Free Breaking by Claire Kent Page B

There
was still an ache in his chest that ripped at him every time he thought about
his father’s death.
    But the awful
inner shuddering was gone, and he was more tired than anything else.
    “You know,”
Lori said, after a long stretch silence, “I love you for the man you are—broken
or not.”
    A different
kind of emotion shuddered inside him, threatening to overwhelm him, but he
managed to shape two words into the truth. “Same here.”
    ***
    They spent most of the morning
in bed, watching the news and dozing on and off. Then they went out to lunch
and Lori asked him some more about his father. While it hurt to talk about, it
didn’t threaten to crush him the way it had the day before.
    Lori wanted to
go to a bookstore afterwards, so they browsed the shelves for an hour, looking for
good books and laughing at lines from the ones that weren’t so good.
    When they got
back, Ander was exhausted again, so he was relieved when Lori wanted to read.
He picked up a book on the human figure in Aegean art and tried to relax and
get lost in his reading for an hour or two.
    He didn’t think
he’d fallen asleep, but the next thing he was aware of was stretching out on
the couch with his head in Lori’s lap.
    Opening his
eyes, his first instinct was to sit up quickly, since his position was both
weak and helpless. But it felt nice. She was idly rubbing his neck as she read.
And he couldn’t find the will to straighten up and leave the shelter of her
lap.
    So he closed
his eyes and let go.
    ***
    They went to bed early that
night and were asleep almost immediately.
    Sometime in the
middle of the night, Ander woke up to find that Lori was rubbing herself
against him in her sleep.
    He moaned
softly, recognizing his body had started to respond.
    Either the
sound or the motion woke her too. “What’s going on?”
    “You must have
been dreaming.” He wrapped his arms around her, wanting to feel her against him
again.
    “Oh. Must have
been a good dream, since it turned you on too.” She was pressed so close she could
hardly miss his growing erection.
    “Yeah.”
    Still rather
groggy, Lori twined her arms around his neck and opened her mouth to his kiss.
    It felt warm,
safe, natural, right. Finding each other in the middle of the night. She was so
soft and strong and loved. He held on to her, feeling a knot unclench in his
chest as he murmured wordless endearments between kisses.
    After a few
minutes, he was able to settle between her legs and ease himself into her body.
    Sighing with what
sounded like contentment, Lori pulled her legs up to wrap around him, but
before she could lock her ankles, Ander had turned them both onto their sides.
    She let out a
little gasp and shifted against him. Her legs still surrounded him, and he
could feel the weight of her upper thigh against his. She adjusted until her
heel was skimming his ass.
    He reached down
to pull her hips against him more snugly. “Is this all right?” he asked softly,
pressing kisses into her neck.
    She wrapped her
arms around him, gently stroking his back. “Good.” Her intimate muscles contracted
around him, clasping him as possessively as her arms did. “Ander, I love you.”
    He made a
throaty noise in response to the pressure on his erection. “God, Lori, I love
you too.”
    Ander eased
back slightly and then thrust his hips forward, and Lori squeezed her legs
around him as he moved inside her. He exhaled in pleasure at the deep sensations
and felt her loosen her legs as he drew back again. The position didn’t allow
for fast or urgent thrusting, so they established a gentle, rhythmic motion,
both of them still on the soft edge of sleep.
    He raised his
face from her neck to find her lips again. She opened for him, and his tongue
delved into her mouth to match the sensual motion of their hips.
    One of her arms
was trapped beneath his body, but she slid the other one up to lightly stroke
his head. He hummed against her mouth in response to her caress.
    They