Trey pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “Neither of us is twenty anymore. You’re even more of a knockout now than you were then.”
He could make her smile, even now. “You’re besotted and have impaired judgment.”
Propping himself up on one elbow, he skimmed his gaze over her. “I’m the one doing the looking, so my judgment’s the only one that matters in this equation.”
The heat in his eyes was beyond gratifying. She clung to that and to him as she said the rest. “I just don’t want you to be shocked when you see the scars.”
“Scars?” He went very still. “Did Waylan hurt you?”
Recognizing the carefully leashed rage, she cupped his nape, wanting to reassure. “No. No, nothing like that. They’re surgical scars.” Her fingers trembled faintly as she unbuttoned her shirt, tugging it back to reveal the scar slightly below her collar bone. “This was from my PICC line. For chemotherapy. I had breast cancer.”
Voice thick, he murmured her name and lowered his brow to hers. “I could’ve lost you before I even found you again.” He shuddered.
She raked her hand through his hair. “It’s okay. I’m three-and-a-half years cancer-free. But I had a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. The surgeon did a good job, as far as that kind of thing goes, but I just…wanted to warn you what you were getting into.” Some of that was to protect him, but an equal part was a hope that if she warned him, maybe he’d be able to control his reaction, in case he didn’t take it well.
Sandy hadn’t expected to be nervous. She’d made peace with her post surgery body ages ago, and she was grateful to be alive and in remission. It was more than so many others ever got. But she hadn’t shared that body with anyone until him, and she found his opinion mattered a lot more than she wanted it to.
Trey shifted his hold, cradling her face. “I don’t need a warning. I just need you.”
God, she hoped that was true.
He stroked a thumb along her lower lip, making it tingle. “Is there anything that hurts? Anywhere that’s too sensitive or that I need to otherwise be careful of?”
“No. A lot of the nerves were cut in the s
urgery. I’ve regained some sensation, but I’m not sure how much in this particular context.”
“Okay.”
He lowered his mouth to hers, unraveling her anxiety with infinite patience and lingering kisses that left her floating. When he parted her shirt, she gave a little hitch. But Trey only kissed her again, smoothing out the edges of her nerves as he smoothed his hands over her skin. Arousal sparked to life, at once new and intimately familiar. Her body, at least, remembered his touch.
She managed, with Trey’s help, to get his shirt off, and reared up to press a kiss to his chest, then higher, up his throat. He eased off her shirt the rest of the way, holding her close as he nudged down the strap of her bra. His mouth followed it down the slope of her shoulder, her arm, before repeating the motion on the other side. She felt him pinch and release the catch, and held her breath as he drew it away, leaving her chest bare.
Trey bent his head, pressing a reverent kiss between her breasts, over her thudding heart. “You’re beautiful.”
He made her feel beautiful and cherished. Emotion welled up alongside the heat as she accepted the gift of this vibrant, thoughtful man, who’d chosen her, despite everything.
He eased her back again, kissing his way down her torso as he unfastened her jeans and worked them off. His eyes gleamed in the firelight as he took her in from head to toe—scars, stretch marks, and all. “Mine.”
The possessive edge to his voice had heat blooming low. Then his hands slipped between her legs to stoke the flames, and she forgot about anything else. He tortured her with ruthless patience, dragging her just to the edge, then shifting rhythm to drive her higher still, until she was gasping his name, begging. He pressed his fingers deeper and she shattered, the orgasm ripping through her like a storm.
Boneless, she lay before the fire, searching for breath.
“I love your legs,” he said conversationally. “You’ve always had glorious legs.”
“Oh?” she rasped.
He moved lower and picked one up, pressing a kiss to her ankle. “Miles long. I’ve spent so much time imagining them wrapped around me.” As if to demonstrate he slipped between them, hooking her knees over his shoulders.
“Oh.” It came out a squeak as he kissed the tender skin of her inner thighs, his stubble scraping gently, making her tremble. She felt exposed and vulnerable with him down there—and unbearably turned on.
“You’d probably be perfectly scandalized at the things I used to think about doing to you back in college.”
Lifting her head so she could look down her body at him, she threaded her hand in his hair. “Let’s find out.”
Trey smiled, wicked and wonderful. “As you wish.”
She wasn’t scandalized. She was seduced—thoroughly and with no mercy, until she forgot everything but his name and the desperate need he built inside her. When he filled her, she wrapped around him, holding tight as they lost themselves to oblivion.