Although, she wished she could feel his hands on her while she did it, because it was beginning to feel odd – and oddly disconnecting – to be doing this
to
Danny, rather than
with
him.
Kat disengaged and glanced up Danny’s body to find him staring down at her, lips parted, eyes glazed over. He seemed very far away from her physically, even though she was on top of him, performing oral sex – but also emotionally, for some reason.
It had been a fun thing to try, but Kat now knew she preferred a more mutual interaction…and fully realized how much she loved kissing him and feeling his hands on her.
Kat didn’t hesitate, reaching over to grab the keys off the nightstand and crawling up his body.
“
Kat…
”
Kat’s hands stilled momentarily as Danny’s mouth kissed and licked at anything within his reach, including the tops of her breasts, her collarbone, her shoulder, and her neck.
“Kat, come down farther, sweetheart…” He nuzzled her neck, before nipping at the side and pressing kisses to it. “I’ve gotta get my mouth on you…I have to taste you…”
Her hands shaking and suddenly desperate to get him free, Kat fumbled to get the key into the hole.
“
Get over here
,” Danny breathed out the second one wrist was freed. His hand instantly curled into the hair at the base of her head and tried pulling her mouth to his.
Kat laughed. “Hold on a second,
caro
, let me get the other off, too…”
A few seconds later, that cuff was off, Kat was on her back, her arms were around Danny’s neck and her legs around his waist, and she was holding him as closely as she could.
They stared into each other’s eyes for a few long moments.
“
Kat…
” Danny lowered his mouth to hers.
Kat held his head as they kissed deeply, their mouths the only things moving slowly against each other. But it didn’t take long for their kissing to become faster and more frenzied. Kat’s hands moved down over Danny’s neck and shoulders to his back – her fingertips curling into his hard muscles, as she lifted her pelvis, urging him on.
Danny reached down and, with one hard tug, snapped the string of her bottoms right off. His hand pushed at her right inner thigh, opening her up to him.
Kat broke away from their kiss and buried her face in Danny’s neck. “Please, hurry…” She gasped when his fingers brushed against her and then cried out when he slipped a fingertip inside and then withdrew. “
Danny…no, please…I need you…
”
Danny reared back suddenly, meeting her eyes…an unexpected quirked brow and devastating half-smile taking her off-guard.
“Kat, did this article of yours talk about what happens when the man you’ve been sadistically torturing gets freed?”
Kat shook her head slowly, eyes glued to his…her body still instinctively squirming against him, beneath him. She managed to get her labia into contact with some hard part of him and Kat moaned softly, eyes closing.
“
God, I love you, Danny
,” she whispered, her hands trying to pull him even closer. She lifted her pelvis against him, shivering at the way Danny whispered her name.
“
Kat, look at me.”
Kat opened her eyes to find that an intense gaze and hooded lids had replaced Danny’s smirk.
“I want to punish you so badly for what you just put me through,” he whispered hoarsely. “But I can’t. Because I love you too goddamned much and I want you too fucking badly to wait a second longer.”
Danny thrust himself inside of her, completely, and they cried out together.
He dropped his head into the crook of her neck and Kat held him there, her face buried against his shoulder, as he pushed himself into her again and again and again.
Kat climaxed first, screaming out his name and clutching onto him as shockwaves of indescribable pleasure stole her breath and rocked her body. A few seconds later, Danny’s arms tightened around her, his thrusts became harder and deeper, and – with a loud crying out of her name – he poured himself into her.
Kat absorbed every pulse of his orgasm against her inner walls, every whispered panting of her name against her neck, and every rhythmic pounding of his heart against her chest…and wanted more.
Always more.
Danny finally collapsed to the side of her, pulling Kat into a tight embrace, and then pulling a blanket over them both. They just held each other as their hearts slowed, their breathing evened out, and their bodies cooled.
Danny’s hands began caressing her back.
“Ugh.” He grabbed at the lingerie material and tugged. “I need this off of you.”
Kat sat up and he pulled it over her head, tossing it aside before she settled back into his arms with a contented sigh.
Danny nuzzled the top of her head, then kissed it. After a long, comfortable silence, he finally asked, “What are you thinking about?”
Eyes closed, Kat exhaled a soft laugh against his chest. “I’m thinking that – despite our fun, somewhat educational foray into bondage – I’d much prefer to keep things the way they were before: your hands free to do whatever they want to me and mine free to do whatever I want to you.” She paused. “I mean, I guess it’s okay to do it once in a while, just for spicy fun, but-”
Danny snorted. “Yeah. Right.
Fun
.” He scoffed softly. “Let’s just see how much
fun
you think it is when you’re the one getting mentally and physically tortured, sweetheart.”
She grinned before rearing back to meet his eyes. “Why, what are
you
thinking about?”
He searched her face, head shaking. “Oh, nothing. Just that you are the most terrifying little creature I have ever met in my life.”
Kat’s brows jumped. “What do I do that’s so terrifying?”
“You mean besides the
Viagra-gone-wrong
type erections you give me on a daily basis?”
Kat smiled. “That’s called
priapism,
and you don’t have it, Danny. I’ve felt your penis go at least somewhat flaccid after each time you ejaculated. That means the blood flow is getting correctly, systemically re-routed after orgasm, which is exactly what it’s supposed to do. Thus, no priapism.”
Danny shook his head, again. “See? Terrifying.”
“How is
that
terrifying?”
“Because you’re too fucking smart for your own good. And because when you start talking all intellectual like that, it gives me another damn prioraprism.”
Kat laughed. “
Priapism
…and you aren’t having them. You’re just having normal, healthy erections on a very frequent basis.”
“Yeah, like the one you’re giving me right now,” Danny said, pressing himself against her.
She laughed again. “Yep. Just like that one,” she said, snuggling back into him.
Danny lazily ran his fingertips over her shoulder blades. “I don’t have to work until seven tomorrow…can you get off early so we can have dinner together before I go in?” With a smile in his voice, he added, “I thought maybe I’d actually take you out like a normal person, for a change. So you didn’t start thinking I was just using you for sex and medical advice.”
Kat pinched his side and he laughed.
She thought about her schedule for tomorrow. “I can probably meet you here by four, at the latest. Will that work?”
“That’ll work. Where should be go?”
“I still have to get something for Pops for Christmas…do you mind if we hit Pineridge and eat someplace there?”
“Sure, sweetheart, whatever you want.” Danny pressed his palm into her lower back and lowered his lips to her ear. “And this time I can actually grope you under the table like I was dying to do last time.”
“Well, we better steer clear of CPK, then,” Kat said, top lip curling. “We wouldn’t want
Tiffani
getting jealous.”
Danny paused. “Who the hell is Tiffani?”
Kat leaned back to meet his eyes. “Short, big-boobed blonde with the stupid-ass ponytail swinging around everywhere?” When Danny’s brows dropped and a shoulder lifted, Kat huffed. “Your waitress? The one who was trying to have sex with you right on the table?”
Danny laughed. “Oh,
her
.”
Kat’s lips curled. “Yeah,
oh, her
.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were about to go on another jealous rampage, Kat,” he said wryly.
“Another?”
“Uh, your nuclear meltdown? After the club?” When Kat’s face registered she was now remembering, Danny grinned. “I can’t remember all of it, but I very vividly remember you calling someone a ‘blonde whore.’ And I think the poor woman might have had ‘slut’ thrown at her, too, but I’m not sure.”
“
Poor woman, my ass,”
Kat muttered. “Who wears that kind of shirt out in public? And gyrates like that, against some guy she just met?” She huffed. “Talk about attention-seeking behavior. Beyond ridiculous.” Kat pinched his side again. “And don’t think you’re off the hook, either, buddy. Grinding up on some chick to make a point makes you as bad as she is.”
Danny tightened his arms around her. “How about I take you to a club one of these days and
you
can grind up on me?”
“Yeah, not much of a dancer, what with the occasional inability to control my limbs and all,” Kat replied. “Although, to be honest, I wasn’t much of a dancer before.”
Danny’s expression softened as his eyes searched hers. “Well, now I’m dying to dance with you…because it would mean I get to hold you up against me the whole time.” A small half-smile appeared. “Just so you wouldn’t fall, of course. Not because I love carrying you around or keeping you pulled up tight against me or anything.”
Fickle Bitch Brain:
I told you…he is so easy to love. And it is so easy to be loved by him. He is the best thing that could have ever happened to you.
Better Judgment
: Well, good thing he likes carrying you…’cause he’ll be doing a whole lot more of it in future. Hopefully he likes pushing wheelchairs, bathing you, and changing adult diapers, too, right? It’s quite a life you’ve led him into, Kat. Hope he’s ready to piss away his future playing nursemaid. Yeah, pretty sure you’re going to end up being the
worst
thing that every happened to him.
“Kat?” When she looked up and met his eyes, Danny’s were full of concern. “You okay? You zoned on out me there.”
She forced a smile. “Yep. Just feeling tired after all that Christmas gift-giving.”
He gently pulled her back into his embrace and kissed her head. “Then let’s get you rested up. Because, very soon, I’m going to want to open that present again. And then, again…”
‡
T
he next evening,
Danny held the door of the Apple store open for Kat to exit through.
“I think Pops is going to love that,” he said, trailing behind her. “It was a great idea.”
“If we can teach him to use it. For a guy who still watches TV shows taped onto VHS cassettes, working an iPad might present a bit of a challenge.” Kat shivered against the bitter wind whipping down the open mall pathway. “But it’s worth a shot. I think he’ll get a kick out of all the apps, too, once he gets the hang of working everything.”
Kat slipped her arm through Danny’s and held on tightly as they started walking.
She wasn’t quite sure what was going on neurologically, but she felt…
weird
. Kat’s brain was a bit fuzzier, her balance was more off than usual, and both legs were giving her some trouble. With some concentration and effort, she was managing to control it relatively well, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t scaring the hell out of her.
Earlier, Danny had noticed her slight change in gait and the way she’d been clinging to him more than usual as they walked through the mall. But when he’d questioned Kat about it, she’d blown it off – blaming it all on the fatigue and soreness, which Danny seemed to accept without question.
The toe of Kat’s sneaker suddenly caught on an uneven cobblestone brick and she stumbled.
Given Kat’s penchant for clumsiness, tripping, in and of itself, wouldn’t have been at all surprising or alarming. But the way her leg muscles wouldn’t compensate for the trip – giving out on her when she tried to right herself – really freaked Kat out.
Dropping fast, Kat grabbed for Danny’s biceps, clinging to him.
He reacted instantly, pulling her up against his chest, his expression full of concern as he met her eyes. “You okay, Kat? Your leg bugging you? You need me to carry you?”
Kat’s eyes filled with tears.
Because he was so sweet and she loved him so very much.
But also because something was very, very wrong.
Kat hadn’t had a marked deterioration in her functioning like this since she’d been diagnosed seven years ago…and people with Benign MS didn’t typically experience such dramatic relapses, which could only mean one thing:
Her condition was no longer benign.
Which meant…
Too many really bad things she couldn’t process, make sense of, or deal with appropriately at this particular moment.