Page 75 of Disciplining Dana

Dana shed the last of her things and moved to the bed, sliding beneath the covers. As Kurt tugged off his briefs, it was impossible to hide his erection, so he didn’t try. She’d said they weren’t going to fuck tonight, and—honestly—for the first time in his relationship with Dana he wasn’t thinking of that. He suspected that much like himself, right now what she wanted wasn’t a fuckbuddy, but a friend. Someone to share her bed who cared for her in ways that went far beyond sex. To hold and cherish and comfort and be present in the moment with someone in a form of intimacy that went far beyond anything sex could.

He closed the few steps to the bed, pulled back the comforter, and eased himself beneath the sheets until he was nestled beside her. Once he was there, she skootched back, spooning into him, pressing into his erection in a way that seemed less wanton and more an acknowledgement. To Kurt, it was recognition that this may have been where their relationship had started, but it certainly wasn’t all it had become, nor the end.

Kurt had no real sense of how long they’d lain there before Dana softly broke the quiet. “This. This has always been so good between us, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, it has,” he replied gently.

“But it wasn’t enough, was it?”

Her words could’ve created tension within him, but there was something in the way she said it that did the exact opposite. There was acknowledgment in her tone, an understanding that carried, if not comfort, at least hope.

“In the sense that I could overlook everything else? No. Like I explained, I couldn’t any longer.” He pushed up on an elbow, and Dana rolled to him, gazing into his face. “Was it enough for you?”

Reaching, she stroked his cheek. “Oh, come on, Kurt,” she replied gently. “Look around you. After everything that happened tonight, think about where are we right now. What we’re doing.” She gave him a smile both tender and chiding. “I’m pretty sure you know the answer to your question.”

“You’re right. At least I’d like to think I do.” Looking into the pair of glistening dark brown eyes that gazed back at him, he recognized if nothing else was clear for the moment—nothing else certain—at least one thing was: tonight wasn’t an end.

It was a beginning.

EPILOGUE

Dana

“But there’s no one here!”

Dana pointed up the narrow dirt road that stretched ahead of them, giving Kurt an encouraging smile.

He gazed back stonily.

Ugh. Goddammit, this was going to be one of those times he was gonna make her work for it.

“Oh, c’mon, Kurt! That sign”—she indicated the metal rectangle attached to the fence connected to the gate that barred the path ahead of them—“is more of a… suggestion than an actual… order.”

“Okay, Cap’n Sparrow, whatever you say.”

Dana groaned. This wasn’t that big of a deal. He shouldn’t be choosing this hill to make a stand on. This shouldn’t be a situation where she had to tease a compromise out of him.

But—dammit!—that’s exactly what he was gonna make her do.

Kurt slowly read the announcement printed in bold black and red on the metal placard, laboriously enunciating each word. “Warning. Restricted Area. Use of deadly force authorized. It is unlawful to enter this area without permission from the Ekalaka Mini-Mutes Site commander. Section Twenty-one, Internal Security Act of?—”

“Alright, alright, fine, stop!” Dana rolled her eyes. “Jesus!”

Okay, time to come at this from a different angle.

“Kurt…” She drew his name out, swaying her hips as she approached him. “You know, if this area is off limits, that means you and I will probably be the only ones up there, and that means, once I’m done looking for the indication…” She came up and put her hands on his hips, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. This tactic was an oldie but a goodie, and it was bound to?—

“Seriously, Dana?” he said with a sigh.

Shit. Okay, don’t give up yet. You can still do this, wear him down...

“I’m just saying, in the eight-plus years we’ve been together now, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve mixed work with pleasure.” She drew her lower lip between her teeth, gazing up at him from under hooded eyes.

“No.”

She slid one hand over, feeling his length through the denim of his jeans. “Are you sure?” she crooned.

“Dana…”

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