It was the most sensual, most intimate thing she’d ever experienced. And then finally, with them both spent, she collapsed on top of him.
She wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way, joined and slowly coming down from the throws of passion. But eventually, she registered the gentle glide of his fingertips along the groove of her spine. The steady beat of his heart against her chest. The way his breaths had gone from fast and gasping to slow and easy.
Her mouth automatically sought the warmth of his neck. And the instant her lips brushed the puckered skin of his scar, instinct had her pressing a gentle kiss there.
“Howdidyou get it?” Her voice husky from passion.
He gave her ass a teasing spank. It was enough to make her sheath clench, and since he was still buried inside her, he felt it and groaned softly. “Really? We just had simultaneous orgasms and the thing you wanna talk about is my scar?”
“If you’ll recall, I asked you about it earlier, but you refused to answer.”
“I didn’t refuse. I just gave you the choice between me using my mouth to form words or using my mouth to do other, far more pleasurable things.”
She pushed up so he could see the teasing twist of her lips. “Are you being purposefully evasive? Is the subject of your scar a national security secret?”
“Just not something I’m very proud of.” When she lifted an eyebrow, he sighed. “I was on the rooftop of a building in…” He frowned and she realized, despite her security clearance, there were details of his life he’d probably never be able to share with her. “A war zone,” he finished, “waiting for a target to enter my crosshairs.”
He reached up and scratched his beard. She smiled at the lovelyscritchingsound it made. Then he grimaced. “I was so focused on the view through my scope, I wasn’t paying attention to my six. An enemy combatant snuck up behind me and had his blade to my throat before I even knew anyone was there. If not for one of my teammates arriving on the scene and shooting the fucker in the back, I probably woulda lost my whole head.”
Her stomach turned at the thought.
The work she did was dangerous because there were nefarious creatures crawling through the dark web. But whatSamdid for a living? That was peril set to overdrive and then raised to the power of ten.
Unaware of her thoughts, he continued, “It was still a close thing. The bastard managed to nick my jugular and I nearly bled out before I made it back to the evac site.”
“Good god, Sam.”
“Yeah.” His lips twisted. “The good news is, I got to go back to the States for six weeks of medical leave. The bad news is, it really drove home just how dangerous it was to be a Marine Raider. My ex-wife took one look at me and put the kibosh on trying to get pregnant then and there. She was terrified of the thought of raising kids on her own.”
Hannah blinked in confusion. Before she could form a question, however, he went on. “But all’s well that ends well. Turns out having a coupla rugrats with her would’ve been a huge mistake. I’d have had to get a paternity test to prove they were actually mine.”
Her confusion had climbed the ladder to pure bewilderment. He must’ve read it in her face because he explained, “She was sleeping with our next-door neighbor.”
Ignoring how the idea of him having children with someone made her want to chew nails, she asked the question burning in her brain. “Was I supposed to know you’ve been married?”
“Didn’t you?” He looked genuinely perplexed.
“No.” She shook her head.
“Huh.” He blinked. “Yeah. I kinda forget we didn’t know each other for sixteen years. A lotta living gets done in that amount of time, I guess.”
“Stay on topic.” She poked his shoulder. “I need more details.”
“Not much to tell.” He shrugged and then tapped her ass. “Scootch off me, sweetheart. I’m afraid the condom might leak.”
They both moaned when she lifted herself away from him and he slid from the warm, soft comfort of her body. Turning onto her side, she watched as he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off the latex. When he walked into the bathroom to dispose of it, she appreciated the view of his high, tight glutes and his broad, tanned back.
Re-emerging, her eyes snagged on the towel he rubbed across his private parts. He had a second towel in hand, and she reached for it when he knelt on the mattress.
“No.” He shook his head. “Let me.”
Tossing his own towel aside, he gently used the spare towel to dry the evidence of her desire from the inside of her thighs and outside of her labia. She groaned when the terry cloth ran over a tender spot and his eyes shot to her face. “Sore?”
“A little.” She nodded.
“You’d tell me if it was more than a little, wouldn’t you?” The concern on his face, the way he wasn’t skipping the aftercare, had a lump forming in her throat.
I love him so freakin’ much!
