Tears shone in her eyes, and she gave him a sad imitation of a flirty smile. “You have three more hours. How do youfeel about an extended sendoff?” It was the vulnerability in her voice, the uncertainty in her gorgeous green eyes that did him in. In this moment, she wanted him as much he wanted her.
He wasn’t fool enough to say no.
She raised her face and their lips met. Instant bonfire. A lightning strike.More. He wanted more of her taste and the soft rasp of her tongue and the scratch of her fingernailsacross his shoulders. She reached for the hem of his shirt and he released her so she could pull it free, pausing to make sure she didn’t catch the bandage on his forearm.
Her fingers drifted over his chest and abs reverently. “You’re amazing. You give new meaning to the word chiseled.”
Pride puffed his chest and her touch sent sparks across his skin. “I’m probably overcompensating.”
She laughed.“I doubt that. You must drive the girls at the gym out of their mind.”
He shook his head. “It’s not that kind of place.” The other workout junkies were mostly disabled veterans like himself. It was a safe space where they could let down their guard and work on improving their bodies without being ogled by the curious. But he didn’t want to talk about other women or the gym.
He tugged on hershirt and she shucked it and her bra before he even had a chance. He groaned at the sight and covered her breasts with his hands, kneading their soft weight. “You are so beautiful. I want to kiss every single freckle on your body from head to toe.”
Her brow wrinkled. “You do?”
“Yes, please. Starting with this one.” He leaned in and touched the tip of his tongue to the tiny spot on the edge ofher upper lip, then he gently sucked.
She moaned and leaned in, opening to his kiss. Her hands slid inside his waistband as she moved to unbutton his pants. She got them undone, and he grabbed her hands before she could push them over his hips. His heart jackhammered in his chest, but her gaze was soft and open.
“I don’t care about your scars,” she said. “What I care about most is up here.”She gently tapped his forehead. “The rest is window dressing.”
What she cared about, not loved. But shedidcare. That mattered. He swallowed hard and dropped his hands.
“Have you been totally naked with anyone since…?”
Unable to speak, he shook his head. If there was ever going to be a person he trusted enough, it was Caitlyn. And even though he couldn’t keep her, he would kick himself forthe rest of his life if he didn’t take what she offered him now.
Slowly, she pushed his pants to the floor, leaving his boxers in place. Then, she removed her shorts and panties and stood nude before him, maybe somehow understanding that this was easier if he wasn’t the only one in the room who was vulnerable.
His bag landed on the floor with a thud as he pushed it aside and sat on the bed.Taking off his prosthetic legs wasn’t strictly necessary, but they wouldn’t exactly be soft and cuddly against her skin.
Without looking at her, he released the suction on one socket and removed his right leg, and then repeated with the other one. With his latest flexible socket and carbon-fiber frame, he no longer used liners or socks on his stumps, so he simply rubbed his limbs for few secondsand sat back to look up at her.
She’d seen him like this before, but now she went to her knees before him and his cock jumped at the sight of her naked and kneeling with her luscious lips so close to his lap. “Is there any pain?” she asked. “Can I touch you?”
God, yes. Anytime. “You won’t hurt me.”
With shaky fingers, she rubbed her hands over his thighs, around the puckered scars at the bluntends of his residual limbs, and along his hard-earned quadriceps muscles, through the dark leg hair and up under the edges of his boxers. He could easily succumb to the temptation to close his eyes and lie back, but he stayed seated, mesmerized by the view.
He only had a few more hours with her. He didn’t want to miss a second.
Caitlyn’s cool fingers on his skin were heavenly. His breath camefaster, and she carefully tugged on the front of his underwear, prodding him to lift his hips so she could remove it. And then her hands were covering his erection, stroking firmly and driving him out of his mind.
Reaching down, he pulled her on top of him and lay back, kissing her mouth, her chin, her neck, nibbling at her shoulders and licking his way down her chest until he suckled her nipples,alternating between the sweet pink buds until she arched and gave a low moan. He wanted more. More skin on skin, more heat and friction. More…everything.
Rolling, he trapped her beneath him. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled. He kissed her, exploring her mouth, running his hand down the smooth skin of her stomach and into the slick heat between her thighs. She raised her hips and he foundthe core of her pleasure, stroking until she gasped and shuddered and called out.
“Kurt,now.”
He shifted his position and slid home.
Moving slowly, he sank deeper with every thrust, giving her body time to adjust. She bucked up against him, taking all of him. He lost control, driving into her as she gripped his buttocks, urging him on.
Sweat rolled down his back, tickling the base of hisspine where the tension built. He balanced on his arms, consumed with the addictive sensation of Caitlyn under him, clenching around him. His breath stopped. His chest coiled and then burst apart in a shower of light and sparks behind his eyes as the energy inside him filled the room.
He was in free-fall, as if hurled from a plane, both weightless and plummeting. Pure rush.
