“Don’t worry about that. We’ll just take what you need, and leave your case at my place till we get back.” He paused, his expression turning challenging. “So, can I stay the night, or are you going to kick me out into the cold, dark world, all alone in a strange city, where foreign women might try and have their evil way with me?”
“That’s a sob story, if ever I heard one, Chief Hunter, although I strongly suspect it’s a highly edited one.”
“Is that a yes?” he said, hopefully.
“It’s a yes, providing sleep is what you had in mind.”
“Mostly. Good enough?”
I shook my head: he really was incorrigible.
“Fine. You want to use the bathroom first?”
“No, go ahead.”
As I brushed my teeth hard enough to remove several layers of enamel, I wondered how I’d got railroaded again. I really didn’t seem to have the ability to say ‘no’ when it came to Sebastian. Had it always been like that between us? I thought back to some of the outrageous risks we’d taken ten years ago. Yes, I had to admit – it had always been like that.
When I’d finished, Sebastian took his turn in the bathroom, and I climbed wearily into bed. I’d forgotten what a workout it was, having sex with him. My thirty-year-old self had trouble keeping up; there seemed even less chance I’d be able to keep up now. I reminded myself that according to the consensus of opinion, a forty-year-old woman was in her sexual prime, while a man’s was at the age of 19. Which meant Sebastian was already past his prime: although there was no evidence that anyone had told him that. Even so, it cheered me up slightly.
I enjoyed the floor show as he strolled out of the bathroom, unembarrassed by his nudity, wearing just his dog tags and a big smile. He was either very comfortable with me, or he was just used to wandering around naked – did they have open showers in the Marines? Hmm, maybe some research was in order – strictly on the grounds of professional integrity, of course.
Instead of walking around the bed, he deliberately sat on my side, then climbed over me.
“Sebastian, what are you doing?”
“Taking a shortcut,” he said, as his body hovered over mine, and he dipped down to kiss me.
He tasted of mint.
I reached up and pulled him deeper into the kiss before pushing lightly on his chest.
“Sleep! Now!”
“Sure I can’t change your mind?” he said, eyeing yet another erection, which was growing at an alarming rate.
“Oh, put it away! I’m tired.”
He grinned at me and gave in, sliding under the duvet on the other side of the bed.
I stretched to turn off the bedside light and the room was plunged into darkness. I felt Sebastian’s hand drift over my waist, and he kissed the back of my neck.
“Night, baby.”
He fell asleep quickly, his arms wrapped around me, warming me and weighing me down. I listened to the sound of his quiet, even breaths, wondering if our differences would bring us together or push us apart.
It was barely light when Sebastian shook me awake from a confused and disturbing dream.
“Caro, are you okay?”
I rubbed my face as his worried eyes gazed at me.
“Oh, sorry, did I wake you up? I was dreaming.”
“It sounded more like a nightmare.”
“Sorry. Yes, I’m okay.”
In truth, I’d been dreaming about Iraq again. It wasn’t something that happened often, but it was always frightening when it did. The recurring images stemmed from the time I’d visited Victory Base near Baghdad’s airport: the medical team had just heard that three ‘Category Alpha’ injuries were on their way. In my dream, it was the distinctive thrum of the medivac helicopters that filled me with fear.
Sebastian definitely didn’t need to know what my nightmare had been about.
I shivered and sat up, the duvet slipping down to my waist. Sebastian’s expression changed, and I realized his eyes were hungrily fixed on my breasts.
“Your eyes are going to fall out, Hunter,” I muttered.
He grinned guiltily, acknowledging that he’d been caught staring.
“Just looking, boss,” he said.