26. Mya
26
The nightmare collapsed and folded in on itself, fading away into nothing when Oliver fell to the floor in pain. He needed me, and in that moment, that was all that mattered.
I held him on the floor, not saying a word, and when he tried to stand, I knew exactly what I needed to do.
Helping him to his feet, I took his hand and walked us into the bathroom, pleased to see what I’d hoped I’d find considering the luxurious bedroom. Maybe this home was once a bed-and-breakfast?
The en suite was quite the upgrade from the single minimalist bathroom at Sam’s cabin. And the soaking tub I was staring at was exactly what he needed to help soothe his aching muscles and calm his racing mind.
So, I went to work prepping it for him. Maybe for us?
Oliver leaned against the doorframe for support, watching my every movement, but didn’t tell me to stop.
No protests about running the bath water in the jacuzzi-style tub. Or about raiding the cabinet for bubble bath and pouring a bit too much into the water.
When I peeled off my shirt and tossed it, only then did he try and put on the brakes.
Filling the space with his broad shoulders, standing tall without help, he rushed out, “What are you doing?” Wide, concerned eyes slipped from my face to my bra, and I slowly unhooked it. “Fuck.” Another low hiss of sound from between his teeth, a borderline growl, was followed by one more long, drawn-out word—my name.
Grateful I’d left my sopping wet shoes and socks in the bedroom, I went for my jeans. Button undone and zipper down, I shoved at the wet fabric, thankful they were high-rise and not skinny jeans.
Dark eyes transfixed between my thighs as he quietly observed me.
“This isn’t like old times, Mya.” The raspiness of his voice as he wrestled with his control caressed my skin, heating my body, and I ignored what felt like an impending warning. “You can’t strip to end a fight.” Eyes locked with mine again, he stepped closer, almost within arm’s reach. Brows tightened, he asked, “We aren’t even fighting, are we?” He tipped his head, patiently waiting for me to answer him.
“Not fighting, no,” I finally replied. Releasing a steady breath, I lifted my hand between us to show him I wasn’t shaking. Not an ounce of panic in my body. My heart wasn’t thundering hard. My pulse wasn’t in my ears. I wasn’t nauseous or scared. “A bath. We need one. It will help.”
God, I was talking like a kid’s book from the fifties. See Jane run. See Spot sit. Maybe falling ten thousand feet had jarred me a bit, not to mention knocking my head against this man’s hard granite jaw.
With Oliver continuing to stare at me, I removed the last physical barrier. I slid down my panties, toeing them off to the side. Turning my back to him, remembering how much he loved the view, I bent over the tub to check on the water.
I’d probably overdone it on the jasmine-scented bubbles, but I didn’t care. The tub was big enough for the two of us to fit in comfortably, and the water was finally high enough to turn on the jets. “Your shoulder is hurting, and the jacuzzi will be good for you,” I explained, finally remembering how to string words together into a full sentence.
He didn’t speak or come up to me, so I had to play dirty. While reaching for the knob, I pretended to lose my balance.
He was at my six in a second.
Was that wrong? Probably.
Desperate times, though. Desperate measures.
He banded an arm around my waist, drawing me upright so I didn’t go headfirst into the tub. In my fake attempt to fall, I nearly had.
His hand was hot on my skin, burning a trail of heat down my body and around to my stomach. Those butterflies, well, I didn’t want to drown them in tequila. I wanted them to live. To thrive and fly.
“Mya.”
His chin resting on top of my head, he brought me back to times before, and I relaxed into him. My ass was snug against his crotch. I could feel his erection straining, and I knew he was probably internally kicking himself for getting turned on after the day we’d had, but I’d be even more worried if he didn’t with me naked in his arms.
His chest hitched and his breath shuddered as he tightened his hold ever so slightly. “This is beyond just touching. This is about twenty steps farther. Are you sure you want me naked in that bath with you?”
Peeking back at him over my shoulder, I met his eyes. “Absolutely sure.”
This was something we’d never done before. Shower? Sure. Never a bath, though. For whatever reason, it felt even more intimate despite the circumstances that brought us there.
“If at any point you change your mind, say the word.” He slowly spun me around, cupping my chin, unable to mask his worry. Lines bracketed his mouth before he pleaded, “Promise me.”
“I promise.” I almost pushed up on my toes to kiss him, but stopped myself, unsure where that kiss might lead.
Naked now. Kiss another time. That was backward, yes, but we never did anything by the book, why start now?
He freed my chin to try and undress. At the sight of him struggling, I set my hand on his chest and went to my knees.
I looked up at him as I unlaced his shoes, and he continued watching me as if that simple activity was the sexiest thing he’d seen in his life.
Once his shoes and socks were off, he lowered his jeans and I helped him step free from the wet denim.
Assisting me up, I halted at the sight of his hard length tenting his gray boxer briefs. Memories of taking him into my mouth catapulted to the forefront of my mind, erasing the horrific nightmare I’d been having while unconscious earlier.
“Mya.” His strangled tone was my cue to stop staring at his crotch as if beneath his boxer briefs was the Seventh Wonder of the World.
I mean . . . the man was packing, that was for sure. I’d felt his length and girth deep inside me before, knew what it was like to have him fill me, taking me to a safe, but passionate place.
I almost slipped my hands between my thighs to confirm what I already knew to be true—I was drenched, and not from the rain.
When was the last time that had happened? I’d been turned on in the morning watching him work out, but this was next-level.
“My shirt is going to be tough to get off with my shoulder acting up.”
I wasn’t sure if his words were in warning or a request for help, but I tackled the problem of getting his shirt off as carefully as possible, deciding to leave Tucker’s ID tags in place.
I dipped my chin, following Oliver’s eyes, finding them intensely focused on my nipples. More memories flipped through my mind. The times he’d trailed his mouth over my body. Licked and sucked. Caressed and stroked with his hand. His tongue.
I’d gone so long without wanting to be touched, and there I was, exploding with the need for that very thing.
“We shouldn’t be too long. Malcolm and his wife will come knocking, or Mason might call.” His mouth tightened. Talking about Mason while I was naked and he was only in his briefs seeming to sour his already fragile mood.
“I don’t even remember meeting Malcolm and his wife.” I was a horrible guest, standing in their bathroom without having yet said a thank-you for harboring us.
“You were out of it. We’ll do introductions later when my dad gets here. Preferably with clothes on.” The side of his lip hitched into a partial smile, and it was everything I needed in that moment.
“Not a bad idea.” I returned his smile, then gestured toward the tub with my head. “Let’s get in. I think we’ll both feel better from the hot water and jets.”
He helped me over the side, and I lowered myself into perfection. I’d mastered the art of ideal bath water temperature over the last few months, taking so many when I’d try and force myself to relax. And while I’d found the perfect medium, the relief never came. I was hoping this time would be different.
I rested my neck against the soft, built-in cushion, and waited for him to join me.
He went for the waistband of his briefs and slowly, a bit hesitantly, peeled them off. A groan of agony followed as he climbed in. Was his knee bad, too?
Hands on each side of the jacuzzi, he sank into the water opposite of me. Dropping his head to the other neck cushion, he stretched out his legs, bumping into me.
I started to draw my knees to my chest to give him space, but reversed that decision when he grumbled, “Stop, I’m fine.” The water splashed as he dropped his arm beneath the bubbly surface, securing a hand around my ankle. His thumb made small circles where he held me as he relaxed his neck back onto the cushion, allowing the jets to do their thing.
“Where does it hurt the most?” I created a little mountain with the bubbles in front of me, trying to distract my nerves.
“It was my shoulder and knee, but a different pain is distracting me.” He sat up a bit, shooting me the welcoming sight of a small smile. It was quick but genuine.
His hand climbed up a little more as he massaged my leg.
I searched beneath the water, wanting to do the same for him. I slid my knuckles up and down his shin, careful not to aggravate wherever else he may have been hurting.
“Can’t believe I jumped from a plane.”
“We didn’t have much of a choice. Just like that time in?—”
“Mexico. When you covered my mouth and forced me into a hole.” My scoff was more like a faint laugh, and it wasn’t a funny memory by any means, but that op had also been what started this whole “thing” between us, as in the fake hate-to-love.
“It was a cenote, not just some hole in the ground. Also, we were being shot at.”
I pursed my lips together, letting the sound, “Mmmhmm,” roll from them almost seductively.
After he cleared his throat while patting at the bubbles with his free hand as if trying to kill the moment, and I was pretty sure we were having one, he obliterated it all together with his redirect back to our problem at hand. “I’m worried about Steve’s mom and sister. I didn’t know him well, but I take it you did since he was at the safe house with you before you came here.”
Steve. The man had been given his own fucked-up Sophie’s Choice. How had they gotten to him, though? Teddy, Easton, and Steve weren’t with us that day in Thailand and Singapore. Their identities hadn’t been compromised. It made no sense. “Yeah, we talked here and there at the safe house.”
“Someone must’ve put two and two together and figured Steve was working with Falcon,” he said solemnly. “I’d have thought Steve would’ve hidden his family away with The Collective out there, even if his name wasn’t known by those assholes.”
“He added security for them, which is what we all did. My parents refused to move. Same with Sydney’s, Diana’s, Gray’s, and so on. Just a ton of extra protection since they were being stubborn.”
“Don’t. You’re about to start blaming yourself, and that’s the last thing we need. If they didn’t want to hide, then that was their choice.”
“I guess, but considering what we know now, I think it’s time we force our families into hiding.”
He nodded in agreement.
I let go of a sigh, not looking forward to that conversation with my father. “I just hope Steve’s family is okay. It’s hard to be mad at him for giving up our locations to save his mom and sister.”
After all, he didn’t go through with killing Easton and Teddy like they’d ordered him to. He didn’t take a life to save his mom and sister. I knew Oliver had to be thinking about that, too. Those thoughts would percolate, and I didn’t want him to slip back into that dark place, not when I felt like he was making progress after opening up to me at the lake.
“I’m sure Steve assumed you’d keep me safe, and he knew Wyatt would be nearby to help Gwen, despite giving up our locations.”
“He’s lucky you’re okay. Gwen, too,” he said tersely. “What was Wyatt doing there?”
“He wasn’t there-there. Close, though. Wyatt rented a house for his family near our place in Maine so he’d be close if Gwen needed him. He wanted to keep tabs on everyone. You know how he is. Overprotective.”
“He has a reason to be. She winds up getting herself into trouble as much as you do.”
I resisted an eye roll since he was technically right.
“Also, I thought Carter wanted to keep Easton in Dubai at Diana’s lab. Something happen there?”
“Easton relocated back Stateside about a month ago.” A lot had changed since Oliver took off. “Remember Bahar?”
“The Turkish scientist working with Diana. Yeah, of course.”
He was massaging the sole of my foot, which was resting on his thigh, and I had to hide a moan of pleasure when it almost escaped with my reply. “Well, Bahar and Easton dated for a few months. It didn’t work out, and Easton wasn’t comfortable being so close to her. I was rooting for them because I’d like to see them both happy, but Diana said the vibe wasn’t there. Too many differences for even an opposites-attract romance to work out.”
“A lot has changed since I’ve been gone, huh?” He’d read my mind, not a surprise.
“Yeah, I?—”
“Hey,” a deep, male voice called out, cutting me off. Fortunately, from the sound of it, he was in the hall, not the bedroom. “Just making sure you’re okay.”
“Yeah,” Oliver shouted back, his hand going still on my foot. “Just cleaning up. Everything good?”
“Your dad will be here in about an hour.”
“Okay, thanks. Be down then,” Oliver answered, then switched to my other foot.
He moved his shoulders side to side, probably using the pressure from the jets to try and search out relief from the pain. I hated he was hurting, most likely from having to deal with my dead weight post free fall.
“You weren’t in Canada alone,” I said a few seconds later, the thought settling in and taking over. “You’ve had people. Like them, right?” I lifted my chin in the direction of the bedroom. “I guess that makes me feel better, but also sad you didn’t choose to be with me, to let me help you.”
He set my foot off to the side of his body and sat taller, the bubbles clinging to his hard chest. Dragging both hands through his hair, he let go of a gruff breath and shared, “I had no plans to socialize while up here, but they didn’t give me a choice. Practically strapped my ass down to the chair at the dinner table. It took a long time for me to talk to them. To anyone.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood, and my hand went still on his leg.
“I didn’t choose them over you, Mya. They just . . . were here, and I . . .” His hands splashed into the water as if defeated, and I didn’t hesitate, making my way to him and climbing right onto his lap, straddling him the way I’d done by the lake. With his hard cock between us, I had to be careful I didn’t hurt him, and he didn’t accidentally slide inside me.
Meeting my eyes, he kept quiet as he shifted his chain around, the dog tags going to his back. He was probably worried the metal would dig into my skin. Always thinking about me, even in his own precarious state.
I linked my wrists behind his neck and hugged him, smashing my breasts against his chest. “Am I hurting your shoulder like this?”
“No, you’re perfect,” he whispered into my ear, then turned his face so his lips brushed my cheek.
I eased back so we were nearly nose to nose, staring into each other’s eyes, continuing to ignore our harsh reality and oppose its ugly grip.
And then I did it.
I made the first move.
I kissed him.