Hold Me: Delos Series, 5B1

by Lindsay McKenna

  “It is,” he said, pulling the towel across her shoulders, gently patting her neck and shoulders dry.

  “Does it hurt when you move?”

  “Twisting a lot does hurt,” he admitted. “But with time, the doc said it will stop hurting. I’m okay. Really,” he said, cupping her face, leaning down, and sliding his mouth along hers. Naked, they closed the gap between them and held each other close.

  Her nipples hardened even more as he kissed her slowly, his breath moist against her cheek. She moaned as she brushed herself against him, her whole body on fire as his mouth worshipped her. She eased her arms up and over his shoulders, pulling herself fully against him. Callie could feel Beau’s erection—it had been there since they’d stepped into the shower together. Now, his hard length was pressing insistently into her belly, letting her know in another way how much he desired her. It felt so good! It had been such a long, harrowing road that they’d walked together since she’d seen him in Bethesda at the medical center.

  Drowning in the strength and tenderness of his mouth, Callie wanted nothing more than to be with Beau in every possible way. Her thoughts began to dissolve as his hands left her face and drifted downward, cupping her lush breasts. He stepped back so he could brush her nipples with his thumb, and her knees nearly caved from the electricity leaping between them. His erection became even harder, if that was possible. She heard him groan as he stroked her breasts with his large, calloused hands. Sparks of fire erupted in every cell of her body from the pleasure. Already, she was damp between her legs, this time not with water, but with her own fluids, as her body responded to his tender ministrations.

  “I want you,” Beau said raggedly against her wet lips. “Tell me what you want, Callie,” and he drew back just far enough to look into her eyes, awash with a hungry desire for him.

  “Let’s go to bed,” she said, her voice tremulous, heavy with need for him.

  They quickly dried off, holding hands as they walked into their small bedroom. Night had fallen, a full moon rising in the east, sending slats of milky light through one of the two windows. Callie pulled down the covers on her side of the squeaky, old brass bed that had stood the test of decades in the log home. She grinned as she climbed in.

  “It could get noisy in here, Beau.”

  He returned her wicked look. “That’s okay by me.” He got into bed, pushing the sheet and blankets to the footboard. “Okay with you?”

  Callie watched him lie down on his back. “Fine by me.” She knelt near his left side, placing her hand lightly across his thick erection. “Tell me how we go about this. I know your right side is still tender and healing. What’s the best position, Beau?” Beau had been hurt enough. Callie didn’t want to cause him more pain. All she wanted was to kiss this man senseless, and have him plunge deep inside her and be one with her.

  “I don’t know,” he said, hesitantly. “We’ve not made love with one another since I got hit.”

  She watched his eyes shutter close as she wrapped her fingers teasingly around him. He arched into her hand, groaning, gripping her hand, holding her in place. “Feel good?”

  “You know it does,” he managed. “Don’t stop.”

  And she didn’t. Her mind raced over possible positions with Beau and each one seemed to put pressure on his ribcage. She slowly kneaded his erection, hearing him groan with pleasure, and she leaned over, kissing him.

  Instantly, Beau slid his hand across her nape, her thick hair falling around them as she searched his mouth. Everything felt so good, so natural, and her heart’s doors flew open with joy as she hungrily met his tongue with hers. Breathing shallowly, she pulled from his mouth, keeping her hand around him, staring into his narrowed, glittering eyes as he studied hers.

  He was now the hunter and she, his prey. It was exciting to feel him stalking her like this. She reveled in his masculinity, giving herself completely to him in every way.

  “Tell you what,” she whispered, kissing the corners of his mouth, “I think the best position is for me to be on my hands and knees, and you can come from behind me.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” he admitted. “Are you okay with it?”

  She gave him a grin. “Am I? Oh, yes!” She stopped short of telling him that he gave her wonderful orgasms in that position because she didn’t want to put undue pressure on Beau to perform. Even if he could come and she didn’t have any orgasms, Callie was fine with it. He was still healing. Judging from his erection, however, she was sure Beau could perform, but she wasn’t about to mention it.

  “All I want,” she whispered against his mouth, “is for us to celebrate the fact that we love one another, Beau. Nothing more. Just getting to touch you again, to kiss you, is enough for me.” There was an instant look of relief in his eyes and she thanked her woman’s intuition for knowing ahead of time that he was worried about pleasing her. “Let’s just touch, kiss, and feel our bodies together again. No expectations.”

  She leaned down, placing small, wet kisses along his jaw, his corded neck, and then, across his chest. She nibbled on his nipples and his hips bucked into her hand that was still holding his erection. Smiling to herself, Callie silently promised the man she loved that she would leave no square inch of him untouched tonight. This was a celebration after making it through the darkness, coming into the light, albeit slowly and with trepidation. She knew both of them felt anxious about pleasing the other as completely as they had before his wounding.

  By the time she moved to her hands and knees, Beau was more than ready to come. As he pressed his erection against her wet opening, Callie braced, his hands tightening around her hips, pressing forward. She wasn’t sure who groaned more loudly when he sheathed slowly into her. The sensations were delicious, stretching and widening her, making her shake with the need for an orgasm.

  Leaning back against him, she sucked him more deeply into her tight confines. His fingers dug into her flesh, alive with the pleasure she knew she was giving him. Callie wouldn’t allow him to pull out of her; she kept easing back against his body, asking him to thrust repeatedly into her.

  She knew that Beau needed this, needed to come inside her. Being able to cement their relationship on a new level, a different one, was her priority. Love had many dimensions and she loved Beau enough to sacrifice herself for him, to strengthen his belief that as a man, he was as potent a lover, and a man, as he had been before. And once he began to slowly thrust into her, hearing his groan of utter ecstasy, she felt her love grow even more powerful. With each pumping motion, her own body heated up, leaped to life as he surged into her, orgasmic fire erupting within her. She cried out, her fingers digging deeply into the mattress beneath her hands, hurled into an inner space of utter release and satisfaction. And then, she heard him growl, freeze, feeling him release deep within her.

  Callie sobbed with joy and relief. As she felt Beau collapse and lie across her back, his head resting against hers in the aftermath, she was grateful. Whatever those blockades and walls erected by the PTSD, they seemed to collapse with each climax. It was a new piece of information for her as she swam in the heated pool of their wet, sated bodies clinging together as they absorbed each other. Callie, luxuriated in his arms, gently wrapping herself around him. Beau kissed her hair, nape, and her damp cheek.

  Still gasping from the pleasure moving in undulating ripples throughout her lower body, she hungrily absorbed Beau’s strength and masculinity. Finally, he gently eased out of her, turned her over, and guided her to lie down on her right side, her body resting against his. Their breathing was heavy as they lay together. She nestled her head against his left shoulder, desperately needing his arm around her, his fingers stroking slowly up and down her damp back. Callie was a satisfied woman, fulfilled at last, as she nuzzled into his neck and jaw, wanting nothing more.

  *

  Beau felt Callie’s lush body against his as he slowly emerged from his deep, healing sleep. She was much smaller than he was, but felt like a cushion
y pillow against his long, hard, lean body. His arm was beneath her neck, and hers was curved around his waist, away from his wound. Just the citrus scent on her skin, the silkiness of her hair against his jaw, made him smile. He was in heaven, or as close as he was ever going to get to it, here on Earth. This woman made his heart fill with such love that it left him speechless. The gentle warmth in his chest spread like a soft breeze throughout him. He heard the sounds of nature outside their windows, saw the morning light spilling in, illuminating the small, simple room.

  Rolling his head to the left, he placed a soft kiss on Callie’s hair. She fit him like a glove and he relished the feeling of her against him once again. The months without her beside him had torn him apart and made him question his own masculinity, and whether he would be able to please her again. As he lay there, eyes closed, his arms around her, holding her close. He remembered their meeting, her electrifying belly dance at that chow hall where the Thanksgiving USO show was being held.

  Looking back on that time, he knew that he’d immediately fallen for the redhead whose green eyes flashed with such life. That purple and silver belly dancing outfit made her that much more beautiful to him. Her grace was that of a ballerina. Only it wasn’t ballet. It was primal, teasing belly dancing at its finest.

  He’d fallen so hard for Callie that he’d pursued her until he caught her. It hadn’t been easy. In fact, it had been rocky as hell, but Beau had persevered because he knew deep in his heart that this was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. This was the woman he wanted to marry, the one who would carry his children.

  Only now they had PTSD, a new layer weighing down on them, and on their relationship. But Beau didn’t care. He had enough belief in them to transcend it. They might have to live with it the rest of their lives, but they’d learn how to direct it, and not allow it to tear them apart. The hormone released by PTSD, cortisol, kept them in a constant, heightened state of anxiety, surging into a fight-or-flight reflex when least expected.

  He sighed, sliding his fingers slowly up and down her curved spine. Her flesh was warm and firm. Callie was in top athletic condition because of the belly dancing exercises she did every day without fail. And last night, hey, he’d given her an orgasm. Never had he been so relieved, so grateful, as at that moment.

  Beau hadn’t wanted to let Callie know how much he was questioning his ability to please her. What if he couldn’t? But all his worries dissolved after her orgasm. Yes, he still had it in him. He could still please her. Yes!

  Callie stirred, making soft, snuffling sounds as she began to awaken. Beau smiled and opened his eyes, wanting to see her eyelashes drift open. He eased her a little downward on his arm so he could watch her awaken. Those crimson strands of hair were thick, wild, and tousled, just like her. He was so glad she was a lover of nature, of the land. He couldn’t see himself marrying some city slicker.

  She lifted her long, graceful fingers, rubbing her nose, and then her sleepy looking eyes. Those thick, red lashes against her flushed cheeks brought out a dappling of freckles across them and her nose. But it was her sculpted lips that stirred his heart and once more, his erection. He was surprised, but then thought, Why not? She was a sensual woman in every way and he appreciated her on so many levels from physical, to emotional, and mental. She appealed to him in every possible way.

  “You’re beautiful when you wake up,” he told her in a husky voice, caressing her cheek, moving his thumb across her warm skin.

  “Ummm, I feel groggy, but great,” she muttered.

  “It was great. More than great. It isn’t like we haven’t been under a gun,” he told her, giving her an apologetic look for the pun.

  “I think it was that wonderful orgasm that symbolized that we’re now going to be in an up cycle with one another,” she whispered, leaning up to give him a quick kiss on the mouth. “That felt so good.”

  Inwardly, Beau preened over her comments. “I always want to please you. Always.”

  Callie slowly sat up, stretching her arms over her head. “You have always pleased me, Beau. We might be changed in some ways, but not in all ways. I’m going to get up and make us coffee. Want to join me out in the kitchen?”

  “Sure,” he murmured, pulling the covers pooling around her hips aside. “I’m gonna get a shower first.” He took in her naked body, those full, firm breasts, those hard nipples just begging to be suckled by him once more. Beau resisted. He was sure Callie would be sore from last night’s session with one another. When she moved, she was all grace, curves, and beauty. Mentally taking a picture of Callie, he wanted to remember this moment forever, because it was the first day of their new lives together.

  June 21

  “How do you think your parents will feel about you leaving here and coming back to the ranch with me?” Callie asked Beau over lunch on a bench outside their cabin. The day was unusually warm, and all the trees had sprouted green leaves for the summer. She had made them tuna sandwiches, added potato chips, and they’d sat against the cabin wall on a bench his father had made decades earlier.

  “They know I’m going home to the ranch with you, Callie,” he said between bites. “Your grandfather offered to teach me how to become a foreman, and run the ranch a decade from now. I know your grandparents want to retire and Graham said it would take about ten years to turn me from a hill boy into a cowboy.” He grinned, giving her a merry look. “And your dad never wanted to run the ranch, so it’s a good fit for me to step in and get trained.”

  Callie nodded, munching on the sliced sweet pickles she’d placed on another plate between them. “No, my dad loves our ranch, but he has his own career. And I know he’s grateful that you’ll be carrying it on for the family. I feel bad taking you from your mom and dad, though,” she admitted. “I love Amber and Cletus. They’re salt of the earth people, like you, Beau.”

  “It does run in our family,” Beau said with a chuckle. “A hill person can live anywhere in the world, but they’ll never lose that hill blood. I won’t lose that part of myself if I trade my baseball cap in for a cowboy hat.”

  “I don’t want you changed. I love you just the way you are, Beau.”

  “I know. But I gave Graham my word that I’d take care of you, Callie.”

  She studied him for a moment, wiping her fingers off with a paper napkin. “Would you rather stay here, Beau?”

  “Nah. I’m not a woodworker, Callie. There’s no job for me here on Black Mountain. And I sure don’t want some clerking job in Dunmore. I’d never make enough money to give us a decent life. There’s no call for black ops guys like me, except in security businesses, and I don’t want to do that anymore.”

  “I like you as a cowboy.”

  “So do I. It’s hard, outdoor work, but I’m accustomed to that, Callie. I like being outside and in the elements.” He finished off his sandwich, wiping his mouth with the napkin. “I like that life is going to happen for us together.”

  “We’ll weather whatever comes our way, Beau. PTSD or not.”

  “Yes, we’ll do that together.” He offered her the last sweet pickle and she shook her head.

  “I called my parents last night,” Callie offered. “I told them we booked airline tickets and gave them our arrival time at the Butte airport tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Good. I imagine they were glad to hear you’re coming home.”

  “Actually, they were glad we were coming home. I got to talk to Grandpa, and he’s picked out a nice quarter horse for you, a buckskin named Frank. He said he’s an older, wiser horse, and will be perfect for you while you learn how to ride.”

  Smiling, Beau said, “He’s always had my back and I appreciate that.”

  Callie stacked the plates between them. The sunlight felt wonderful and she relished in the warmth from it. “When we get home, I’m going to start learning accounting from Mom. I’ve always had a good head for numbers and I know that when my grandparents retire, my parents will want me to pitch in. I’m good at de
tails, math, and such. I told her last night that I’d go into training with her so I can understand the business end of the ranch for when you and I take it over.”

  “Everything changes, doesn’t it?”

  “Grandpa’s favorite saying is, ‘The only thing we can count on is change.’”

  Beau turned, slipping her left hand into his. “And there’s one change that I’m looking forward to …” holding her gaze he said, “marrying you.”

  “Same here,” Callie whispered, suddenly emotional. Wrapping her fingers around his, she said, “My mom and grandma want to know if we’ve set a date yet.”

  “What do you think? I’m open, Callie, to whatever you want.”

  “How about this fall? Maybe early September? And could your parents come visit us at the ranch, then?”

  “We can talk to them tonight about it. Ma is making us a special going-away dinner tonight. I think they’d both come, but my pa always has orders for his furniture to be done at specific times.”

  Nodding, Callie said, “Well, let’s find out, because I want them at the ranch for the wedding, Beau. I know my family will love them just as I do.” She gave him a warm look, “I think they’ll all become great, wonderful friends.”

  “I’m sure that the Thorn family would come off the top of Black Mountain to feed all our critters here and take care of them while they’re away. That’s what we do for each other here.”

  “Good, because I know your father refuses to fly. He’ll have drive up to Montana.”

  Chuckling, Beau nodded. “Yeah, Pa was in an airplane accident when he was in Army. They were flying a bunch of motor pool mechanics to another area and was one of the few to walk away from it. He swore then to never step foot in another plane again, and he hasn’t.”