Tough Luck (A-List Security 1)

“Kiss me,” he demanded, gazing up at me. And my whole life, I’d waited for someone to look at me exactly like that, like I held the key to his universe, like this was special, like it meant something. That was it. The thing that had been missing before. Meaning. This had meaning, more than I could think about right then. My chest ached, and there was no way I could do anything other than kiss him with everything I had. The more I kissed him, the faster he moved his hand until he broke the kiss, head tipping back. “Fuck. Tell me you’re close.”

I was, and it said something about his sorcery that I hadn’t even realized how close. “I am. God. Cash.”

Arching my back, I braced my hands on his powerful thighs behind me, giving myself up to the pleasure. I fucked up into his fist, so close shudders raced through me.

“That’s it. Come on me.” The way he seemed to want my orgasm as much as I wanted his lifted me higher and higher. And his hot eyes never left my face, even as he urged me on with fast, tight strokes and his honeyed voice. “Danny. Yes. That’s it.”

Somehow, he knew I was coming before I did, groaning low and deep as I erupted all over his fist, dripping over his cock, and pleasure washing over me. It felt both familiar and brand-new, truly sharing this with someone. I forced my eyes to stay open so I could see him go too. Didn’t take much. A few more passes of his slick hand, jerking my hyper-sensitive cock against his, making me moan all over again, and then he was coming too. “Danny.”

“Fuck. I think I love my name now.” Laughing, I collapsed against his chest. “You can call me whatever you want as long you promise we can do that again.”

“Promise.” He held me tight. “That was…something else. Felt like an out-of-body experience.”

“Maybe it was.” Still chuckling, I kissed his neck. “I can’t feel my fingers.”

“Sorry.” He loosened his grip on me and rubbed my arms. “Damn. Now I really do need that shower.”

“Later.” I rolled enough to grab a towel from near my shaving kit bag and made a halfhearted effort at cleanup until he took over and did a more thorough job. Settling back down on him, I yawned. “Sleepy now.”

“You win. Shower later.” Running a hand through my hair, he kissed my ear. “You sleep. I should warn you though, I’m a pretty damn light sleeper. I’ll try not to wake you up if insomnia or bad dreams hit. Hazard of having seen too much action. Sorry.”

His voice was sheepish like he needed to apologize for his battle scars. It was maybe the first time he’d admitted to anything negative connected to his service. And another reminder of how much he’d given up, how hard he’d driven himself to reach his warrior goals. My heart felt ready to leap out of my chest, stretching hard toward him.

I raised my head so I could meet his gaze. I didn’t have the right words, but I tried to tell him with my eyes how much I wanted to take care of him, the way he kept taking care of me. “You can wake me up. Anytime.”

“Thanks.” The solemnness of his tone said maybe he’d received my silent message. I hoped so. There wasn’t much I wouldn’t do to keep Cash safe, all of him, including that big, soft heart he tried so hard to keep hidden.

Chapter Twenty-One

Cash

Sunlight woke me, which was a fucking novelty in my universe. Sound machines. Exercise. Vitamins. Visits with a navy psych. Nothing had helped my sleep issues as much as holding Danny. He was like the perfect combo of teddy bear and heated blanket.

Not that I was totally cured. I'd had a stretch of being awake in the middle of the night, but listening to Danny breathe was meditative enough to eventually lull me back to sleep. The heavy stack of quilts we were snuggled under also seemed to help. Maybe I'd have to look into weighted blankets or something like that when we were back in civilization and I didn’t have a Danny in my bed.

I didn’t like thinking that far ahead. We were here now, and he was warm and cuddly and in a super good mood thanks to an early morning repeat of last night’s orgasm fest. The shower was big enough for us to squeeze in together to conserve the limited hot water supply. And now he kept touching me while we were making breakfast. He reminded me of this great dog I’d had growing up who’d loved attention so much and would always do tricks trying to earn more.

Luckily, I enjoyed petting Danny so to speak, on a level I really hadn’t expected. Teaching him to make bacon and eggs from the supplies we’d bought in town satisfied something deep inside me, the way he hovered nearby, paying close attention and eager to try flipping an egg.