch of each other. The sun came far too early, and we waited as long as we could to get out of bed. I watched him dress with dread in my stomach and followed him to the door, still wrapped in the sheet we'd made love on.

He opened the door and smiled at me, wiping my tears away with his thumb and pressing his lips to mine in the softest, sweetest kiss. He hugged me tightly to him, and whispered in my ear. Then he was gone.

"I'll be home soon. I love you… wife."