“Doin’ the horizontal tango with Dr. Sexy Pants?” She cackles and slaps her thigh. “Good for you, baby girl. You two were lookin’ a little…pent up when you came over for dinner last night.”
“God, Gladys. Please don’t repeat that toanyone.”
Despite my embarrassment, she wasn’t wrong. Doc and I only came back to the island yesterday, and we hadn’t risked anything more vigorous than kissing until last night, when being back in my—our—house left me so emotional, I scared him into thinking something was wrong. We made love for hours, and this morning, I woke up with him spooning me, his hard length half nestled between my ass cheeks.
We needed this. To behere. Where we first met.
We needed to rediscover each other. His ribs are still tender. So is my nose. I bought a tube of concealer before we left Seattle to cover the sickly blue and yellow bruises around my eyes. It…mostly works. Of course, my lack of experience in makeup doesn’t help. Inara gave me some tips this morning, and I think I look almost human today.
Gladys slides onto the back of the ATV and wraps her arms around my waist. At the top of the hill, Inara and Royce wait for us on the scooter they rented for the week. Her lips are swollen, and I swear Royce’s Hawaiian shirt was buttoned over his black tank top when I left them. Not anymore.
Despite Wren, Zephyr, and Ripper’s assurances that they haven’t found anyone else connected to Bastian or Sapier, West didn’t want us coming back here alone until Cam’s company—Emerald City Security—could install a top of the line system for us.
West, Cam, Inara, Royce, and Cam’s coworker, Lucas, are staying in the resort’s largest cabin for the week. It’s also the one closest to our house.
A team of installers showed up an hour ago, and they’re setting up cameras, panic buttons, and silent alarms. Nash built us new nightstands with a single-pistol gun safe in each of the bottom drawers, and we spent some time at the range before we left Seattle.
Ten minutes later, the four of us pull up to the Orcas cabin. Royce takes Gladys’s arm to help her up the steps, and I catch sight of the tag on Inara’s tank top. I touch her arm before she makes it through the front door. “Your shirt is on inside out.”
“Oh, fuck. I…uh…needed help putting on more sunscreen…”
It feels so good to laugh. Even better now that I consider Inara and Cam—along with Wren, Cara, Hope, Quinton, and Raelynn—almost…friends. “Moresunscreenis always a good idea.”
She quickly strips off the dark red tank to reveal a cute white bikini top, flips the shirt to rights, and tugs it back over her head. “West would have given me shit all day. The walls in this place need more soundproofing.”
“We can work on that over the winter.” I follow her through the cabin, and we find Doc on the beach just off the patio, stacking wood in the fire pit. It’s in the low eighties today, but after sundown, we’ll want the extra warmth. I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my cheek against his back.
“Take a break, babe. You’ve done too much today.”
He turns, and though I can see the strain in his eyes, we both slept easy last night. That hasn’t happened in a long time.
“I’m glad you’re back,” he whispers in my ear. Draping his arm around my shoulders, he keeps me close as we head for thedeck. “Iknowwe’re safe here, Natasha. And Inara was with you the whole time. But fucking hell. This is hard.”
I stop, sink my fingers into his hair, and pull his head lower so I can kiss him. “I know. I don’t like it either. But sooner or later, West is going to call you because someone’s hurt. And you’ll fly back to Seattle at two in the morning, leaving me here alone.“
He growls, the sound almost feral. “Or you’ll come with me.”
“At two in the morning? Hardly. You know I need my beauty sleep.”
Doc grabs my ass, and I slap my hand over my mouth to stifle my yelp. “You’re beautiful, Natasha. Perfect. And Mine.”
“Get a room, you two.” Cam eases herself down onto the cedar glider, her gaze pinned to the beach. And her husband striding out of the water wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks.
“Like you don’t want to jump West right now,” Inara teases as she hands Cam a glass of iced coffee and perches on the railing.
“He’s been out there since ten,” Cam says. “You’d think after so many years as a SEAL, he’d hate swimming.”
“Not when the water’s as perfect as it is up here.” West grabs a towel from the basket next to the stairs and drapes it around his shoulders. Cupping the back of Cam’s head, he brushes a kiss to her lips. “Swimming without sixty pounds of gear is pure heaven. You should come in with me, angel.”
“I’ll stick to the pool,” she says with a laugh. “Sand and I…don’t have a good track record.”
“I’ll carry you.” He sweeps her up in his arms, and her cane clatters to the deck.
“I don’t have my suit on! Put me down! Or a least…carry me to our room so I can get changed first!”
The two disappear inside the cabin. Royce comes out with a six-pack of lemonade and a bowl of chips. “We won’t see them for a while.”
Inara’s phone rings. Her brows shoot up, and she lifts it to her ear. “I have to admit, I didn’t expect you to actually come,” she says. “We’re outside on the deck. Drop your stuff and come join us.”
