Page 54 of Commander

Chapter Fourteen

I steppedinto the kitchen of the cabin, a little before seven in the morning. No matter how exhausted I was or how hard I’d tried, I couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was all the craziness of past forty-eight hours keeping my mind active. Or the fact that a sexy-as-sin man slept in my bed. Whatever it was, I had to get my ass up when I’d started counting the chirps of the birds outside my window in hopes of lulling myself to sleep.

Tightening my robe over my naked body, I stepped farther into the room. A yawn escaped my lips, and I lifted my arms and stretched high, trying to release some of the aches in my body. My muscles were sore, but it was a good kind of sore. Ones achieved from four rounds of bone-melting sex.

Last night, Ashur had taken me as a man who knew what he wanted and how to get it. The sex wasn’t the innocent-and-gentle lovemaking I’d had with him when we were oh-so young, but all-consuming and filled with a passion and dominance I’d never experienced before.

I gripped the counter near a set of windows and licked my lips as a slow hum began to beat deep inside me.

Seriously, Tara. Get a hold of yourself. You’ve gone years without needing sex and now you’ve become a fucking nymphomaniac. Stop thinking about his cock. You’re the first lady, for God’s sake. Keep your shit together!

I shook my reprimand from my head and gazed out the window toward the Colorado River. Birds flew about, and their feathers shone brightly against the glow of the sunrise. Two deer raced past the fenced yard of the cottage’s gardens, jumping over the bushes without a single pause.

God. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d spend my honeymoon in a remote cabin, albeit a very large one, in the woods near Austin, Texas.

I was the furthest thing from outdoorsy. White sand beach, swimming in the turquoise water, and sipping cocktails was more up my alley.

But there was a beauty to this area I’d never appreciated in all the years I’d lived in Texas. I felt a sense of peacefulness, something I hadn’t experienced since…I paused, thinking about when I’d last felt calm or peaceful. Had it been so long that I couldn’t remember?

Well, shit. Ashur had fucked my brains out enough to allow me to enjoy woodsy nature. What was the world coming to?

We’d always been opposites. Where he enjoyed camping, I loved a spa. I was high fashion and he was sports and outdoors. And then there was his obsession with high-end scotch, whereas give me a bold Brunello, and I was in heaven.

One of the few topics we agreed on was our mutual love for all things meat. Give us a juicy filet and we were in heaven. It probably had to do with the fact both of us were Texans.

I wasn’t sure how long I stood at the counter gazing out the window, but I moved when my stomach made a very un-first-ladylike rumble.

I glanced at the phone on the wall and then decided against calling the compound staff to bring breakfast.

For years, I’d cooked for myself, and it wasn’t as if I’d forgotten how to feed myself, even with all the fancy dinners and galas of the past two years. Besides, it was something I enjoyed wholeheartedly. No one would ever think that hardnosed, take-no-one’s-shit, human-rights attorney Tara Zain…em…Tara Kumar would enjoy watching cooking shows and making the delicious meals she saw on television during her alone time.

Maybe Ash still remembered.

For the short summer we’d been together all those years ago, I’d made many a dish for him to try. Some had failed epically and others had come out phenomenal successes. I’d remembered how Ashur had complained he was going to gain too much weight, all the while stuffing his mouth.

I sighed. What had happened to that sweet and thoughtful man? I couldn’t have been the cause of him becoming so hard or the asshole as he’d like to call himself.

Then a vision of the tattoo-covered scars that ran along his abdomen and shoulder came to mind, and I knew it probably had more to do with all that he’d experienced during his tours in the military.

I knew I’d been the reason he’d joined the military. He was trying to escape the memories of me, and because of me, he had nearly died.

I flinched inside. I couldn’t go there.

I walked to the satellite radio console and selected a station. I needed some old-school hip-hop to keep my mind from thinking too hard. As I selected my station, I smiled and began to sing along. There was nothing like 90’s Salt-N-Pepa.

Ameera and I used to dance around our apartment when we were between assignments to let off steam. We had an eclectic taste in music that had no rhyme or reason. Our only steadfast rule was that whoever chose the music had to start the dance-off.

God, I missed her. Soon. I’d see her and then deal with whatever the future held for both of us.

You hang on, Ame. If I have to bring you back myself, I’ll get you home. I won’t ever give up.

As the music kicked on, I refocused on the task of making breakfast. I searched the pantry and cabinets, gathering all the ingredients to make hazelnut chocolate French toast, something I knew Ashur enjoyed. Samina had told me that she was so glad I taught her how to make the breakfast indulgence. Especially since Ashur would require her to make the dish whenever he visited her in Seattle.

Setting each item on the island, I pulled out the mixing bowl and created an eggy batter with the right amount of vanilla and cinnamon for the gourmet bread I’d use to concoct my masterpiece.

I danced around the room, gyrating my hips and rapping the lyrics of “Push It.” After a few minutes of trying to imitate the moves from the 90’s videos, I scooped out a hefty serving of hazelnut spread into a glass container.

Taking the spoon out of the chocolate, I stuck it in my mouth and moaned. This was heaven. I reached for the frying pan and jumped.

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