Page 103 of Brighter Shades of Light

Would he revert back to that in the months I wasn’t here?

After walking toward him, I gently shook his shoulders.

“Sebastian?”

He grumbled and turned his head to the other side. His glasses sat lopsided on his nose.

As carefully as I could, I slid an arm around him and picked him up. He was taller than me, so it was a challenge to carry him, but I managed. It helped that he was so lanky. Once in our bedroom, I laid him down and removed his glasses before pulling the blanket up over him. I got back into bed, and in an instant, his arm was around me and bringing me to his chest.

His face rested at my nape, his breaths tickling a little, and then he kissed my neck and shifted closer. I thought he was awake, but then he softly snored in my ear.

Closing my eyes, I focused on the rising and falling of his chest as he breathed. My deployment would be for nine months. Being away from home—away from him—for that long hurt my heart.

I wasn’t ready to leave him.

The next morning, I woke to Sebastian kissing my neck. I cracked open my eyelids, smiling sleepily at him. His hair swooped in the front, messy from the crazy way he had slept, and his eyes were alight with desire.

“Good morning, handsome.”

“Hey,” I said.

My morning wood tented my boxers. He pressed his body against mine and kissed me. His hands gripped the sides of my face, and mine twisted in his hair. This was the last morning we’d be able to do this—take our time exploring each other’s bodies. He had taken leave from work to spend these last few pre-deployment days with me, so we had nowhere to be.

Being with Sebastian—our legs tangled together under the sheets as we kissed, bit, and fucked—was heaven on earth.

He thrust slow, but deep, making damn sure I wouldn’t forget the feel of him anytime soon. I had my arms around him, digging my fingertips into his shoulder blades as he grazed his teeth down my neck. Pressure built inside me and intensified as his dick nudged my prostate.

“Fuck, baby. Just like that.”

Sebastian angled his hips to hit me in that sweet spot over and over again. I stared up into his eyes as he moved a hand between our bodies and stroked me in sync with his thrusts.

“I’m gonna come,” I panted, my muscles starting to tense. “Ah, fuck.”

My orgasm rocked through me, and I cried out so loudly my voice cracked. Sebastian continued to pump into my ass, chasing his own high, and I clutched onto him, leaning up to kiss his throat. He liked when I did that.

“Cody.”

Just one word, but it held so much behind it. All the things he couldn’t say. He faltered in his rhythm and rested his head on my collarbone, his deep groans reaching my ears like the sweetest of melodies as he came.

He held me afterward, tighter than usual. Kisses were pressed to my forehead as he glided a hand along my bicep.

“I’m sorry for how I’ve acted lately,” I said.

“I understand.” Another kiss to my head, as though he wanted to fit nine months’ worth of kisses into a single morning. “I haven’t been at my best, either.”

“When I think about being away from you for that long, it’s hard to breathe sometimes.” I nuzzled his chest. “Like this right here, feeling your heart beating and smelling your skin, I’m gonna miss it.”

“Me too.” Sebastian’s hand moved on my arm, soft and comforting. “But I’m proud of you, Cody. You’re doing what you love.” He lightly chuckled before asking, “Do they still call Marines devil dogs?”

I snorted. “I think some might, but when I was in TBS, a dude haddevil dogtattooed on his bicep and sported it like he was some kinda badass. He got so much shit for it that he ended up going out and getting it covered.”

“What about butter bar?”

“Have you been researching us or something?” I asked, laughing. “They call my rank a butter bar because the insignia for second lieutenants is a gold bar on a brown sleeve braid.”

“So, I can’t call you a butter barred devil dog?”

It was rare for Sebastian to make jokes, but I knew why he was doing it. He didn’t want one of our last conversations for a while to be such a downer. I felt the same. So, I smiled.