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I grin and wait for the sputtering and spitting to come. I’d never have the balls to say that in person, she’d slice me in two, but from this safe distance, I can’t help it.
“Have you lost your bloody mind?” she screeches, making me laugh loudly.
“You deserved it,” I remind her. “We’re safe, we’re fine, and that’s all you’re going to get out of me.”
“Stop hassling your brother,” I hear Kane say.
“Listen to your husband, the way a good wife should.”
“I’m going to slash all your tires when you get home.”
“Goody. See you.”
I hang up as Elena walks out of the glass doors, wearing nothing but a towel.
At least, I think it’s nothing but a towel.
“Turn around,” she instructs me.
“Hell, no.”
She tilts her head to the side and raises a brow. “Do it, Arch.”
I sigh and turn my back on her. “Fine.”
I hear something fall to the deck, the water sloshing, and then, “Okay. I’m in.”
I turn to see her submerged to her neck. She pinned her hair up, and she’s resting against the headrest.
“This is divine.”
My tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth. She shifts, exposing the tops of her breasts, and I feel my cock harden in response.
“You should join me. I won’t look while you strip down.”
I blink, giving it more thought than I ever figured I would. I want to jump right in and take her, right here and now. The image of us naked and slick, making love in that water is at the forefront of my mind.
But I didn’t plan to take it there tonight. I mean, I want to. But I won’t until she can be open and honest with me about all aspects of her life, not just her body.
“Archer.”
“Yeah?”
“Get in the water. Before I’m a prune.”
I don’t ask her to turn away. I strip out of my clothes and sink into the water. I sit across from her, keeping my gaze steady on hers.
“Who were you chatting on the phone with?” she asks. A droplet of water drips down the side of her neck and runs down her chest to the bubbling surface.
I can’t take my eyes off the wet path that droplet took.
I’ve never been jealous of water before in my life. I guess there’s a first time for everything.
“Arch?”
“Sorry?”
She grins. “Phone call?”
“Anastasia.”
All humor leaves her face as she stares at me from across the tub. “Are you kidding me?”
“She’s my sister.”
“Did she ask where you are?”
“Of course, she did.”
“Shit.”
“That doesn’t mean I told her. Elena, I have to have contact with my family. It’s my family.”
“How could I be so stupid?” she mutters.
“Whoa. Hold up. Neither of us is stupid. But you’re the one hiding, not me. If I don’t stay in contact with my siblings, they’ll put an all-points bulletin out on me, and all of the Pacific Northwest will be looking. I didn’t give her any information.”
“Someone can trace your cell phone. Why do you think I don’t have one?”
“I turned off the GPS on my phone. I did it the minute I left Washington. But if the mere thought of me talking to the people who love me the most pisses you off, we need to figure this out now. I’ll call in Caleb or Matt or someone to help. You can’t just hide here forever.”
“Stop it,” she says, shooting daggers at me with her eyes. “You don’t dictate how this goes, Archer. I’ve been doing this for a long time. You’re right, I can’t tell you not to speak with your sisters. That’s not fair. But I won’t sit here and be a sitting duck either.”
“I’m telling you, you’re safe.”
“And I’m telling you, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She stands in the dark and climbs out of the water, grabs the towel off the deck, and stomps inside. I hurry after her.
She slams the bathroom door shut and locks it before I can fling it open behind her.
“Open the door.” My voice is way calmer than I feel. “Elena, you have to know that I’d never put you at risk, and neither would my family. We’re not stupid, and we’re not careless.”
“You don’t get it,” she says when she steps out of the bathroom, clad in her dress once more.
“Then tell me.” I don’t let her rush away. I cage her in against the wall and tip her chin up so I can look in her eyes. “Talk to me, Elena.”
“It would be easier if we just had sex and went our separate ways.”
“I’m not sleeping with you.”
That catches her attention.
“Well, that’s a small blow to my ego, but I’ll get over it.” She moves to pull away from me, but I easily hold her in place.
“I’m not going to be intimate with you until you’re willing to fully open up to me. I told you that already. Not until it’s more than just this incredible chemistry between us. It’s true intimacy. You’re not just some girl I met at the gym, or the bar, or wherever. It’s you, damn it. I need to know what happened twelve years ago. I need to know what they did to you.”
