Dean didn’t let go of me for a few minutes. He stayed buried deep inside me as we both tried to catch our breaths. The water that had been hot from my first shower and lukewarm when he turned it on was now running cold.
“You’re so damn beautiful.” He threaded his fingers through my hair and kissed me, long and deep.
I sighed into his mouth and melted in his arms. Years of waiting and wanting him led us to this point.
“Nora, have you seen Dean?” We both froze at the sound of Drew’s voice from the other side of the door.
“Run,” Dean whispered by my ear, and I knew what he meant.
I cleared my throat. “I don’t know,” I called out, my voice shaky. “I think he may have gone for a run, maybe?”
“Probably. If you see him before I do, tell him to meet me at the beach by the volleyball courts. I’ll keep trying his number.”
“Will do,” I called out as Dean lowered my legs from around his waist.
We heard footsteps receding down the stairs as Drew walked away. “That was close,” I whispered as I leaned my forehead onto Dean’s muscular chest.
“Yeah, but they are eventually going to know. I just don’t want to be buried in you balls deep when they find out.”
I bit my lip to stifle my giggle with Drew in the house. “We should get cleaned up and get downstairs.”
“I know. I’m dreading it though.” He sighed, putting his arms around me and kissing the top of my head.
“Why? Are you regretting what we did?” I looked up and met his eyes.
He gave me a smirk. “Hell no, Honey. I meant what I said. You’re mine. I am dreading it because I will be beside you and not be able to touch or kiss you until we tell everyone.”
Relief flooded through me. “Are you nervous about that?”
“Yeah. You know how my relationship is with Dad under normal circumstances. I don’t want to rip our family apart, but I also don’t want to be away from you anymore.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think my mom will mind, and Drew won’t care as long as we are both happy. I mean, it’ll disgust him, but he won’t care.” I smiled up at him. “I love you, Dean Foster. I have since I first met you, and I don’t care who knows it.”
“I love you, Nora. Always have. Always will.”
We spent a few more minutes washing off, that had more to do with groping and kissing than it did with the actual chore of getting cleaned up. By the time we turned the water off, it had passed ice cold and gone to downright frigid. But I didn’t care because I had Dean.
CHAPTER12
DEAN
It had been hard keeping my hands and eyes off Nora before I knew her taste. Now, it was damn near impossible.
Dad took us out to the local steakhouse to celebrate my being home. I was sitting between Drew and Dad, but I really wanted to be next to Nora. I had to accept the fact that I was sitting across from her. It gave me the perfect excuse to look at her, and several times I caught her eyes and she’d blush faintly before looking away.
God, she was so damn beautiful. She had no clue how much I fucking wanted her again. My cock was aching to be in her. I didn’t want steak or dessert. I would happily eat MREs for my homecoming feast just so I could have time with her.
“Have you made your mind up what you’re going to do?” Drew asked when Dad started talking with Evelyn, who was sitting on his other side.
“Yeah.” I nodded and picked up the beer in front of me. “I’m coming home. I’m not going to reenlist, so I have no damn clue what I’m going to do when I get here, but I’m coming home.”
“It’s about damn time.” Drew grinned.
I looked at Nora and saw her eyes misty and a smile on her face. She was happy, and I was going to do my damnedest to keep her that way for the rest of my life.
“Maybe now that you are coming home, you can meet up with that girl you’ve been writing.”
“You’ve been writing a girl?” Evelyn asked, joining in the conversation.
