Kai spins with her and brushes his lips over mine. “That was sweet, Bear. I know you don’t believe it, but you can be really romantic when you try.”
I chuckle at that. “Says the man with a woman over his shoulder.”
Kai glances over his shoulder to Isla and smiles. “Don’t deflect. I’ll be back down to grab you in a minute whether you like it or not.”
But I start walking behind the two of them anyway, because I don’t want to miss a minute of what this is fast becoming.
Everything.
25
JACKAL
By the time we reach the bedroom and put Isla’s feet back on the floor, the lines in Garrett’s face say he’s bone tired in a way that comes from healing while trying to pretend you’re okay. Running across the street to get to Isla without any thought for himself is exactly the man I know and love.
I wouldn’t have expected anything else.
Same with the stubbornness that he couldn’t wait downstairs for me to help him, because help makes him feel weak. And it’s the first step to admitting that you need someone badly.
“Let’s get you undressed,” I say as he slams his hand against the doorframe and sucks in a breath.
“I got it,” he says, slowly toeing off his boots.
Isla steps in front of him. “With respect, you don’t got it.”
I can see him grapple with finding an answer. I say, “We can undress you together.”
“That sounds way hotter than it’s actually gonna be,” he grumbles.
Isla takes his hand and leads him closer to the bed. “What do you normally sleep in?” she asks.
“Nothing. But if that makes you uncomfortable, I can find something.”
She smiles shyly. “I think we’re past the point of that being an issue.”
He cups her chin and kisses her tenderly. “I think you’re right, Sunbeam.”
There’s something about watching the two of them that affirms what I already knew. That my Bear has an immense capacity for love, but like a mistreated pet, he’s been wounded almost every time he’s tried. And Isla brings out a different kind of tenderness in him.
It’s like a little kitten just got put in his big hands and he knows not to be too rough with it.
I step behind him and slide my hands beneath the shirt, stroking a chest I’ve touched a million times. He smells of the soap he put in the bath and the laundry detergent we use, and I press my nose against his neck.
“I missed having you with me today,” I say.
“I’m always on your right, even if you can’t see me,” he replies.
I press a kiss behind his ear and slide my hands beneath the waistband of the sweats. “No underwear. I like it.” My hand shifts until I’m cupping his cock. It’s heavy in my hand. Not soft, not yet fully hard.
Isla studies the buttons on the shirt like there’s gonna be a midterm on them later. I try to remind myself that this is new to her. I don’t want her to think she can’t look at the two of us when we’re intimate with each other.
But I’m reasonably certain that isn’t the reason she keeps her chin down.
“Hey, Sunshine,” I say. “You forget how to open buttons?”
Her eyes shift to mine. “I was just thinking how lucky I am that the two of you moved in across the street. If you hadn’t, we might never have…”
Garrett pulls Isla to his chest, and I gently wrap my arms around them both. Isla’s head is tucked against Garrett’s chest, my forehead on Garrett’s shoulder.
