Page 72 of Fire and Rain
He stayed with her until her orgasm had passed, leaving her breathless. She opened her eyes, watched as he situated himself between her thighs, her gaze meeting his.
His expression was strained, his cock jutting upward. “Are you sure, Eden?”
Her heart melted at his thoughtfulness. “I want you.”
She wrapped her thighs around him, reached down, and guided him into her, moaning as he buried himself inside her, stretching her, filling her completely. “Oh, yes.”
Then he began to move, thrusting into her with strong, silky strokes that rekindled the ache inside her. She fought the impulse to close her eyes and instead watched him. It turned her on to seehimso turned on, to see on his face the pleasure it gave him to be inside her. His jaw was tight, his chest rising and falling with each breath, perspiration beading at his temples, his abs flexing as he drove himself into her.
Then his eyes drifted shut. “Geezus, Eden. You feelsogood.”
Slippery friction. The rocking of the bed with each forceful thrust. Pleasure building inside her.
He opened his eyes, caught her watching him—then reached down to tease her clit.
And just like that she was hurtling toward the edge once again, orgasm claiming her in a rush of bliss. But this time she wasn’t alone. Body shaking, Sean withdrew from her and finished himself, groaning through gritted teeth as he came on her belly.
* * *
Sean floated somewherebetween heaven and earth, his body replete, his mind empty. Eden’s head rested against his chest, her fingers trailing along the ridges of his abs. He could still taste her, her scent all over him, the aftershock of bliss not yet faded.
“Are you okay?”
He was so strung out on her that it took him a minute.
He grinned. “I just made love with the most beautiful woman on Kodiak Island, and it blew my mind.”
“That’s not what I meant. Are you okay?”
“I know.” He tried to put his emotions into words. “Earlier today, I yelled in Dalton’s face that I wasn’t sleeping with you, and now I am. I went against military norms and broke a promise to myself. More than that, I just had sex with you in the bed you once shared with my best friend. I ought to hate myself.”
“Please don’t. You don’t deserve that.”
“I only said Ioughtto hate myself, but the truth is, I don’t.”
“What do you feel?”
He thought for a moment, tried to put a name on it. “Happiness.”
But it was more than that. Eden had offered him absolution, and he’d taken it. For the first time in five months, he felt …peace.
“What you said earlier about Justin not leaving an unconscious patient behind—I never thought about that. It was my job to keep him safe. I told him to get out of there. Since then, I’ve hated myself for not doing my job. I believed that if I’d tried harder and called to him to abandon ship sooner, he might still be here.”
“That’s survivor’s guilt talking. You did all you could, Sean. Justin made a choice. Even the Coast Guard report states that you followed regs and did all you could. In case you’ve forgotten, you came close to being killed that night, too.”
Sean remembered those terrible hours after the explosion—the shock of it, the disbelief, the pain, the grief. “As they were rolling me to the ambulance, my last thought before I lost consciousness was of you. For some reason, I had it in my head thatIwas the one who would have to tell you that Justin was dead. I guess I was really out of it. But just the thought of having to tell you, of having to face you, nearly broke me.”
“Oh, Sean, I’m so sorry.” She rolled onto her belly, one palm on his chest, her beautiful eyes looking into his. “I’m so glad you were spared having to do that. Youneverhad any reason to worry that I might blame you. When I heard you’d been badly injured and were in a Life Flight plane to Anchorage, I asked my family to pray for you. I was terrified I’d lose you, too.”
“Thanks. I didn’t know.” But what about her? Eden had just had sex with a man other than Justin for the first time since his death. “How areyou?”
“I’m happy.” She smiled down at him. “Is it strange to be with you in this bed? A little. But I’ve spent five long months sleeping alone and reminding myself that Justin will never come home. Now, I’m with the hottest AET on Kodiak Island, and he’s fan-fricking-tastic in bed.”
Yeah, that didn’t hurt Sean’s ego one bit.
He smoothed strands of dark hair off her cheek. “To be fair, there are probably fewer than twenty AETs at Air Station Kodiak. That’s like being the hottest guy in the hardware store.”
She laughed, the sound like liquid sunshine. “What I said holds. You’re the hottest—and you’re incredible in bed. That thing you did with your mouth when you were going down on me. What was that?”
