“No fair,” I whisper when I come up for air. “You have some catching up to do.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. You’re allowed to look too.” He peels off his shirt, and up close, the candlelight flickering across his scars, over the well-defined muscles, the broad expanse of tanned skin… I want to touch him. All over.
“Pants too.”
“Oh, we’ll get there.” Even in the dim light, I can see the storm in his eyes. And the bulge in his pants. “But this isn’t going to be a quickie, sweetheart. We’re going to talk first. About…everything. Because once we do this, once we take this step, I don’t want any regrets between us.”
“See?” I say quietly. “Too good to be true.”
Austin
She’s so fucking beautiful I can’t tear my gaze away. Perfect skin, a body I’m aching to touch, and the look on her face…it’s like she’s waiting for me to unwrap her like a Christmas present. Molding my hands to her waist, I take things slow, skimming my palms up her sides.
Mikayla shivers when I cup her breasts, and fuck. Her nipples harden into tight nubs, and as I drag my thumbs over them, a little moan escapes her parted lips. Dipping my head, I kiss her as I pinch, lightly at first, then harder.
“Austin,” she whimpers. “I need more.”
“And you’ll have it.” Releasing her, I snag her panties and ease them off her hips, then turn her around and urge her towards the steaming water. “But sweetheart, you have a terrible poker face. I can see how much pain you’re in. I found some Epsom salts and added them to the water. We’re going to soak first.”
Mik sighs, but she sinks into the water, then sighs, the first truly contented sound I’ve heard from her since we landed. But she stares up at me, the bubbles hiding her body from view, and her expression…she’s so open and honest in everything she does. And right now, her gaze tells me exactly what she wants.
I can’t get my boots and socks off fast enough, and when I shed my pants, Mikayla’s lips part, and she breathes a little“oh”sound. I’m hard as a fucking steel rod, and a part of me thrills at the unabashed desire in her eyes.
Desire that only increases when I drop my boxer briefs. The caveman side of me wants to stand here, let her get her fill, but behind all that need, all that lust in her gaze, there’s also fear. Fear that mirrors my own. Fear that we won’t be able to find common ground. Fear that my past will come between us, despite her assurances she doesn’t care.
The hot water does more than hide my obvious arousal. Scented with lavender and lilac, it envelopes both of us in warmth, and I motion for Mik to relax against me. “Can I hold you?”
“You don’t have to ask,” she replies as she turns around and lets me wrap my arms around her waist. My dick nestles between her ass cheeks, and she shudders. “I…I like this.”
“So do I.” Nibbling on her ear, I relish in her little mewl. “But you’ve asked me more times than I’d like to tell you what happened between Gil and me.”
“More times than you’dlike?” she asks, tossing a challenging gaze over her shoulder.
“Yes. Because I should have told you the very first time you asked.” I nuzzle her neck, my eyes closed, enjoying the feel of her as she relaxes against me once more. “I didn’t mean to keep things from you, Mik. But this isn’t a good story. I don’t want to tell it. In fact, I’venevertold it. To anyone.”
She snuggles closer and covers my hands with hers. “So tell it to me.”
“Gil was Dani’s brother.”Even saying his name makes my shoulders tense. “My parents adopted them when Gil was fourteen and Dani was barely nine. And for a while, we were a family.”
“For a while?” Mik’s voice is soft and tinged with exhaustion, and a part of me hopes she’ll decide she wants to soak until the water cools, then go to sleep. As much as I need her, as I need to bury myself inside her, I don’t know how to let her in.
“Yeah. Gil…changed. So much. But none of us realized it. He and Trevor joined the CIA, and I lost touch with Gil for a while. Trevor did too—the CIA is famous for separating friends, colleagues who get too close. Helps prevent…issues.”
“Issues?” she asks.
“Like sending Trevor toretrievehis best friend. Tocontainhim and bring him to a black site where he’d disappear forever.”
“Oh my God.”
“This is my world, Mik.Wasmy world. It’s exciting and dangerous and great and terrible all at the same time.”
“A world in which best friends have to kill one another? A world where brotherstorturebrothers?” she asks.
“Yes.” I reach for Mik’s shower gel and drizzle a little over my hands before I start massaging her shoulders. “That’s one of the reasons I left.”
“Just one?” She moans as I find a particularly hard knot and go to work on it. “Oh, I could get used to this.”
So could I. Used to having Mikayla in my arms. Used to being wrapped around her, naked. Used to having her trust me implicitly.
