Page 40 of Wicked Healing

He turned her hand over in his tracing the faint lines on her palm and the length of her fingers. “I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate everything you've done for me. Even though technically my mother has been paying you.“

She tilted her head and smiled softly. "I don't want you to thank me. Everything I’ve done for you and Wicked has been because I wanted to. Not because of any other reason. What your mother pays is the bare minimum boarding rate for a dog, nothing more. And even that needs to come to an end now that you’re here. Speaking of which.”

Erin move to a hutch on the far side the kitchen and retrieved a stapled packet of papers. She returned to him holding the papers out. “Let's make this official and make sure that Wicked is officially yours again."

Luca looked down at the papers in his hand, emotion tightening his throat. He recognized the official seal of the US Navy at the top.

“Here you go,” she said handing him a pen.

Luca skimmed the wording on the pages then flipped to the backside. He signed his name on the line accepting responsibility for Wicked, also known as Multi-use Canine 643. Erin signed her own name directly above his, relinquishing control.

Luca felt like for something so momentous there should've been a lot more fanfare. He and Wicked had served their country to the best of their abilities. And it ended with a slash of a pen.

He swiped at his watering eyes. Even though there've been no fanfare he felt the resounding slam of the door in his chest. The Navy was done with them.

Right then the emotion he felt was worse than any of the injuries he’d received over there. It welled up inside him like a breaker wave off the coast, unforgiving and unstoppable. Erin seemed to sense that something was wrong because she moved close, looking up into his eyes. "Hey, you'll be okay. I promise you."

Leaning up she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tight. Luca couldn't have pushed her away if his life depended on it. Not even if Wicked’s life depended on it. He wrapped his arms around her and just absorbed the punch of losing his former life.

He didn't know why he was reacting this way. It wasn't was a surprise. He'd had two months to come to grips with the fact that he was done with the Navy but for some reason seeing the words on the printed page made it very different.

Erin held him for several long moments as his world recalibrated and when she pulled back to look up into his eyes, Luca took a huge leap into his next life. Lowering his head he captured her mouth with his, kissing her like he’d been wanting to for the past few weeks. Even before he met her in person he’d had a few little daydreams about connecting with a woman again, and though he knew it was dangerous, Luca needed to explore what was between them.

Erin however, didn't hesitate. She kissed him like she'd been wanting to do it since he walked in the door. Maybe even before that. It seems so cliché that they were thrust into the situation and were now reacting to each other like lovers. No matter what the motivation, he couldn't force himself let her go.

She shifted and he thought she was pulling away, but instead she was making him move one of his legs so that she could get closer. Luca did what she wanted, unable to help himself. It had been so long...

One of her hands cupped his face on the damaged side and a shudder rolled through him. Her thumb stroked his cheek, brushing at the light stubble that was so hard to shave now, then on down his neck to rest upon his chest. She didn't push him away, which he was eternally grateful for. Cupping her head in his hands he kissed her like he wanted to.

Erin moaned into his mouth. Luca breathed her in, nibbling kisses across her full lips and jaw. When he licked his own lips he tasted peach, or something else juicy like that. He went in for a second kiss, determined to learn what she liked. That was when she stepped in tight against him and he forgot his own name.

Erin was not normally the lead in situations like this, but she could tell that Luca wasn’t going to act on what she thought was going through his mind. So, she acted for them both.

Luca was not a small man and even though he’d been in the hospital for a significant length of time, his rehab time had done him well. She could feel the strength in his arms and hands as he cradled her to him. His muscular thighs were spread around her own as she stood in front of him, drowning in sensation.

Eventually Erin became aware of a persistent sound intruding. She hated to pull away from Luca, but maybe it was for the best. They stared at each other for a long moment before she stepped away from him. Her phone was buzzing at the end of the counter, vibrating against a soup spoon. That was what all the noise had been. She glanced at the screen and cursed.

“Hey, Mom, what’s up?”

Luca held her gaze and it took her a moment to understand what her mother was saying. “Wait, what? No, I don't have your neighbor’s Pekingese. No one has brought me a dog like that.”

Erin went silent for a moment, listening to her mother prattle on about the missing dog. For some reason mom thought it would somehow make itself to her, though they were almost thirty miles apart. The ruse was cute but Erin had a feeling she knew what her mother was actually calling about.

"I have to go, Mom," she said firmly.

“Did your Navy SEAL make it in?"

“Yes," Erin sighed. “but I was just about to cook dinner. Can I call you tomorrow?"

Her mother was not to be swayed. "Are you cooking for one or two?"

“Love you, Mom. Talk to you later.”

She hung up the phone to her mother's laughter. Erin new she would have to spill all the next morning.

Glancing at Luca, she shrugged. "Seems like both of our mothers know how to needle us."

His face eased into a lopsided grin. "I think that's what they were put on the earth to do."

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