and squeeze of his arm when the thunder cracked again, followed by the room lighting up as lightning joined the party, made it painfully obvious I really was afraid.
To his credit, Brody didn’t laugh or tease. He simply rolled onto his side and wrapped his arm around me so we were lying face to face. “No need to be afraid, Neil. I’ve got you. Want me to tell you about some of the hellacious storms I saw when I was overseas? I’m not sure if my memories would help or make it worse.”
“Let’s go with make it worse. There aren’t enough words to describe how big of a baby I am when it comes to storms.” I shivered at the next round of thunder and lightning, and Brody slowly rubbed my back.
Lying close like this, I felt the same intimacy from last night on his lap. The difference was now I wasn’t too shy to say anything. We stared at each other for a long moment. Then I scooted closer. His breath fanned over my cheeks as I gazed into his eyes.
“Brody, would you be mad if I tried to kiss you?”
Smiling, he touched his forehead to mine. “Neil, anyone who’d get mad over your sweet lips touching theirs deserves to die alone. I would never say no to a kiss from you.”
I blinked a few times, trying to control my galloping heartbeat. “Seriously? That is… wow. I don’t even know how to respond.”
Brody chuckled and rubbed our noses together before leaning back. “I’m sorry. Were you expecting me to turn you down?”
“I… don’t know? I guess I didn’t think it out.” I found myself smiling as I explained. “It just kind of came into my mind and went straight out of my mouth. I knew I found you attractive—who wouldn’t? But then you took such good care of me yesterday and gave me a completely perfect evening. I guess I feel closer to you now, lying here and feeling so safe. It occurred to me I wanted to kiss you. To know what your lips would feel like against mine.”
“There’s only one way to find out, sweetheart.” Brody winked, then closed the distance between us, pressing his lips to mine and taking my breath away.
Even though I could still hear it, I forgot all about the dangers of thunderstorms, lost in Brody’s kiss. A moan escaped me as he took control. His tongue brushed against mine, and he rolled me onto my back and took the kiss deeper.
His hands roamed, pushing up my pajama shirt and stroking my skin with his wonderfully rough calluses, tickling in all the best ways. Brody paused, breaking our kiss long enough to study me. “Is this okay? We can stop whenever you want.”
In answer, I pushed down my pajama pants, wiggling my hips and kicking my clothes out of the bed. I grinned and gently pushed at Brody’s shoulder. “Lean back so I can sit up.”
Once the pajama shirt joined the pants on the floor, I lay back on my pillow and stretched my arms out, pulling Brody close again. “Did I answer your question? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not actually a child. I just need to play like one whenever I can get away with it. But right now, I am exactly like any other red-blooded man. I know what I want, and it just so happens to be you.”
“Oh yeah? Tell me more.” Brody’s voice was practically a purr. “I’m interested to hear what dirty things a sweetheart like you might be able to come up with. Don’t worry about scandalizing me. Crusty old soldiers don’t shock easily.”
“Are you sure? Because both of us are on the backside of thirty. I am pretty sure my fantasies could be a little more intense than you might expect.”
“Try me,” he dared with a cocky grin, then stole a kiss and turned to nuzzle my neck.
“Hmm. What if I said I wanted to roll you over and take this,”—I paused to rub my dick against his thigh—“and slide it down the crack of your thick, hot ass before burying it balls-deep inside you? How would that sound?”
Brody lifted his head and met my eye. “From where I’m lying, it sounds like I need to grab the lube and a condom. Because… damn.“
“I’m not sure why I’m surprised. But I am not going to lie, my mind is kind of blown how you would let me take you.”
“Why? Because I’m a former Ranger