Page 26 of Embattled Ever After

Duncan grinned with her, appreciating her enthusiasm. “Let’s make it easier on both of us this time.”

She stepped out of the tub as graceful as a cat, grabbing the towel from the floor. While she was distracted, Duncan pushed himself vertical, almost groaning as his bones settled back into their painful positions. It was always a little tricky getting out of the hot tub. He needed to sit on the edge, then swivel his legs out. This time, when he did, Alex waited for him, towel outstretched. She’d belted her own towel low around her hips, leaving her bare breasts to sway in the air. In the chilly air. Her bright pink nipples were beaded hard. “Aren’t you cold?”

She shook her head, backing toward the door. “No way. I’m burning up right now. And there’s only one thing that will put out this fire. You.”

Duncan liked her candor, but he had to bark out a laugh at the cheesy line. “Let’s go then, and I’ll put out your fire.”

She beat him to his bedroom, but he had a feeling she did it deliberately so she wouldn’t have to see him struggle. Or maybe she was trying to save him some embarrassment. He tried to do without the cane when he was at home. He’d placed heavy items strategically throughout the house so they could be used as handholds, and he’d had a handrail placed in the hallway because it was such a long expanse with nothing to hold onto. When he walked into his room she was bent over at the waist, in the process of rolling her sodden bottoms down over her hips.

His erection had started to fade a little on the way here, but when he saw the delectable curve of her ass he went ramrod hard again. Alex glanced up at him, saw his look and blushed a little. Then her gaze drifted down his body.

Duncan had seen a lot in his life and most of it was laid out upon his skin. Most of the time he didn’t even think about what he looked like, but seeing young, beautiful Alex catalogue his injuries hurt more than he expected. He refused to apologize for them. If she wanted to be with him then she needed to see it all.

The wet shorts hung forgotten in her hand as she scanned across his chest, then drifted down to the tattoo on the left hand side of his ribs. She was too far away to read the names, but she smiled sadly. She was smart enough to understand the soldier’s cross and what the ink commemorated. Then her eyes drifted down to his erection and it was almost like a physical caress. His body flexed with eagerness and her eyes darkened.

She glanced away long enough to fling the shorts toward his bathroom, then turned back and started to walk toward him. Duncan had done his own checking out and couldn’t believe how gorgeous she was. Pampered women had a way about them, an enhanced femininity. It was very easy to see that Alex Hartfield enjoyed being a woman. From her expensively cut hair, her freshly manicured finger and toe nails painted a dark red, to her expertly waxed bikini area and the expanse of soft pampered skin that glowed in the light of the hallway, she was a complete woman. Duncan wanted to lay her down and explore her, inch by luscious inch. And he wanted to give her pleasure like she’d never known before.

Alex stopped in front of him and reached out a single finger to run down the center of his chest. Duncan wanted to bask in her touch, but need was pushing him now. Cupping her face in his hands, he bent to her mouth, loving that she opened to him so willingly. And her kisses were as heady as the rest of the attention she paid him.

When she tugged on his hand, pulling him toward the bed, Duncan did not resist. It was what they both wanted, right or wrong.

But he refused to let her lead the entire encounter. As she moved to lay back on the bed, he lowered himself beside her, refusing to wince with the pain. All thoughts of tiredness and wanting the day to be over flew from his mind as he looked at the bounty before him. Propping himself on an elbow, he leaned down to kiss her, resting a hand on her tummy. She gasped as he traced designs over her skin and her hips shifted. Needing to know more, he measured the expanse between her hip bones with his spread hand, and explored the fine pores of her skin. Then he drifted his fingers down the expanse to her pubic area.

“You are a true redhead.”

She giggled, and it was a very carefree sound. “Yes, I am. Did you have doubts?”

“Nope. Not a one.”

Leaning in, he swirled his fingertips through the moist hair, then burrowed a finger into her heat. She was utterly soaked. Duncan groaned, the tip of his dick tingling, needing release. “That is so sexy,” he murmured.

“You’re telling me,” she sighed. A shudder wracked her lean body and her hips rolled into his touch.

Duncan burrowed his finger deeper, finding her swollen clitoris. Alex had no hesitation in telling him what she wanted, even guiding his hand when he didn’t hit just the right spot. It seemed like just a few moments and she gave him the greatest gift he’d gotten for a long time.

Alex orgasmed for him and called out his name as her body arched off the bed. She pinched her breasts in her hands and moaned, looking at him through passion-glazed eyes.

After a show like that there was no way he could deny her when she tugged him over top of her. Duncan carefully arched his hips and slid into her as if they were meant to be.

Alex gasped beneath him, clutching at his sides. “Oh, my God…you feel so right in me.”

Duncan couldn’t argue. The woman in his arms felt miraculous, and he almost could believe he was in a dream. But this dream was too nice compared to his other dreams. Those held death and destruction and she was the opposite of those things. She was light and life, and everything he wanted, but could never seem to have.

Alex clutched his ass, pulling him deeper into her. Duncan surged, need pouring through him in a tidal wave. Watching her, feeling her, everything had combined to put him at the edge of climax, and it didn’t take but a few strokes to know that he had to slow down or it was all over.

Alex moaned when he slowed and arched up, trying to encourage him to keep going, but Duncan was determined. It would be incredibly easy to come right now, but he would feel cheated if he didn’t savor it a little longer. Instead, he curled his body and began kissing down her neck. Some erotic, spicy scent tickled his nose. God, he just wanted to immerse himself in her.

Levering himself up on his arms, he looked down at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips swollen from his kisses. And her eyes. They glimmered like emeralds, full of arousal and lingering satisfaction. “Why are you slowing down?” she whispered.

“Because I’ve been on an erotic edge for two days since you got here, and it would be entirely too easy to give in.”

She rocked up, deepening their contact. “That’s the point, isn’t it? To give in? Believe me, this won’t be the only time we do this.”

Duncan grinned at her, loving that she planned on more from him. “Yes, but I’m an old man. Once I come, I’m shot for the night.”

A dark auburn brow lifted. “I seriously doubt that. Old man, my ass. I say take your pleasure and we’ll go again.”

With that, she arched her hips again, more forcefully. Gritting his teeth, Duncan tried to resist, but she just felt so damn good, it wasn’t even funny. Little internal muscles deep in her feminine core were rippling around his length. Succumbing, promising himself he’d do better next time, he slid into her, seating himself as deeply as he could. Alex hissed out a breath of air, her hands fluttering around him. “Oh, yes, please, Duncan,” she sighed, nipping at his earlobe.

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