“I forgive you,” Sky whispered, staring at their hands entwined with one another. “But, Gray, what if Harper does try to get even with you? I was in the military, too. I know a little about strategy. Gwen said Harper gets even. If he couldn’t kill you the other day with those two guys jumping you, what do you think he’ll do next? Don’t you think Harper would consider attacking you here at the Elk Horn Ranch?”
Grimly, he studied her. Gray had never made the mistake of underestimating Sky’s intelligence, but now his respect for her rose even more. The glint in her eyes wasn’t fear. It was a woman who was in a protective mode toward those she cared about. Those she loved. His mouth quirked.
“Yes, I’ve considered it, too. I’ve waffled about telling Iris and Rudd about it. But it’s a fine line, Sky. It could send everyone in this place into a tense mode. Is that what I want? No. There’s a two-mile asphalt road into this place. It’s the only entrance/exit point. I’ve been watching the road more closely for vehicles I don’t recognize since I got assaulted.”
She rubbed her wrinkled brow. “God, I don’t know Harper that well, Gray, but Gwen was really concerned. Shouldn’t we be, too?”
“I’ll take care of it,” he soothed, seeing the tension ratchet up in her face. Her soft mouth was now thinned with worry. The truth was, Gray was more concerned with Harper stalking Sky. He didn’t want to tell her that. “I’ll go to Iris and Rudd tomorrow morning. I’ll see what they think should be done about it, if anything.”
“Gwen said the whole town is edgy because of what happened to you. That this was a step up in Harper’s getting even. She told me how the two women, whom he’d stalked, are now missing.”
Double damn. Gwen was giving Sky way too much information. He could see the fear deep in her blue eyes and would do anything to remove it.
“Look,” he rasped, running his hand slowly up and down her lower arm in an attempt to soothe her worry, “we do need some kind of commonsense plan in place. And I’ll see that it happens, Sky. What I don’t want is for you to go on high alert.”
“Too late,” Sky admitted wryly, her skin feeling like tiny electrical shocks of pleasure where he traced her lower arm. “Gray...” She glanced away for a moment, trying to recapture her emotions. “I like you a lot...and I know we’ve only met, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.” She gave him a pleading look.
“I like you, too, Sky.” Hell, he couldn’t take two breaths without thinking about her, rerunning that hot, sexual encounter with her. Gray knew deep down that it was more than just sex. “Look,” he said, trying to keep his voice light, the anger toward Harper removed from it, “we’ll get through this together. I won’t leave you out of the loop again. If anything comes up, you’ll be the first to know about it.” He pinned her with a dark look. “Okay?”
“Okay, because I don’t want to learn this secondhand again, Gray.” She wanted to blurt, Because you’re so important to me, my life, my heart.... Instead, she said, “I know you’re trying to protect me, and I’m appreciative, but I’m a big girl. Do I have issues? Yes. But I was in the military. When things get bad, I get stronger, not weaker. You need to know that about me. I don’t fall apart.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SKY TRIED TO control her yearning for Gray. Throughout dinner all she’d wanted to do was kiss him. She could tell that he wanted to do the same thing. Only there was a table between them and good food that shouldn’t be wasted or go cold. Getting up afterward, she carried the dishes to the sink to rinse them off. It was impossible not to feel Gray’s masculine presence when they shared the same space. He seemed in thought, and Sky wondered if her strong response earlier had made him upset.
After putting all the pots and pans in the dishwasher and turning it on, Sky picked up a small terry-cloth towel to dry off her hands. As she turned, Gray halted in front of her. Looking up, she saw that familiar green-gold color in his eyes, her breath hitching as he lifted his hands and settled them on her shoulders. Even through the thin blue T fabric, she could feel the latent strength of his fingers.
“What?” she asked, her voice a little breathless, the towel between them.
“I’m sorry,” Gray said simply. “Every once in a while I need some reminding that women are strong by nature, Sky. I was—just sensitive to your situation, the PTSD.” His fingers moved in a caressing motion across her shoulders. “I don’t want you in the line of fire between me and Harper, that’s all.” His mouth thinned. “I care a lot for you, Sky. I want you happy. I don’t want you feeling more fear.”
Sky relaxed her hips against the counter behind her, setting the towel next to the sink. She slipped her hands over his hard, muscled forearms, feeling his skin tense. The light dusting of dark hair only made him more masculine. “Thanks for that,” she whispered. “I know you care, Gray. You show it in so many ways every day to me.” Some of the tension dissolved from his face. He lifted his hand, catching several strands of her hair and tucking them gently behind her right ear.
“I’m new at this, Sky.”
She tilted her head. “What are you new at?”
Gray’s mouth curved a little. “Us. What we have. I made it a point when I was in the SEALs to not get into a serious relationship with a woman. I saw too many of my buddies get married and then watched the divorce tear them apart.” He grimaced. “It wasn’t pretty, Sky, and I didn’t want to drag a woman through that shit. That life is very hard on wives and even tougher on families.”
Her whole body vibrated with need of Gray. She was lost in his voice, hotly aware of her flesh feeling alive beneath his restless fingers. “Black ops is harsh on everyone,” she agreed quietly. “So? You’re feeling like a fish out of water, Navy guy? That you have no skill set in relationship building?” she teased him, wanting to erase the wrinkles that had gathered on his brow as he’d spoken about his SEAL friends.
“Consider that I’m in the training-wheels stage.” His marriage to Julia had evolved much differently. Someday, he would share that six months of his life with her. But not right now. Gray absorbed the amusement dancing in her eyes. He saw heat in them, and arousal. Sky had relaxed in his arms, inches separating them. “I’m going to put my foot in my mouth plenty,” he warned her. “And I’ve got this thing about being very, very protective toward others who can’t defend themselves.”
Sky placed her hand on his chest, feeling the muscles leap beneath her fingertips, the heavy thud of his heart beneath her palm. “Gray,” she whispered, “I’m stronger than I look. I’m not as tall as you are, or as heavily muscled, but that’s not the real test or core of a human being.” She slid her fingers slowly up the center of his chest. “It’s a person’s heart, Gray. Their spirit.”
“And you’re all heart,” he rasped, leaning down, brushing Sky’s lips, tasting the sweetness of the tart cherry pie they’d had after dinner.
A soft sound caught in Sky’s throat as his mouth grazed hers, inviting her to participate. As hard and tough as Gray was trained to be, his hands were gentle, his mouth taking hers as if she were fragile. Her knees felt weak as his arm slid around her waist, drawing her solidly against his body. Heat flared in Sky’s belly when she felt the strength of his erection. It set her lower body on fire, and she felt dampness gathering rapidly between her thighs.
Why had she backed away after he’d made love to her the first time? Her mind went blank as he flooded her with delicious sensations, kissing each corner of her mouth. Then it hit her, called her back. Sky knew she’d been afraid at first.
Pulling away from Gray’s mouth was the last thing Sky wanted to do, but it had to be done. She breathed unevenly. “Gray,” she whispered unsteadily, “are you sure?”
“Sure?” he growled, feeling her hesitation. “Of us?”
She framed his face with her hands, choking out, “I’m not whole, Gray. I’ve got so far to go to
get well....” Sky almost said she was damaged goods. What man wanted someone like her in this present state? Gray had said he wanted a serious relationship with her. She saw his face grow thoughtful, and he shared a tender smile with her.
“You need to know from the first day we met, I lay in that bed at night thinking, wanting you, Sky.” Gray captured her hands into his, pressing them against his chest. “I found myself looking forward to getting up every morning because I knew you would be out here. I could have breakfast with you. I found myself starving for whatever you thought. I’d feel my soul smile when you smiled. Your laughter, Sky, is healing to me. I live for it.”
Her heart melted. “This isn’t going to be easy, Gray.”
“From my side, it is, Sky. I like you in my life just the way you are.” He kept her hands captured beneath one of his and cupped her cheek with the other. “I know you struggle minute by minute, day by day. And you are getting better with time. So am I. We share something most people will never have to suffer through, baby, but we’ll gut through it together. And I want you here, with me. Does this help?”
Did it? She blinked, feeling the tears rush into her eyes. His calloused palm sent tiny jolts of electricity across her jaw as he held her so she couldn’t draw away or turn her head away from his hungry, searching gaze. Giving him a jerky nod, Sky whispered unsteadily, “I didn’t want to become a burden to you, Gray...”
He snorted and hauled her into his arms. “A burden? Who the hell put that word into your vocabulary?” And then he knew the answer: her father. Anger burned deep in Gray. How a parent could say that to a child was beyond his imagination. Leaning over, he pressed small kisses across her hairline.
“You are my sunlight, Sky. Your laughter is music to me. I can’t ever get enough of you. I won’t ever get enough of how you see the world, how you touch a child or hold a baby in your arms. I want you by my side for as long as you want to be there, no questions asked.”
He tipped her chin up just enough to catch her glistening eyes that held unspilled tears in them. “I don’t care if you’re injured emotionally or mentally. I am, too. We can turn a disadvantage into an advantage, Sky. Since we both have PTSD, we understand on a much deeper level what the other is going through. Haven’t I shown you patience and understanding?”
“You always have,” Sky admitted, her voice strained.
“And you’ve shown me the same consideration,” Gray said. “You are strong enough to hold those symptoms inside of you, Sky. There are so many people who can’t do that. To anyone else looking at you, baby, you’re normal in every possible way. You can turn around and love others without hesitation. You’re unselfish, and you’re giving.” His mouth thinned for a moment as he considered his words. “Look, Sky, you know how I feel. The only question is, do you want me in your life the same way or not?”
Fighting back the tears, Sky felt her heart open, a rush of rich, deep emotions washing through her, erasing all her fear that she was too damaged to love. “Yes...yes, I do, Gray.”
“Good,” he said, releasing her and walking her out of the kitchen beneath his arm. “Let’s go get undressed and then I want to love you....”
So many of her quelling fears about Gray finding her an encumbrance in his life dissolved. In his bedroom, she quickly divested herself of her clothes, allowing them to drop where they pooled around her feet. This time, Sky had no shyness as she stood naked in front of Gray. The look in his eyes was of a man who thought she was beautiful and priceless.
As he stood before her, incredibly masculine, it was easy to see how much he wanted her. His glittering eyes never left hers. Literally, she salivated, wanting to get her mouth, her hands, her body, against his.
Gray walked up to her, sliding his fingers across her jaw, tangling in her hair as he drew her to him. “I need to be in you,” he rasped against her lips opening beneath his.
He lifted her and positioned her in the middle of his large bed, the sheets cool against the heat of her back. Smiling up at him as he lay at her side, feeling his calloused hand range from her shoulder, down across her rib cage and coming to rest along her hip, she pressed her belly against his erection. The low, growling sound in his chest feathered through her as she leaned up, kissing him hungrily, moving her tongue across his lower lip.
Instantly, his fingers dug into her hip, holding her tightly against him. Sky wasn’t about to let him take the lead this time. She knew how to love a man and was his equal in this scalding dance throbbing wildly between them.
He lifted his mouth from hers. “I like that you want me,” he rasped, sliding his fingers across her belly as he pressed her back onto the mattress.
Sky raised her brows, feeling the utter joy of his fingers spreading across her belly, splayed out, holding her gently in place. Her core ached with wanting him deep inside her. “Let me love you this time, Gray...please...” She slid her hand up his arm, feeling his biceps contract beneath her skimming fingers.
“Baby, you always will be first when it comes to you and me,” he growled.
She was about to protest, but his mouth fit hotly across her own, his tongue moving boldly within her. Sky couldn’t think, only feel. A moan echoed in her throat as he cupped her breast, his thumb moving across her hardened nipple. Heat exploded through her, her hips coming forward to meet his. Her breathing grew ragged as he left her mouth, positioning his lips over the captured nipple. Any protest she had was blown away because he knew how to give her raw, wild pleasure. Squirming beneath him, she felt him part her thighs, and she eagerly complied, wanting his touch that she knew would send her panting for more of him.
Her inner thighs tensed with anticipation as Gray trailed his finger teasingly through her soft, damp folds, finding her entrance.
“You’re so wet,” he murmured against her mouth, taking her, finding that knot of nerves just inside her entrance, teasing her until she moaned and kissed him with a ferocity that made him want to take her even more quickly than he’d planned.
Sky arched, her back bowing upward as he brought her to orgasm, the warm fluids flooding her lower body, her channel contracting. Her cry of pleasure drowned in his mouth, and as he slid a second finger into her, prolonging that fiery release, all she could do was freeze for a second against him, imprisoned in a scalding heat that sent her tumbling through oblivion. As Gray lifted his mouth from hers, she barely opened her eyes, drowning in the glittering gold and green of his. He was smiling down at her, pride in his look that he could please her. She felt helpless, like a weak puppet beneath his skilled hands. The amusement lingered in his face as he leaned over, brushing her wet lips.
“You’re always first, baby. Never, ever forget that....”
Oh, she couldn’t! Her whole body hummed as if being electrified. He finally eased his fingers from within her and positioned himself between her legs. Her flesh was damp, and her body ached to have Gray within her. Finding her strength returning, she spread her thighs wider, her fingers curving around his thick shoulders as he lay across her. After rolling on a condom, Gray kept most of his weight off her, elbows planted near her upper arms. When he nudged her wet entrance, her lashes swept downward, and a small cry caught in her throat in anticipation.
“Yes,” she pleaded. “Please...Gray, get inside me. I need you...I need you so badly.” Her fingers were frantic against his hips, trying to pull him forward, pull him into herself.
He hissed between his gritted teeth as she bucked her hips upward, sucking him into her body. For a moment, she felt him tremble. It was as if a minor earthquake surrounded her. His hands framed her face, his mouth crushing hers, taking her as he thrust deeply into her. Her body was so small to accommodate him, but the burn of stretching so widely, so quickly, disappeared beneath the thick, hot fluid of her body responding to his thrusts. It was such a sweet, pleasurable invasion that Sky willingly surged forward to take mo
re of him into her, so close to orgasming once more.
A fine quiver rode through her as he began to move swiftly with hard, deep plunges. Her fingers gripped his narrow hips, and she arched against him, feeling the scalding fire explode between them once again. Yes! This was what she wanted! What she’d yearned for. And when Gray slid his large hand beneath her hips, angling her just so, she gave a little, keening cry. The orgasm released, flooding her, contracting her walls, sending her into a boneless orbit of a raw inferno of satiation.
Gray groaned, his face almost in agony as he prolonged her release. And when he came, he rasped out her name, crushing her mouth against his, pumping hard into her, her body willingly accepting the power of him as a man. She was still floating as she felt Gray suddenly freeze, understood he was unleashing himself within her. She wrapped her legs around his hips, bucking against him, continuing to establish the rhythm he’d set, milking every last bit out of him.
She heard him utter a groan, suddenly sinking heavily against her. Eyes closed, she smiled softly, her arms sliding against his massive, damp back. His face was pressed against her jaw and shoulder, his breath moist and ragged. Sky felt as if she were beneath a hot, living blanket, the thud of his powerful heart slamming against her breasts.
She’d been able to satisfy him equally, and happiness soared through her. There wasn’t any better feeling in the world than partners being able to please one another just like this.
“You’re incredible,” Gray said huskily, his lower body still burning with raw pleasure combining with fiery satisfaction. He lifted his head and forced himself off her, afraid he was going to crush Sky with his weight. As he opened his eyes, he saw the careless smile across her wet, lush lips. The words I love you nearly tore out of his mouth. It caught him by surprise in one way, but in another way, Gray had known that the feelings he held for Sky were special. One of a kind. Only for her. He gave her a weak smile and pressed small kisses against her damp hairline.
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