Chapter Fifty-Five
Isla
I slid into the coolness of the bigger pool, then dove under the surface.
The world quieted, my mind followed, and the weightless freedom of dark, refreshing water gliding all over my body was my version of heaven.
For a single moment, I wished I could hold in this breath forever.
A breath of freedom threaded around a warfighter who’d purged my seesaw emotions, insecurities, and urge to run with a single phone call and subsequent plunge into his baptismal font of dominance.
Three more strokes, and I came up for air.
The humidity of the night warmer than the pool, an ocean breeze cooled my face, and I dove back under.
Stretching my body, using muscles I only ever felt under the water, I glided, kicked, dove, and swam.
I swam until my lungs needed a break, then I rolled onto my back and floated under the stars. This wasn’t dolphin tag in the Mediterranean, but it was close. So very close. And Nix had made it possible.
A midnight swim in a pool that closed at sunset.
Reading everything into the gesture, I smiled.
“Christ, you project your shit like a fucking IMAX screen. Don’t ever play poker.”
I turned my head.
Standing sentry near the edge of the pool, Helios scanned the grounds. Then, looking back at me, he tipped his chin. “One more minute.”
I let my feet sink to the bottom of the shallow end and stood. “I’m excellent at poker.” I winked. “Want to find out how badly you can lose to a woman?”
His expression immediately turned deadly. “Listen up, Sennan, because I’m only gonna give you one warning. You fuck over Nix, I will hunt you like an animal.” He paused for a single heartbeat. “Clear?”
“Crystal.” I held my smile even though he’d never looked more threatening. “But I would evade you like a specter.”
Narrowing his eyes, he leveled his glare for another second, then jerked his chin toward the hotel. “Let’s go. Time’s up.”
I waded to the steps, got out, and grabbed the towel that Helios had thoughtfully brought from the suite because the man was a walking mountain of contradictions. Though, I wasn’t sure he realized it. Not that I cared to dwell on it.
Borderline euphoric from my swim, Nix’s gesture, and the warm evening scented with ocean, fresh grass, and plumeria, I toweled off. Then I slipped a summer dress over my head, slid my feet into sandals, and followed Helios through the lobby and onto the elevator.
More than a few women had turned to look at the six-and-a-half-foot former…
Suddenly, I figured it out. “You were Delta Force.”
Watching the elevator’s floor indicator, Helios didn’t comment.
Then the doors slid open to the second floor of the penthouse suite, and I stepped out before turning to face him. “Thanks for facilitating my midnight swim.”
Arms crossed, biceps bulging, the outline of his 9mm holstered on his hip showing under the stretched fabric of his shirt, he grunted. Which seemed usual for him, but something had also seemed different about him since he’d shown up to relieve Tauk. Or maybe he was being different towards me.
Either way, I decided to ignore it. “Good night.”
He tipped his chin, the doors shut, and seconds later, I heard the elevator stop on the floor below, but I was already heading toward the bedroom and its en suite.
After thoroughly washing the pool water from my hair and soaping every inch of my body, I debated for only half a second on what to wear to bed.
Nix had said he would see me later, but I didn’t know what that meant. Even if I did, it wouldn’t change what was in my backpack—which was nothing sexy or befitting a man who fucked like a warrior.
So I slid in between the sheets naked and pulled the covers up until I got a faint hint of his vetiver cologne. Inhaling, I reached for the cell Tauk had given me and powered it on. Then I swiped to Messages and typed.
Me: Thank you for my midnight swim. Good night. XO
I hit Send, then set the phone on the nightstand and turned out the light.
I stared at the ocean, but he didn’t text back, and he didn’t call.