“Do we really have to go back tomorrow?” I sigh. We’re lying on the dock out from our rental, letting the sun heat the chill off our bodies, after swimming. We’ve been here four days, and it’s four days that have been the closest to Heaven that I’ve ever experienced.

Michael captures my hand in his, giving it a squeeze. As is my habit, I find myself tracing the scar on his hand and enjoying the fact that I can touch him. Michael doesn’t talk about his past, but I instinctively know that he doesn’t let people close to him. The fact that he lets me this close means something—means everything.

“You’re the one who says we have to go back. I say we move here. Live off the land, become hermits,” Michael says.

I move so I can lean over his body and look down at him. “Live off the land? Michael, I am not eating Bambi,” I warn him, doing my best to keep my voice and face serious.

“Okay. You can eat Thumper instead,” he says, and I see a ghost of smile appear, though he keeps his eyes closed.

“No. Just no. Absolutely not.” I shove at him, playfully.

“You’ll get awful tired of fish. You’ll give in. Besides, rabbit tastes just like chicken,” he jokes.

“I’ll believe you when I see a chain of Kentucky Fried Rabbit popping up everywhere. I do like fish though. The fish you fixed tonight smelled good,” I tell him, still slightly pouting.

“I fixed you a hamburger,” he defends, opening his beautiful eyes to look at me. A woman could get lost in those eyes.

“I wanted fish.”

“You’re pregnant,” he says, shaking his head, mostly because he knows I’m only yanking his chain.

“It was mean to eat it in front of me though, Michael,” I whine.

“You didn’t deserve to eat it anyways,” he says, and this time, he is full-on smiling.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh Michael. I can’t do that to the poor worm. Oh my God! It’s wiggling!” he says making his voice ridiculously high, or at least as high as he can get it with his injuries. He doesn’t talk about it—at all, but I know it limits his voice range and use.

“Well, it was! You’re the man. It was your job to bait the hook.” I laugh. “My job was to catch the biggest fish, which I might remind you, I did.”

Michael surprises me by wrapping his hand in my hair and pulling my face closer to his. “You’re one hell of a woman, Hayden Graham,” he whispers, giving my lips a light kiss.

I want to stay like this. I never want this moment to end, but for whatever reason, I sense that Michael needs more laughter. It’s my job to give it to him. Michael is as damaged as I am. Maybe more. He’s only spoken about Annabelle once, but it was clear he loved her. The pain he must be carrying around inside…I couldn’t imagine. Since we’ve been here at the lake he’s laughed freely; he’s laughed often. I want more of that. Plus…well…I’m just curious.

“Hold that thought,” I tell him, and I rise slowly to my feet, wrapping one arm protectively over my stomach as I do. I’m wearing a black, one-piece swimsuit. It’s a bigger size than I normally wear, and you can definitely see the baby-bump. I was self-conscious at first, but Michael soon showed me that he thought I was beautiful.

“Where are you going?” Michael growls.

“I’ll be right back! Don’t move!” I order him.

“You get that cute ass back here, or I’ll paddle it,” he grumbles, and I smile.

My man does have a fascination with my ass. He’s getting more and more vocal about all the things he wants to do to it, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m brave enough to let him try. Michael would never hurt me on purpose, but I can’t imagine having his dick back…there. It would have to hurt…I mean Michael is so big. I make it to the boat we took out earlier, and reach down along the side of my seat. I hid something there earlier. My fingers reach it, and I quickly wrap it in my hand, then head towards Michael.

“Back!” I announce unnecessarily.

“What’s that look on your face for, Hayden?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve got something up your sleeve,” he answers, appraising me.

“Michael, you’re being silly. I don’t even have sleeves,” I tell him, and like I hoped he laughs—loudly.

“You are always surprising me,” he says, and there’s an emotion on his face I can’t read, but I like it. I like it a lot.

“That’s good, right?” I ponder aloud.

“Yeah, Beauty. That’s real, good.”

“Then you probably owe me.”

“Owe you?” he asks, and I’m pretty sure I see a guarded expression on his face. I want it gone, so I push forward—quickly.

“Strip, Michael.”

“Strip?”

“Yep. Those trunks, lose ‘em.”

“Didn’t I wear you out enough, earlier?”

“Are you going to whine? Or show me some flesh?”

“Are you going to return the favor?”

“Eventually,” I tell him with a smile, relieved when he’s back to laughing Michael. Happy Michael. I can’t help but watch as he slides the trunks from his body. His body is tan, completely. No tan lines for Michael. He reminds me of chiseled stone, all perfection like a sculpture in a museum. “You’re hard,” I whisper, and I’m not embarrassed at all to admit I’m licking my lips.

“I seem to stay that way around you.”

“Thank you?” I question, not knowing what else to say. That earns me another laugh. I drop to my knees in front of him, sliding my surprise under my leg. I reach out and use my thumb to stroke across the wetness on the broad, dark, head of his cock. “You’re so beautiful.”

“You talking to me or my dick?” he asks, and I gaze up at him and he’s got this half-smile on his face. He’s relaxed and he almost looks happy.

“Well both, but I will admit right now your dick is what is holding my attention.”

“Since you’re holding my dick and looking like you want to swallow him whole, I’m okay with that,” he says softly—smile still in place. “Take your clothes off, Beauty,” he commands, his voice dropping down to that husky timbre that always makes every feminine part inside of me clench with need.

“Umm…it’s daylight,” I tell him, without needing to. I mean the sun is shining down on us. He knows it’s daylight. I stroke his cock once, holding it firmly in my hand. I tell myself I’m only doing it because I want him as hard and as excited as he can get, but truthfully, I can’t not touch it.

“Does it look like that bothers me?” he asks me, incredulously.

“Well no, but we’ve already determined that you’re beautiful. Me? I’ve never been that, and it just makes me uncomfortable for you to see me…for you to see my body in broad daylight. You know?”

“Hayden, you’re the first woman I’ve let look at me in over six years,” he responds. His answer is stated matter-of-factly. It’s as if he is discussing the weather and not rocking my entire world.

“Michael,” I start, but then I stop. I have no idea how to respond to that.

“You’ve seen my scars. Hell, you didn’t stop nagging until you trimmed my hair and beard, just so you could see more of them. You know how horrible they look.”

“But they don’t. Michael, you must know you’re beautiful. The scars are bad, but they don’t detract from the way you look.”

“There was a girl once. She was young, too young for me really, but she was sweet and up until the explosion, she…I could tell she wanted me,” he says. He’s not looking at me now. He’s looking up at the sky. His admission sets off a funny feeling inside of me and if I had to name it, I’d have to say it is jealousy.

“What happened?”

“After the accident, I began to see less and less of her, but then…I wasn’t exactly trying to see anyone. My brothers, they all tried to convince me I needed to quit hiding. That nothing had really changed. They were wrong, but I desperately wanted to feel normal again, inside. To be what I once was. So, I tried. I even started seeking the girl out,” he tells the story, all without taking his eyes off the sky. He doesn’t look at me, and I stay quiet, because I don’t want him to stop. I want to hear the story, even as I hate hearing that there’s another girl out there he likes. “There was a family picnic one day, and I overheard her and her friends discussing me.”

“What did they say?” I ask, unable to stop myself and knowing that it couldn’t have been good.

“She called me repulsive. A woman would have to be drunk to want me between her legs. That’s when I decided to live up to the animal I had become,” he says with a shrug, like what he told me didn’t rip my heart to shreds. I wish I had this unknown woman in my reach right now. Pregnant or not, I’d wipe the floor with her. Of all the stupid, fucking bullshit she could utter…

“She’s a cow.”

“Hayden—”

“A freaking cow who doesn’t have a brain in her freaking head. I can’t believe that bullshit. If I’m with you and she’s ever around Michael, you have to tell me. You have to tell me so I can throat-punch her. You are not repulsive. Jesus, sometimes when I look at you, I get so hot, I feel like I could spontaneously combust. I mean, I thought I’d never want another man for the rest of my life. I was content with that, but I don’t know a woman alive who would not jump at the thought of having you in her bed. She’s a blue-twat-waffle! And besides…” I stop when Michael’s laugher rings out.

“A blue-twat-waffle?” he jokes, as his laughter subsides, but the smile remains.

“Well…yeah,” I shrug.

“Besides, what?” he asks and I look at him confused. “What else were you going to say?” he prompts again, and it feels like his eyes are boring into me.

“I mean, your scars, they’re bad, I get that. But, I’ve seen worse and you aren’t your scars. You were in the military; I know because I’ve seen the dog-tags you still wear. I had a friend whose boyfriend came back from Afghanistan and he lost his arm and his scars…those were horrific.”

“Hayden—”

“But he was still the same man under them. My friend still loved him. They have struggles now they never planned on, but…none of those struggles are over the way he looks, or his body. Those things aren’t who makes the person, Michael,” I tell him, and he’s silent for a bit. I can’t tell what he’s thinking.

“Then why are you worried, Beauty?”

“Michael—”

“You’re not fat, Hayden. You’re pregnant and you’re fucking gorgeous. I think you know what you do to me, that shit just doesn’t happen.”

“Men get hard easily, Michael. You guys see a pair of boobs jiggling under a t-shirt and the jack-in-the-box pops out.”

“Jack-in-the-box?”

“Those toys that you wind up and then this freaky clown jumps out at you. I used to have nightmares about those things. Who in the world thought that was a good idea is beyond me,” I tell him, rattling like a fool. Our conversation has gone places I wasn’t expecting and it has left me…nervous.

“Are you saying my dick reminds you a clown head waiting to scare you?” he asks, interrupting me.

“Not yours. I like yours. Your dick can pop out at me anytime,” I explain, trying to smile.

“Good to know. Now strip.”

“Michael—”

“Do it.”

“You’re very bossy.” I reach behind my neck to let the strings loose and the top part of my bathing suit drops down. I catch it to stop from revealing my breasts.

Michael lets out a grunt, which quickly broadcasts the fact he is unhappy. I frown at him, and he frowns back. He does it better. I let it drop down. The warm sun hits my breasts, and the breeze in the air causes my nipples to contract. I bite my lip at the sensation. The further I get in my pregnancy, the more tender they become.

“More,” he urges, his voice almost a groan.

Circling my hand around his dick again, it jerks in my hand, and one long stream of pre-cum slides down his shaft, over my fingers. I feel my own wetness gathering in response between my thighs. My clit literally pulsates. God what this man does to me. I shift on my knees and that’s when I’m reminded of my original plan. It was a joke before, but now it feels like a good plan. I need to lighten Michael’s mood, before he realizes how much I think that I might…love him.

“In a minute. I need to prove something first,” I whisper, unable to stop myself from bending down, flattening my tongue against the head of his cock and licking some of the sweet liquid that has escaped. Then, I only suck the tip of his cock into my mouth, moaning as his pre-cum hits my tongue.

“Hayden, stop teasing me,” he growls, when despite his urgings and reaction I don’t suck him further in my mouth.

Instead, I pull away and reaching under my knee and grab the rolled up yellow material I’ve been hiding. A quick glance in Michael’s direction reveals his eyes are closed. I unravel the measuring tape with a grin. I found it in a tackle box in the boat. It still had plastic over it and the numbers seemed to call at me. I’ve always been a curious kind of girl.

“Oh my,” I gasp, as I pull the tape along the hard shaft.

“What the hell are you doing?” Michael asks, but it isn’t anger I hear. I look up and see shock written all over his face.

“I was trying to see if I really did catch the biggest fish?” I giggle.

“I…the biggest…” Michael’s words are disconnected and his face is still incredulous. His mouth even hangs open for a second. Then he does something I didn’t expect. He all but pounces on me, taking care to hold my back and head so I fall into his solid hold and he lays me gently on the wooden deck. He grabs each side of my bathing suit and pulls it from my body, so quickly it robs me of the breath I was taking.

“I wasn’t finished. You should always double check your measurements,” I whisper at the same exact time his fingers push inside of me. I should be embarrassed because of how wet I am. I’m soaked and you can actually hear the way his fingers thrust through my wetness.

“Fuck,” Michael groans. “Always so wet for me,” he adds.

I whimper as his fingers leave me, though he does skate them across my clit, causing my body to thrust towards him. Then he lowers himself over my frame and braces his weight on one arm. I stretch my legs out so I can cradle his body with my own.

“Hurry, Michael,” I urge him, wanting nothing more than his cock inside of me.

“What happened to the shy, scared woman I first met, Hayden?” he asks, as the head of his dick slides against my clit.

I slowly open my eyes to see his head bent down. I look between our bodies to watch the firm hold he has on his dick and the way he’s guiding it against my pussy, not entering it. Instead, he’s choosing to tease me with his broad head, making me hunger for more. My hand moves down to encircle his, so we hold his shaft together. His eyes find mine, and together we guide him inside me.

“She finally started feeling safe,” I tell him, and I know tears are in my eyes. I want to tell him I love him. I don’t. Instead, I try to show him with my body.

“You are,” he vows, and he proceeds to make love to me. Giving me his body slow and easy. He sinks into me, inch by delicious inch, his eyes never leaving mine. “I promise, you’re safe, I’ll give everything I can to keep you that way, Hayden.”

“I just want you. Give me you, Michael,” I tell him, honestly.

“I will. I’m going to give it all to you,” he says, and I know realistically we’re probably not talking about the same thing. I want more than just his body. But if his body is all I can have, I’ll take it. He pulls his dick almost all the way out of me. My fingers bite into his ass, and I demand he comes back. True to his word, he gives it all to me.

All eleven, thick, beautiful inches.