Page 98 of Brighter Shades of Light

I grabbed my phone from the desk where I had been unpacking the box of my knickknacks in my study and called Cody’s number.

“Whoa!” Cody jolted and reached behind him. He grinned. “Oops. It was in my back pocket.”

I closed my eyes, fighting a smile, before looking back at him. “Sometimes you are brilliant, Mr. Miller. And other times…I worry about you.”

“Oh yeah?” He approached me, his cocky little grin still plastered on his face. Once within arm’s length, he gripped my forearms and tugged me toward him, gliding his mouth up the side of my neck.

His breath on my skin sent goosebumps down my arms.

“Mhm.” When I swallowed, he kissed my throat. “We should unpack. I start work in the morning.”

“All the more reason to do this.” Cody trailed kisses up my neck and to my lips.

I surrendered to him, then. The boxes could wait. The important things were unpacked, anyway. I kissed him firmly on the mouth before easing into it, sliding my arm around his muscled waist and pushing him against the desk. I felt him smile against my lips.

“Gotta admit, Doctor, I want it rough. Think you can manage?”

“I’ll do my best,” I said, unbuttoning my pants and dropping them to the floor. I flipped him around to face the desk and gripped his nape, holding him in place while I tugged down his jeans. “Like this?”

“Yes, sir.” Cody spread his legs wider and arched his back.

I admired the dip of his spine and leaned forward to kiss a patch of freckles on his shoulder blade.

The sex was quick but no less fulfilling. We no longer used condoms after being tested a few months back when he finished with TBS, and the skin on skin was intoxicating as I pushed into him. Our connection was stronger than ever, both physically and emotionally.

Afterward, we showered together, our mouths finding each other again as the water rained down on us. I would never tire of kissing him. Of touching him. Even after the spark of new love passed, I continued to fall more in love with him. Every little thing about him drove me crazy—his voice, the raspy tone to his laugh, his scent, and how he still blushed sometimes when I complimented him.

“Thank you,” Cody said, wrapping his arms around me later that night as we lay in bed.

“For what?” I had almost been asleep.

“For everything.” His head rested on my chest, and he turned to gaze at me in the dark. “You uprooted your whole life for me.”

“I would do anything for you, Cody.”

“I guess I just feel bad, you know? I never expected you to move for me.”

“It wasn’t just for you.” I touched his jaw and lowered my mouth to his for a soft kiss. “It was forus. I want to build a life with you, and it doesn’t matter where we have to go; as long as you’re with me, that’s all that matters.”

Cody leaned his head against mine and breathed deeply.

I had noticed a change in him the past several months, ever since he had been sent to The Basic School. At first, I thought it was the distance between us that had made him different. But something in his training had shifted his sense of self. The childlike gleam he used to have about being a Marine was somewhat gone from his eyes now. There were moments, like now, when his whole body tensed and he became solemn.

“Are you nervous about starting your new job tomorrow?” Cody asked. The tenseness left him, and he relaxed against my chest.

“No.” I brushed my fingers through his short hair. “I’m excited, though.”

Before moving to North Carolina, I had looked into a few jobs. There were several colleges around Jacksonville that were interested in having me, but I realized I was done with teaching. At least for a while. I missed being in a laboratory and performing experiments, furthering research on life-saving technology.

So, I had applied for a nuclear physicist position. I would mostly be conducting laboratory research dealing with radiation but would also assist some of the local military scientists in performing weapons inspections, since Jacksonville had such a large military presence.

“Did you know they used to call scientists eggheads?” Cody asked, breaking the silence.

I snorted a laugh. I loved the random workings of his mind. “Yes, I’m well aware. It was considered an insult and used to make fun of us nerds.”

“You’re not a nerd.”

“I beg to differ.”