“I know. But what the hell were you thinking, taking on an intruder alone like that?”
That quickly, some of the fire was back in her eyes. Her weight shifted slightly in his lap. Jack eyed the flannel, knee-length nightshirt now bunched up around her hips, mentally puzzling out the quickest way to get it off with one hand. One good tug at the neckline would rend it down the middle, if it came to that. Adrenaline still surged through his veins, though for an entirely different reason than it had earlier.
“I was thinking that he was vandalizing our home.”
He slipped his hand under the hem of her shirt, gently caressing her smooth skin. Kathleen had amazing legs. Firm and toned, she had a way of wrapping them around his back and spurring him on. But they felt pretty damn good riding him, too.
“You could have been hurt.”
“Not likely,” she sniffed. She leaned forward, hands on either side of his waist, and lifted an inch or two, enough to allow him to work the material out from beneath her. He ran his hand along the outside of her thigh, palming her ass and giving it a promising squeeze. As much as he loved her legs, her ass was spectacular. Lush, rounded, and a perfect fit for his large hands. A soft sound, half-sigh, half-moan, crossed her lips.
“What would have happened if I hadn’t come back when I did?”
Kathleen rolled her hips slightly, rubbing herself along his now-granite-like length. He needed every strip of cloth between them gone now.
“You wouldn’t have been shot.”
“Good point.”
Apparently she’d had it with the covers, too, because in one smooth movement, she leaned to one side and pushed them out of the way. At the same time, he lifted his hips and pushed his pajama bottoms down enough to allow his erection to spring free. Kathleen looked at it and licked her lips, then met his eyes.
“Do you feel up to it?” she asked hopefully.
Jack laughed at the ridiculousness of her question, given the way his cock was pointing skyward. “What do you think?”
He gripped it around the base and held it for her in affirmation.
“Well, okay, but I’m doing all the work. You just lay there.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She took the hint and positioned herself directly above him.
“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” he asked through gritted teeth as she closed her eyes and lowered herself down in a slow, exquisite glide. She didn’t stop until he was fully seated within, then she stilled, allowing herself to grow accustomed to the impalement. Jack didn’t mind. He was deep inside his woman and all was right with his world again.
“The Birch Falls Rifle and Gun Club. They’ve got a nice range.”
“What?!”
“I needed an outlet while you were away. Something to keep my mind off of...” She let the sentence hang. “Erin told me to get a hobby.”
“So you joined a gun club? You couldn’t take up pottery or something?”
“Shooting things helps.”
Jack grunted. He couldn’t argue with that logic. Then Kathleen started moving, doing some kind of lift-roll-tilt thing with her hips that sent stars shooting across his vision.
Her eyes never left his as she made love to him. Slowly. Thoroughly. And in those moments, as he gazed into her eyes, he caught glimpses of all of the fear, all of the worry that she’d carried around with her while he’d been deployed.
It made him realize just how strong she was. Just those five minutes in the storeroom believing she was in danger had been enough to age him five years. How the hell had she managed the seven years he’d been in Vietnam? The fear and worry must have been crippling at times, yet in all her letters, she had never once wavered in her unshakable belief that he would come back to her.
And it wasn’t just her faith in him that made her strong, it was her quiet determination to keep moving forward, to make things better not only for herself, but those around her as well. While he had been fighting for their country, she hadn’t been sitting around, simply waiting for his return. No, she’d worked days and weekends in her father’s diner to put herself through night school and get her Accounting degree. Took care of his mother when he couldn’t. Was there for anyone who needed her, providing caring, loving, support. The woman was his rock, and every day, he adored her more than the last.
“I love you, Jack,” she whispered, answering his unspoken question. Then she tilted her head back and rode him sweetly, angling herself for her greatest pleasure.
She was magnificent. He’d never seen her like this, so lost, so focused. He reached between them and rubbed her sensitive nub. Kathleen gasped and ground herself against him.
“That’s it, baby,” he coaxed. “Take what you need.”
Her fingernails curled into his chest even as her sheath tightened around him. Jack grasped her hip with his hand and held her in place while he pistoned his hips from below, extending her orgasm until her screams became nothing more than breathless gasps.