Mena knew it, and so did Julian. In a flash, they could have been separated forever, wondering what could have been if the suicide bomb had detonated. Sadness welled within Mena’s chest, but she pushed it away. She couldn’t let her thoughts take her down the grim path of the disaster that could have been. They had survived. They were together. There was nothing but the future ahead of them.
Turning slowly, Mena faced Julian. He lifted her arm toward him, his fingers caressing the rose gold charm bracelet on her wrist. The symbol of their love.
“I know I scared you tonight,” Julian said, his eyes expressing regret. “It’s hard for me not to help when I know I can. But I realize it’s not just my life on the line anymore. For the first time since Broman … somebody other than my mom gives a damn if I live or die.”
Mena swallowed hard, fighting back the tears. She hadn’t realized how alone Julian had felt after the attack on the SEAL team. He’d always been so strong and fearless, but he was also an island waiting for her to find his shores.
“It’s not fair of me to ask you to be anything other than the man I know you are. But I won’t lie. I don’t know if I can handle going through something like that again. Watching you risk your life for everyone else, knowing there was nothing I could do to save you,” Mena admitted.
“Just knowing that I had you to come home to was all I needed. There was no way I was dying on that rooftop and leaving you alone for some other man to comfort,” Julian said, kissing her wrist. A tingle of excitement flooded through her at his touch.
“Really? That’s what you’re worried about? Some other guy swooping in to take your place when I’m mourning you?” Mena said, a laugh escaping her lips.
Julian nodded, giving her the sexy smile that drove her wild.
“Well, you better stay alive so you won’t have to worry about that,” Mena teased, then pushed Julian down onto the mattress. Straddling him, she leaned down to kiss him fully on the mouth as he entered her once more. A jolt of ecstasy simmered through her body as round two began.
Hours later, Mena laid in the bed, her arms cradling Julian as he snored softly. They’d made love repeatedly through the night, devouring each other with an intense passion Mena had never felt before. She wanted to remember every moment of being with him—the heavy weight of his body resting against hers, the slight brush of his breath against her skin, the intoxicating brown eyes she could stare into forever. Everything she could have lost tonight.
Chapter Fifteen
“Come back to bed,” Julian said, reaching his arms toward her.
Steam billowed from the bathroom as Mena stepped out onto the cool tiled floor of the bedroom. She tucked the towel around her damp body tighter. “You know I have to go to work.”
Mena side-stepped away from Julian’s grasp. One more caress, one more touch, and she knew he’d convince her to stay home. As tempted as she was, Mena was ready to get back to her normal life. She was still working on the complex restoration of the ivory bracelet, and she didn’t want to lose momentum. “Wangari said the police have completed their investigation and the museum is open to the public again. She wants the staff to come in today.”
“What if the reporters are still down there? They know we’re together. I think you should wait a few days to make sure they don’t harass you,” Julian said.
A dozen or so reporters had staked out their condo building over the weekend, forced to stand across the street by the security guards as they hoped for a chance to catch Julian leaving. The attempted suicide bombing and the American ex-Navy SEAL who’d saved more than a hundred guests had dominated the news.
“Already checked with Fred downstairs. It’s all clear,” Mena said. The news coverage of the attempted bombing had died down to a trickle by Sunday. The police had yet to determine who was behind the attack.
“Sounds like you’re eager to get out of here. I thought you liked being locked up with me,” Julian said, pouting.
“I loved it, you know that,” Mena said, trying to ignore his emotional blackmail.
Avoiding the paparazzi outside their condo, she and Julian had ordered grocery delivery and stayed happily holed up away from the world for the weekend. They’d binge-watched movies, cooked up favorites from back home, and spent hours making love. A perfect weekend after what they’d gone through Friday night.
What Mena had loved most was Julian opening up more to her about his past. His early days in the Navy, training for the SEALs, and his first few missions. She’d watched him come alive as he told her about the hijinks he and Broman had gotten into over the years. She was surprised they hadn’t been booted from their boat crew.
Mena couldn’t help but notice the absence of Sunny Tate from his stories, and she’d resisted the urge to bring up the dark beauty. Hadn’t Julian proven to her over and over again that she was the only woman who mattered to him? She knew there had been women in his past just as she had men in her past, but none of that mattered anymore now that they’d found each other.
“What am I supposed to do without you here?” Julian asked, propping himself up on his elbows.
The covers shifted off his naked body, revealing smooth tanned skin, perfectly sculpted muscles of his chest and washboard abs. The dark blue sheets, draped low across his waist, barely covered the part of him she adored most.
Mena didn’t respond, but she hoped Julian wasn’t planning to go back to work with the TIDES team. She knew he could handle himself in any situation, but she didn’t want him working private security.
“Try relaxing. Do something fun that you love to do,” Mena suggested.
“Fucking you is fun. I love to do that,” Julian said. The crinkle in his forehead was irresistibly sexy. Mena had to resist the urge to touch him, or she would never make it out of the apartment.
“Try something that doesn’t involve me, since I will be at work,” Mena said, shaking her head at him. He was incorrigible.
Julian laughed, leaning back onto the pillows of the bed. Mena saw a hint of his penis, stirring with desire. His eyes were smoldering, burning her skin with passion from a distance. She had to resist.
“You need a cold shower,” Mena teased.
