Chapter 22

"Is this you and Jace?"I asked as I leisurely stretched my body over Dalton's naked chest so I could grab a small framed picture in one of the little cubbyholes. When I pulled it to me, I didn't bother taking my weight off of Dalton's upper body.

For one, I didn't want to because I loved how the hair on his chest felt against my bare skin.

Better still, I didn't have to take my weight off him.

Though it had taken just over a week for Dalton to notice any results from the nerve block, he had. Really good results. No, it hadn't been a magical cure and Dalton still felt pain, but it was nothing like the agony he'd been in for so long. It was just like Ronan had said. A couple pills from an everyday painkiller that anyone could buy in nearly any store eased what little discomfort had remained.

Dalton and I had been enjoying every moment since.

Upon arriving home, there had been several things Dalton had needed to work through to maintain his sobriety. We had discovered that on the first night when we'd gone to lie down in Dalton's bed. He'd still been in a significant amount of pain since the nerve block hadn't kicked in and the pain injection he'd received before leaving the hospital had begun to wear off. The second we'd lain down, Dalton had taken one look at his empty nightstand and that had been it. He'd been unable to stay in the bed or the room itself. By the time we'd gotten out of the room, he'd been sweating and shaking. I'd led him to the kitchen so I could get him some water, but he'd shamefully admitted what he needed was a meeting.

I'd known what that meant but I hadn't yet had to deal with the reality of it. The internet had taught me in theory what triggers were and how normal it was for addicts in recovery to get them. Something as simple as a smell or sound could trigger the desperate need for whatever drug or drink the addict had relied upon prior to seeking sobriety. In Dalton's case, the mere sight of his nightstand where his pills and alcohol had always been waiting for him had done it. He"d needed to attend an AA meeting so he could talk to people who struggled with the same demons he did.

By then, Dalton had convinced Jace and Ronan to go home because their families needed them, but they'd left behind a number of men who continued to watch me and Dalton for any potential threats against us. One of the men was always available to drive Dalton to his daily AA meetings and doctor's appointments for his injections. I'd gone along, never leaving Dalton's side except for when he was actually in the room where the AA meeting had taken place.

That first night when he'd needed an AA meeting, I'd already known what to do because I'd spent all my free moments planning for that kind of thing. While his normal AA group met in the morning in the very town Dalton lived, no matter what time of day or night it was, there was always an AA meeting going on somewhere. Luckily, using Dalton's recently replaced computer, I'd found a meeting a few towns over and one of Ronan's men had driven us to it. Afterwards when Dalton had come out of the meeting, he'd been feeling better. After that, we'd slept in my room.

That had changed when the nerve block had finally done its magic. We'd spent every night since on his boat in the small living quarters. The bed wasn't much bigger than the one in the hospital, but that hadn't been a bad thing.

"Yeah," Dalton said as he tipped the frame a bit so he could see the picture. "That was taken a few weeks before our first deployment. He told you I kicked his ass whenever we had to train together, right?" His palm was running circles over my backside. I was wearing briefs but kind of wished I wasn't.

"I think he said something about that," I responded. "I also believe he mentioned something about you being a terrible shot."

"Is that what he said?" Dalton asked with feigned anger. He used the whole thing as an excuse to roll us so that I was lying beneath him. His mouth closed over mine. I was barely aware of the picture being plucked from my fingers and tossed aside because I was too busy returning Dalton's hungry kiss.

Dalton broke the kiss and gently closed his hands over my wrists to keep them above my head. The action had scared me early on when he'd done it, but he'd immediately stopped what he was doing, and we'd talked through my fears. When he'd done the same move a few days later when he'd been kissing me against the wall just next to the bed, I'd realized that he never put too much pressure in his grip, meaning I could pull free at any time. He'd also honored his promise to stop whenever I'd said the word. I hadn't needed it very often because Dalton seemed to know without asking what my boundaries were.

"I guess I'll just need to work on my aim," Dalton growled. He proceeded to work his way down my body with precise kisses that hit every spot on my body where I was extremely sensitive. By the time he reached my groin, he was forced to release his hold on my hands, but it didn't matter. When his sensual lips reached my dick, I held my breath in anticipation. I'd never understood why men liked shoving their dicks down someone else's throat and it was an act that had been done to me countless times by Ivan, but I got it now. When it was with a willing partner and not something taken by force, it changed the game entirely.

It was even better when you were in love with the other person and knew in your heart that their only focus was pleasure, not pain.

"Dalton," I whined when his mouth pressed soft kisses alongside my dick and then continued south until he was lavishing attention on my inner thigh. His beard tickled different spots as he kissed me, driving up my frustration level.

"Oops, missed that one," Dalton said right before his tongue licked the spot where my thigh met my body. "I guess maybe Jace was right," he added before he turned his attention to the other leg and did the same.

By then, my entire body was going up in flames and it was all I could do to catch my breath. I hadn't even noticed when Dalton had removed my briefs, but I was glad he had. With every torturous lick, nip, suck, and kiss, I arched my back and gripped the sheets to keep from moving my hands. My dick bounced against my stomach, leaving behind small pools of pre-cum each time. After weeks of experimenting and one insanely long, brutally pleasurable "lesson" in which Dalton was kind enough to name, explain, and then ultimately demonstrate every part of my anatomy that craved his touch, I'd learned more about sex than I'd thought possible.

The lesson had also served to prove I would crave anything he wanted to do with me when the day came that I was ready.

If I ever was ready. It was something I'd thought about often and while I loved everything Dalton did to me and I trusted him with my very life, I couldn't deny that the past had a way of creeping up on me when I wasn't expecting it. Dalton had suggested more than once that there were special kinds of doctors I could talk to about everything Ivan had done to me, but I'd always ended shutting down and he'd stopped bringing it up. I'd known he was right but I liked believing I was living a normal life and that just being with Dalton was enough.

"Dalton!" I cried out when he licked over my balls and then took one into his mouth. That was definitely something new. My dick felt like it was going to explode then and there, but Dalton wasn't done. After languidly exploring my balls, he moved to that sensitive spot just below them. I'd already spread my legs to give him more room, so I was caught off guard when he slid his arms beneath my knees and lifted my hips just a little. All thoughts fell by the wayside when Dalton's sinful tongue suddenly ran up the length of my shaft.

"Jesus," I cried out. I reached one hand down to grab his hair in the hopes of guiding him to the exact spot my body really needed him, but the last thing Dalton required was any kind of guide. I lost the ability to speak after that. He took me to the back of his throat and gave me several hard drags.

"Yes," I croaked as I felt that coil inside me grow tighter and tighter. I dropped my head back and pressed my hips up so I could thrust into Dalton's mouth until I found my release. I cried out in thwarted frustration when his hot mouth released my cock with a pop. Before I could recover my senses, Dalton's tongue was sliding over that spot on my body where I'd only ever known pain until meeting him. I didn't even get a chance to notice if there was any pain because all I saw was stars as Dalton tenderly licked my hole over and over again. I had no objection when he used his arms to lift my legs higher and in on myself, spreading me open, completely vulnerable.

"Dalton," I breathed in disbelief as he continued to caress the forbidden spot with his tongue. I dropped my hand to my dick without even giving it much thought. I still hadn't been able to use my own hand to bring me pleasure, but I knew this time would be different. The more Dalton made love to my opening, the harder I gripped my cock until I began stroking. I was engulfed in fire as the coil inside of me became unbearable. Dalton must have sensed how close I was because his tongue began putting more pressure on my hole. I was only a few strokes from coming, but just as I opened my mouth to tell that to Dalton, his tongue pushed into my opening just a little bit and he began to kiss it like he usually did my mouth.

I came on the spot. There was no warning, no spoken words to tell him I was almost there. Hell, I'd stopped stroking my dick the second he'd begun kissing me in such a forbidden manner, but it didn't matter, cum began spewing from my dick anyway. My entire body seized up and then ripped apart with pleasure. Dalton's lips closed around the tip of my dick and began sucking hard.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" I shouted as one climax after another crashed over me. All I could do was hold on to whatever I could get my fists around, which ended up being Dalton's soft hair. I had no idea if I was hurting him or not, but it didn't matter. The more Dalton sucked, the more I lost myself. When my body's spasming finally began to slow, I was dimly aware of Dalton gently popping off my dick and then his mouth was on mine. I automatically opened for him, but my limbs felt like noodles so it was all I could muster.

Hot, salty, thick fluid filled my mouth as Dalton's tongue mated with mine. He was feeding me my own juices. It should have horrified me.

It didn't.

I swallowed my essence and returned Dalton's kisses which were becoming more frantic. It took me a few languid seconds to realize he was chasing his own orgasm. His left hand was furiously stroking his dick while his right arm still held my lower body open. He grunted and groaned but never released my mouth. Not until the very end when he called my name and pressed his face against my shoulder. Scorching strands of cum began to hit my hole, which had relaxed considerably after everything Dalton had done to it.

"Yes," I groaned. I slid my hands down to Dalton's ass and held him against my body as hard as I could. He kept jerking against me even though he was no longer stroking his own dick. That part of him was squashed against my ass as I urged him to grind harder against me so I could feel every new drop of cum that his cock released slide down until my hole was covered in it.

When Dalton's body stopped moving against mine, except for the occasional aftershock, I ran one hand along his back and curled the other into his hair. His weight had me completely pinned down, but I loved it. I didn't feel trapped or powerless. If anything, I felt stronger than I'd ever been. During all our previous sexual encounters, there'd always seemed to be this little piece of himself that Dalton kept back. Like he had to hang on to some bit of control.

Not tonight.

Not now.

He was spent.

Relaxed.

At peace.

I continued to stroke his now damp hair. I ran my fingers over the outside of his ear in the process. I managed to drop my mouth low enough that I could kiss the same spot before I whispered, "I love you, Dalton," in his ear. "So much it hurts sometimes," I admitted. I didn't know how to explain that I wasn't talking about hurt in a bad way, though. I didn't have to worry about it because when Dalton turned his head so his eyes could meet mine, I saw that he got it. His expression was softer than I'd ever seen it, and every emotion he was feeling was there for me to see in those emerald eyes of his.

"What did I do to deserve you?" he asked softly as he stroked his left hand over my cheek. "Thank you," he breathed before he shifted enough to kiss me. A short, sweet kiss that would have looked to an outsider like it didn't mean anything.

It meant everything.

I didn't know what he was thanking me for, but it didn't matter. I was exactly where I was supposed to be and so was he. I wasn't stupid; I knew our journey together was just beginning and there'd be what would seem like an endless number of obstacles in our path, but we'd get through them.

Dalton braced himself on one arm. "Now what were you saying about my aim?" he asked cheekily.

I laughed and snuggled against him. "It seems pretty good to me, but I guess I'd have to see Jace's aim?—"

That was all I got out before Dalton kissed me hard. When he let me come up for air, he said, "You know he set fire to the kitchen in here three times, right? And he can't cast a rod to save his life. I've had to untangle the hook from his own clothes more times than I can count. Last time he and Caleb were here, he lost my best fishing pole. Lost it. All he had to do was watch the damn thing?—"

I kissed him to shut him up. "You, my love, have and always will have the best aim I've ever seen."

Dalton held my gaze for a moment before he gave me one of those sweet but brief kisses again. "I love you, Silver."

No matter how many times he said the words, they always felt like the first time. Dalton relaxed in my arms and I in his. Despite the cooling cum clinging to our bodies, I would have been content to lie there like that all night, but the familiar click-clack sound on the stairs had me chuckling. "How does she know?" I asked.

"Because you tell her," Dalton responded. "She knows she only needs to wait a few minutes after you scream your head off. You're quite noisy when you co?—"

"Alright, alright," I said because he was kind of right. I was kind of a screamer. While we'd still been sleeping in the house, Dalton had needed to put his hand over my mouth to silence my shouts of ecstasy so none of the men stationed outside would come rushing in to "save" us.

I shoved at Dalton until he got the message to move his big body. The yellow lab waited patiently at the side of the bed. Her brown eyes were like pools of melted chocolate and were in stark contrast to her light fur. Despite her almost white coloring, Jace had explained that she was still considered a yellow lab.

"Okay, Sadie, he's all yours," I said as I patted the bed. The lab immediately jumped on the bed.

Her arrival had been completely unexpected but very welcome. Jace had put the whole process of obtaining a service dog in motion when I'd admitted to him that despite falling asleep together every night, Dalton was always asleep on the floor come morning. He hadn't wanted a repeat of the time he'd attacked me after I'd woken him up from his nightmare. I'd only mentioned it to Jace because he'd become a sounding board for me in the weeks since he'd returned home. Since he knew Dalton better than anyone and had been a soldier himself, I'd hoped he could give me some ideas on how to help Dalton cope with his PTSD, another negative reminder of the years he'd spent serving his country. Jace had promised me he'd look into it and then three days later, he'd arrived with Sadie.

I hadn't even known service dogs existed until Jace had introduced us to Sadie. The dog was specially trained to sense when Dalton was having a nightmare or panic attack and was able to stop them before they had a chance to take hold by simply licking Dalton or nudging him in some kind of way to get his attention. With service dogs in high demand, we'd gotten lucky that Jace knew someone who knew someone who trained service dogs. Sadie had been finishing up her training when she'd been diagnosed with a congenital eye condition that wasn't serious, but did slightly affect her vision, so she'd no longer qualified to be in the training program. So it was by pure chance that she'd come into our lives.

As it turned out, she wasn't just for Dalton. She'd ended up doing the same thing for me that she did for him. Even if I was awake and not having any kind of anxiety attack, she could sense when something was troubling me and she'd often lay her head in my lap. It helped me not to escape into my head like I'd been prone to do in the past.

Even though Sadie's job was to be with Dalton at all times, the smart, sweet dog had a knack for knowing when Dalton and I didn't exactly need an audience while we were doing naughty things to each other, and she knew exactly when to return when we were done. At night, she slept at our feet, which meant at my feet when we were on the boat because I was shorter than Dalton. It was always a tight squeeze for the three of us, but I liked having her weight on my lower legs. She just… fit.

"I call dibs on the shower," I said as I climbed to my feet.

I made my way to the tiny bathroom that wasn't much more than the size of a closet, but just as I was opening the door, I heard Dalton say, "Hey, Silver."

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Do you know how real fishermen shower?"

My mind must've still been in post-orgasm land because I didn't make the connection to Dalton's strange question and the things that happened right after that until it was far too late.

Before I knew it, a very naked Dalton had swept a very naked me into his arms, rushed up the stairs and without hesitation, jumped over the side of his boat and into the freezing water. I was still in his arms when we made it to the surface but before I could call him every curse word I knew in every language I knew, there was a huge splash next to us.

Despite the second soaking thanks to Sadie's doggy cannonball, I started my cursing streak, directing it at both man and dog until Dalton shut me up with a bone-melting kiss.

And just like that, the water didn't seem so cold anymore.