SOMETHING WOKE RAIN. Sleepy and disoriented, she searched the surrounding darkness. The candles had long ago been extinguished. The room was dark but for the moonlight seeping through the gauzy curtains. Brody’s bed, his hard body down the length of her. Her leg thrown over his, her head pillowed on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her back and side.
Brody’s whole body twitched and shook her. He must have done it before and woken her up.
Caught in a nightmare, Brody mumbled in his sleep, his arm tightened around her and his legs kicked and thrashed in the bed. Hating to leave him at the mercy of some awful memory, she scooted up and brushed her fingertips over his forehead and raked them through his hair, crooning, “Brody, honey, wake up for me,” over and over again.
He didn’t respond, but grew more agitated, kicking and flailing his arms. She slid over on top of him, her legs straddling his hips. His hands came up to fight off his imaginary attacker, but she expected something like this, so she dodged his arms and lay down on top of him her mouth finding the pulse in his throat. She licked, her lips sucking gently. She nibbled her way up his throat to his ear and whispered, “Brody, love me.”
She’d swap one kind of dream for another.
Easing back down his chest, her bottom came down and she pressed against him. She rocked her hips and within moments, he was hard beneath her. His breathing slowed and his hands found her thighs, slid up to her hips, and encouraged her to move against his swollen flesh.
“That’s it, baby. Come back to me. Love me.”
She nipped at his chin and brushed her breasts over his chest. Warm, hard, so handsome, she couldn’t help but rub against him, feel his heat seep into her, pool in her lower belly, and spread out like a wildfire across her nerves.
The wood box sat open on the bedside table. She reached in and found another condom. Mapping his body with kisses from the bullet-wound scar high up on his shoulder, over his chest, down his rippled belly, she detoured and found the long scar that ran across his stomach and around his side. She traced it with her tongue, her hands roaming over his chest. Her hair fell in a curtain over him and she sank lower and found his thick erection. Not really knowing what she was doing, she circled the head with her tongue. Brody’s whole body went tense and his fingers dove into her hair, his fingers curling in the strands. Encouraged, she slowly took him into her mouth.
“Ah, God, Rain.”
His voice was sleep husky and ragged. He groaned, and she worked her mouth over his flesh, learning the contours and taste of him with this intimate loving. His big hands combed through her hair, down her neck, and over her shoulders, encouraging her to touch and taste as she pleased.
Desperation in his voice, he called to her in the night, “Rain, baby, I’m so damn close. I want to be inside you.”
Swiftly unwrapping the condom, she slid it over him and crawled back up his body, kissing, nipping, and a love bite on the meaty part of his chest before his hands cupped her face and he drew her to his open mouth. His tongue dove deep. In a frenzy, he pulled her higher so he could take possession of her breast, his tongue sliding over her tight nipple a second before he took the rigid peak into his mouth and suckled deep. One hand on her other breast, teasing and tugging on her nipple, the other slid over her belly, down until his finger thrust into her, nearly sending her over the edge. On her hands and knees above him, he played her body like an instrument, bringing her to soaring heights with his mouth and fingers.
Both desperate for the other, Brody grabbed her hips and brought her down hard. Seated on top of him, she paused just for a second and his hips came off the bed, his cock buried deep inside her. She rocked forward then back and he fell back to the bed, holding her to him as she moved.
His hand moved to where they were joined. She moved over him and his fingers dipped and found that sweet spot. Her head fell back, her hair brushing her skin as she bounced and moved and Brody sent waves of pleasure through her system until she exploded with an intense orgasm, her body contracting around Brody’s. He lifted her and thrust deep, his cock pumping as he groaned long and deep. He settled back into the bed; she fell on top of him completely limp. Her chin rested in the crook of his neck and shoulder, her lips just below his ear. She kissed him softly and fell into a deep sleep with his arms banded around her and their bodies still joined.
The sun’s first light began to take over the night, but that’s not what woke her. Brody spread her thighs wide and entered her achingly slow. Filling her, he pressed his hips hard to hers and stopped moving. Just paused, their bodies locked together.
She opened her eyes just enough to see him staring down at her with such love. His fingertips brushed over her cheek, traced it up to the corner of her eye, where he slipped a strand of hair away from her face.
“You’re so beautiful when you sleep.” He pulled back. She gasped when he almost left her completely. “Soft.” He entered her again in that long, slow invasion that made her sigh. “Warm.” His body moved away and came back into her again and again in that slow, sweet loving. “Mine.” His mouth was warm and wet on her neck, his hand brushing up and down her thigh.
This was the perfect way to wake up in the morning. The man she loved had finally come home. Not only that, he’d come back for her. Her heart felt so full. She put all her heart into making love to him. Her hands roamed up and down his back, her fingers digging in to firm muscles. Their mouths melded, their loving went from leisurely to something more serious and basic, all need and demand.
What had been building between them over the last few minutes exploded through her system. She held tight to Brody’s hips as he thrust into her hard and deep, his jaw locked, head thrown back, and he spilled himself inside of her. His pulsing body deep within hers set off a second wave of ecstasy. Her body contracted around his in sweet aftershocks. He fell on her with a deep groan, his lips pressed against the pounding pulse in her neck.
“You’re lethal,” he said against her skin. His warm breath sending a shiver through her.
She laughed. Eyes closed, she enjoyed having his weight on her, pressing her into the bed. He felt so good, she drew her hands over his tight butt, up his lower back and down again. Satisfied, lazy, and feeling quite content, she lay beneath him in a haze of spent passion.
“You don’t have to touch it just to convince me it doesn’t bother you,” he grumbled, his voice deep and filled with irritation.
Her hands stilled on his hips and lay against his skin. At first, she wasn’t sure what he was talking about. Then, she realized her right hand lay over his damaged hip and thigh. The skin felt rough, rippled in places where the burns had healed into knots and lines of scar tissue.
“Until this moment, I hadn’t realized what I was touching was anything different than touching you. I cannot believe after everything we shared last night and two minutes ago, you could think so little of me. I wouldn’t care if your entire body had been burned. What it looked like, or felt like.” She turned to look at him, eyes ablaze. “What I care about is the terrible pain you must have been in, the pain you’re still experiencing. I wish I could take it away. I wish you believed what you look like doesn’t matter to me. I love you. If you think the scars change that or diminish it in some way, then you don’t understand my love for you, because it has no boundaries. I don’t want there to be anything that keeps us from being completely open and honest with each other.”
Her eyes held his. She hadn’t moved her hands, and she knew he could see the anger in her eyes, feel it in her body beneath his.
“You mean that.”
“You’re damn right I do.”
His forehead touched hers and he kissed her softly. “I’m being stupid.”
“For a smart man, you say some stupid things,” she agreed, and was happy to see a slight smile cross his face.
“I thought when I came back, the scars, my mental state . . . other things would be another black mark against me.”
“I’m not keeping score. I don’t have a blackboard in my mind where I’m ticking off things for and against you.”
“It’s me. It’s just that getting you back is the most important thing I’ve ever tried to do.”
“Mission accomplished. Scars, past deeds, everything between our past and present doesn’t seem to matter more than the fact that I love you. I don’t want to be sad and angry and lonely anymore.”
Brody rolled to his side and kept her pulled close to him. They lay face-to-face. “You’ll never be lonely again, sweetheart. I’m sorry I left you alone to raise our girls. The sacrifices you made, all the hard work and care you’ve put into raising them. They’re beautiful, smart, happy little girls because of you. Autumn is safe and knows she’s loved because of you. I’m sorry and thank you doesn’t seem to be enough to show you how much I appreciate what you’ve done. From now on, you won’t have to do it alone.”
“Good. Because the scariest thing is knowing if Roxy pushed for her parental rights, I’d lose. We can’t lose, Brody. For Autumn’s sake, we have to end this and make sure Roxy never takes Autumn again.”
“We will, sweetheart.” He kissed her forehead and held her close, the morning blooming brightly through the window above them. “We need to get up and go have breakfast with the girls. We’ll talk to Owen this morning and start planning our strategy.”
“Spoken like a true military man going into battle.”
“If we’re dealing with Roxy, you’re damn right it’ll be a battle. She never makes anything easy, and usually makes matters worse.”
“Enough about her. You take a shower, I’ll make the coffee.”
“Deal.” He smacked her on the bottom, threw off the covers, and stood next to the bed stretching his arms high over his head and leaning side to side to stretch his back. When his arms came down, he automatically rubbed his hand over his thigh.
“I don’t know how you could possibly think something so small could take away from how sexy and beautiful you are.” She lay in bed, her eyes devouring every inch of skin stretched over taut, well-defined muscles. The scars and burns were there, but she didn’t really see them as she took in the whole of him.
He turned back to her. This time, no apprehension in the way he moved or in his eyes. “Remind me never to buy you the pair of glasses you so obviously need.” He planted his hands on either side of her shoulders, leaned down and kissed her with such reverence tears came into her eyes. Her hands came up and smoothed over his shoulders. As he stood, her hands slid down his arms until their hands met. He held hers, gave them a squeeze, then walked to the bathroom, completely unfazed by her intent gaze.
She’d helped him get past his uneasiness over his physical injuries. Now, if she could only help him with his anxiety and those terrible nightmares he had when he was both awake and asleep. She’d find a way to bring him peace. She’d surround him with love and family. They’d make a home and a life together.
First, they had to find a way to keep Roxy out of their lives.