Page 85 of Lucky Charm
“Ooh, please more.” Letting her hands fall to his shoulders, she caressed his skin and let him suck and lick his way from one breast to the other. Burning fire rolled from nipples to womb.
She moved her hands to stroke his back to his ass, then went in search of the scar she’d left with her stitches. The light ridges were smooth under her touch, but Hunt bucked like a man on edge. “Vixen. Wait.”
He slid out of her reach and kissed his way to her navel and across to one hip and then the other,letting his lips linger as his fingers sought the core of her. “God, you’re gorgeous.”
Cait blushed. She leaned and kissed his shoulder above another scar but then dropped that pursuit to spread her legs. “Please, Hunt.”
She would have reached for him to wrap a hand around the length of him, but he moved between her legs. “Nuh-uh. I’m too close to the edge.”
“I need you.” She didn’t even try to stop the tremor in her voice or blink away the sheen of tears. “Time goes so fast.”
“Yes, it does.” He took a second to test her readiness. Satisfied, he shifted and filled her in one thrust.
Wrapping her legs around him, she kissed his face when he came down on top of her with most of his weight.
“Jesus, Cait.”
“Don’t stop now, Hunt.” It was her turn to lick and kiss her way down his neck and across his shoulders. “Let go.”
Groaning, he got impossibly harder inside her, pulled out, then thrust back in. Rocking against him, she let her hands fall to his hips and caught the rhythm. Basking on that plateau for long minutes, every part of her body went hot. Finally, she felt him let go, felt him let his body take him into a hard give and take with hers. Every stroke left her breathless. Every slide caught her pleasure – pushing her higher and higher and higher, until she shattered with a cry.
He pushed into her one last time and climaxed with a long, satisfied moan that held a whisper of her name.
Deeply sated, she held on tight, dreading when he’d pull away to go back to a life where she couldn’t follow him. Not yet.
“You tensed. What’s wrong?”
“I miss you already, and you haven’t even left yet,” she admitted.
He shifted his large body to the side and eased her into his arms, protecting her against his large frame. “I want more time with you, but I can’t.”
She stroked his face, gazing into his eyes. “I know. I’m not asking that of you. I want more, too, but I needed this. Even if it’s only twenty minutes.”
“You’re here for six months.”
“Four now.”
“Okay, four. I’m here another month, maybe more or until we catch IQS. There is a finite end to our time here. Once home, we’ll figure this out.”
“I’m going where you are.” It was as close as she could come to telling him that she was getting out. He hadn’t said he wanted that with her. She assumed because she felt that way.
“What about the Army?”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m done, I think.”
“Because of me?”
“Yes and no. I shouldn’t have come back this time. I wasn’t in a good mental place to be handling what I need to do here. I should have admitted that to my commander, but I wanted to find you. So,then yes, I’m getting out because deep in my gut I can’t do this anymore, and I want you. But you haven’t said whether you want me, too.” She dropped a hand over her eyes, mortified that she’d let that bit of worry out of her mouth.
He lifted her hand from her eyes and kept his fingers circling her wrist. “I’ve done nothing but think of you for a darn long year. Yes, I want you. But I don’t expect you to sacrifice your career after everything you’ve put into it.”
“You are not sacrificing yours either. We can’t both do this, or we’ll have nothing and what could have been will die. I can’t stand the idea of that. It’s not happening. I love you and respect you. Frankly, you’re closer to retirement than I am, and I can be a doctor anywhere. I can join a community and be a resource for veterans, kids, homeless, fire and police, and build my life that way. Honestly, it’s time to start. I can’t come here again. You and I both know the only choice in service is that I volunteered in, and I can volunteer out. The rest has always been the Army’s decision. Whether you and I make it, I will not leave to the dictates of our commands.” Vulnerability seized her throat. Her voice, husky at the end, infuriated her.
He caressed her face. “I don’t think we should be making that decision right now. This is not the place for big decisions.”
“It is this time.” Although she noted the “we,” some part of her couldn’t go all in. Why? Fear. Her usual. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone into this conversation. You have to go.”
Hunt glanced at his watch. “Yeah, I do.” He leaned in and took her mouth with a fierceness that surprised a moan from her. The kiss didn’t speak hot, wet sex. It was an I-give-a-damn-about-you kiss.
