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Chad was trapped. Not in the horrible way that plagued his nightmares. His shattered leg wasn’t caught under a Humvee while Emerson bled to death just out of his reach. Jawa wasn’t a dead weight across his chest. No, this morning he was stuck between a solid wall and a sweet, soft ass, which wouldn’t have been at all bad if he hadn’t been suffering with the most crippling erection of his life.
“Uh, Lindsey?” he said, giving her arm a shake.
She moaned softly and wriggled her hips, settling her delicious backside more securely against his predicament.
God, she smelled good—reminded him of sweet peaches. She felt good too. Warmed his blood. Made him feel alive. And hungry. And sad. She’d never be his. He had nothing to offer her.
“Lindsey?”
“Chad,” she said softly.
The way she murmured his name made his balls ache.
“Lindsey, please.”
“What is . . . ?” She reached behind her, sliding her hand down his hip toward the object poking her in the ass.
Chad’s belly tightened in anticipation, but just before she touched him, she sat up abruptly.
“Oh! God, what did I do?”
He’d never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. The early morning sunshine streamed through the window and highlighted her golden hair. She was all sleep-tousled and rosy-skinned, her blue eyes wide and kissable lips parted. Jesus, was she trying to kill him?
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I was dreaming about you. I didn’t realize I was touching you for real.” She glanced down at his crotch, flushed, and glanced away.
She’d been dreaming about touching him?
“I’ve been so horny lately. I guess it’s the pregnancy.” She laughed softly. “That, or the complete lack of a sex life. Can you forgive me for molesting you in your sleep?”
He sat up beside her and brushed her hair behind her ear. The strands felt like silk against his fingertips.
“I’ve been horny lately too. For the same reason.”
“You’re pregnant?”
She laid a hand on his belly, and his cock jerked in excitement.
“What’s your secret for retaining your trim figure?”
She lifted her head, and their eyes met. The teasing grin faded from her lush lips. He leaned in, his hunger for her driving him to boldness. He expected her to pull away, to push him aside, to laugh in his face for thinking he stood a chance with a beauty like her, but she leaned in as well. He meant for the kiss to be soft and gentle, but the instant his lips brushed hers, the heat between them ignited into an inferno. Her mouth opened to his tongue. He licked her lips and then nibbled them before running his tongue over them again.
She pulled away, her eyes wide with shock. He opened his mouth to apologize for taking advantage of the situation, but she blurted, “My God, you’re a good kisser.” And then she came back for another taste.
He could have kissed her all morning—maybe for the rest of his life—and he’d have been satisfied, but her hand slid down his belly and into his sleep shorts.
“If you don’t want me to,” she said against his mouth, “tell me to stop.”
He wasn’t sure exactly how far she planned to go or what she was going to do, but he’d take anything she was willing to offer. “I want you to.”
When her small hand circled his cock, his breath came out in an excited huff. She stroked his length slowly and gently, her thumb doing things to his cockhead that made him forget how to kiss her properly. He just held his mouth against hers and drew shaky breaths into his lungs. He wanted to touch her back, peel her nightgown from her body and bask in the beauty of her naked body. He wanted to roll her onto the bed beneath him and claim her with deep thrusts as she called his name, but he wasn’t sure she’d want him to do any of those things. Had he been his whole self, he wouldn’t have hesitated. His confidence would have surged at her touch rather than withering. But he wasn’t his whole self. He was less.
“Is this okay?” she asked, still stroking him gently.
“Mmm hmm.”
“Do you want more?”
It was shameful that she had to ask. Of course, he wanted more. Why couldn’t he make a move on her? “Yes.”
“I like it on top,” she whispered in his ear.
When she meant more, she really meant more, and all he could do was nod and settle onto his back as she stood and pulled her nightgown off over her head and slid her panties down her legs. He hadn’t been truly prepared for how exquisite her nude body would be. Unable to take his eyes off her, he worked at removing his shorts with his good hand, but was even worthless at that simple task. She leaned over to assist him, and he was very aware of her hand sliding down his right thigh toward his bandaged stump. When her fingers brushed the top edge of the bandage, he jerked as if she’d stabbed him.
She drew her hand back, and her gaze moved to the injury. “I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”
“No, I . . . just . . .” Don’t look at it. “Hurry, angel. I need you to hurry.”
“Maybe it’s too soon for this. You need more time to heal.”
“My dick was one part of me that escaped all injury.” Lucky him.
He reached for her hand and threaded his fingers through hers, glad when she turned her attention to his face again. He knew that with all the scratches, fading bruises, and forming scars, his face didn’t look much better than the goddamned stump. “I need you. Not time to heal or you worrying about me. You. That’s all I need. You, angel.”
She placed a knee on the bed next to his hip and straddled his lap. He shrugged the sling aside, his shoulder protesting only slightly as he rested his hands on her thighs. His breath stalled in the back of his throat as she used her hand to guide his flesh to join with hers. He sucked more air into his already full and aching lungs, lashes fluttering as she surrounded him in rapture.
A moan escaped her as she sank down on him. “God, you feel good,” she said breathlessly. “I need this so bad.”
This, she’d said. Not him. Any cock could have satisfied her needs, while only she could satisfy his. It would have to be enough for now.
Chad arched into her and gave her another inch.
She licked her lips and took his hands in hers, guiding them from her thighs to her chest.
“My breasts have changed so much,” she said, “I’ve wondered if . . .”
His thumbs rubbed over the darkened tips, and they hardened instantly. Her breasts were heavy and round in his palms as she released his hands to explore his chest and shoulders.
“You’re so gorgeous,” she said, lifting her hips, her pussy drawing pleasure up his length as she shifted.
“You’re an angel,” he said, unable to take his eyes off her as the morning light filtered in through the window above them and lit her golden hair in otherworldly beauty.
“An angel?” She chuckled, her fingertips bumping over the muscles of his chest. “A naughty one maybe.”
“That’s the best kind.”
He’d been right. She was all he needed at that moment. What came next didn’t matter. This moment. Now. He could live for now without the past rushing up to smash him down or worries of the future crushing him further. Lindsey was his now.
The little breathless sighs that huffed from between her parted lips made him want to give her more, so much more. He’d never been the kind of lover who just lay there and took it. He wanted to participate. He wanted to make her moan. And beg. And come completely undone by the things he did to her body. Wanted all of that, but couldn’t quite find the confidence to make it happen.
You’re a goddamned loser, Marine! He wasn’t sure why his drill sergeant from boot camp was suddenly yelling through his memory. His shoulder was starting to ache from holding Lindsey’s breasts, but he wasn’t about to let that stop him. He pinched her nipples, and her body jerked. He rubbed her nipples with his thumbs and when she relaxed, pinched them again. What he really wanted to do was soothe them with his mouth—licking and sucking, nibbling when she didn’t expect it. He dropped his elbows to the mattress and pushed himself upright. His shoulder protested, and he felt unbalanced by the shift in weight, but he wasn’t going to think about what he wanted to do, he was going to fucking do it. He’d give every task his all, like he’d always done.
When he sucked the tip of one of her breasts into his mouth, her back arched, and she moaned, her hands shifting to hold the back of his head. He loved the feel of her swollen belly against his, even though it served to remind him that she’d been with others, including his own brother.
“That feels amazing,” she whispered. “Can you . . . Harder, please.”
The harder he sucked, the faster she rose and fell over him, the louder she moaned. He squeezed her ass and shifted his mouth to her other breast. She curled around him, kissing his head, grinding her hips. God, she felt good. He wondered how she tasted. He wrapped his arms around her back and turned her, pressing her down on the mattress. His shoulder and leg protested the sudden shift in movement, but as he took over, the rest of him cried out in triumph. His leverage felt a bit off, but he soon figured out how to use his knee and what remained of his right leg to help him thrust deep.
“Chad,” Lindsey cried out to him. “Yes.”
He grabbed her hips to hold her firmly as he forced himself deeper and then ground into her, wanting her to have every inch he had to offer.
“Oh God,” she said, lifting her head to look at him as if she couldn’t believe he was capable of fucking her right. “So good,” she murmured, dropping her head back onto the bed.
Good? He always strove for perfection. Good wasn’t what he was going for here.
She moaned when he pulled out and lifted her head again to watch him as he shifted down her body. Her sexy belly broke their eye contact when he settled his shoulders between her splayed legs and sampled his first taste of her.
Mmm. So sweet.
He swirled his tongue around her opening, satisfied when her cries of excitement reached a fevered pitch and her thighs began to quiver. He shifted his mouth to her clit and sucked her to orgasm, every sound she made a testament to his search for normalcy. He licked her center as she quaked through her release, and then he crawled back up her body to enter her once more.
Her body had fully awakened to his. She matched his rhythm, rocking into his thrusts as he sought release. He should probably make this last; it might be their only time together. But she felt so good, he couldn’t have calmed his frenzied strokes even if he’d wanted to.
This was something he could still do and do well. Something that made him feel like a man, almost whole again. He kissed her as he let go, filling her with more than his cum as he quaked in ecstasy, taking more than pleasure as he found release. When the ripples of bliss faded, he tugged his mouth away from hers, settling his face in the crook of her neck, and worked at catching his breath.
“Wow,” she said with a breathy laugh. “And I thought your brother was good in bed.”
A place deep inside Chad whimpered in protest. Since Owen had been with her first, she would probably always compare him to his brother. There wasn’t anything he could do to change that, but maybe he could make her forget Owen.
“Lindsey?” Owen called at the top of the stairs, as if to prove that reaching his goal wasn’t likely.
Lindsey stiffened and scooted up the mattress. Chad’s spent cock slipped from her warmth. There was no way in hell he could make her forget Owen. Not when she was living with him.
A knock sounded on a door upstairs. “Lindsey? Don’t you have a doctor’s appointment this morning?”
“Shit!” Lindsey said, scrambling from the tangled sheets. “We have to be careful, or we’re going to get caught.”
Chad wouldn’t mind that one bit, but he understood why she’d be embarrassed. She collected her nightgown from the floor and slipped it over her head.
Heavy footsteps clunked down the steps. “Lindsey?” Owen called. “Are you down here?”
“Just checking on Chad,” she called.
“Can I come in?” Owen asked from outside the door.
“It’s your house,” Chad said.
Lindsey reached for her panties, but the doorknob was already turning, so she kicked them under the bed.
She smoothed her tangled hair and glanced over at the bed to find Chad lounging, propped on one elbow, his happy cock still exposed and the remnants of their activities clearly evident on the sheets. Explain this to my little brother, he thought defiantly. She cringed and jerked the sheet over him and the wet spot just as the door opened.
“How are you feeling this morning?” Owen asked Chad, hardly sparing Lindsey a glance.
“Much, much better, thanks to Lindsey.”
“She’s a good caretaker,” Owen said.
“The best.” The flush on her checks, her swollen lips, and her taste still on his lips had Chad already craving a little more of her care.
“I need to get in the shower,” Lindsey said. She turned to Owen. “Can I borrow your Jeep today?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. If I need to go anywhere, I can use Caitlyn’s Camaro.”
Chad noticed how Lindsey flinched at Caitlyn’s name. Or maybe she just really hated General Motors. He preferred sporty foreign cars, himself.
“I can’t wait until I get my car back,” she said. “Even if it is a piece of junk.” She offered Chad a soft smile before leaving the room.
When her footsteps faded up the stairs, Owen closed the door.
“Do you really think screwing her was a good idea?” Owen asked.
So apparently the sight of Chad’s cum-wet cock wasn’t necessary for Owen to figure out what they’d been up to.
Chad shrugged and sat up, bunching the sheet around his naked waist. “Felt like a good idea.”
“She’s easy, Chad.”
“So?” He happened to like that about her. He didn’t have the energy for games.
“She’s pregnant.”
“Hard to overlook that when she’s naked. Are you jealous?”
Owen hesitated for just a second before blurting, “Why would I be jealous? I could have her if I wanted her.”
“Now that she’s experienced the more talented Mitchell brother, I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” Chad grinned and found his shorts caught on the edge of the mattress. He slipped into them, noting that such a task, which had seemed daunting only days ago, had already become second nature.
Owen laughed and punched him in the shoulder. “You do seem more like your old self this morning.”
Mentally, maybe, but he was still acutely aware of his physical shortcomings. He planned to do everything in his power to minimalize those as well. “Are you going to the gym today?”
“I’d planned to, but if you want to do something else . . .”
The sound of water draining from the bathroom upstairs made Chad wish he could rush up the steps and join Lindsey in the shower.
“No, I want to go with you. Would you mind wheeling me along?” Chad asked. He had a powerful need to build more muscle, since Lindsey had been so appreciative of what remained of his once impressive physique.
Owen smiled. “Not at all. I’d love a workout buddy.”
“I don’t plan to take it easy on you.”
“Best news I’ve heard all day.”
“I got laid is the best news,” Chad assured him, maneuvering himself up off the bed and hopping toward the door. He had to steady himself on Owen’s arm as he passed him, but hopping beat sitting in that damned wheelchair by a mile. He didn’t have everyone looking down at him when he stood on his own one foot. And where his heart once raced at the mere thought of hopping, it was already becoming second nature. Still, there were much better ways to get around. “I wonder how long I’ll have to wait for a prosthetic leg.” They’d told him it would be when the swelling eased enough that they could make a good mold for the fitting, but he didn’t know when that would be. He’d like to be able to circle a date on the calendar.
“Knowing you, it won’t be long,” Owen said, not rushing to open the door for Chad.
Chad loved the little shit for understanding his need to feel capable.
“I still can’t believe you nailed her,” Owen said, shaking his head.
“It was more like she nailed me,” he admitted. “At first. But I took charge after I stopped feeling useless.” And he’d never let that feeling take command of him again.
