Chapter 39
CHAPTER
THIRTY-NINE
JUNE
I roll to my side, luxuriating in the heaviness of my sated body, the soft, warm swaddle of sheets around me. Dean’s voice, still so gravelly and sexy, is made even more so as he repeats my order perfectly.
My cheek rests on the inside of my arm, and a faint bruise purples the inside of my elbow compliments of the IV.
I must be out of my mind.
It’s not just lust with Dean. This thing between us is already more than chemistry.
Must be the Speed rule.
We survived together. We’re bonded. I know him better than I’ve known most of my former boyfriends.
Heck, maybe even most of my friends.
Biting the inside of my cheek, my chest heaves on a lengthy sigh. Shouldn’t I be freaking out?
Dean casts me a look over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised. He reaches back with one hand, still on the phone, rubbing it over the bare skin of my thigh, rough callouses sending goosebumps down my arms. I shiver, and his questioning gaze darkens, turning to lust.
My heart squeezes.
His hand stills, then resumes long strokes on my hip. Finally, he murmurs, “Thanks,” and replaces the phone on the cradle.
The bed barely moves as he rolls towards me, his hand moving from my hip to my face.
I can’t help it, I close my eyes, leaning into the simple touch of his palm on my cheek. Something about it breaks my control, different from when I fell apart with him inside me.
This, this sweetness, will be my undoing.
“Food should be up in half an hour.”
“That’s fast.” I don’t open my eyes.
“Do you need something now? We could crack open the minibar. I should’ve thought to get snacks.” Dean stands, the cold air on my cheek has me looking up at him as he stalks over to the kitchen area in the other room. His ass a masterpiece.
“Wait.”
He stops, turning over his shoulder. Swoon . His abs ripple, his muscles standing out in his legs like some kind of art class anatomy sculpture. Except way, way hotter than an art class model has any right to be.
“What is it?”
“Just checking you out.” I grin, a small laugh escaping and happiness bubbling out of me despite my best efforts at not taking this—this thing between us—too seriously.
He flexes, and I throw the back of my hand over my eyes.
“It’s too much.” I’m only half-joking.
“Oh yeah? I’ll show you too much.” He crosses the space to the bed in a few steps, landing on top of me, bracing himself with his elbows as he hovers over me. I squeal, then laugh.
The sound cut short by his lips on mine, claiming them. He kisses me slowly, pulling me up to sitting, holding my back as he deepens the kiss. My hands wrap around his neck, tangling my legs around his waist.
His hands are so strong against my back. Careful and powerful. I relax into him, lost in him.
A shrill beeping startles me, and I break away from him. This is addictive. The rush from his kiss, the warmth of his caress. The phone rings again.
Shaking my head, I try to clear it. “Think there’s a problem with room service?”
Dean’s eyes remain on me, continuing to run calloused hands across my back. Gripping my ass, he pulls my naked body even closer to his before kissing the sensitive spot below my ear. He found that spot pretty quick.
Finally, the noise stops.
Arching against him, the proof I turn him on, too, nudges me. Demanding my attention.
The phone rings again and I sigh, stiffening in his arms.
“I think you should answer that.”
“Do you really want me to?” His mouth finds the peak of my breast, and I go limp again.
“No.”
He moves back to my mouth, doing something with his tongue and teeth that sets my whole body on fire. Again.
The phone ringing finally wins out. I crack an eye open and glare at it.
“Dean… I think you should answer it.”
“I don’t want to.”
“What if it’s an emergency? What if it’s about my steak?”
He grins. “Well, that would be an emergency. Fine.” Carefully, as though I’m made from spun glass, he sets me on the bed, pulling the comforter over me. “Don’t forget where we were.”
I stretch my arms overhead, noting with satisfaction how his eyes track the simple gesture before he groans and picks up the phone.
“Hello?” A moment passes. Tension floods his body, his expression changing. “Got it. Where?” He faces the opposite wall, turning away from me.
I fiddle with the sheet’s embroidery, pulling at a loose string.
“Okay. No, I understand—” A long pause. “Yes, ma’am. Understood.”
My stomach falls, and I throw the covers over my head.
The hollow plastic sound of the phone being replaced on the cradle, then footsteps as Dean walks away from the bed. The sounds of fabric, a zipper, echo in my ears.
Why is it suddenly hard to breathe?
My throat constricts, and I pull my knees into my chest. A deep breath in, amplifying the blood pounding in my ears.
“Hey.” Light streams in where Dean pulls the sheets down, and I blink up at him. He’s dressed, black pants, black shirt. Black boots in one hand, ready to be laced up.
Leaving. Not in a week. Not tomorrow, but now. He’s leaving me now .
“Hi.” I tug the sheet down, wrapping it over my chest.
“I have to go.” His forehead wrinkles, and I resist the urge to press a finger to it, to wipe the worry away. “Thorne’s off chasing a lead, but Thompson is here, down the hall. He’ll be looking out for you.”
“Oh.” It’s soft. This is what life would be like with him. If he even wants to be in my life. He couldn’t do long moments in bed or at dinner, forget long weekends or cozy nights at home.
He wants to save the world. Maybe I could get used to that. But… this, this is a little fresh.
“June.” He presses a kiss to my forehead. “There’s just a chain of custody issue. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He rakes a hand through his hair, a self-assured grin on his face. “Feel free to eat my food.”
“You don’t think you’ll be back tonight? I could stick it in the fridge.” I don’t want to sound desperate. Don’t want to seem weak, can’t bear to feel weak. But I want him to stay, to wake up in his arms in this beautiful room that isn’t a boat. To roll over and wrap my legs and arms around him and have it mean something.
“I don’t know. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I just don’t.” His hands ball into fists. “I’m sorry. Trust me, I don’t want to be anywhere but here.”
“Be safe.”
He starts to reach out, and for a split second, I think he might touch me, might know that I need soothing. Instead, he rubs the freshly clipped salt and pepper stubble on his jawline.
“I will. Oh, by the way, check the closet. There are some everyday things in your size, and there’s a cheap cellphone in there too. Don’t leave the hotel. If you need something, Thompson’s number is programmed in the cell. He’ll arrange to have whatever you need transported to you. My number’s in there too, but Thompson will be faster while I’m fixing this bullshit.”
“Okay, got it.” Moonlight dances across the bay, visible through the sliver of window not quite covered by the drape.
“June?” His voice comes next to my ear. Dean stands over me, delicious and dangerous-looking. “I’m really sorry about leaving. Listen… this,” his throat bobs. “This meant something to me. You mean something to me.”
“Oh.” My heart does a funny flip. “That’s good.” Maybe there is room for me in his life, after all. I allow myself to smile, beaming up at him.
“Why?” A lopsided grin turns the corner of his mouth up.
“Because you mean something to me too.” The words come out small, tentative and true. “I want you.”
“Again?” he says, a teasing smile on his face.
I nod, my smile growing. “And you know, maybe after all this is done… we could try to figure out long distance. If you want to test out the Speed theory.”
“Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock?”
“You remembered.” I smile.
“I’ll remember nearly everything about this. About you.”
His hands curl into my hair, pulling my mouth into his, stealing my air, leaving me gasping. We break apart, breathing heavily.
Dean locks eyes with mine. “Don’t go anywhere. I’m coming back for you… and then we can figure out long distance. Or…” His voice trails off. “We’ll figure something out. Rest up.” He winks as he presses off the bed, the coverlet dimpled from his hands. He swaggers out of the room, the door clicking shut behind his muscled butt.
I’d like another piece of that cake.