Page 31 of Deadly Strain

“Whoa,” he interrupted, kissing her temple and gathering her close despite the stiffness of her body. “Nothing to be sorry about. I started it.”

“Then I attacked you.” She rested her head against his shoulder and relaxed a little. How was she ever going to look him in the face again?

“I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting it,” he said. “I figured kissing you might distract you a little from the shit we’d been through, but you know, if I have to defend myself against a beautiful woman and give her an amazing orgasm...” He sighed theatrically. “It’s hard being me.”

She snorted into his shirt. Shock. That must be what she was feeling. There could be no other explanation for the burst of humor grabbing hold of her frazzled nerve endings and calming them. Not only calmed, but made their situation a tiny bit humorous.

She lifted her head and looked him right in the eye. “You are the strangest guy I have ever met.”

He raised a brow. “That’s a good thing, ’cause a minute ago you were trying really hard to fly apart.”

“Yeah. I guess I was.” Now, what was she going to do? How was she going to look at his face without remembering the expression he wore when his own orgasm overtook him? She shivered, the pleasure in watching him a glow warming her from the inside out.

“Hey,” he whispered into her ear. “Can you move back a little so I can get at my pocket?”

Her hand was sticky, and she scooted backward, intending to get off him entirely. He stopped her.

“Whoa, hold still.”

She froze. Had she done something wrong?

He opened a pocket and pulled out a package of Wet Wipes. After quickly cleaning himself, he offered her one as well. He took it from her when she was done and put the used wipes into a small sealable plastic baggy from the same pocket.

“What else have you got in there?” she asked, momentarily distracted.

“Shampoo, hand sanitizer, and a little Vaseline.”

She blinked. “Vaseline?”

“Yeah, you never know when you’re going to need to lubricate...something.” There was humor in his voice, but also caution.

She swallowed hard, staring at his chest. “How bad did we just screw up?”

He didn’t answer right away, and after a few seconds, she finally looked up to meet his gaze.

He considered her for a long moment. “You know I care about you, right?”

She nodded.

“And you care about me?”

She nodded again.

“Then where’s the mistake? ’Cause I don’t see one. We needed each other.”

“That’s it?” She couldn’t quite believe it was as simple as he made it sound.

“Does it have to be complicated? Would you have rather screamed murder at the top of your lungs?”

“I suppose not, it’s just...intimacy isn’t casual for me.” If it was casual for him, she didn’t know how she’d ever look him in the face again.

“Hey.” He leaned down to catch her gaze again. “It’s not for me either.” He kissed her forehead.

He made it sound like sex was a coping mechanism. “Has this ever happened to you before?”

He grunted. “Nope. Never survived a helicopter crash, killed a bunch of bad guys, and creatively calmed down a woman having a panic attack before.”

“Well, it worked.” She snorted. “Okay, you can let go of me now.”