“I don’t want you anywhere near him, but after everything you told me it’s clear the general is hiding something, and if I had to guess, Matt knows what that is. So, yes, I will suffer through watching you with another man if it means we figure out whatever shady shit has been going on since I left,” he states with no room for argument.
“And you’re not going to get mad at me?” she asks innocently, crawling her way back over to his side.
“For doing your job? No, love, I won’t get mad at you,” Riley says, gritting his teeth as he lifts his arm in the air, giving Liz an opening to snuggle into. “We should probably round up the guys and let them know what’s been going on.”
“Will things ever calm down?” Liz asks with a sigh. The non-stop action was great at first, keeping her mind off her awful past, but after almost losing Riley, she wishes things could be normal for them. A normal life, doing normal, mundane activities instead of fighting literal terrorists.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to complain, especially aftereverything you have been through. I just thought, when we finally admitted we were in love, we would get time to be a real couple without all the world ending drama. I was so fucking scared I lost you. You were being tortured just nine days ago. Tortured, Ry, and now you are jumping right back into the fight.”
“No matter what, we are a real couple. We are going to go on dates, watch movies together, go grocery shopping, anything any other couple would do, and you are going to move your shit back in here so we can live together.” His arms wrap tighter around her body, holding her as close as his sore muscles will allow. “If it will make you feel better, we can keep everything between us for a few days.” He pulls her closer, placing a sensual trail of kisses up her neck. His fingers dig in harder when a breathy moan escapes her. “We can stay in bed,” he moans into her skin, placing more kisses along her jaw. “I can do everything I imagined doing to you while I was gone.”
“As incredible as that would be, you are not even close to healed and–”
His mouth captures hers before she can finish the thought.
She melts for him, opening her mouth to let his tongue sweep in. His stubble scratches against her chin as he deepens the kiss, pulling her tighter. Callused hands roam her body, goosebumps forming wherever he touches. Their breathing turns heavy, no longer able to hold back.
Riley ignores the searing pain in his shoulders. He pushes himself up enough to pull the shirt over Liz’s head, tossing it to the ground before his mouth finds hers once more. He deepens their kiss, tongues swirling like they would never get the chance again.
Liz wiggles out of her pants, her mouth never leaving his. A large hand grips her thigh, the mix of pain and anticipation sends a wave of pleasure coursing through her body as he forces her tostraddle him. She lets out a deep moan into his mouth, feeling how much he wants this. He lifts her just enough to shove his pants down, setting her back on top of him, chest rumbling with groans of pleasure the moment he feels how wet she is.
Liz pulls herself back from him. Sitting up, she rocks her hips against his firm body. Trembling hands dig into the soft skin of her legs. After so long apart, they both know this won’t last much longer. She lowers herself onto him, grinding her hips until he is lined up with her.
“I can’t take it anymore, baby. I need you more than I need air to breathe,” he moans against her neck. His arms wrap around her waist, holding her close as she sinks back onto him. A breathy gasp escapes her as she takes him in, not stopping until she is fully seated against him. The bite of pain paired with the intense pleasure of him filling her threatens to send her over the edge.
“Fuck,” she moans into his ear. “It’s too good, Ry. I can’t take any more.” Liz breathes, squeezing her legs together in an attempt to stop even the slightest of movements.
Ignoring her pleas, Riley’s hands circle her hips, lifting just enough to pull back before slamming himself into her over and over again. Every deep thrust has her moaning in his ear, sending him careening toward release. He can feel it, her body tensing, growing tighter around him with every stroke. He doesn’t let up, relentlessly fucking her until her entire body shakes with her orgasm.
Waves of pleasure wash over him as he gets his, too, not stopping until Liz collapses against him in a sweaty pile, fighting to catch her breath.
He picks up her head, kissing her again, gentle this time, savoring her soft lips brushing against his before she slides off of him, settlingagainst his side.
Liz knows they don’t have long to simply exist together before Mikey comes home or the doctor arrives to check on Riley. Liz pulls the blanket over them, snuggling back into his side. She is content to stay wrapped in his arms until someone shoos them apart. Until then, she is staying put.
CHAPTER 16
True to his word, they spend the following days together, ignoring all the problems festering around them. Every day Riley’s doctor comes in to check on his progress, and every day Liz feels lighter hearing how much better he is doing.
Twelve days ago he was held in a terrorist camp, being sliced open and strung up by the skin of his back like a sick show, and now, he is able to move around the apartment with minimal pain, so long as he does not strain his upper body. A task he claims is easier said than done every morning when he wakes up next to Liz.
She had broken her promise to move her things back in, the fresh blood seeping through his crisp white bandages after they lost control was too much for her. Liz may spend every night in his bed, but she refuses to move back in until the doctor cleared him for strenuous activity.
He pestered the nurse who came today, begging to be cleared, trying to convince him that his injuries are nothing more than paper cuts, not deep gashes and tears in his muscles that need time to piece themselves back together. Whatever he said when Liz stepped out must have worked, because the moment the nurse leftRiley pulls her through the adjoining bathroom, into the other bedroom, and begins grabbing at anything he thinks is hers.
“That’s not mine,” Liz says, giggling as she watches Riley, hunched over trying to pull the fairy lights off the bottom bunk. Crawling back out, he looks at the bed, eyes darting from the bottom bunk to the top then back to the bottom, brows knit in confusion.
“Mikey gave me a card and told me to go nuts, and I could decorate how I wanted. So, I wanted him to feel like a pretty princess,” she says, a smug smile plastered on her face.
“That’s it? I thought you would have fought about the card more,” he says, marching to the dresser and digging through drawers. One thing he can’t mess up is knowing what clothes belong to who.
“Why would I fight about it?” she asks, puzzled. When he doesn’t respond, she pulls the card from her wallet, turning it over in her hand, unable to figure out what is wrong with accepting it.
“You’re right, you wouldn’t. These yours?” he asks, holding up a silky pair of cow print pants long enough to reach her chin.
It isn’t until the third time the card gets turned over, just before she gives up and places it back in its designated slot, that she sees it. There, in silver embossed letters is a name that is not entirely hers.Liz Corson.
Her fingers brush the raised name while she wonders to herself how she could have missed that when Mikey first gave it to her.
