My toes curled as Broadrick peppered kisses behind my ear. He knew how to wake a girl up in the morning.

"I'm not ready," I said and tried to pull the covers over my head.

He stopped my tugging and licked my ear. Morning sunlight filtered in through the window and hit his face, lighting it up. He had a dusting of stubble on his chin from not shaving, and his smile almost reached his eyes.

Sometimes Broadrick walked around with a sadness in his depths, something deep eating at him, but right then his green eyes with the little brown flecks shone with happiness. I only hoped I'd been the one to put it there. His hair was a mess, and I ran my fingers through it, messing it up more.

Broadrick sniffed me and then nuzzled his head at my neck. He had half his body over mine, but hadn't put any weight on me. "Are you feeling better?"

I ran my hands over his sides, relishing the feel of his skin. "Much. Those pills you gave me should be illegal." I'd slept like a baby.

Broadrick laughed, and the movement tickled my neck. "Thankfully, they're over the counter."

He lifted his head and placed his lips against mine, waiting for me to open, but I pulled away.

"I have morning breath." I'd been slowly waking up, but the move finished the job.

The minty flavor of his breath betrayed the fact he'd already been up and used a toothbrush.

He kissed me again. "Babe, I spent years away from you. Your stinky breath won't hold me back now."

How did he work a sweet saying in with an insult? I faked being slighted by moving my head away. "You wound me."

"Let me make it up to you," he said and ran his lips down my chin and neck, stopping at the top of my chest.

I helped him find the hem of my shirt and Broadrick lifted it up so we were skin to skin above the waist. I pushed my arms through the holes and let him toss it to the floor.

"You're so beautiful," he said and then dipped his attention.

His tongue trailed over my collarbone and then between my breasts before he picked the left one and fit his lips over it. Broadrick flicked his tongue over my nipple and I moaned. He sucked, and I arched.

I trailed my hands over his back, letting myself get lost in the feel of him now and the memories of his past touch. My feet slid across the sheets and tangled with his.

Broadrick's cologne filled my nose with his scent as his body covered mine a little more. We were two people becoming one. He lowered his hand and scored along my pubic bone before pushing past the edge of my underwear and finding my core.

A long finger trailed around my opening, making me squirm as he ran the bottom of his palm over my clit.

"You like that?" he asked as I writhed under him, needing more but wanting it to last forever.

"Uh-huh," I said with a nod.

He lifted himself higher and then tried to move lower, but I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I don't want to lose you."

"Never, baby." He pushed past my hold and his stubble tickled as he dragged his tongue down my entire body, leaving me achy and raw.

My feet kicked at the covers, making him room as his head hit my waist, and he hooked his fingers in my underwear before yanking them lower. I glanced down, trying to watch, but the covers fell over his head and blocked the view.

His tongue touched me first, catching me off guard as he pushed it inside me. I moaned and lifted my ass for him. Anything to get him to touch, kiss, lick, love me more.

These moments. The times we were together and I let my guard drop meant the world to me. They kept the pieces from fraying when everything outside became too hard.

His tongue made circle eights, touching my clit at the top of every complete circle. I wiggled under him, trying to get him closer. Broadrick pushed two fingers inside and I gripped the covers, pulling at them to give myself balance in an unbalanced situation.

His fingers ran in and out of me, stretching as he scissored. Broadrick pushed my legs wider and then pulled on my lips, giving himself better position before fitting his mouth over my cunt and sucking. His teeth nicked my clit.

I screamed as the orgasm tore through me, and I arched up from the bed. The ceiling turned black, a cloud of stars bursting in the otherwise bright room as my release rolled through me, wave after wave.

He finished with me and popped his head up from the covers with a smug grin. The sheets were too scratchy against my delicate skin and I tossed back the comforter.

"You know what I love the most about making you a mess?" he asked, crawling his way up my body.

"Umghd," I mumbled, not able to form a full word yet. My vision returned slowly and Broadrick's face filled it.

"It makes this so satisfying." He slipped inside of me in one smooth motion, and my eyes rolled to the back of my head as the room spun.

I wrapped my arms around his neck again to make sure he didn't leave me as he pushed deeper and deeper and then out and deep again.

My head rolled in the sensations as the pit in my stomach grew again. I raised my head to lay it against his shoulder and closed my eyes as my muscles clenched from the second orgasm.

This one hit me softer, like a calm ocean wave stole control of my body and meshed it with Broadrick's. I held my breath and then released it as the waves receded.

He pumped into me three more times and then bit the top of my shoulder when his release hit him. His head, with beats of sweat at the brow, stayed at the crook of my neck, relaxed.

"No more getting sick," I said into his shoulder when my voice returned.

He kissed my shoulder where he'd bitten me and laughed. "Deal."

**

You know the weirdest thing about being in a relationship? One minute you're in bed, naked, both panting from finishing the best morning sex of your life, and the next you're in the car driving to the home goods store. All because your boyfriend made a comment about dirtying your sheets and you confess you haven't unpacked the other set yet.

"Do you want to grab some lunch while we're out?" Broadrick asked as he drove into the parking lot of what locals called the Pelican Bay mall.

It was really just a collection of stores set into a strip a few miles outside of town, but it was the closest we got to anything resembling a mall in this part of the state.

"Sure, but let's go into Clearwater for food. They have more options." Meaning they had options.

The Bed, Bath, and Beyond store had gone out of business, but someone-probably Pierce-purchased all the inventory and reopened it as The Home Store. He needed a new marketing team because the name was horrible.

"And we should stop in the pet store and get NB a treat or something," Broadrick said, eyeing the store in the middle of the strip.

That dog had him wrapped around his little paw.

"He killed the hedgehog last night. I bet he'd like another one." To kill.

Okay, so the dog had me wrapped around his other paw. Shoot me. He was so cute and had a tragic origin story.

Broadrick held the door open to the store, but I wasn't paying attention and walked into him. "Sorry, I thought I saw something."

Or a who, but they'd turned the corner too quickly.

"Not everyone is a criminal, Vonnie," Broadrick said, coming in after me.

"You're right. Only like half the people. No, eighty percent of them."

His good mood had him only chuckling at the comment. "As the veteran, aren't I supposed to be the one with the negative outlook on life?"

"It's not negative. It's realistic." I walked us to the back of the store where they kept the sheets but stopped at a display case of them toward the front of the store. The flannel sheets had moose eating grass next to a lake on them. "Plus, you're not a veteran yet."

Broadrick lifted one package and then put it back. "Flannel? That won't be smooth."

"Yeah, but this is Maine, and it gets cold in the winter. These will be great for next year." I picked up the package of fleece sheets and let my fingers run over them. The flannel was soft and warm.

He took the sheets from me and put them back. "My ass does not like flannel."

I grabbed the package again. "Fine, I'll only use them when you aren't around."

"I plan to always be around." He grabbed for them, but I clutched them to my chest.