He slid in.
Full, thick pressure filled her, stretched her. The pleasure of it, after so long without, shimmered to an almost painful intensity, and she screamed her release into his mouth.
Gray's shoulders tensed beneath her palms. His eyes opened wide.
She stared back for at least ten racing heartbeats, joined, connected, throbbing, neither of them moving.
Deep within her, she felt him, wanted more of him. Her hands trembled on his back. Had he meant to be here, inside her? "Gray?"
He tore himself from her, growling as he flung himself onto his back. Air washed over her body, nearly freezing her, disappointment finishing the job. Just when she thought she would die from the loss, the hurt, he reached for her. Gray gathered her to his side with hands far from steady, reassuring her that all was not lost.
Her fingers skipped a determined path down his chest. "Come on, flyboy. Don't crash and burn on me now."
His chest pumping, he turned to her. A pained smile stretched his face. One of his shaking hands swept back Lori's hair from her face. "Hold on while I regain control of the jet. She's quite a handful today."
Her fingers walked lower. "I'll say."
Gray's eyes slid closed as he groaned, his fist knotting in her hair. "Lori, slow down, hon. You're killing me here. I need to think."
Forget slowing and thinking. Reason could well land their feet back on the floor. "Wanna play wounded Allied pilot and saucy French nurse?"
"Only if I get to be the pilot this time."
Laughing, Lori rolled on top of him, enjoying the lazy trek of his fingers down her spine. "I'm willing to negotiate."
Sex with Gray had always been fun, and she'd missed it. More than she could have imagined. "Please don't say you like me too much to finish this time. I might well have to hurt you."
"No intentions of stopping, hon. I believe we're both way past that right now." He cupped her hips in his hands, keeping her a safe distance above him. "Just taking care of details first."
"Details?"
"Birth control."
"Birth control?" Old arguments stampeded over her. His refusal to consider marriage. Her need for children to love. Her decision to go on the pill to buy them both time to think and explore their feelings.
"Are you still on the pill?" he asked, a desperate edge darkening his words as his grip tightened on her hips.
She'd begun taking them just before their breakup, and had promptly thrown them in the trash after. Eating an entire bowl of raw cookie dough hadn't come close to making her feel better as she'd stared across the room at the wastebasket where she'd pitched her pills and dreams.
Lori flipped onto her back. "I'm not on the pill."
"O-kay." He slung an arm over his forehead as he rushed on, "Condoms, then. Or a diaphragm's fine. No diseases here."
Of course she didn't have any, either. Abstinence had ensured that. It also fostered a lack of readily available birth control. "There's nothing here, Gray. No birth control."
His cheeks puffed on a heavy exhale as he straightened his clothes. "I'll just run to the store—"
"No."
He sagged back. "Okay."
What? She could barely breathe, think, talk, and he gave up with a simple "okay."
"Okay? That's it?" She slugged his arm, hard. "You could at least argue with me! Pretend to be disappointed, you damn jerk!"
The seasoned warrior rubbed his arm with an exaggerated grimace. "Why should I be disappointed? It doesn't have to be over."
Were all men jackasses? Or just this one man she had the unfortunate luck to want more than air? Lori turned away.