Chapter Sixteen #2
Remi opened her mouth, ready to brush it off. But before she could speak, Brody moved. His fingers brushed her arm first, the lightest touch. Then his hand slid to her waist, pulling her in.
She landed against him, her breasts against his chest, and she drew in his warmth.
His scent. They’d both taken quick showers shortly after returning to the ranch.
A necessity since they’d had dirt and grime on them from where they’d landed on the ground while taking cover.
Not exactly ideal when holding the babies.
The scent of his soap was still on him, but it was what stirred beneath that caused the heat to swirl through her.
That heat did a whole lot more than just swirl when Brody lowered his head and did something that surprised her.
He kissed her.
This wasn’t like the kiss at the police station, born of exhaustion, adrenaline and desperation. This was slower. Deeper.
The heat raced through Remi’s body, making her breath hitch. Making everything inside her burn for him. She didn’t hold back. Didn’t want to. In fact, she wanted more.
Her hands slid over his chest, feeling the steady thrum of his heartbeat under her fingertips. Brody tilted his head, angling the kiss just enough to pull her under, to make the rest of the world fade away.
For a moment, there was no past. No regrets. No missing pieces of this twisted nightmare. Just the feel of his mouth on hers. The solid strength of his arms wrapped around her. Then, slowly, he pulled back, his forehead brushing against hers.
His breath was as unsteady as hers. “I just wanted to do that when we weren’t waiting in a police station.”
A shaky laugh escaped her. “I noticed.”
Brody’s grip on her waist lingered a moment before he finally let go. His expression, though, was still a mix of emotions. Desire and something else.
“I don’t know what the kiss means,” he admitted, his voice cutting through the silence that had settled between them.
Remi searched his face. “It can just be a kiss,” she offered, giving him an easy way out.
But she could see the war raging inside him, the fight between what he wanted and what he thought he should feel.
“There’s guilt,” he admitted, his gaze flickering to the crib. “That’s not going away. But the babies help. You help.” He swallowed hard. “No matter what happens, just know that I am so very grateful for everything you’ve done.”
The words warmed her. But they chilled her, too. Because they sounded like some kind of goodbye.
It didn’t help when Brody let go of her and moved back. Remi immediately felt the loss of his body against hers.
“Take the cot,” Brody said, clearly shifting gears. “You should get some rest in case they wake up together. I don’t think I can feed both of them at once.” He frowned. “Heck, I’m not even sure I can feed one of them.”
Remi smiled, gave his arm a reassuring pat. “We’ll figure it out.”
And hoped that was true. She wasn’t exactly an expert in taking care of babies. She went to the crib and stood there a couple of long moments, watching their peaceful faces, their tiny chests rising and falling with each breath. Safe. For now.
Sighing, then yawning, she went to the cot and dropped down on it. The exhaustion was hitting her fast and hard. She had been certain she wouldn’t be able to sleep, not with everything still churning in her head.
But she was wrong.
The dreamy haze of that kiss was still with her, warmth curling through her, making it easier to let go.
Brody stood at the crib, watching his sons sleep. There was enough illumination from the night-light for him to see their tiny faces and the way they had snuggled closer to each other.
They looked so peaceful.
That caused the relief to settle deep in his chest, but it wasn’t enough to quiet the storm still churning inside him.
Throughout the night, the boys had woken up about every two hours, which meant he and Remi had too.
Despite their shared lack of experience tending to infants, they’d found the rhythm necessary to change and feed the babies, do the uptime and burping the doctor had mentioned, and then put them back in the crib to sleep before the cycle started all over again.
In between the feeding, changing and such, Brody had woken up for what felt like the hundredth time, instinct pulling him toward the crib to check on them. They were safe. They were his. That truth was still sinking in, leaving him raw in ways he wasn’t prepared for.
And then there was Remi.
Another unexpected complication that he hadn’t seen coming.
That kiss had changed everything between them.
At least, it had changed him, and Brody wasn’t sure that was a change for the better.
Part of him wanted to hold on to the past. But his sons weren’t in the past. What Remi had done to save them and help take care of them wasn’t the past either.
That was all in the now. In the present. Maybe in the future, too.
Yeah, he definitely hadn’t seen that coming.
Brody had been so sure Remi was asleep, but the shift of movement behind him indicated otherwise.
He glanced back as she stirred on the cot, stretching before pushing herself up on her elbows.
Her gaze found him, and she smiled sleepily before getting up and moving toward him, her bare feet silent on the floor.
She stopped beside him, looking down at the babies. “They’re beautiful,” she murmured, her voice hushed in the quiet.
Brody swallowed hard. He felt a hell of a lot right now. Love for his boys, bone-deep exhaustion, relief that they were safe. But mixed in with all of that was the heat still lingering from his second kiss with Remi.
He hadn’t let himself think too much about it.
Now standing in the dark with Remi so close, it was all he could think about.
Brody didn’t think. He just moved. Reaching out, he caught Remi’s wrist, tugging her toward him. She didn’t resist. Didn’t hesitate. And the second she was close enough, he lowered his head and kissed her.
Remi melted against him, her body pressing into his, warm and familiar in ways he hadn’t let himself think about in years.
His arm slid around her, pulling her in tighter as he deepened the kiss. Her fingers curled into his shirt, gripping, anchoring, as if she needed this as much as he did.
She made a soft sound of pleasure, and hell, it did something to him, sent a wildfire through his body that he couldn’t control. Didn’t want to control. He just kept kissing her, kept notching up the heat and need. Until Brody knew this wasn’t going to stop.
He should pull away. Should think about what this meant, about the past, the weight of it all. But he didn’t. Instead, he tightened his grip, giving in to the need, to the pull of her, and let himself feel.
Brody’s hand slid between them, brushing over the soft curve of her breast. Even through the fabric of her shirt, he felt the tight peak of her nipple. He traced the hardened tip with his thumb before catching it between his fingers, rolling gently.
Remi sucked in a hard breath, her body arching slightly against him. That soft, breathy moan slipped past her lips, a plea for more.
Brody gave her more.