Steve stared up at the ceiling of the bedroom, reveling in the pleasant exhaustion that spread through his body and the sound of Kayla's quiet breathing next to him. He turned on his side and ran his hand along the soft skin of her exposed shoulder.
"I thought you'd want to sleep," she said, turning to face him. Her voice was teasing.
"There are a lot of things I want to do," Steve whispered. "Sleep . . . it's not even in the top five."
Kayla smiled wickedly and slid closer to him. He could feel the heat of her body only inches from him. Then her hand touched his chest.
"You don't ever want to get out of this bed?" Steve growled.
"Not any time soon," Kayla replied, her voice low and husky.
His blood was beginning to pump again, but he did not move. Kayla was taking charge right now and he was perfectly happy to follow her lead. Her lips touched lightly on his throat and then moved up until their mouths met in a deep, passionate kiss. Steve felt her tongue press forcefully past his lips and he welcomed her.
When they broke for air, he lifted his head and stared into her eyes. "God, baby, do you have any idea what you're doing to me?"
Kayla chuckled as her hand ran low under the sheets. "I've got a good idea." Then she kissed him again.
"Did I tell you that I love you," he whispered between kisses. "That I never want to be anywhere but with you."
"The first part," Kayla said, a quick gasp that was silenced by another kiss. When they came apart, she said, "But I'm glad about the second."
"It's absolutely the truth," Steve replied. He wrapped his arms around Kayla and rolled over, so he was now above her. Their faces were only inches apart and Steve ran a hand through her hair.
It still amazed him that he was here. With her. It was still just a matter of weeks since he had been pulled out of that compound, and he was here, enjoying a lazy afternoon, making love to the woman he loved more than anything else in the world.
I'm the luckiest man on this planet, he thought. Who cared about jobs and the Salem PD? None of that mattered as he stared into Kayla's beautiful eyes. I've got everything I truly need right here.
A thought popped into his head and he grinned.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked. She brushed his hair back from his face.
"I'm trying to think of what we're going to do next week when you go back to work." Steve traced her lips with a finger. "We're not going to have these long afternoons to grab takeout and spend the rest of the day in bed while Grandma's babysitting. I might just die of loneliness. Or abstinence."
Kayla laughed and swatted at him playfully. "I guess we're just going to have make the nights count a bit more."
"Mmm hmmm," Steve said. "I like the sound of that. And maybe we should make the next few days count as well." He kissed her. "And the weekend. " He kissed her again. "And the lunch breaks. They've gotta let you have those."
"The lunch breaks?" She laughed again. "I'm sure I can find a storage closet or two."
"I think we'll only need one, Sweetness."
"Unless Dr. Bishop starts getting suspicious that I seem to take all my breaks on the third floor hallway, near pediatrics." Kayla burst into a fit of giggles as she looked into Steve's eye, and he knew it was because of the shocked look on his face. "Okay . . . I'll find one not so close to the kids. Maybe near geriatrics."
Now it was Steve's turn to laugh. "That'll be sexy. You and me and a bunch of old folks."
"Consider it practice," she whispered. "For when we're old and gray . . . because we're going to grow old together, Steve Johnson. We're always going to be together, even if we're both 90 and we can barely remember what to do in bed."
"I like the sound of that too, except the 'barely remember' part." Steve kissed her again. "But just in case, maybe we'd better make a few more memories. Let's make it a lot harder to forget."