As he removed his shirt, he recognized his shoulder was going to be a problem. He wouldn’t be supporting his weight with his left arm any time soon.
But there were work-arounds they’d both find satisfying. Fully naked, he stretched out on his back, his erection pointing to the ceiling. She sat to the side with her legs tucked beneath her.
She was more shadow than light, her soft curves a dark silhouette. Beautiful, but he wanted more. “If we close the curtains around the bed, we can remove the towel from the lantern, and I can see you.”
Without a word, she pulled the canvas curtains closed on one side while he closed the opposite. They each grabbed the curtain at the foot and met in the center.
The four-poster had log beams to form a canopy. Between the foot-diameter logs that made up the posts, the five-inch-thick beams, and the king-sized mattress, the bed appeared fit for Paul Bunyan.
Tonight, this bed where they’d first made love would be a haven. An escape from cold and danger. And maybe it would be the start of something real with Audrey.
He grabbed the lantern from the nightstand and placed it on the log headboard, then pulled off the towel, giving their tented bed a soft yellow glow.
The warm light caressed Audrey’s skin. “I wish I’d washed my hair instead of just using a washcloth to scrub myself when I first stepped into this room.”
“Sweetheart, this is an op. Doesn’t matter. And you’re beautiful and perfect just as you are.”
“Is this what all ops are like?”
He snorted. “Hardly.”
“I have to say, I don’t care for it much. Well, except for being with you now. The rest is really scary and feels a bit…lethal.”
“I’d say you get used to it, but the truth is, if you do get used to it, then it’s a problem.”
“I think that’s what happened to George. His year in Vietnam. He got used to it, and it changed forever who he was.”
“That’s true for a lot of Vietnam vets. It’s why they changed how they rotate in soldiers. In Vietnam, a guy was sent in on his own with a three-hundred-sixty-five-day clock. Now a deployment is an entire ship or garrison. And special forces teams serve together, with new members rotating in as others leave.”
Or die.
He shook his head. “Why are we talking about this? I thought we were here to forget for a few minutes.”
“I guess this is part of who we are now too. Like George and Vietnam, this experience is going to change who we are.” She placed a hand on her belly. “You’ve already changed my life completely.”
He smiled at that, the look of serenity on her face as she touched her abdomen. He’d done one thing right in the twenty months since his injury. It had been an accident, but it was right. “I’ve only known about Fig for less than twenty-four hours, and already I can’t wait to hold our baby. Can’t wait to see you holding them.” He rose to his knees. “There’s probably going to be a period of time in which your breasts are going to be off-limits to me, so, if you don’t object, I’d like to lavish them with attention while I can.”
He leaned down and licked a pert nipple and she let out a soft sigh. “No objection, Your Honor.”
He started slow, but weeks of fantasy and two days of adrenaline combined with having her beautiful body in his arms again couldn’t compete with his limited control. It didn’t take long for him to find himself with his face between her spread thighs.
He took a deep breath, the smell of her arousal erasing everything bad from his mind.
He’d dreamed of pleasuring her like this again. Of hearing her shout his name, and now he was improbably here. In spite of everything, she wanted him. And he—he didn’t just want her. He was desperate for her.
He gave in to that desperation and stroked her clit with his tongue. She bucked at the sensation and slid her fingers in his hair, her nails grazing his scalp and sending pleasure up his spine.
He explored her with his mouth, his tongue tracing the contours of her labia before sliding inside her wet heat as she moaned and panted. He lifted his gaze to see her face as he thrust his tongue inside her, then licked his way back to her clitoris. Her eyes were half closed as she peered down at him and made a soft sound of pleasure that swelled his erection to new heights.
The look on her face. The sounds she made. He’d never have believed it possible, but this was even better than November. She was his future. His family.
No matter what happened between them in the future, they would always be family.
Her thigh muscles tightened as he brought her closer to the edge. She panted his name and gave praise to a deity, all while continuing to stroke his scalp.
He abraded her sensitive sex with his tongue, then sucked on the bud until she thrashed against him, letting out a soft shriek that he knew she fought to hold in, lest a SEAL on patrol should hear.
She lay panting, wrecked in the best possible way. Breathtakingly beautiful. Her eyes remained closed as the fingers threaded in his hair shifted and tugged, urging him up. “Inside me. Now. Please.”