This is from Book 5 of the saga - titled A.T.X.D. Rising Darkness. It is the first time that the main characters Richard Johnson and Ashley Miller show to the reader their true romantic feelings and share their first kiss at least as shown on the pages. This is from the same book where, last week, we saw secondary characters William Roberts and Sophia Danes exchanging love in the shower and trying to keep it hidden.
But as Richard finished looking through the array of books himself, Ashley slowly inquired, “Richard, while we’re here, don’t you think we should make more use of the time?”
“In what way?” Richard inquired. He then turned as Ashley pulled the blinds down over the windows and began to remove her T-shirt, revealing a simple undershirt beneath that for protection. Richard knew exactly what she was getting at with this request.
“You sure?” Richard asked, wanting to take caution with a woman who was higher ranked, not to mention very skilled in self-defense.
“Of course,” Ashley replied, loosening and pulling off her sneakers, “Why not share at least a little love for a while.”
Seeing that Ashley was clearly giving him her consent, Richard shrugged with a gentle smile and agreed, “I guess so.”
As soon as he removed most of his clothing except his boxers, Richard got into his recently well made bed. Ashley, who'd just about finished mostly undressing too, followed shortly behind.
“You want some of this?” Ashley inquired with a soft voice, pretending like she was challenging Richard to a training duel as she shielded the two of them with the covers.
“Oh sure,” Richard replied, “I can take it. Just don’t you cross a line, ma’am.”
Ashley smiled with a mix of both her playful aggressiveness and passionate happiness as she crawled over and briefly lay on top of Richard. The last time Richard remembered Ashley being on top of him was during their first ever training duel almost four years earlier, where she had fastened her legs to his neck and shoulders and tried to pin him down. But Ashley was more relaxed this time and only gently rested the palms of her hands against Richard’s cheeks or against the pillow as they shared a long, gentle kiss. Richard gently closed his arms around Ashley, but did the best he could to not hold her hard. Minus all the tactical clothing she wore at base, Ashley felt remarkably light in weight. Her athletic routine, though, had shaped her into a fit young woman who had some tough muscles that Richard could feel in her arms, legs, and reinforcing her already rock-hard ribs.
Ashley meanwhile felt a surge of romantic feelings flow through her chest as she and Richard continued the exchange. With her eyes closed, Ashley could see a river of colors, then a brief shot of a field with a mountain in the distance. And at one point, she saw both her and Richard in that field, the two of them holding hands and looking at each other. Any other Army Ranger she’d expect to be big and burly to the touch, but not Richard. While he too had some noticeably thick muscles that Ashley could feel, the rest of him felt more or less soft, with not much apparent between his skin and the bones of his solid chest.
“You ever kissed anyone before, Richard?” Ashley asked, briefly taking her lips away and locking an enchanting and imploring look with Richard’s blue eyes.
“Nope,” Richard replied truthfully. “Unless you count bedtime kisses with my mom as a kid, and those were always on the forehead or the cheek. This...this is totally different.”
“And an unforgettable experience,” Ashley commented, rubbing his shoulders before looking down at Richard with a come hither-look of sorts and quietly encouraging, “Now come on, Tiger, I want more.”
“Well careful,” Richard warned with an equally playful and daring look. “This tiger is no cub to mess around with.”
“Oh is that right? Why don’t you show me?”
“Hey, I’m warning you, the claws are coming out.”
“I see no claws,” Ashley affectionately taunted, gently caressing her fingers over Richard’s chest.
“Okay, you’re asking for it now,” Richard returned with a puff of laughter.
“Am I? Well what’re you going to do about it, tiger cub?”
“This cub is gonna knock you on your back,” Richard replied and, gently handling Ashley by the shoulders, rolled her to the side and hugged her a tad bit harder, prompting a playful squeal of laughter from the Captain, “and tear you apart with love, little harpy.” After taking another moment to look eye-to-eye with each other, they continued with another kissing exchange and started to hide each other further under the covers.
But this unforgettable romantic moment was soon broken when a small beep was heard on the floor down below.
“Mm? What’s that?” Richard inquired, surprised.
Poking her head further out from their blanketed cave, Ashley saw it was a notification device in the pocket of her jeans.
“Notification,” Ashley replied.
“Shall I get it?” Richard asked, but Ashley put a finger to his lips and replied, “Don’t worry. I’ll get it.”
Shielding herself with one of the upper blankets, Ashley grabbed her undershirt and pulled it back on while Richard looked away respectfully. Pulling the device out, Ashley’s expression dropped with disappointment.
“Dammit, it’s Command,” she informed with a reluctant exhale as Richard sat up and pulled his own T-Shirt back on, “They want us back at HQ.”
“Now?” Richard asked.
“Now.”
Richard rolled his eyes with annoyance and fell back against the bed briefly, but soon proceeded to get his clothes back on.
“Well, I guess duty calls. And being in the force means you gotta answer it.”
“That is true,” Ashley concurred as she sat on the floor briefly and pulled the laces of her sneakers together again.
After they pulled the rest of their clothing back on, Richard and Ashley took a moment to observe the house one more time before heading to the Badger.
“Well, at least it’s not that far from HQ,” Ashley admitted as they got back in, to which Richard added, “Maybe if Command gives us another leave authorization, we should come back here.”
“Yes, and continue where we last left off,” Ashley replied as they drove out of the neighborhood and headed onto the road that would take them back across the state line to Utah.
To A.T.X.D. Central Headquarters.