Chapter 4-13
429 Words
Laura cracked one eye open. The cabin was lit by only the faintest hint of dawn in the sky. In the Pacific Northwest, summer dawns were a lazy, drawn out affair, casually strolling across the sky, stopping here and there to smell the flowers.
A shadow passed before the window. On this side of the glass. She didn’t need to think to remember. Every blazing second of their lovemaking was crystalline clear. As he had mounted her, later she had mounted him. Not just once either.
She could feel herself blushing in the dark. They’d done things she’d never done before. Most men did what they wanted, and that’s the way it went. With Akbar, even the slightest hint or gentlest pressure had him navigating whole new vistas that were the ones she’d wanted explored.
Calling him “The Great” sounded too remote, too foolish.
“Johnny?” It looked as if he was pulling on a shirt.
“I didn’t want to wake you.”
She felt the breath catch in her throat. Well, what did she expect, bedding the man on their first date together. She’d known what he was when she’d seen him in the restaurant. It had been a long and wild day—and night…and now he was sneaking out. She was torn between saying something sharp and biting or something pitiful like, “Thank you.”
When he moved to sit on the edge of the bed beside her, she still couldn’t speak. His hip brushed against her arm and she could tell that a shirt was all he’d found of his clothes so far and wished he’d found more so she didn’t have to feel him.
“I’m on call today. I have to check on my team, make sure they’re okay and that the plane is all set in case there’s another fire. I need to be on base by dawn, otherwise no way would I be leaving your bed.”
Okay, she was glad she hadn’t said the biting thing. Or the pitiful one.
“I’d love a rematch, Space Ace. Because I’ve certainly never been with a woman like you.”
“Been with a lot of women have you?” she managed a tease in the tone.
“Too many. But none like you.”
“And how many times have you said that before?”
She could make out the outline of his shrug. “Might have said it a few times. Never meant it before. I seem to this time though.”
Laura liked that he didn’t hide who he was. Again, that comfort in his own skin thing. They’d definitely need to talk about that some more.
“How long until dawn?” She knew perfectly well.
She could see his head turn to inspect the uncurtained window.
“Long enough,” he declared and fell on her.
Laura welcomed him with open arms and held onto him for every second she could.
- Writer
