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No. Not yet. Not yet…

But she was with him.

He could feel it happening.

The tensing of her muscles. The contraction of her silken walls. She was coming for him, coming with him, and somehow he managed to hang on until she threw back her head and screamed—and then he let go of everything: the loneliness, the despair, the endless weeks without her, and fell over the edge of the universe with his Annie in his arms.

CHAPTER EIGHT

At first, the world was a blur. Then, gradually, he became aware of things. The slowing beat of his heart. The dampness of sweat on his skin.

Annie, lying beneath him.

He stirred. She sighed. He started to ease himself off her—he had to outweigh her by seventy, eighty pounds—but she made a whisper of protest and held him closer.

He smiled and buried his face in her hair…

And realized he hadn’t worn a condom.

What the hell…?

It was the first time in his entire life that he hadn’t. At age sixteen, in the hayloft of Sally Webster’s barn, he’d had his first sexual experience that didn’t involve his own right hand and, yes, he’d worn a condom.

He’d never not used one, and there’d been no reason not to use one tonight. He had condoms in his gear. STUDs especially got ranked on about it, but Special Ops forces had long ago figured out that condoms weren’t only for sex—they could also hold life-giving liquids like water in an emergency. And they served nicely as rifle barrel covers in seriously bad weather and mud.

He knew he should be upset about the condom thing…but how he could he be upset over anything when what he’d just experienced had been so fantastic? There had to be a better word, but right now, fantastic would have to do.

Carefully, he rolled onto his side with Annie in his arms. “Honey?”

She sighed, her breath warm against his throat. “Mmm?”

Such a lovely sound, that whispered “Mmm.”

“Sweetheart. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, laying her hand over his heart.

“That’s it?” he said teasingly. “You’re fine?”

She drew back a little, titled her head so she could see his face, and smiled. “Are you looking for compliments, Lieutenant?”

He grinned. “Well, if you want to toss one my way…”

She laughed and snuggled closer. He closed his eyes and drank in the hot, silky feel of her body.

Dammit.

She didn’t know that all this skin- to-skin contact, the delicate pressure of her hips against his, the sweet rub of her nipples against his chest, was starting to drive him crazy. He was getting hard. And this was too fast, too soon.

Not for him.

For her.

She was new to this. She needed a chance to rest.

She sighed and put her leg over his thigh. He could feel her heat. And, man, he was going from hard to harder.

“I’m more than fine,” she said. “I’m wonderful.”