Unraveled

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Gray

EM>THIS WAS ONLY TEMPORARY,EM I reminded myself, as Samantha so sweetly kissed me back. I'm only here for a short time. But as I felt her tongue stroke the side of my tongue, as she nipped her teeth against my lip, I wanted to just drown in the sensation. Her scent filled my head and the air around us shrank until all I knew was her small body sitting so close to mine. I moved my hand from her shoulder to cup her neck and angled her face for deeper penetration. I licked every inch inside of her mouth until the taste of her was all that I knew on my tongue.

And all that time I stared in to her green eyes and not once did she look like she was anywhere but right here with me. I saw my reflection there. Her heartbeat was made wild by my kisses. The ring on her finger was gone, and her condo was empty of most everything but yarn. It was a place I felt like I could be comfortable in.

And temporary was the farthest thing from my mind.

When we broke apart, our breath mingled together as we rested our foreheads together. Then I moved her to my side, tucked her under my arm. As we sat there waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, I asked her about safe things because I was feeling more on edge sitting next to her than I ever did right before leaping out of a plane or a helicopter. "Can you make me a hat?”

"Sure, that's not really challenging."

"What else do you make? I admit, despite what I told you the other night, I kind of do associate knitting with old ladies."

"Don't knock the old ladies. They've got skills." She elbowed me in the side. “I make sweaters although those are pretty challenging. My favorite thing is to knit baby stuff. It’s quick and adorable.”

When she tucked her hair behind her ear, I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I'd felt lust before. And desire. But this was something different. I felt hyper aware of every little thing she did. I noticed her fingers sometimes had nicks in them, as if she'd been inattentive too many times while slicing limes at the bar. And that her hair was always falling around her face.

The other night when we went out to eat, she told me she wanted Thai food and then took me to her favorite restaurant. With Carrie I’d run through a list of every restaurant in five-mile diameter and after she’d said she didn’t care where we ate, she’d complain about whatever place we’d ended up at. She couldn’t make a decision whereas Sam was pretty self-sufficient. She bought her own groceries, paid her bills, always had gas in her Rover. It was evident she’d lived on her own for a while. All that was incredibly attractive.

I ran my hand over my growing hair. By the end of my leave I should have a mop. And a beard. And my uniforms would still be pressed and perfect. Like I told Bo and Noah, I didn't have a good set of skills outside of the military. Would I even be good enough for someone like Sam? She came from a pretty nice life. Had her own condo, a nice truck, her mom was a lawyer. I wondered if my ability to iron would render me a good husband.

"Do you think ironing is an essential life skill?"

"Um, I have no idea. I don't think I've ironed one thing in my life." She snorted and held her hand over her mouth to cover the smile. "That's such a random question."

"Will never had you iron his Alphas?"

"His class A uniforms? No way. He said I didn't know how to do it. He was very particular and I wasn’t going to protest. Who likes ironing?"

"It can be a very soothing task,” I declared but smiled at her arched eyebrow. "So I guess the answer is no?"

"I think it's one of the very first things you should put on your boyfriend resume. ‘I iron.’ Right after, ‘I am shit hot in the kitchen.’ You make a mean omelet."

"What about shit hot in the bedroom?" I asked quietly. Her smile died away, replaced by a long stare. So long and so heated I felt like she'd run her tongue all over me. Good thing I was already sitting down, because otherwise I would’ve dropped on my ass.

"You don't need to put that on your resume. Everything about you telegraphs that."

Talk about dangerous activities. "What exactly?"

A wisp of humor skipped across her face, and I reached out and brushed two fingers there. Maybe to catch the smile. Maybe just to feel her soft lips again.

"You want words?" she said low.

“You know I do.” Her voice was still throaty with the early morning. Or it could have been something more that was making the words thick. I could listen to her all day. She glanced over at the counter attendant, who was busy with her phone. I leaned down so my mouth was close to her ear. "Whisper them to me."

For a moment I thought she'd comply but a noisy crowd entered the small waiting room. It must’ve been the other jumpers. Tension simmered between us.

As we sat through the instructional movie and then the live safety instruction, our legs brushed against each other, taking every chance to touch each other. I took the gear from the instructor and helped strap Sam in it, testing every buckle twice. We were both worked up, although some of it could have been anticipation for the jump. Her color was high, and I knew if I looked in the mirror I'd have that same heated look of lust in my eyes. I might only have a few weeks of leave left, but I wanted to spend a good portion of it with Sam.

Samantha

“I FORGIVE YOU FOR GETTING me up so early,” I yelled at Gray. The plane we were on was specially designed for parachuters, Gray had told me. It rose quickly in the air and landed quickly. Every atom in my body felt enervated. I ran through the instructions. Gray and the other instructor would hold me when I jumped and then let go after my chute opened. We’d be the last ones out. Gray thought that was safer because I’d have less chance of getting tangled up in someone else’s lines.

"Ready?" he mouthed. It was too loud for me to hear him with the door open and the jet sounds mixing with the wind. I gave him two thumbs up. He made me run through the motions of pulling the chute. Gray's worry was endearing and I would’ve kissed him if not for all our paraphernalia. Jerry, the instructor, gave me the five-finger countdown. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. They each grabbed an arm and we flew out of the plane. As instructed, I spread out my arms and legs like a bird. Gray still held on to one hand but Jerry had released me, which wasn’t what had been planned but no matter.

I counted off in my head the seconds until I'd pull my chute. The wind picked me up and I felt almost weightless for a moment. All too soon Gray squeezed my hand. He motioned for me to pull my chute cord. Angling my feet downward as I’d been told, I pulled the cord and steeled my body against the jerk I'd feel when the chute would open. He’d told me that it was like someone pulling on my jacket if I was running, abrupt but not painful. Nothing. I pulled again.

Seconds ticked by and I was falling fast. Panicking, I jerked my hand free of his, ignoring his shout, and tugged frantically at my chute cord until I felt a release. But no jerk came. In my hand was just the toggle on the pull cord, which had come off. I turned to show Gray and then the wind took the cord and whipped it away.

The ground was rising fast, almost a blur through the tears that had formed. The tears from the wind, not fear, I told myself. And then, in an instant, I embraced it. So this was it. Perhaps my story was one of tragedy. Married young, widowed young, died young. I spread out my limbs again. When I fell and hit the earth, I figured the impact would be instantaneous. Death had to come to all of us.

The wind rushed by me and even with my goggles, I could feel the sting against my eyes. There was peace here. But Gray. I’d known him only for a little time. If I’d had one regret, I wished I had kissed him harder, held him longer. The sensation of regret caught me unexpectedly, invading my peace almost as if a physical reaction had occurred. Then I realized it wasn't regret that had hit me—it had been Gray. His body wrapped around mine, his arms coming up from behind me, holding me almost in a loose headlock with one arm. With the other, he must have pulled his chute cord, because it deployed immediately. He pulled his body back with it.

The ground still rose quickly, but he held me fast. The only thing that kept me from becoming part of the dirt was his strong, firm, and steady grip. I hugged his arms to me and wondered why I'd been so ready to give it all up. Sobbing, now with relief, I clung to him as we fell rapidly to earth.

The impact of the ground jolted me hard although I knew Gray had taken the brunt of it, landing on his legs first. He curled me into a ball and we rolled for several feet, tangled in chute cords and nylon until we were completely wrapped up. I ended up with my head tucked into his chest. Our legs were entwined.

His breath was harsh and wracked in my ear.

"Jesus. Jesus. Jesus Christ," he panted.

I said nothing, only clutched him closer to me. As I began to shake uncontrollably in his arms, he whispered consoling words in my ear. “It’s going to be okay. We’re safe now.” But he wasn't immune either. I felt his body shudder against mine and we just clung to each other inside the cocoon of his parachute. His gloved hands smoothed up and down my body comforting both of us at the same time.

When he pushed my goggles off with one hand, I saw that his eyes looked wet. I'm sure mine were too. Pulling me against him, we began ravishing each other. He rolled us over until my body was covered with his. We kissed to make sure each other was alive. We kissed in celebration of our survival. We kissed because deep down, the emotions that we'd been trying to deny were overwhelming us.

He and I both knew that however temporary our relationship had been before, the fall had shaken loose our barriers and we were just raw nerves and emotion. I felt his erection heavy against me. I wrapped my legs around him and we pressed up against each other. We would've ditched our clothes and just fucked each other raw underneath the parachute if Jerry hadn’t arrived and interrupted us.

"Hoolee shit," I heard him exclaim. "You two okay?"

Gray pulled away from me immediately and rested his forehead against mine, trying to gain some composure. The mood changed as I saw his emotions flip from desire to anger. He pulled loose of my embrace and untangled us quickly, although I'm not sure how. I was trussed up in enough strings and fabric to keep me immobilized for at least a month.

"Her goddamn chute didn't open, you motherfucker," Gray roared at Jerry. If it wasn’t for the chute strings surrounding us, Gray would’ve been on him, beating the tar out of him. He began struggling with the harness.

"We check those chutes daily,” Jerry protested.

"If you did, then you'd have seen it was defective, Jerry.” Gray spit out his name like he couldn’t stand the taste of it. Gray sat me up and pulled the chute off of me. I hadn't the first clue what had happened. I only knew that it should’ve released when I pulled on it. “And you shouldn’t have let go of her. This was an accelerated free fall, and we both fucking hold her until the chute deploys.”

He finally got the harness off of himself, and he turned to attack mine. He was spitting mad, but his hands were gentle as he handled me.

"What about the emergency cord?"

"Neither cord opened the chute,” Gray bit out. I wondered if his jaw would crack from the effort of not yelling at Jerry. Gray knew—somehow just knew—that if he yelled right in my face, I’d lose it. I was so close the edge of a breakdown. He pulled both cords and the chute remained stubbornly closed, an innocuous backpack-looking thing. He yanked viciously again and the emergency cord pulled away, frayed at the end. He threw the entire thing at Jerry, who stumbled back at the weight.

"You better get your house in order because the FAA will be there by the end of the day to run an inspection on your entire equipment supply." Gray jabbed his finger at the guy’s chest, his other hand fisted like he wanted to plant it in Jerry’s face. "You're gonna be grounded. You could've fucking killed her."

The adrenaline rush, the fear, the passion had all drained away and I felt weak. "Gray." He was still raging at Jerry. "Gray," I said louder. His head whipped around. His eyes were wide and his nostrils were flaring. I wanted to touch him so I could get him to calm down. Instead I said the words that I knew would penetrate his fear and disgust and anger. "I need you."

Immediately he turned away from Jerry and dropped to his knees. "Baby, I'm here. What can I do?"

I wrapped my arms around his neck and nuzzled my nose against him. "Take me home."

Part of me wanted to rage too but mostly I wanted to go home and lie with Gray in my arms and revel in the fact that I was alive, no matter the faulty equipment. I'd done something very dangerous but I'd survived. I was glad to be alive.

Gray

I FELT SAM'S SLIGHT BODY against mine, her utter trust in me and felt a surge of something so strong that I almost fell backward. I firmed up the steel in my spine and picked her up into my arms. While I wanted desperately to beat Jerry bloody and then go inside SkyHopper and ransack the place, I wasn’t going to leave Sam trembling and shocky. “Get me some OJ,” I ordered Jerry. When he just stared at me like a dumb robot, I barked again in my best copy of my gunnery sergeant father. “Get me some goddamned orange juice or I’ll cut off your nuts with your car keys.” He got the message and took off toward the office building. One of the other jumpers came over.

“Need anything?” His hair was military short.

“Yeah, I need someone to file a complaint ASAP while I take care of my girl.” Sam was silent, burrowing her head into my shirt. I wanted to get her home like she’d asked. As I reached the parking lot, I noticed a number of expensive foreign vehicles in the “owner” slots. The guy obviously had money or was wasting it on expensive toys rather than careful maintenance.

“On it.” He gave me a smart salute and trotted off after Jerry.

I placed my girl tenderly into the passenger side of her Rover. I’d never driven it because Sam always seemed to enjoy being behind the wheel, but she was in no shape to pilot this vehicle back to her place. She curled up in the passenger seat, her big green eyes staring at me. The look in them, shit, made me feel like I was bigger than life. I knew some guys got into the military because they had a big old savior complex. They liked to be the hero, and going over and killing people that they were told were the enemy made them feel good inside. I'd never felt that way, but right now I got it. Sam was looking at me like I'd conquered King Kong as it was trying to devour the city

“Guess all those training jumps were good for something,” I joked weakly, brushing the hair out of her face. Her color was still pretty pale. Fortunately for Jerry, he appeared within seconds with a bottle of orange juice. “Drink some of this,” I commanded and then added, “please.”

She must have felt a little better because she rolled her eyes but dutifully took a small sip.

“A little more.” I winced as the request came out like another order. It worked though. The military guy came out with a form that he’d filled out. I signed it. “Thanks, man.”

“No problem. That was scary as fuck just watching it so I can’t imagine how you both feel.”

Jerry was long gone by then, which was probably a good thing because now that Sam was feeling better I wanted to go beat the shit out of him.

“I’ve had better days,” I admitted.

“Go home, get your girl into bed, and take a load off. I’ll see this is filed. I’m going to make a call to the FAA too. This place should be closed down within the hour.” The guy flipped open his ID and I saw it said “State Police.”

I blew out a breath of relief. “Thanks, man.” We shook hands and Trooper Jensen gave me his card so I could follow up.

By the time we got to the condo, Sam was getting back to her old self.

“That was certainly adventurous,” she said drolly as I was pulling into the parking lot behind her building.

The thought of her crashing into the ground because the goddamn chute wouldn’t release had me banging the steering wheel. I wanted to turn around and drive back and give Jerry a piece of my mind. “Good thing you stopped me from killing Jerry because there was a State Trooper who jumped before us.”

“I can’t say that I’m going to want to do that again anytime soon, but I’m not sorry that I went and I’m glad you were the one who took me.” She rubbed her palm along my stiff forearm.

“If I’d just checked that damn chute—”

She cut me off. “If onlys are a fool’s path. I know this from too many sleepless nights. Let’s go upstairs and celebrate the fact that we’re alive.” She pulled my chin around and pressed her mouth against mine. “Take me upstairs and make love to me.”

I can’t remember how we got upstairs and into her bedroom. I only know that we did. In the bathroom, I turned on the hot water and undressed her while the shower heated up. She allowed it, passively standing there all the while watching me with burning eyes. Somehow she sensed that I needed to take care of her.

When we were both nude, I tested the water temperature and then pulled her inside. Sam’s condo had no bathtub but the shower was incredible. There was a rainshower head recessed into the ceiling and another large spray head mounted on the side. I had turned them both on so that we could each be warmed by the streams of water. The one thing we were missing was a bench, but I’d make do.

I stood us under the rainshower head and let the soft drops of water fall onto our heads and shoulders and back. “Lean on me,” I urged and she did, dropping her head against my left pectoral muscle. She could probably hear it hammering but I didn’t care much now. Any defenses I had against this girl were bashed against the ground. I’d seen her falling from the sky, and my heart had gone with her. There wasn’t a calling higher than being with her, but I wasn’t sure how to tell her. Now wasn’t the right time, but soon.

I rubbed her head gently, kneading her skull and then her shoulders, keeping all of my touches above her waist and away from her breasts. That didn’t keep my cock from being stiff as a pike and poking her in the stomach.

She made soft sounds of pleasure as I rubbed away any tension she had left. Turning her so her back was to my front, I grabbed the showerhead off the hook to rinse off the soap in her hair. “Tip back,” I told her and directed the spray at the back of her head and then, cupping my hand protectively at her forehead so the soapy water wouldn’t stream into her eyes, moved the spray around the crown of her head.

“You’re really good at this,” she mumbled. “Think you should put down ‘I give good shower’ right after ‘I iron’.”

That made me laugh. “I’m building quite the resume.”

“You had the skills already. We’re just itemizing them now.” Turning around, she embraced me, and we stood like that for a moment, for maybe five or ten heartbeats, just holding each other as the water sluiced around us. My heart was about to burst when she raised her face to me.

“I love you,” she said. “I know you said it’s temporary, and this may send you screaming out of the shower, but I can’t keep it in anymore.” Reaching up, she brushed a thumb over my eyebrow and then traced a path to my temple, down my cheek to the other side of my mouth. When I opened it to tell her that I couldn’t live without her, she shushed me. “Don’t say anything. Not yet.”

On her tiptoes, she kissed my neck and then the underside of my chin. Hoisting her in my arms, I met her lips head on. So she wouldn’t let me say the words, but I could tell her how I felt with my kisses and my caresses. Twisting the knobs, I shut off the water. I draped a towel over her back but didn’t let her go. I could care less about the water.

“We’re wet,” she half protested, but her heart wasn’t in it. I tossed her down onto the comforter and crawled on top of her.

“Not wet enough,” I said and spread her legs open for my mouth. I’d been down here before and loved it, but this time I went slow, savoring every scent and flavor her body exuded. My tongue lapped gently, caressing every sensitive inch. Her lips were pinker closer to her body, and they were flushed and plump with arousal. The droplets dotting her pussy weren’t just water, but tasted of a special tang only her body could produce. The small offering only whetted my appetite.

“You taste so good, baby,” I told her before plunging my tongue directly into her channel to gorge. Her hands threaded into my hair and pressed me closer.

“Don’t stop,” she panted.

“Won’t. Ever.”

Her thighs closed around my head, and I had to push one away so I could maintain my contact with her delicious cunt. As she climbed closer to her release, her body began to quiver, and her hips began undulating. I used both of my hands to keep her right against my mouth. I could spend hours down here, eating her, licking her, savoring her. Blood pounded in my groin as my body screamed for its own release, but I ignored it because there was nothing I wanted more in that moment than to have her come all over my tongue and face.

“Ohhh…God…please.” Sam’s body thrashed, her back arched like a bow off the bed. I bit her, gently, right on the clit and she started screaming. “Gray, Gray, Gray…” It was the best damn music I’d ever heard. I lapped all her juice as she quivered, her walls contracting rhythmically and then more sporadically as her orgasm shuddered on. Keeping my mouth over her cunt, I licked tenderly at her engorged flesh, trying to soothe her. Her screams turned to whimpers and then to sighs.

Sitting up, I wiped the back of my hand across my face and took my painfully erect cock in hand. “You ready, baby?”

Glassy-eyed, she nodded. Easing into her, we both gasped as I felt the bare flesh contract around the tip of my penis. Shit, I wanted to be inside her without anything between us. I’d never wanted that, not since Carrie. It was shocking but felt right.

“You on anything, Sam?” I heard the faint pleading note in my voice and shook my head in wonder.

Her face was crestfallen when she answered in the negative. “No, I’m so sorry. I’ll get on it right away.” Then she turned her face to the side as if she remembered that my time here was coming to an end. But it wasn’t the end for us. I slid another inch inside her and nearly cried at the amazing sensation.

Turning her head back with one hand, I pinched her chin lightly. “Yes, go on the pill so that when we see each other, we can do this anytime, anywhere.” I pushed all the way in, until I was seated up to my balls inside her hot, wet, tight cunt. The feel of her walls clenching around me made me want to shoot all I had inside of her until she was filled with nothing but my come. I wanted to experience her orgasm against my naked cock more than I wanted anything else at that moment. I had to restrain my lower body. Staring at the wall above her, I started counting the bricks until my head cleared enough to withdraw. It was painful coming out of that hot sheath and the urge to shove back in almost did me in. “We’re not done yet,” I told her. “We may not ever be done.”

Her eyes widened in understanding and a smile broke out that lit up the entire room. I heaved myself off the bed while I still had an ounce of self-control left and went to find my shorts. Tucked in my buttoned back pocket, I had three condoms. I might need all of them before we were done here. It was, after all, only mid-afternoon.

“I’m sorry,” I told my dick. “But hang in there, someday we’re raw dogging her until we both can’t see straight.”

“Are you talking to your penis?” Sam called from the bed. She didn’t sound nearly breathless enough. I hurried back and flopped down beside her, my erection hitting her on the hip.

“Yup, I’m consoling it and telling it to stay inside the condom.”

She giggled and then reached down to squeeze me. It still felt good. Hell, any contact with her felt good at this point.

“So you’re going to come back and see me?” Her eyes were serious, belying her light tone.

“I want to,” I confessed. Smoothing her hair back, I told her what I’d been wanting to say since I caught her in the air and tumbled to the ground with her. “I love you, baby. I don’t want this to be temporary. I don’t want it to end.”

Her eyes became wet with tears, and before I could do anything, she was leaking all over the place. I swiped as many as I could with my fingers but they were falling fast so I leaned in and started kissing her. She pushed me away.

“These are happy tears.” She laughed and then used the back of her hand to dry her face off.

“Women.” I shook my head. “Don’t understand you at all.”

Sam’s response was to take my hand and place it between her legs. She was wet there too. “Do you understand this?”

“Yeah, I’m a quick learner.” I slid two fingers inside her and felt her readiness. Pulling her hips to mine, I pushed into her again. It was easier this time because she was so wet and I had prepared her well. And even with the condom on, being inside of her was like heaven. It was better than a free fall from the sky. Better than shooting a M249 Saw, one of the heaviest, most bad-ass guns in the Marine Corps arsenal. Better than sitting down after a twenty-mile ruck through the woods carrying a hundred pound pack. It was better than anything I’ve ever experienced. And I never wanted it to end.

Rolling her over onto her back, I glided inside of her, looking for the minutest change in her reaction so I could be sure I was hitting the best spots. When her breath hitched or her eyes widened or she gasped out loud, I’d stroke that flesh over and over again. Her mouth turned and latched on to my wrist, which was braced against the side of her head. Ordinarily I’d tell her to scream out her pleasure, but I liked the fierce bite of her teeth on my skin. It was like she was marking me, making me hers.

Plus it was one more way I could tell she was totally lost in the pleasure I was giving her. I leaned down and fused my mouth onto hers, trying to tell her how much she meant to me. Her hips rose to meet mine, and we were caught up in our own rhythm. She was so beautiful, her golden hair spread out on the pillow, the edges of it lit by the fingers of sunlight reaching the upper loft through her floor to ceiling windows. The orgasm I’d given her earlier and her current arousal painted her skin with a rosy hue. Her eyes were closed and a light sheen covered her forehead.

As I thrust into her, I felt the connection in every part of my body from the tip of my cock to the ends of my fingers and toes. I was electrified by the feel of her. As her teeth bit into my skin and her fingers clenched my ass, I could feel her orgasm closing all around me. I gritted my teeth and held the pace, knowing what brought her to the point would tip her over. Reaching between us, I rubbed her swollen clit and she broke away from my wrist to release a long, sustained wail as she convulsed around me.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Sam. I wish you could see yourself,” I panted in her ear. “Your face looks so amazing, so fierce.”

She sighed. “Your turn?”

“My turn,” I growled. I slung both her legs over my shoulders and began thrusting into her, fast and hard. She pressed her palms flat against her headboard and pushed back. The wet sounds coming from her cunt and the slap of our flesh against each other all added to the sensory overload. My balls tightened and I could feel my orgasm tingling at the back of my spine. Then I lost all control and let go, pistoning my hips against her ass until I felt my come jetting out. Clutching her to me, I fell to the bed, muscle memory taking over and rolling us to the side so I wouldn’t suffocate her with my chest. Still snug inside her, I ran my hand over her spine, feeling for the hole I was sure I’d made when I shot my load.

“What’re you doing?” she asked drowsily.

“I came so hard, I’m sure I blew a hole out your back.” It was, thankfully, still intact. She chuckled weakly.

“I’m so exhausted. I feel like I could sleep for a week.” She snuggled into me and we lay like that for a while until I had to get up to take care of the condom. Sliding back into bed with her, I tucked her body close to mine and let the exhaustion of the day take us under.

Hunger woke us up a couple of hours later. Sam was still sleepy when I climbed out of bed and went down to scramble some eggs. The full extent of my skill in the kitchen was making omelets and sandwiches, but if she thought I was shit hot in the kitchen, then I wasn’t going to correct her. The microwave was my bitch, though, and I could dial for delivery as good as anyone. But I’d take fucking cooking classes if it meant keeping her with me.

She stumbled down the stairs dressed in my T-shirt and looking so fine I wanted to carry her back up and make use of my second condom. Fuel first, fuck second.

“Where’s your permanent duty station?” she asked between forkfuls of eggs, which she declared delicious. She must be in love because they weren’t anything to write home about.

“Right now my duty station is Pendleton, but I think I might still have to do a two year unaccompanied in Okinawa.” The eggs tasted like sawdust as I thought about being away from Sam for two years. There would be almost no way for me to come home for more than a few weeks during that two-year period. “Good thing we have Skype, right?”

Sam didn’t answer, just stirred her eggs around her plate. Then she took a deep breath. “I’ve always wanted to travel.”

“You have?” If an unmarried Marine went overseas, he usually went alone because few partners could take a couple years off and afford to live wherever he went but it wasn’t unheard of. Some lucky bastards had girlfriends who would move over and teach English or other shit. I held my breath.

“Yup. I don't have any debt. I've got the death benefit, and Will's life insurance. His dad bought it and half went to me and the other half is Tucker's. I could rent out the condo. I’ve always wanted to learn about other countries’ fiber arts history. You know, needles were invented in China.”

“What if it didn't work out?”

She took another bite of her eggs and chewed. “Well if I still had places to visit I would do that, and then I'd decide what to do. Maybe I'd continue to travel to New Zealand to get my hands on their Merino wool. Merino is some of the softest wool yarn around. Then maybe I’d come back here and sell my baby stuff at craft fairs or online. Set up an Etsy shop.”

“You wouldn't regret it? Like not going to college and shit like that?” My heart was beating faster than a rabbit’s. Any faster and I might have a heart attack. It never occurred to me that Sam would move with me. That she would give up her home and family and college dreams and move across the country or even across the world to be with me. I hadn’t ever had anyone say that they would make that kind of commitment—not even Carrie. My throat closed up and I had a hard time swallowing my eggs.

“No. Not for a minute.” She gave me a sad smile, and I knew instantly she was thinking of Will. But this time it didn’t bother me one bit. “I don't ever want to stay home again. Be left behind. That's what I regret. If I went and the relationship failed, I’d enjoy the experience and the new friends I'd made. I can always come home.”

I set down my fork then and picked her up. “I’m going to take you upstairs now and we’re going to fuck—no, we’re going to make love so hard neither of us will be able to walk tomorrow.”

Sam patted my chest. “You talk a good game.”

“Don’t challenge me, baby, or you’ll be too sore to walk for a week.”

“Can’t wait,” she whispered and then bit my ear.

LATER I GOT A TEXT TO go over to Bo’s place.

“You want to go?”

“No, I’m too tired.” She moved her legs experimentally and then groaned. “And sore.”

I tried not to look too pleased about that. We’d used all three condoms and then I wished we had another one but since we didn’t, we pleasured each other orally. Best sixty-nine ever. I took a lot of mental pictures of her ass in my face as I ate her out and fingered her to a couple of orgasms. I’d be pulling those out regular when I was away from her. I wondered what I’d be able to convince her to show me on Skype. God, the dirty stuff we could do was getting me worked up again.

“No, no, no.” She held off a warding hand as I found myself leaning down toward her. “I’m done in for at least another twelve hours. Let my girl parts revive.”

“All right,” I said reluctantly. “I haven’t seen the boys in a couple of days so I’ll go have some beers while you recover.”

“Fine.”

I tucked her under the covers and gave her a deep kiss before heading off to The Woodlands.