Instead of an immediate answer, Brutus’ eyes floated closed, and he breathed in. He worked to calm himself, I determined.
When his eyes opened again, they were every bit as intense. “I knew you would look stunning in anything you put on for today. But I swear all eyes will be on you in this.” He frowned. “I might have to beat some guy’s ass for trying to get next to you.”
Rolling my eyes, I waved him off. “Don’t be ridiculous. Besides.” I pointed a finger at him. “You better not be the caveman, barbaric type that thinks any guy who looks my way needs to get put on his ass.”
His lips tightened, and he looked me over again. That same smoldering gleam appeared in his eyes. “I won’t touch anyone unless necessary,” he promised.
There was an edge in his voice that bordered on dangerous. At that moment, I was grateful for the padding in my halter top. Otherwise, I was sure the hardening of my nipples would’ve been glaringly obvious.
My stomach chose that moment to growl. I think that pulled Brutus out of his stupor. He blinked and stepped forward, taking my hand into his. Again, I held my breath as he lifted my hand to his lips. The kiss he gave it was so soft as he gazed into my eyes.
He moved forward and cupped the side of my face. “Let’s get you fed,” he stated before dipping his head. His lips devoured mine. Briefly, I lost interest in actual food or our plans for the rest of the day.
When his tongue traced my bottom lip, my knees weakened. I clutched onto his shirt to keep from falling.
He pulled back and laid his forehead against mine. “Yes,” he murmured against my lips.
I wanted to ask him what he was saying yes to, but I stopped short. Somehow, I knew it was yes to everything happening between us. Things I didn’t quite have the words for just yet.
“After you.” He stepped back and aside, letting me close and lock up my bungalow for the day.
I couldn’t wait for the activities that lay ahead.
* * *
“Oh gosh, that was amazing!”I screeched as Brutus helped me back onto the boat. Saltwater dripped from my body, and my hair felt like it weighed three pounds more than when I first awakened that morning due to my soaking braids, but I felt light as a feather.
We were in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, surrounded by other boats in the striking cerulean ocean. The first stop on our snorkeling adventure had been a spot to see the sea turtles.
“Did you see the turtle swim right up to me?” I asked Brutus with wide eyes. I bounced on my tiptoes. “He almost touched me.”
Smirking, he nodded. “Even the wildlife can’t stay away from you.”
I laughed. “I think I scared the poor guy. And there was another one, too. They said it probably came back from laying eggs not too long ago. Wow.” I gazed out toward the water. I felt Brutus come up behind me, his massive arms wrapping around my back.
I leaned back into his body. “Look!” I pointed at a shadow just beneath the water. “There’s another one.” Another giant sea turtle swam just below the surface.
“He’s probably one hundred and eighty years old,” our tour guide informed us from behind Brutus.
“Beautiful,” Brutus whispered in awe.
I peered up at him to find his eyes weren’t on the sea but on me. He leaned in and kissed my forehead.
“Next is the cenote,” he reminded me. At the same time, he pulled me to have a seat along the boat’s edge.
We spent another hour snorkeling among the colorful fish, taking in the coral reef and admiring the nature in the ocean before we moved on to a freshwater cenote. I kept squealing at all the natural wonder around me. And when I did, I always found Brutus by my side, taking it all in seemingly, but his eyes always appeared trained on me.
Part of me wanted to ask him if he had seen anything we came to see or if he was too busy staring at me the entire time. Honestly, I had to admit it felt good to have so much of his enamored attention. What woman wouldn’t want to be underneath the watchful eye of a man like him?
While Brutus and I spent hours talking on that first day we met, something told me that he wasn’t generally like that. He’d barely said more than a handful of words to the other snorkelers and people from other boat excursions. Even when our tours had coincided or met up with theirs.
He wasn’t unfriendly, though, but intimidating. More than once, I saw men give him a wide berth when walking in our direction. And the man had a mean eagle eye. While I always felt and spotted his gaze lingering on me, I could tell he was constantly aware of our surroundings.
“This is the rock you can jump from,” our boat captain, David, informed us as we pulled into a procession of boats along a path of rocks jutting out from the water. From where we were, I could see tour guides leading people from their boats along the rocks to the highest peak, which was about a ten foot drop down into the water below.
“Yay!” I cheered when two women from a boat up ahead took the plunge.
Brutus stared at me with wide eyes. “Are you crazy? You could be killed,” he said sternly.
