Page 77

"You're beautiful." Her fingers traced a line of scar tissue near my ribs. "What happened here?"

"Knife fight in Mosul."

Her hands continued their exploration, cataloging every mark, every piece of evidence that I'd lived a life of violence and danger. When she looked up at me, her eyes were wet.

"Thank you for surviving long enough to find me."

The words broke something in my chest. I cupped her face in both hands and kissed her like she was oxygen and I was drowning.

I dropped down to resting on my forearms, careful not to crush her with my weight. Her legs wrapped around my hips and pulled me closer.

"Too many clothes." She tugged at her own shirt. "Help me."

I sat back on my heels and pulled her shirt over her head, then her tank top. She wore a simple bra, nothing fancy, but the sight of her hit me like a punch to the gut.

"Katherine." Her name was a prayer.

"Your turn." She reached for the button on my jeans.

I covered her hands with mine, stilling them. "Wait."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just—" I struggled for words. "It's been a while for me. And you're⁠—"

"Human?" She smiled. "Code, I'm just a woman. I'm not fragile."

"You're not just a woman. Jesus, Katherine, you’re everything." I kissed her slowly, thoroughly, until she melted beneath me.

Her hands resumed their work on my jeans. "Then show me."

We helped each other out of the rest of our clothes, awkward and laughing and desperate all at once. When we were finally skin to skin, I had to stop and just breathe.

"Okay?" Katherine's voice was soft.

"Yeah." I traced the curve of her hip, her waist, the soft swell of her breast. "Just need a minute to memorize this."

"We have all night."

I kissed her again, slower this time. Let my hands learn the geography of her body while she did the same to me. Every gasp, every sigh, every arch of her back taught me something new.

I reached down and snagged the wallet out of my jeans. One measly condom. I needed an entire fucking box. I ripped it open and had trouble slipping it on when Katherine licked her lips.

“You’re doing that on purpose.”

“What?” she teased.

“Game on.”

I slid down and parted her thighs. Wide. She was limber, she could handle it. My thumbs traced down the seam of her sex, and she cried out. I looked up and she was biting her lip. Good. No lip licking, the little tease.

I parted her folds and saw heaven. I traced my tongue through her cream until I reached her swollen clit. I circled it. Again. And again.

“Code,” she wailed.

I was only getting started. I took her aroused nub into my mouth and sucked hard. Her fingers grasped my head, her nails dug into my scalp. I circled her clit with my tongue as I suckled, she alternated between crying out my name and long moans. I couldn’t decide which I liked better. It was time to take it up a notch, or two.

I slid two fingers into her tight, wet sheath and then she screamed out my name. I winced as she yanked my hair so hard I was sure she was going to come away with a handful.