Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
She couldn’t seem to stop shivering. But the shivers weren’t from the cold of the spring. She didn’t feel cold at all, even though droplets of water still clung to her skin.
The shivers came from something else. Anticipation. Need. A heady desire that she’d never experienced, not until him. Ronan carried her up the stairs like her weight didn’t matter. His hold and his steps never wavered. He was warm and strong and the sexiest man she’d ever met in her life.
She’d never thought that she’d get swept away by need. Never thought that someone would want her so much. That she would want someone this same way.
Back in high school, the boys had all known about her past. They’d all grown up together, and everyone had always treated her as if she was far too fragile. That she’d break if anyone touched her too hard. Then later, when she’d tried to date a few men after college, nothing had ever clicked. By that point, she’d been the uncertain one.
Ronan carried her into the bedroom.
She didn’t feel uncertain with him. Luna felt like she just might go mad if she didn’t have him in her.
But he didn’t take her to the bed. That knowledge dawned on her a bit slowly. She blinked and her head turned. “Ronan?”
“You’re cold.” Gruff.
No, no, she wasn’t cold. Turned on. About to splinter apart with desire, yes. But cold was the last thing she felt.
He took her into the bathroom. Eased her to her feet and let her go. Instantly, she missed his touch and wanted him back, but Ronan just turned on the water so it pounded down from the shower. As the water flowed and steam began to drift in the small room, his eyes raked over her. Every single inch.
“You should…” He swallowed. “Get warm.”
Her hand reached for him. “Come with me.” Another thing on her list that she’d never done. Shower with someone else. In the movies, it always looked sexy. Hot. In reality, she’d always thought it would be cramped and awkward.
“Like I have to be asked twice.”
Just like that, they were in the shower. It was cramped because it was a super small shower, but it wasn’t awkward. As the warm water poured over her skin, he pinned her against the tiled wall and his mouth took hers. Heavy, drugging kisses. His muscular thigh slid between her legs. Lifted her up. He put pressure right at her core as she rode along his thigh and kissed him, and his fingers cupped her breasts and teased her nipples and had her moaning into his mouth.
Not awkward. Not at all. Just hot. Sexy. Like in the movies.
Like it wasn’t even her real life because surely that wasn’t her sliding her hand down and pumping his thick dick. Surely that wasn’t her tipping back her head and moaning as he kissed a path down her throat. As he licked and sucked her skin, and she felt the slightly rough bite of his teeth against her.
She’d always been shy. Holding back with lovers. But she was rubbing her body against his, riding his thigh, wishing that his cock was inside her as the water poured over them. “Ronan, I want you. ” Right then. Right there. As desperately as she’d wanted him the night before. Being with him hadn’t lessened her desire. It had just made her want him more.
She knew how good it would be.
She wanted that insane pleasure again.
“You’ll have me.” His head lifted. Droplets of water slid through his hair and down the strong planes of his face. “And you’ll come for me, won’t you? Over and over.”
Beautiful, fabulous plan.
“Right now,” she urged. Demanded. Luna pumped him faster. “Now, Ronan.”
But he shook his head. Ronan reached out to turn off the shower. When the water stopped, she jerked.
“Condom. Don’t have them in here.” Each word was a rumble. He pulled away from her and stepped from the shower. He turned back with a towel. Curled it around her and pulled her out.
He takes care of me. Again and again. He’s not the villain I thought. Not even close.
Then they were back in the bedroom. He snagged a condom and had it on in moments, and they were in bed. Kissing. Tangled. She started to slide onto her back, but he stopped her. He was the one to sprawl on his back, and he tugged her onto him, making Luna straddle him. Her hands flew to press against his chest as she held her balance.
“Take me in fast or take me in slow, princess. You control it.”
Her eyes widened. She glanced down at their bodies. Lifted her hips. One of her hands moved to guide his cock into her. She watched as, slowly, he sank inside of her. Inch by inch. Watching him go inside and feeling him fill her was so intense that Luna trembled around him. Her lips parted as she gasped out his name. Her inner muscles clamped around him, and she held herself perfectly still as he filled her completely. “That feels…amazing.” No pain. Just pleasure waiting to spill through her.
His hands tightened around her hips. “Heaven and hell.”
Her gaze whipped to his face and collided with his intense stare. His expression had turned almost brutal with lust. But she wasn’t afraid. Didn’t think she could be afraid of him. Still holding his gaze, she lifted her hips up. Pushed high, then sank back down to take all of him again.
She moaned.
He growled.
She did it again. And again. The bed squeaked. Rattled. The desire within her tightened even as she tensed.
His fingers slid from her hip to her clit. When she lifted up, his fingers raked over her clit. Fast. Hard. Just what she needed.
Up and down, she went. His fingers raked and strummed and there was no stopping the explosion that rocked through her body as she came for him. She cried out and slumped forward, and his hips kept thrusting against her. The pleasure wouldn’t end. It seemed to ricochet through her, and she knew he had to feel the fierce contractions of her inner muscles around him.
“My turn.” He tumbled her back. His hips pistoned fast and hard. She stared right at him when the release swept over Ronan. One moment, his face was nearly feral with need…then with pleasure.
I did that. I made him feel that way.
His lips took hers. A kiss as savage as his need and then, against her mouth, he rasped, “Mine.”
“I always wanted to do that.”
They were in bed. They shouldn’t be. They had to hit the road. A new pretense waited for them.
So why in the hell am I lingering? Ronan turned his head and found Luna smiling at him. Her sweet, innocent smile.
Yeah, she’s always gonna look that way. No matter how many times I fuck her, she keeps that innocence. “Do what? Be on top? Figured that was pretty standard fare.”
A rosy blush came and went on her cheeks. “Nothing is standard fare for me. Lots of firsts are coming, thanks to you.”
What?
“But I was talking about swimming in the spring. And seeing the manatees. I made up this list a while back. Not a bucket list because I don’t want to say I’m dying.”
She almost died when she was just a kid. Then she almost died with me at that damn cabin. He realized he’d clenched his jaw. With an effort, Ronan relaxed it.
“An adventure list. That’s what I saw them called online. I made a list of all the things I wanted to do but never could.”
He knew he should tread carefully. He also knew he was more of a bulldozer than a person who ever treaded carefully, so Ronan just demanded, “Why couldn’t you do them?”
Her smile dimmed. “I was sick as a kid.”
Understatement, princess.
“Then my mom got sick when I was older. She’d taken care of me, so it was my turn to take care of her.”
His brow furrowed.
“She was a great mom.” A nod against the pillow. “Sometimes, people leave when things get rough. She never left. So I wasn’t going to leave, either.”
Your prick father deserves an ass kicking.
“When she passed, I felt like I got…stuck. I don’t even know if that’s the right word to describe things. I didn’t take chances. Didn’t go after what I used to want. I read that there’s a big difference between existing and living, and I feel like I was just going through the motions. Existing. I made the list because I wanted to live.”
They needed to go.
He refused to move. “What did you want to do?”
That smile came again even as she pulled the sheets around her body and snuggled a bit closer. Like they were a normal couple and not one say, on the run for their lives. “You want to know what I put on my adventure list?”
He wanted to know every secret that she possessed. “Yes.”
“Swimming with manatees. Eating beignets in Café du Monde while jazz music filled the air.”
Well, that explained the late-night snack he’d observed.
“Starting my own business. I’d actually just done that, but, well, it didn’t work so well, did it? Just a side hustle that I thought would bring in extra cash so I could take some of the trips I’d started to hope for—a job that might make some people happy at the same time. Only it pretty much cost me my life.”
“So you really did have a singing telegram business.” His head angled toward her.
One brow lifted in query.
Shit. Had she mentioned it to him before or had he just read that bit in Gray’s file? “Uh, Gray might have told me.” That should cover his ass. “Haven’t heard about one of those in a while.”
She inched even closer. “I can sing,” she admitted a bit shyly. “And act. Those were my escapes when I was growing up. Mom didn’t want me playing sports. Nothing physical that might get me hurt. She always thought I was too fragile. Everyone thought that.”
Hadn’t he thought the same thing when he first saw her? That she seemed fragile. Breakable. Only, she wasn’t.
“The stage was safe. And it let me escape. I could stop being the weak girl. I could be a fighter or a fairytale heroine or a doomed Shakespearean character who loved the wrong man.” Her lips curled down, then up again. “I could be anyone else. I could escape and I could be happy, and I could forget the rest of the world when I went up on the stage.”
“Is that why you became a drama teacher?”
“I was going to New York.” Soft. Wistful. “But my mom got sick. She needed me.” He heard zero regret in her voice as she told him, “I love being a drama teacher. I get to help my kids escape and shine and…” A little sigh. “They probably have no idea what happened to me.” Now there was regret. “I told my principal I had an emergency, and I ran out of town. I hate to leave the kids. I hope they aren’t worried.”
He didn’t know what to do with her. But he didn’t like the sadness that had just entered her voice. Distract her. “What else is on the list?”
“What?”
“The adventure list. What else is on there?”
Her lashes fluttered. “I want to sing in a club. Always wanted to do that. One of those bluesy places. I want to dance in the moonlight. I want to wake up and see the sun rise over the ocean. I want—” But she stopped. “This talk is all about me. Hardly seems fair. What do you want, Ronan?”
He didn’t speak.
“I’m sure you’ve had plenty of adventures. Something tells me that you’ve been all over the world, haven’t you? Seen all kinds of glamorous things?”
He’d been all over the world. He’d seen battlefields. Seen cafés turned into hollowed-out shells as fire raged and explosions rocked the world. He’d seen death. He’d seen crime. He’d seen friends die. Seen friends betray him. “Yeah, I’ve seen all the glamorous shit.” His hand rose, and he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. His palm lingered against her cheek. “Anything else exciting on this adventure list of yours?”
“Don’t even get me going on the sexual things.”
Uh, yeah, he’d like to get her going on the sexual things. One hundred percent.
Her head turned, and her lips skimmed against his palm. “I’m already making serious headway there, thanks to you.”
He should not ask, but he knew he would anyway. “What kind of headway?”
“Never had someone go down on me, until you.” Another skim of her lips against his palm. “Never went down on anyone, until you.”
And his dick was making a tent out of the sheets. Surprise, surprise.
Actually, what was a surprise? The territorial high he got from knowing he’d been her first. I don’t want any other bastards ever feeling those lush lips on their dicks. The urge to murder was quite strong at the very thought.
“Never showered with a man, until you. It was a whole lot less awkward and way more sexy than I thought it would be.” A pause. “Never spent the night just sleeping in someone’s arms, until you. See, I’ve had lots of firsts with you. You know what? At this point, I’m pretty much thinking you are my adventure list.”
Damn if that wasn’t the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him.
“I get that you’ve, ah, done the glamorous shit.” Her smile came and went again, lighting her eyes. “But is there anything that I’ve been the first one for you?’
Too many things. “Never spent the night just sleeping with someone else in my arms.” Not exactly his style. He never stayed with lovers. Couldn’t, not with his job and his cover. “Until you.”
Her eyes widened.
“Never wanted to fuck someone until we couldn’t move. Until you.” It was all he could do not to fuck her again right then. “Never went swimming in a spring with sea cows, until you.”
A sweet peal of laughter came from her. Absolutely musical. “I am proud to be your first.” She leaned forward to kiss him.
But a phone was ringing. The new phone he’d been given by Gray. It was on the nightstand. He should answer it. He would. Dammit. “Reality is calling.” Gruff. As much as he’d like to ignore reality, he couldn’t. He pulled away. Climbed from the bed. Reached for the phone. He whipped it up to his ear. “Gray. We’re about to leave now for?—”
“Change of plans,” Gray said, voice crisp. “We need to talk. Make sure the target can’t hear this conversation.”
She was in his bed. Naked. Calling her the target felt wrong as hell. Ronan glanced over at Luna. “You should get ready to leave.”
She nodded.
He kept the phone to his ear and headed out of the bedroom. The stairs barely creaked beneath his steps. “She can’t hear me.” Flat. “What’s the change?” He reached the landing.
“We’re going to let Marcus Aeros take her.”
His steps halted. “What. The. Fuck?” Then, right after that thought…
Over my dead body. No, even better. Over Marcus’s.