Page 26 of Kissing Kayley
I finally set my phone aside, closed my eyes, and eventually drifted to sleep with Kayley tightly snuggled in my arms.
Then the sound of bombs awakened me. I looked around to find myself in a long, dark hallway with no sign of Kayley anywhere. I ran, the hallway stretching ahead of me into an impossibly endless distance as I screamed for her. About that time, the floor turned into glue that started encasing my feet in its sticky grasp. Then I heard Kayley’s firm voice close by in the darkness?—
“Vic. Wakeup.”
My eyes popped open to find our room cast in gray, dim early-dawn light and Kayley sitting up, her hands on my shoulders, shaking me.
It took me a moment, between my thundering pulse and confusion as I shed the vestiges of sleep, to process it’d been nothing but a nightmare.
“Shit,” I muttered.
She sighed, one hand coming to rest in the middle of my chest. “You been having nightmares again and didn’t tell me? I thought we had a deal?”
I rubbed my eyes, shaking my head. “No. That’s the first one in a couple of months.” I forced my shallow, ragged breaths into a slow, deliberate pattern.
Kayley laid down again, snuggling in the crook of my shoulder, one arm draped over my chest. “Probably triggered because of yesterday. It’s barely 5:00 local time. Let’s try to grab some more sleep, okay?”
“Okay,” I hoarsely agreed, tilting my head to the side to deeply inhale the sweet scent of her hair.
She quickly fell asleep again as I laid there with the hazy vestiges of the nightmare slowly dissolving in my brain.
My nightmares had improved over the years but had cranked up with a vengeance once Kayley and I started dating. Usually,the first night we spent together after time apart, I had some version of a nightmare revolving around not being able to protect her. Then, in the weeks following us being together, I’d have several nightmares a week.
My little psychologist was as astute as her older brother. Once she’d identified the pattern, she’d worked with me using EMDR therapy and meditation techniques that greatly helped.
Not to mention it kept it out of my official jacket, so my superiors had no knowledge of the issue. And no, I hadn’t experienced a nightmare in a while.
I’ve never lost a protectee but during my second year as an agent in PPD, I’d been involved in a serious wreck when one of the motorcycle officers escorting our motorcade had a tire blow out, throwing him into the path of the SUV I was riding shotgun in with the protectee, a Senator in their fourth term who’d been receiving death threats.
The sound of the officer’s body landing on the hood and smashing into the windshield will never leave my mind. Me, the driver, and our protectee in the backseat all screamed as the driver managed to stop the vehicle without wrecking or running over the officer.
Fortunately, the officer survived despite his gruesome life-threatening and career-ending injuries. The last time I’d seen him, at an unofficial gathering of agents past and present, he was using a power wheelchair. While he wasn’t completely paralyzed, it caused him too much pain to stand or walk for any length of time.
I’d undergone mandated counseling because of the incident and I’d downplayed the nightmares I’d had in the weeks immediately following the accident. With time they’d eased, maybe only one or two a month, usually when I was exhausted and stressed and barely hanging on by a thread due to work.
I drifted off at some point and later awakened alone in bed to the smell of coffee and the soft strains of Vince Guaraldi playing over Kayley’s Bluetooth speaker.
“There he is.” The bed dipped on my other side and Kayley leaned in for a good-morning kiss, wearing nothing but one of my T-shirts.
I pulled her in for a second kiss, rolling on top of her, my lips slanted over hers and lingering, savoring, exploring.
This. Mornings likethisI lived for, and if I thought too hard about them, it’d be easy to say fuck-it and file for retirement.
My erection brushed against her thigh as she spread her legs, wrapping them around my waist. She reached down and notched me against her pussy and I easily slid inside to find her wet and ready.
We both softly moaned and I paused once I bottomed out, never breaking our kiss.
Yes, moments likethisI absolutely savored. With no other factors to consider, I could easily throw away everything just for the chance to be with her.
I lifted my lips just enough. “I love you, baby,” I whispered.
Her fingers played with the hair on the back of my head while her other arm hooked under and around mine. Her lips quirked in a beautiful, playful smile. “Love you, too, mister. Glad you finally woke up. I was thinking I might have to start sucking your cock to get your attention.”
I kissed her again, Kayley eagerly kissing me back as I slowly thrust. No way in hell would I rush this perfect moment.
Especially not after the clusterfuck of the past twenty-four hours.
The first night in Yellowstone when we’d hooked up, something in my soul had told me this connection between us was different in a way that had nothing to do with how we were brought together.
