CHAPTER TWENTY
Boone changed into a pair of board shorts, grabbed a couple of towels from the closet, and headed out to the hot tub.
He lifted the cover off, plucked the floating thermometer from the water and checked the temp.
It was a futile attempt at distracting himself from thinking about Luna inside, stripping down to change into her suit.
The level of anticipation coursing through him at the prospect of seeing her in a bathing suit made him feel like a randy teenage boy hoping for his first look at a boob.
At the sound of the door opening, he glanced up, did a double take, and his mouth dropped open.
All of her subtle curves were silhouetted by the bathroom light behind her.
She flipped off the light, shut the door, and strolled toward him, completely comfortable in a skimpy bikini.
As she stepped closer, the golden light from the tiki torches around the patio cast a flickering golden glow over her flawless skin.
Her shoulders were straight and toned, her waist flat and only slightly narrower than her hips, and her legs … Holy fuck. The high-cut design of her bikini showed off her long, lean legs, toned from miles of swimming.
Luna was a walking wet dream. His walking wet dream.
The idea of another man seeing her like this sent a fiery possessiveness coursing through his bloodstream.
He’d dated plenty of women in his time, but never once had he experienced such a primal desire to destroy any man who dared to even so much as glance her way.
“I like the way you look at me.” She stared at him, and the sexual tension crackling between them across the bubbling water was so thick and powerful, it was nearly tangible.
“That’s good, because I enjoy looking at you.” He slowly circled around the hot tub, closing the distance between them, and stood in front of her. “You are sexy as hell, Luna.”
Her suit was made up of tiny, perfectly sized triangles held together by skinny straps.
In the slightly chilly air, her perky nipples were like tight little beads pressing against her bikini top.
Years of disciplined military service had taught him self-control, and he was drawing on every ounce of it now to keep from reaching out and caressing them.
“When you say it, I almost believe it.” Her voice was low, in keeping with the intimacy of the moment.
“I will never lie to you.” Boone was deadly serious about that. “If you believe anything, believe that.”
And that I love you. But that would become clear soon enough.
She placed her hand on the center of his chest. “I believe you.”
He lifted her hand, kissed her knuckles, and held her steady while she stepped up and into the hot tub.
She moved to the other side and hummed with satisfaction as she slowly lowered herself into the churning waters up to her shoulders.
“Mmm, it feels incredible.” She shifted to settle herself onto one of the built-in seats.
He set the towels on a small table next to the steps, followed her in, and sat across from her.
“Why are you sitting way over there?” The disappointment in her words nearly sliced him in half.
“I’m trying to take things slow, and I can’t guarantee that will happen if I’m close to you.”
“Oh.” The little tease gave a slow, sexy smile, lifted her feet, and rested them on his knees. “So, tell me more about your mom and dad.”
“Changing the subject, huh?” He dragged his fingers through his hair. “Actually, that’ll help.”
She let loose the most adorable giggle.
“I want to know everything about you.” She spread her arms wide and rested them along the edge of the hot tub. He was certain she hadn’t meant it to be alluring, which was exactly why it was.
Luna didn’t seem to realize just how fucking hot she really was, and he wanted to be the one to help her recognize and embrace her sensuality. The first and only one.
“My folks are kind, hardworking, salt-of-the-earth people.” And he hated that Udall managed to get so close to them.
“They’ve worked for everything they have and are generous with others.
And they never shy away from showing their love for each other.
” Like a typical kid, he used to get embarrassed when they would kiss each other in front of him.
“But if you lose their trust, are disloyal or dishonest, they won’t have anything to do with you. ”
“Sounds like Michaleen and Molly.” She lowered her arms back into the water. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“You can ask me anything you want.” He twisted the knob to turn off the jets. The hum of the motor quieted, and the bubbles stopped.
“What was it like being adopted?” She quickly added, “I only ask because, when I thought they were going to separate Dawn and I, the idea of being taken away by a bunch of strangers terrified me.”
Boone was sad for the scared little girl she used to be but so fucking proud of the woman she’d become.
“You were what, ten, eleven years old?” He lifted one of her feet and began to rub the arch with his thumb. “You had every right to be scared.” For a lot of reasons. “It was very different for me—I was only two weeks old when I was adopted.”
Boone moved to her other foot and started working on that one.
“As far back as I can remember, anytime my dad would look me directly in the eye while he imparted one of his tidbits of wisdom, or when he would patiently teach me how to do something, or when he would say ‘I love you, son,’ I knew deep in my soul that he was my father.” Never once had Boone felt less-than just because he wasn’t their biological child.
“He sounds like a great man, and he raised a phenomenal son.” She lowered her feet and glided through the water to sit next to him. “What’s your mom like?”
“Mom? She’s incredible. Every night when I was little, she would sit next to me on my bed and read a book before I went to sleep.
She was strict and believed in discipline—they both did—but she was quick to hug afterward.
And she was happiest when dad and I would ride with her.
She would grumble every time she had to sweep my bangs out of my eyes because my hair was too long for her liking.
” Boone chuckled at the fond memory. “Oh, and every time she had to bandage a wound I got, usually doing something stupid, she would just shake her head and mumble an exasperated, ‘Boys.’”
Never, in all of those years, had he ever imagined anyone but them as his mom and dad.
“They sound amazing.” She smoothed her hand back and forth over the surface of the water. “I would love to meet them someday.”
“I’d love that, too.” And they were going to love Luna.
He started formulating a plan for taking her there for his mom’s birthday. But first, he had to take down Udall and put his ass back in prison where he belonged.
“Hearing you speak so fondly of them makes me wonder why you decided to look for your biological parents.” He appreciated that she didn’t refer to them as his real parents, recognizing that Clay and Evelyn Langston were his real parents.
“Curiosity was a big part of it, but what finally had me pulling the trigger was a guy I served with. He was adopted, too, and decided to do one of those home DNA tests. He found out his biological father had Huntington’s Disease—a progressive brain disorder—and that it was pretty much guaranteed he would develop the disease, too.
He was devastated because he’d always dreamed about having a bunch of kids of his own.
” It was all he’d ever talked about. “Sadly, he learned the gene would be passed down to any biological children he had.”
“That must have been so difficult for him to hear, after wanting children so badly,” Luna said.
“It destroyed him.” He told her how his teammate’s wife tried desperately to convince him they could adopt.
After all, he was adopted. “The disappointment of not being able to give his wife children of their own, and hating that she would end up taking care of him as he slowly deteriorated, was too much for him to handle. He wasn’t willing to put her through that, so he left her and had her served with divorce papers.
He knew she would never leave him voluntarily, so he made that decision for her. ”
He'd been one of those real proud, macho types who’d always felt it was his job to take care of her, not the other way around.
“Oh my gosh, that’s awful,” Luna said.
“Yeah, she had a rough time of it, but she’s strong.” Last Boone heard, she was dating a lawyer who worked for the firm who represented her during her divorce.
“Please tell me you didn’t discover anything like that in your family history.” She shifted to face him with a worried look.
“Nope, the only thing I discovered was a sister.” And for that, he was extremely lucky. “And that led me to OSI, and to you being here in my hot tub, tempting me in that bikini.”
Boone was surprised when she climbed onto his lap to face him and settled a knee on either side of his hips. She placed her hands on the sides of his face, leaned in, and kissed the absolute, ever-loving shit out of him.
He cupped her ass cheeks and pulled her against his crotch, letting her feel his erection. His tongue dove between her lips and slid over her tongue. Kissing Luna felt like home.
She matched him stroke for stroke and rubbed herself up and down against his dick. Her head fell back, and her hands dropped to his shoulders. He welcomed the sting of her nails nipping into his flesh as she tightened her hold, almost as if worried she might fly away.
He whispered against her wet neck, “I’ve got you,” and wrapped his arms around her.
Boone would always have her.
Eyes tightly shut, she sucked in breaths and continued to rub against him.
He reached between them, found her clitoris, and pressed against it over her suit.
She yanked her mouth from his with a gasp.
Her breasts heaved up and down with each stroke of his finger until she pressed her forehead to his.
Boone slid aside the scrap of fabric covering her breast, lifted her above the water, and clamped his mouth over her nipple, circling it with the tip of his tongue.
She whimpered and arched her back, letting him take her in.
His finger found its way beneath the fabric of her suit bottom, where he continued the relentless up-and-down strokes to her folds.
“I … what—” She sounded a little scared, almost confused, but mostly, she sounded like a woman on the precipice of a powerful orgasm.
He placed a last soft kiss to her nipple, lifted his head, and whispered, “It’s okay, baby, let go.” He lightly pinched her clit.
Luna’s breath halted, her mouth gaped, and she cried out his name as her orgasm slammed through her. “Boone!”
Watching her ride out her orgasm was the hottest fucking thing he’d ever witnessed. Fucking hell, a powerful surge of satisfaction plowed through him, knowing he’d done that for her. If she was this responsive to his finger against her clit, he couldn’t fucking wait until he was buried inside her.
“Oh my gosh.” Her head dropped to his shoulder, and her body collapsed against him as her orgasm finally subsided. “That was … it was so much better than I imagined it would be.”
“Well, that was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” He kissed the side of her neck and slid his hand down her ponytail to where it floated atop the water.
“Boone.” She lifted her head and kissed him. “I … I want—”
“I know, baby.” That was all he needed to hear. “Come on.”
He lifted her off his lap and held her until her feet were steady on the bottom of the hot tub. Then he took her hand, led her through the water, and helped her down the steps.
The first time Boone made love to her was going to be in his bed, preferably with the lights on.