Chapter 20
The warmth of his skin on my sensitive, sun-kissed flesh affects me like a light switch. My mind goes from contemplating how to salvage my research to wanting him inside me posthaste. Night and day. Positive and negative. Acid and alkalis.
There’s no rush. We have time. But we aren’t patient. The urgent need strikes us both. He lifts me, and my legs wrap around his waist, and he stumbles and falls backward onto the outdoor sofa.
For a split second, we laugh. Light and carefree. Because we’re acting like teenagers. But then his palm caresses my cheek while his thumb explores my lip. And I look down into bright blue eyes.
My chest seizes. My core cinches. Everything slows.
Because of how we fell, I’m straddling him. My hips, ever so slowly, undulate over him.
We sit there, in the breeze, shaded from the overhead sun by an overhang. I’m locked. Frozen. Stuck, looking directly into watery hues. I should look away. But I can’t.
A pressure on the back of my neck urges me closer. And I blink. My gaze falls to his lips. My breath flows faster.
There’s no soft brush of lips. No, it’s as if our mouths meld instantaneously. His fingers glide along my sides.
I lift, separating our torsos just enough to tug on his shirt. Skin on skin. It’s what I want, and we break apart long enough to remove the irritating garments. He palms my breast, and I tilt my head back, loving the contrast in sensations. His rough skin. The salt breeze. His heat.
“God, you’re sexy.”
His words are breathy, like maybe he’s also having trouble breathing.
“I want you.” I reach between us, fumbling with the button on his shorts. The need pulses. And as if my body has superseded my brain, my core clenches over and over, leveraging Kegels to ease the urgency.
The tips of my fingers brush the smooth head of his crown, and he groans.
I’m airborne, and my back bumps against the stiff cushion. My shorts and panties are brushed to the side, and his finger plunges inside me. I cry out, not from the intrusion, just the surprise.
He pulls his finger out and sucks on it. I whimper and squirm. The grin on his face couldn’t be any sexier. He’s really too gorgeous to be real.
“You are so ready for me.”
“I told you. I wouldn’t lie to you.”
He sits back, and I lift a leg, rubbing my calf and foot over his ass, urging him to move. And he chuckles.
I stop. Confused. What’s funny? I’m not trying to be funny.
“No, you wouldn’t lie to me.”
I don’t understand, but then he frees himself, and I’m mesmerized as he wraps his fingers around his length and strokes. Up. And down.
Over and over.
And then his broad, massive body shadows mine. His heat. Those wide shoulders. I lift my knees, thighs spread, and his tip pushes into me as his lips hover over mine.
Then he freezes. His eyelids close.
My hips buck up, begging for him.
“Christ.” He dips his head, and his rough, unshaven cheek scrapes mine. “Condom.”
“It’s okay.” The tips of my fingers dig into his shoulder blades. “I have an IUD.”
“Yeah?”
His Adam’s apple flexes. He rises, resting on one forearm as he nudges my chin upward, forcing me to look into those oxygen-hogging blue depths.
“Yeah?” he asks breathlessly, like it’s hard for him to breathe too.
“Yes. Please.”
And then his tongue plunges into my mouth as he pushes inside, stretching me. Filling me. This. It’s exactly what I wanted.
My fingernails alternate between scraping along his sides to his scalp. The force of his hips moves us. With each thrust, the lightweight sofa scuffs the floor.
“God, you feel so good.” His mouth is by my ear, his breath hot and heavy.
The weight of his body is intoxicating. It’s both sheltering and a complete and total frocking turn-on. The absolute best part is how his body rubs against me, creating divine sensations.
“Christ, I don’t want to ever wear a condom again.”
My thighs clutch his hips as my muscles contract. My toes curl.
“Don’t stop,” I gasp. “Right there. Keep on. Right there. Harder. Harder.”
The blood vessels in his neck expand. His skin flushes. I grip him, nails digging into his skin. On the verge. So close.
An animalistic sound escapes from him. And I feel him pulsing deep within me. And all of that…all of him…pushes me over.
My eyelids close as an orgasm spasms through me.
His thrusts become erratic. Sloppy kisses rain down along my cheek and neck, and then one big, heavy man collapses on top of me. My legs and arms wrap around him, and I giggle into his neck.
Perspiration dampens his skin and the hair along his brow. He lifts his face inches from mine, and my thumb brushes over his eyebrow.
“Something funny?”
He’s still inside me, and I’m clinging to him. And yeah, he’s talking to me. It’s weird. Super weird. But I also kind of love it.
“Nothing,” I answer. “I kind of love this.” The admission makes me feel like I’m exposing myself, which is an odd emotion since I can’t really be more exposed than I am without clothes on, and he’s seen me naked.
“Kind of?” He thrusts up playfully.
“My shorts are still on.”
“Hmm.” The rumble vibrates from my throat to my chest. “So are mine.”
He pulls out and readjusts us so his back is to the back of the sofa and I’m lying below him. He adjusts both of our shorts, in case someone walks by on the beach. Of course, I’m not wearing a top.
My arm covers my breasts, and he moves it, shaking his head in reprimand as he nips my finger.
“Don’t cover those.”
“They’re not really much to look at.”
“They are to me. And they’re mine.”
It’s a ridiculous statement. Logically, I know this. My body is not his. But those words deliver a thrill. A warm, gooey, illogical, all-encompassing thrill.
“And I can’t seem to get enough of them.”
He dips his head and swirls his tongue around a nipple. My back curves, stretching into his touch. He lifts his head and smirks, cocky and sated. The cool air envelops the wet skin, and I roll into him. I let my head rest on his shoulder and breathe into relaxation.
He cups my breast and tweaks the nipple while his other hand caresses my butt. He likes to touch me, and my body responds every time.
“I enjoyed that.” It feels like a confession.
“I could tell.”
My teeth grind down on his chin.
He lightly slaps my ass, then palms it. “In case you couldn’t tell, so did I.”
We should talk about something. About the case. About my sister. Something.
“Everything’s good for tomorrow?”
“Should be. Waiting for some confirmations.”
“What confirmations?”
“Stella didn’t say. I’d imagine it has to do with air traffic control. We’re on an island that sees plenty of private planes come and go. Plus, the jets are in use, so maybe she’s confirming pilots.”
His phone vibrates on the table. “This could be confirmation.”
He stretches to grab it from the floor where it must have fallen.
I’m a tall girl. Gangly. But, next to him, I’m miniscule. He collapses back against the sofa, and I let my fingers wander over the curves of his muscles and twirl the smattering of golden chest hair. He stretches an arm out so he can see the screen, and I read it too.
Ginger
I bought you a plant and some throw pillows to brighten up the space.
The photo is of a beautiful blonde taking a selfie on a sofa. To her side is a neon pothos plant, and there’s a bright yellow pillow behind her, but what my gaze catches on is her cleavage. Cleavage covers approximately twenty percent of the photo.
“Is that your girlfriend?”
“Ex.” The phone clatters across the coffee table. “Ex-girlfriend. We broke up four years ago. She’s married.”
“I meant ex. Obviously. You wouldn’t cheat on someone else. I wouldn’t be with you if…” I let out a sigh as my index finger swoops along his thick bicep. “She’s really beautiful.”
“On the outside.” He sounds sad, so I lean forward and press my lips to his throat.
“What did she do to you?”
“Well, we were living together. I was spending a lot of time on missions. You know what they’re like, right? Sam ever tell you?”
“You mean you can’t call? Or tell anyone where you are.”
“Right. Well, I returned home from being overseas. And she met me at the door with a ring on her finger. And it wasn’t a ring I gave her.”
“Oh. She’s the one you mentioned. The one who cheated on you.”
“Believe it or not, she tried to deny that she cheated. But, like, how do you go from living with your significant other to being engaged to a different person without some lines being crossed?”
“Right.” I relax against him and let one leg drift between his. “I’m sorry she did that to you.” I close my eyes and see her cleavage. “You know, maybe that’s why you’re attracted to me. I’m her opposite, you know? No boobs, and she has huge ones.”
His fingers spread across my butt cheek and his lips brush across my forehead. “I don’t know about that. I’d say that with you I discovered I’m very much into barely there, hot as fuck breasts. And it has absolutely nothing to do with her.” His fingers leave my butt and trail along my hip and to my ribcage. “But I can’t deny I’d like to see you gain a little weight.”
“I’ll try.” He’s not the first person to harass me about my eating habits. As if on cue, my stomach rumbles. “But we need to go to the market.”
“Can we just lie here a few more minutes?” I tilt my head up at him and scrunch my nose in question. “I’m a cuddler, remember?”
“A big teddy bear.” I say it like I’m annoyed, but I smile into his chest. For once, I don’t really feel like getting up either. I trace his muscles. He’s really, really muscular. “Do you do steroids?”
“None of the bad stuff.”
“Why would you take any of it?”
“I guess you could say I’ve always had an obsessive personality.” His fingers comb through my hair. “I start a hobby and I dive deep. In the military, you’ve got to be strong and fast, so it doesn’t work to bulk up. After I left the military, some of the muscle builders in the gym kickstarted me on some stuff. I’ve always been one to focus on the protein.”
“That’s why you’re so into food?”
“I’ve been an athlete most of my life. Always into food. Supplements. Have played around with performance enhancers here and there. Truth is, a lot of the guys do a little something.”
“Isn’t that against the rules?”
“It is. Mostly it’s overlooked. But we got this new CO, and he was gonna be a stickler.”
“So that’s part of why you went ahead and left?”
“Part of it. Not all of it. It was the right time. Do you think less of me?” His thumb brushes softly over my shoulder. I don’t know enough about it to have an informed opinion.
“No. But I want to research it. Will you tell me what you’re using?”
“You don’t trust me to do my own research?”
“I just…I might see something you don’t. I always double-checked Sage’s doctors. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No.” He presses his lips to my brow. “I think it’s sweet, actually.”
Is it sweet? Double-checking medicine and medical advice is wise. Doctors are human, and all humans make mistakes. And Max isn’t even a doctor.
He taps my nose. “What are you thinking about?”
I blink, bringing myself back to the moment. I should be thinking about our next steps. “Now that you’ve been to the lab, has your team developed any other theories as to who could be behind this? Since it’s clearly not my lab.”
“What exactly did you see that eliminates them from suspicion?”
I give that some thought. “Lack of evidence. And even though Anton Solonov was on the island, he never went to the labs.”
“A guy like Anton is a skilled assassin. He’s not going to visit the workplace of someone who hired him to chitchat.”
“I just can’t see anyone I work with doing this. They’re scientists. I mean, yes, admittedly, some of our work will ultimately be used for skin care, but our efforts will benefit humankind.”
“Tell you what. Let’s agree to disagree on this one.”
“That’s what you said about pizza.”
“Exactly. You call it a nutritious meal, and I call it a snack. At least you aren’t vegan. Then we couldn’t share a pizza.”
I don’t like vegan cheese either. The texture is like dairy cheese, but it’s the aftertaste that gets me.
His lips curve into a smile, and my gaze travels up to his blue irises for the briefest of seconds. And then he’s kissing me again. Slowly. And all arguments and thoughts flee as I melt into him.