Page 58 of Grumpy on the Mountain

"IED. Same day as the first one." His voice is rough with the memory. "Three guys in my unit didn't make it home."

"But you did," I whisper, kissing this one too. "You survived."

His hand finds my waist underwater, fingers spanning my ribs, and the touch sends heat shooting through me.

"Sometimes I wonder if I should have."

"No." The word comes out fierce, final. "Don't think that. Don't ever think that."

I shift closer, practically in his lap now, my breasts brushing against his chest as I map each scar with my fingers and lips, letting his words reveal the stories, one by one.

A small one near his heart from a training accident. Another along his ribs from a knife fight in a bar outside base. Each story comes reluctantly, pulled from him like splinters, and with each one I feel him relaxing beneath my touch.

"See.You're a good man, Beau Callahan," I murmur against his throat, tasting the salt of his skin. "The best man I've ever known."

His hands are sliding up my back, cupping my ass, tracing the curve of my waist like he's memorizing every inch. When I shift to straddle him properly, his cock presses against my belly, thick and hard and making me dizzy with want.

"Molly," he growls, but I'm already reaching between us, wrapping my fingers around his length.

He's even bigger than I thought, my hand barely closing around him, and the low groan that rumbles from his chest when I stroke him makes my pussy clench with need.

"Fuck," he breathes, his hands finding my breasts, thumbs brushing over my nipples until they're tight and aching. "I never thought I'd have this. Never thought I'd share my home, my thoughts… my demons."

His voice is raw, filled with a vulnerability that makes my heart swell.

I arch into his touch, pressing myself closer, feeling the roughness of his palms against my soft skin. Water sloshes around us, the cool night air contrasting with the heat of our bodies as I rock against him.

His grip tightens on my hips, guiding me, his breath hot against my neck as he murmurs, "You're everything, Molly. Everything I never knew I needed."

His words are like a spark, igniting a fire deep within me. I can feel every inch of him, every hard plane and curve, every scar that tells a story of his past.

And I want it all—the good, the bad, the broken parts of him.

Because in this moment, we're not just two people tangled together in a hot tub under the stars; we're two souls finding solace in each other, finding a home in the chaos of our intertwined lives.

"You're totally worth the wait," I whisper in his ear, biting gently at his lobe.

His mouth crashes into mine, all tongue and teeth and desperate hunger. His hands grip my ass, lifting me so he can trail his lips down my throat to my breasts. When he takes my nipple in his mouth, sucking hard enough to make me cry out, I nearly come apart right there.

"Beau," I gasp, my fingers tangling in his hair as he lavishes attention on my breasts. "Oh God,Beau."

His hand dives in the water and slides between my legs, fingers finding my clit. I buck against him as pleasure shoots through me like lightning.

"So fucking wet," he murmurs against my skin, circling that sensitive bundle of nerves until I'm panting and grinding against his hand with my own free will. "Is this for me?"

"Yes," I breathe, my hand working his cock faster, feeling it pulse and twitch in my grip. "All for you."

We're both breathing hard now, the water around us churning from our movements. His fingers slide lower, teasing my entrance, and I'm so close to begging him to fuck me right here in the hot tub when he suddenly stops.

"Get out," he growls, suddenly removing his hand from my core, leaving me aching for more.

"What?"

"Get out of the tub." His hands grip my waist, lifting me like I weigh nothing. He plonks me down on the outside of the tub and I shiver against the cool air. "There's no way I'm making love to you for the first time in the hot tub."

The words send my heart into a frantic rhythm. Or a panic. I'm not sure which.

Making love.