She did, too.
He raised his head, suddenly looking gaunt. “Cat... Cat...”
Not knowing what else to do, she moved to wrap her arms around him from behind. Her heart was breaking for him, yet she still enjoyed his scent, the hard strength of his shoulders.
Damn, she was losing it. So inappropriate right now.
But he surprised her, reaching around and tugging her until she could sit on his lap.
“Cat,” he whispered roughly, “this doesn’t make sense, but I...”
She got it. Totally. She didn’t care if it didn’t make sense, didn’t care if this didn’t fit with the concerns that swirled around them. She felt it, too. Needed it.
His arms snaked around her, tightening until he held her close to his heat, until her face rested between his shoulder and neck. She closed her eyes, reveling in his hug, and rested her hand on his chest. The man was nearly as hard as rock, and his embrace made her feel so soft...
Then she felt a shudder rip through him. Oh God, it was hitting him—hitting him hard. Whatever form of denial he’d been using had just been torn away by the news that Larry’s body would arrive soon.
Another shudder took him, but when she tried to move, he just held her closer. She didn’t want to get away; she wanted to be in a better position to comfort him.
But maybe this was what he needed? She couldn’t decide that for him. So she relaxed and remained silent while grief gripped him. Aching for him and feeling utterly foolish for thinking this might ever have been anything else.
She was sure he’d lost others in his life, given the nature of his career, but this had to be different, even worse. As close as he must become with his fellow soldiers in unimaginable circumstances, there must be an even deeper connection with the brother you’d grown up with. Families of different kinds.
As carefully as he held her, as much as his arms supported her, she began to feel restless. This wasn’t exactly a natural position, not for long.
His shuddering had passed, and maybe this was a time she could move. His arms hadn’t loosened any, and she didn’t want to make him feel any worse, but still...
Carefully, slowly, she pulled away a little.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low and quiet. “You’ve got to be uncomfortable.”
“A little,” she admitted, “but don’t apologize.”
Slipping off his lap, she bent a little side to side while keeping her attention on him. His eyes were closed, but there was no sign of tears on his cheeks. He’d gone through the storm without a tear. She’d have been blubbering her head off, as she knew from when her mother had died. Tears were a release, an expression of feelings for which there were no adequate words.
“Duke?” She spoke quietly.
His eyes opened, and he looked hollow. “Yeah?”
“Can I get you something? Coffee? Beer? Milk?” Useless questions, answering only her own need to do something for him. “Do you want anything?”
“You,” he said.
Her heart slammed, and her knees turned to water.
CAT BARELY REMEMBERED getting to the bedroom. Like a scene from a movie, the world turned into a blur as they pulled clothes away and stumbled into her bedroom, kissing wildly all the while. She’d never believed those scenes. Now she did, with the haziest of memories to support it.
All that mattered was how quickly they’d come to be lying naked on her bed. The curtains were still drawn, and little light seeped into the room, leaving a twilight that felt right for the unreality that had seized her. Bright light would have interfered, made everything stand out starkly. Would have kept her from slipping away into a place where nothing existed except Duke and the desire that poured through her like lava.
Heavy breathing. Palms stroking skin as if trying to create fire from friction and unleashing a very different kind of fire. Damn, his skin felt good, and his touch felt even better. She skimmed over what felt like scars, stories yet to be told.
She gasped as he caressed her, a merciless reconnaissance of her every curve and hollow. His hands and fingers took liberties that left her moaning as he teased her breasts, then slipped his hand between her legs, pressing until she arched, needing ever so much more. She grabbed his shoulders like a life preserver in dangerous waters, feeling as if she would drown in him and never return.
Then his mouth followed his hands. She nearly went mad, writhing under his every touch, trying to reach him and reciprocate, but he wouldn’t let her. He was in command this time, and she finally let it be. His need for control was hardly surprising, and she was willing to grant it to him. Another time...
Coherent thoughts were few and far between and becoming rarer by the second. Swept away by his demanding desire, she let him carry her to wherever he wanted.
Like the eternal current carrying them both. She felt herself rising as if on a rogue wave, higher and higher until she felt a fear of tipping into the trough below. Then a fear of not tipping over at all.
He slipped inside her, filling her until she ached from it. When he started moving, she followed helplessly, needing it, needing him.
She fell over the edge, feeling him fall with her, jerking suddenly against her, giving her one last trip to the top before she tumbled into peace.
THEY LAY TOGETHER in a tangled mess of bodies and bedcovers. At some point Duke rose up to grab a pillow and place it under both their heads, but then she disappeared once again into his embrace.
Cat had never had such an experience. Never. Delicious, fraught with a maelstrom of sensation and feelings that kept her on a scary edge until the moment when release set her free.
Wild.
Never before had she felt quite as satisfied, either. As if no part of her had escaped the experience.
He stirred a little,
