Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A flash of red caught Chris’s eye as he reached to open the double doors of the laundry closet in the hall, preparing to grab a towel out of the dryer. He was fairly certain the color he’d spotted out of his peripheral vision was wrapped around Rory’s body. The dress Ella sent her?
He silently closed the doors, the towel now forgotten, and moved into the open doorway of Rory’s room.
Bear was lying on the floor, chin resting atop his front paws, watching Rory as she stood in front of a narrow full-length mirror propped against the wall.
Chris leaned against the doorjamb and savored the view, quietly waiting for her to notice him as she smoothed her hands along the silhouette of her body.
The material was Ferrari red and hugged every inch of her back and hips like a second skin. His gaze followed the length of the dress down to the tight curve of her ass before drifting to her toned calf muscles, accentuated by a pair of strappy gold shoes.
Damn, he was speechless.
When he looked up, he found Rory’s eyes set on him in the reflection of the mirror. “When did you get that mirror?”
“That’s your first comment?” She slowly turned to face him, brows lifted. Her blonde hair flowed down her back in soft waves, and some of the strands were pinned to the sides, revealing the sweep of her high cheekbones and beautiful hazel eyes.
Bear looked up briefly as Chris entered the room but quickly dismissed him and curled into a new position with a satisfied groan.
“I was going to go with hot damn, but I thought I’d ease into that.”
“Well, thank you.” She smiled, her glossy red lips revealing straight white teeth. “And I picked the mirror up at Target while you were on your run with Bear an hour ago.”
Ah, the run. Now he remembered why he was in the hall—to grab a towel from the dryer before hitting the shower.
“And why are you in your boxers?” Her eyes cruised slowly over his six-pack before landing on his black Calvin Klein boxer briefs. “Didn’t take you for a Calvin Klein type.”
“I was in a similar pair the other night,” he reminded her.
“Yeah, I, um, wasn’t focused on your boxers that night.”
“And here you are unable to rip your focus free.” He smirked. The soft blush on her cheeks was everything to him at that moment.
Now that he had a better view, Chris let his eyes journey over every inch of her in that dress.
His gaze dipped down to the deep V of the dress that showcased her cleavage and accentuated her breasts, which he’d venture to guess were a perfect C cup.
And when she shifted her right leg, he nearly swallowed his tongue at the sight—a slit that ran from the hem of the dress to her mid-thigh parted to reveal the smooth, honey-toned skin of her killer legs.
“Who’s staring now?”
“Guilty.” The smile fell from his lips when he realized why Rory was currently wearing the red dress Ella had sent her. It was Friday evening. Did that mean she was going to Cutter’s event tonight? Why hadn’t she told him? She’d had all day while they trained to mention it.
“Were you about to shower?” She looked down and fidgeted with the top of the dress as if worried she was showing too much. But all that managed to accomplish was make him zero in on her cleavage again.
“Yeah. I was just about to hop in when I noticed I didn’t have any towels.”
Rory stepped around Bear and stopped a foot shy of Chris.
“I thought SEALs were all about the details,” she challenged with a smile.
“At least that’s what A.J. told me. He said, ‘the devil is in the details,’ which I took to mean the small things that are overlooked can cause big problems. So, you not having your towels stocked and ready . . .”
He folded his arms across his chest, doing his best not to reach for her like he wanted. “I’m not used to having a roommate, and a certain blonde keeps swiping all my towels.”
“Well, do you want that blonde to be dirty?”
Oh, there were so many ways he could respond to that. The woman was teasing him. Distracting him from the fact she was in that dress preparing to leave.
His heart sank a little at the thought.
“I didn’t make up my mind until I was buying treats for Bear at Target and walked by the mirror and saw my reflection.
” She closed her eyes, her dark eyeshadow and long lashes on display.
“A.J. said I ought to close one door before opening another. And even Elaina thinks I should attend, so . . . I’m going to Andrew’s gala tonight. ”
“Oh.” He went to stick his hands in his pockets, feeling uneasy, but forgot he was only wearing boxers.
“Come with me?” She kept her eyes closed as if nervous for his response.
For a moment, Chris lost all sense, couldn’t speak, couldn’t blink, too shocked at her request because he’d been so sure she was leaving him. When her words finally registered, his body relaxed enough to draw in a much-needed breath, and his heart swelled with emotion.
“You see,” she began, opening her eyes, “I had this plan.” She released a shaky breath and closed the remaining space between them.
Her hand went to his chest, and his muscles twitched at her soft touch.
“My plan was to avoid feeling anything more than friendship for you.” She looked up, and what he saw reflected in her eyes made his pulse quicken. There was no mistaking her desire.
Without hesitation, he placed his hands on her hips as she held him prisoner with her gaze.
“I did give a lot of thought to the advantages of us having carefree sex, though. But then I realized . . . if we were to have sex, no matter how casual, I might end up falling for you.”
Fuck. His body tensed once again. It coiled tight—his physical desire on the verge of eclipsing all rational thought. But maybe screw rational right now.
“The problem is my plan failed miserably. I already feel something for you. I didn’t even need to sleep with you for it to happen.
” Her lips rolled inward at her admission, and she drew them into a tight line, one he wanted to part with his tongue.
“But I don’t want to hurt you, Christopher Hunter,” she said, her voice soft.
“And I’m so scared you’ll get hurt because of me.
” Her eyes grew glossy as if she might cry.
“My past is . . . well, let’s just say being around me might be hazardous to your health. ”
“The nature of my work makes me dangerous to be around, too,” he reminded her of that bit of uncomfortable truth.
“There’s another kind of danger to consider. And the pain it inflicts can be as damaging as a physical injury. You’re well aware of what heartache can do to a person because of your mom,” she whispered, her glossy eyes captivating him. Her words and her tender heart had his knees almost buckling.
He slid his hands up her frame and gently gripped her upper arms. “Look at me,” he commanded when her focus took a detour to study her hand on his pec.
“You don’t need to worry about me. I can handle what life throws at me.
That’s who I am. But it took me less than a week to know I want this.
I want you.” He brought his thumb to her collarbone and swept small circles there.
“You’re worth it, Rosemary. You’re worth the risk, don’t you know that? ”
She sniffled and inched her face closer to his.
The instant his mouth took possession of hers, Rory threw her arms over his shoulders and urged him to deepen the kiss.
Their kiss the other night had sent him flying. This one had him every bit as light-headed. Whatever was going through him, making him feel like he was soaring, was more than desire.
At the sound of Bear whining, Chris pulled away and let him out of the room.
“You should lock the door.” Rory smiled. “I bet he can figure out how to open it.”
Chris raised a brow and twisted the lock. “You teach him to use a bobby pin to break in, too?”
“Not yet,” she added with a laugh as she began to unzip the side of her dress.
“You sure about this?” He set his hands to his hips, waiting for her to make the next move. This was not what he’d been expecting before his shower.
Rory nodded and let the dress fall. No hesitation.
The pool of red fabric surrounding her feet left her dressed in only heels and red lacy panties.
When she inhaled a deep breath, her gorgeous tits lifted, and he bit down on his lip to keep from biting down on her peaked nipples.
To take in everything about this moment, about her, before he reached out.
“No bra?” he asked, his voice hoarse with desire. “Were you planning on driving me crazy tonight?”
“Built-in bra in the dress, so I didn’t need one.” She stood before him, beautiful and confident, as he moved with slow, steady steps toward her.
“You’re amazing.” His eyes devoured her exposed flesh, planning out which path his tongue would take first, but then . . .
“What happened there? Appendix removed?” He closed the space and set a hand to the three-inch scar off to the side of her belly button, dragging his thumb over the slightly raised pinkish-white mark.
When she didn’t respond, he lifted his eyes and found hers sealed tight. “No, that’s a scar from before.”
“Before . . . as in the dangerous work you used to do?” he asked as she slowly turned, and he stumbled back in horrified shock.
More scars.
Much older. Significantly lighter. Faded with time. But he knew exactly what he was looking at.
Fuck.
“You were whipped?” He set a hand to his mouth, growing shocked. Dizzy. All the lust coursing through his body gone and replaced with an overwhelming desire to throttle the sick son of a bitch who did this to her.
“This is why my dress isn’t backless, why I wear a tee over my bikini top when I go for a swim, but, Chris, please, I don’t want these to cut into our moment.
” A gentle plea caressed her tone, and the painful sound in her voice coupled with the sight of her scars tipped him over the edge and made him want to commit murder—kill a guy, any fucking guy connected to what happened.