Chapter Nine
Xavier
I heard her leave and hoped I hadn't hurt her feelings. I knew I'd been abrupt, but I'd needed her to get away from me before I grabbed her and kissed her again. Before I said to hell with the restrictions and ran my hands all over her amazing body. Before I showed her that I didn't want anyone else submitting to me. I only wanted her. Body, mind and soul.
“Fuck,” I muttered as I ran my hand through my hair.
This was not the way things were supposed to have gone. This wasn't what my life was supposed to be. Then again, if my life had gone the way I'd intended, where would I have been now? With Zed and the other guys in my unit, somewhere over in the Middle East, sweating and picking sand out of places sand had no business being. I'd be planning on re-enlisting until I was finally forced to retire, or until my luck ran out.
Except my luck had already run out. It just hadn't been where I'd thought it'd be. Still, it'd landed me in a civilian life, back in Philadelphia, and trying to decide what I was supposed to do next.
I'd always known that, if I didn't die first, I would eventually come to this point. I just hadn't expected it to be so soon.
The thing was, there was one other unexpected part of all of this.
Nori.
While there would've always been a chance I would've run into her while we'd both lived in San Antonio, based on what I knew about her life, I doubted the two of us would've run in the same circles. The fact that we hadn't met before I'd gone to the hospital supported that.
Which meant, if I hadn't had my accident, if my life had gone on the way I'd always assumed it would, I never would've met Nori.
The realization hit me harder than I liked. A part of me wanted to not care, wanted to hate everything about the life that had been forced onto me. Except I couldn't hate her. The thought of a life that didn't have her in it wasn't something I wanted to consider. In fact, I was shocked to realize that if someone had given me the opportunity to go back and make the choice not to rescue that pedophile, a choice that would've meant I'd ended up with just a bit of smoke inhalation, I wasn't entirely sure I would've taken it. Not if it meant I'd never meet Nori.
I hadn't realized I was walking until I found myself in my bathroom, standing in front of the mirror. My face was flushed and it didn't take a genius to know why. It was the same reason my pants were a bit too tight for comfort.
I stripped off my clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor, and climbed into the shower. I considered doing what I'd done the past couple days, and turning the hot water down so low that I was shivering by the time I got out. Instead, I let the heat beat down on me as I leaned forward and rested my arm against the back wall. I'd need to take off the wet dressings, but I had other, more pressing matters at hand.
Like the fact that I couldn't stop thinking about how things might've been different if Nori and I hadn't stopped tonight. If I'd done what I'd wanted to and kissed her again.
I closed my eyes and reached down to wrap my fingers around my cock. A shudder ran through me. I hadn't even tried to masturbate since the accident. The single time I'd climaxed since then, it'd been thanks to a dream. This was different.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I let myself remember the feel of her skin beneath my palm. I'd touched her almost by accident, but I'd kept my hand there deliberately. It'd taken all of my self-control not to do what I was now imagining I'd done.
I slid my hand up to cup one full breast. She moaned, arching into my touch rather than pushing me away like I thought she would. My thumb brushed across her nipple, and I felt it harden under the thin cotton. I knew she'd chosen this particular set of undergarments because they weren't supposed to be sexy.
Anything looked sexy on her.
But I was willing to bet she'd look even more so naked.
I didn't know what Nori looked like naked, but my imagination could take care of the missing details. My hand moved in slow, smooth strokes as my cock hardened even more.
I slid her panties down her legs, already anticipating what those long limbs would feel like wrapped around my waist. Her bra went next, finally letting me see every glorious inch of her. They were perfect. She was perfect. Some men may like a girl with a waist they could wrap their hands around. Me, I wanted a woman who wouldn't break beneath me.
I leaned over her, smiling as I flicked my tongue across the tip of her nipple. Nori moaned, then gasped as I covered the sensitive flesh with my mouth. I slid my hand down her stomach and between her legs, fingers delving into her slick, wet pussy. The sounds she made went straight to my cock.
The white noise of the shower didn't matter. I remembered the way she'd yelped when I smacked her ass with the ruler, the sound of her moaning when I kissed her. It wasn't hard to imagine the sorts of noises she'd make in bed.