“What are you going to do next?”
“Nothing.”
She waited.
He laughed. “I’m only partially kidding. I honestly have no idea how I’ll fill my time.”
“Can I give you some unsolicited advice?”
He lifted their entangled hands and kissed her knuckles. “Of course.”
“Everyone needs a purpose, Frank.”
He’d had two. He’d been a husband and a SEAL, and nothing else had mattered. He took a deep breath. “I know. I’ll find my way.”
He hoped.
The trees grew thicker as the path curved away from the buildings. He wrapped his arm around her, encouraging her to lean against him. “Thank you,” he whispered. “That’s good advice.”
“I know a little something about being lost, and I can’t imagine losing the love of my life.” She squeezed her arm around his waist. “But the man I saw tonight…he’ll figure it out.”
That was the thing. That man? He was mostly an act these days. “I’m not sure he’s real,” he confessed.
“How about the man on the mountain yesterday?”
He’d been real as anything. Frank hauled Grace hard against him and crushed his mouth against hers. “He’s legit,” he growled.
“Then trust him.” She kissed him back. “Race back to the cabin?”
* * *
Grace wasglad she’d worn running shoes. Frank let her win, but not by much. He caught her around the waist as she leapt onto the porch, and the next thing she knew he had her pinned against the door on her side of the cabin.
“Again with the fun,” he rumbled.
“That’s me, Little Miss Sunshine,” she said breathlessly.
He groaned and pressed his mouth to her neck, sucking on the skin there. “My wildflower,” he whispered. “But yes, sunshine, too.”
“My bed or yours?” She tried to quip it, but it came out quite serious.
He didn’t seem to mind. His hands tightened on her body and he dragged in a rough breath. “Yours.”
The room was dark, lit just from the moon, but they both knew where the bed was. Grace fell back with a sigh as Frank climbed on top of her, his thighs pressing hers apart. He trailed his fingers down her neck and over her chest, palming one breast as he took the other nipple in his mouth. She rubbed his cheek, the rough stubble a shocking contrast to the soft, wet heat of his mouth.
Melting into the mattress, she let him be in charge. He kissed her roughly, then softer, pausing here and there to check that she was still with him.
Oh, she was so with him it hurt.
She needed him inside her pronto, but the man hadn’t done this in more than a year, and the last time had been with the love of his life. Grace could be a little patient.
And worst-case scenario, he’d do that thing with his fingers again and she’d be just fine.
Slowly but surely, they lost items of clothing. His shirt first, then hers. Then her shorts, and she was in her underwear for a while. He kissed every inch of exposed skin until she was squirming, and then the rest of the clothes went poof.
When he was back on top of her, Grace lifted her hips, needing him to fill that ache, and they both shook when her wet sex made contact with his erection.
“Condom,” he muttered, but she was way ahead of him. She’d already opened a box earlier that day, anticipating this moment.
