Private Jeremy Sherwood couldn't pull his eyes away from the swaying form of his girlfriend. Emmalin Holden sauntered across the Sherwood kitchen, gathering and preparing ingredients as she went. His chocolate-colored orbs stared at her longingly, Jeremy didn't think he'd ever have his fill of Emmalin.
Everything she did appealed to him, and she didn't even have to try. Sunlight filtered through the open curtains of the kitchen window, illuminating the Army Brat's beautiful features as she was lost in her own la-la-land, oblivious to her boyfriend's heavy gaze.
Her long dark hair cascaded down her shoulders and ended in the middle of her back. His eyes drifted down her curvy silhouette; the line of her sides, the delicate small of her back, her slender hips, round bottom and long legs are just a few things that caught the soldier's eye.
Despite her obvious physical beauty, that wasn't what drew him to her. Jeremy could easily find a pretty girl, he doubted he could find anyone more beautiful than Emmalin, but there were dozens of pretty girls for him to choose from. The youngest Holden had so much more to offer than just looks. She was smart, funny, humble, nurturing, and so many other things. Even the quirky things about her amazed him, like how clumsy she was, and how she mispronounced 'library' every time she said it, and the way she was hockey obsessed. They didn't need words to understand each other, she always just knew. He didn't need to tell her something was wrong because Emmalin always understood.
He loved her. He had never said those three special words out loud but she somehow still understood. Emmalin told him she loved him constantly, and she didn't care who heard her. It wasn't that easy for the soldier, the only people he had ever told he loved were his parents. But despite the silent understanding between them, he still need to tell her. Emmalin deserved better than that, she deserved to hear it.
Wordlessly he walked up behind the seventeen year old, taking a knife and vegetables from her grasp and setting them aside on the counter. Jeremy had effectively gained her attention, he clasped her small hands in his large ones and pulled Emmalin close, her back fitting perfectly against his chest. She always seemed so small next to him, but still seemed like every curve of her's was made to specially mesh with him. Jeremy kissed her cheek softly, his lips soon wandering down her swan like neck before sucking on the edge of her earlobe.
"I love you." His deep baritone voice whispered against the shell of her ear. She quickly spun around to face him, her long fingers gripping his shirt and pulling him closer.
"You love me?" Emmalin asked, begging him to repeat the long awaited confession. They had been dating three months and while she wasn't going to rush him into anything, she had been eager to hear Jeremy say those three words.
"I love you." He chuckled, his hand gently smoothing the hair from her forehead.
"That's the first time you've ever told me you love me, Jeremy." Emmalin smiled and leaned in for a kiss. Her pink lips felt so soft against his, sometimes the soldier worried about hurting her. She always seemed so fragile, small and breakable.
"I know." Jeremy said simple, kissing Emmalin softly. They're lips caressing the others. The chaste touch quickly became rough, his tongue sliding across her bottom lip asking for entrance to her moist cavern. Emmalin was always more than happy to oblige, their tongues fought for dominance. His tongue stroked and explored every square inch of her mouth.
"You love me?" The Army Brat smiled, pulling away desperate for air, she wanted to hear him say it again.
"I love you, baby." His husky voice said against her throat, he laid quick kissed against her collar. His heart was thundering against his ribcage but in a good way, Emmalin always had this affect on him.
"I love you too." Emmalin giggled, kissing his cheek. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he lifted her in his arms. Jeremy kissed her softly.
"Baby...you're burning dinner." The Private chuckled and set her down. Panic filled her eyes. The poor thing had been attempting his mother's recipe for weeks and could never achieve perfection. Denise Sherwood was a home cooking legend and her level of food excellence was difficult. The most recent local disaster had been Pamela Moran's attempt at a Denise Sherwood recipe....her husband was finally being released from the hospital after conquering a wicked bout of food poisoning....that was a pretty darn affective way to keep him from Delta.
"Ughhh, no! Not again." Emmalin pouted. Her dish was thoroughly ruined. Well at least she still had her boyfriend...and as a plus, he wasn't a picky eater. She could probably get away with feeding him dirt without any complaint.
"If it helps...I still love you, even if I have to spend the rest of my life living off of mac'n'cheese and poptarts." Jeremy chuckled, kissing her forehead as Emmalin tried to salvage the remains of his mother's recipe.
And he meant it too, he loved her enough to eat her cooking after all.