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Things were different now. When he’d finished medical school, Alexander had every intention of serving his six years and then starting his own practice, but he hadn’t been able to abandon his comrades. That, and by the time his six years were up, his parents had both passed away. There was nothing calling him back home. At least in the Army he had a place.
It was the hardest part of the transition—the being alone. There wasn’t much alone time in the Army, especially when you were deployed. If you wanted to be alone, you pretty much had to lock yourself in one of the latrines.
When he’d woken up in the VA hospital it was late at night. One of the first things he noticed was how quiet it was. Oh, there were noises, lots of little beeps and clicks, but nothing compared to what he’d been used to. It had frightened him at first, the lack of noise, until he’d realized he was in a hospital and he was stateside.
The microwave dinged and he removed his bowl of soup, carrying it into the living room where he could continue his reading. Before he knew it, the sun had gone down and it was time to get ready for bed.
He removed his clothes and tossed them into the basket he kept beside the door in his bedroom. Grace had never been to his place, a problem he thought maybe he should solve in the not too distant future. He wanted her to warm to the idea of them being a couple, and maybe being in his space would help with that. It wasn’t much, but for now it was home.
His bathroom wasn’t as nice as hers. It was pretty basic. But considering he used to share a shower with a hundred or so guys, it could have been a pipe sticking out of the wall for all he cared.
After washing up and taking care of business, Alexander made his way over to his bed. He’d spent the last two nights with Grace, her warm body pressed against him. His bed felt cold in comparison and he questioned his wisdom to stay there tonight instead of with her.
He hadn’t wanted to crowd her, though. That and he needed a little perspective as well. He was still dealing with the guilt of pursuing his best friend’s widow even though he knew that in some ways they were doing it with Kurt’s blessing. Or at least that’s what Alexander was telling himself. Kurt wanted Grace to be taken care of and he could do that. He would do that if she would let him.
Rolling onto his side, he ran a hand over the cool sheets and imagined her lying there beside him. He knew she was okay with their D/s relationship. She’d embraced that part. It was the rest that had her wavering and he wasn’t sure exactly what it was that kept her holding back. She said it was because she didn’t know if she could give him what he needed, but that didn’t make sense to him. Not really. He didn’t know how to help her get past it. All he could do was hope and pray that time would get her to see they could be good together, and not only as Dom and sub.
The next morning dawned way too soon. He stretched before lowering himself to the floor to do his morning sit-ups. Before his injury he was able to do one hundred easy, but lying in a bed for months had destroyed that.
He’d had to work his way from doing tiny crunches in his hospital bed to finally being able to do sit-ups again. After seven months, he could manage fifty before his muscles began to protest. Still, it was good to feel his strength returning, even if he had little hope of ever recovering the full function of his leg again.
Sweat rolled off him as he made his way to the shower. He placed his hands against the wall, leaning forward, letting the water trail down his back. It felt good, but not as good as Grace’s hands.
Alexander tipped his head back, letting the water hit his face. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Even the simplest things brought her to his mind.
His cock began to harden, and he knew he needed to change the direction of his thoughts. Alexander reached for the soap and began to lather his body, ignoring the ache in his groin. He would see her tonight when he dropped off the lube and maybe she could relieve his growing problem.
As he was getting dressed for work, his gaze drifted back to the bed, then to his closet. Before he could overthink it, Alexander stuffed a change of clothes in a black bag, and went to find some breakfast. He knew it probably wasn’t the best idea for him to stay overnight during the week, given they both had to work, but last night he had missed having her beside him. It was insane considering he’d slept alone his entire life with very few exceptions, but there it was and he wasn’t going to fight it.
His day went by faster than he expected. He’d been sure it would drag since he was anxious to see Grace again, but the two meetings he’d had to attend had helped. There hadn’t been time to do much of anything beyond answer question after question regarding various medical procedures, their uses, and their effectiveness. It was a good thing he’d been reading up on all the latest techniques and trials.
By the time he stopped by the grocery store to pick up some coconut oil and the adult store for a few other things, he was desperate for some stress relief. Alexander pulled up outside Grace’s house, grabbed his black bag, his recent purchases, and his cane. He walked up the stairs to her front porch and rang the doorbell.
Several minutes passed and no one answered.
He’d told her he would be stopping by. Had something come up and she’d forgotten to call him?
Alexander tried again.
Before he was able to remove his finger, the door swung open to a very harried looking Grace. “Alexander.”
“Grace? Is something wrong?”
“No. No. I—”
“Grace, who is it?” The sound of a woman’s voice floated in from the other room.
“Umm.”
“If you need me to tell them to go away—” The woman appeared behind Grace. She was a little taller with a few more curves, but there was no mistaking these two had to be related.
Grace met his gaze. She looked almost apologetic. Then she half turned to her sister. “Gabby, this is Alexander. Alexander, this is my sister, Gabby.”
Gabby stepped forward, thrusting her hand out for him to take. “It’s good to finally meet you, Alexander.”
He took her hand and gave it a firm shake. Grace’s sister was a lot more outgoing than Grace, that was for sure. “Very nice to meet you, Gabby. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Well, that makes one of us.” She dropped her hand and backed farther into the house. “Are you going to invite him in? Or are you going to make him stand out in the cold?”
