“Way ahead of you,” Nick replied.
He moved efficiently to set the table, admired the flowers in the vase still set in the middle of the table and then heard a sharp inhalation of pain from Axel as he bent over to scratch Daisy’s belly.His heart jumped at the sound.Axel never complained unless something was really wrong.Had Axel hurt himself while on the roof today, or was it just sore muscles?
“What’s wrong?”Nick asked, sensing something was off.
“Jenna’s in the shower,” Axel replied, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he glanced over at Nick.
Instantly visions of a naked Jenna flooded his mind.
“Really.Did you play Peeping Tom?”His voice was low, teasing but edged with curiosity.
Axel grinned.
“No, but maybe you should,” he teased back, a playful challenge in his tone.
Nick swore softly, glancing away as a blush of heat crept up his neck.Axel always knew exactly where to poke to get a reaction.
“Um, no.I am not invading her privacy like that, Axel.Besides, she’s not my woman.She’s your woman.”
“She doesn’t belong to me, Nick.She’s her own woman.You saw her today.She has her own feelings, her own mind, and if I’m reading her right, and I believe I am, she’s interested.In both of us.”His words hung in the air.
No way.Was Axel toying with him?
His pulse kicked hard, a dizzying mix of hope and disbelief flooding him.
Nick shifted his weight as his shaft tightened and his pulse quickened.
“Aren’t you jealous of another man looking at her?”Nick asked, his words tinged with both teasing and genuine curiosity, searching Axel’s face for a reaction.
“Was I jealous when we were fantasizing about her in prison?Why would I be jealous now?”he replied, a sly smile curving his lips.
Was he detecting an underlying note of longing to share his woman?
Nick couldn’t tell, and that uncertainty sent a fresh jolt of heat through him.Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut and not go any further with this?Or maybe he should…
“Because she’s a beautiful woman and, with all the stories you've told me about her over the years, I feel like I know her pretty well,” Nick confessed before he could stop it.It felt raw, honest, and terrifying.
He noted Axel’s head snap up, and the heat in his gaze shot straight into Nick.He’d expected to see anger or jealousy, but instead, he found something else entirely.
He saw desire.It was undeniable and raw.
Shit.
“Do you think I haven’t noticed that you’ve been watching her like a sex-starved puppy?”he said, his tone teasing but edged with truth as he continued rubbing Daisy’s belly.
“Puppy is an understatement,” Nick muttered, grinding out the words with a mixture of embarrassment and humour.
“Okay, I stand corrected.You dog,” he replied, shaking his head, the camaraderie between them easy and familiar.
Axel’s voice dropped as he continued.
“And you’d better show me your dog side tonight, because I am going to need you, big time.”
Nick chuckled.Excitement twisted in his gut, the anticipation coiling low as he headed for the utensil drawer.He heard Axel inhale sharply again as he straightened himself.Nick’s gaze immediately flew to the juncture of Axel’s thighs and found his pants tented with arousal.
He grinned with amusement.
“I am at your command, sir.How about I take you into my mouth right here and now?I can give you a quickie before Jenna arrives,” Nick said, his voice low and mischievous.
