Page 104 of Daybreak

“It’s already paid for,” Gunner said as she parked.

“Okay, but I’ll go in to get it. You stay.”

“Woof,” Gunner said and nodded his head.

She wasn’t going to give him an inch. “Be a good boy. I’ll see if they have pup cups.”

He was still grinning when the entrance door closed behind her. Lord, she is going to be so much fun to live with.

* * *

That night, after Holly’s workday had ended, they grilled wieners for hot dogs on the patio grill and ate supper by moonlight. It was a far cry from the storms of the night before and a peaceful way to spend an evening.

It had been so long since normal was even a part of Gunner’s life that he was beginning to realize how much he’d given up for the job. He was having to relearn what it meant to relax.

Holly was snuggled up against him, with her head on his shoulder, when she suddenly sat up and turned to face him.

“Hey, Gunner, do you remember that wiener roast the coach had your senior year after baseball season was over?”

Gunner grinned. “Was that when you got the toasted marshmallow in your hair?”

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe. But I was referring to the shiny gold crown the team gave me for being best bat girl of the year.”

He smiled. “I remember. You were so dang cute.”

“It was made out of cardboard, but someone had covered it with gold Christmas wrap and glued all kinds of glass ‘jewels’ on it. Mom took a picture of me with the team wearing the crown that night.”

“Really? Wish I’d seen that,” Gunner said.

“It’s hanging on the wall in my old bedroom back home. I’m standing in front of you and Will Devlin. Each of you have a hand resting on my shoulders. I want to hang it in our house after we move in.”

His teasing ended as he reached for her hand.

“Darlin’, I would love it. That was our before, and now is our after. It needs to be there.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder. Her childhood hero had become so much more to her than she could have imagined. That this was even happening still felt like a dream.

And so they stayed, lulled by the slight rocking of the glider in which they were sitting, with the night breeze stirring the air and muting the sounds out on the street. Interrupting the silence with their intermittent bursts of laughter that punctuated the moments between their kisses.

Later, as Gunner was getting into bed with her, he was wishing for so much more. “Holly, darlin’, I want to make love to you so bad I ache.”

Her hand was on his chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart. “I know… So do I, but while the epic leap you made knocking Whistler off the Harley solved the FBI’s problem, it created another one for you. You’re going to have to get better before you even think about stressing out the stitches on your shoulder or making your forearm start bleeding again.”

Gunner sighed. “I know, I know. Last rooster standing, and all that.”

Her silence lay between them until she leaned over and brushed a kiss across his lips. “I know you’re frustrated, and tired of being frustrated, but I’m fine. However, if you promise to lie real still and close your eyes, I know how to rock you to sleep.”

A muscle jerked at the side of his eye as he reached out and turned off the lamp. He was already hard, and she was nothing but a silhouette in the dark as he watched her sit up.

“Promise you won’t move,” she said.

“Promise,” he said and closed his eyes.

He felt the bed give to her movements, then the weight of her straddling his hips as she eased herself down on his rock-hard erection. Tight. Warm. Soft as silk. Those were his last conscious thoughts as she began to move.

Her heart quickened when she heard a soft groan. Making love was the best feeling, and the most urgent feeling on earth—the only thing you never want to end, while chasing the climax you so desperately need to happen.

“Please say I’m not hurting you,” she whispered, then heard a groan, followed by a softly muttered plea not to stop.