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“Can we order Chinese?” Sasha whined once we hit the mainland and tied our boats to shore. “I’m not in the mood to cook anything.”
“Only if you want to drive five hours into town and pick it up,” Lavena called over her shoulder as she made her way back to the house.
Grumbling, Sasha followed her.
Kas and I exchanged glances, both of us sharing a tired grin.
“Honey, we’re home!” Lavena bellowed from the backdoor.
It wasn’t that I’d forgotten that Darius was there somewhere in that massive structure haunting its silent corners. He’d been a flame in the recess of my mind the entire day, flickering every time my thoughts strayed to anything that wasn’t him, perpetually reminding me he was a small lake away.
But I was still getting used to the fact that he was there, a free-ish man. I wasn’t used to him stalking into the kitchen, a looming silhouette of hot, sweaty skin and tousled hair. He moved like a dancer, precise and intentional. Every motion hummed with its own heartbeat I felt slam into my chest. His bare torso glistened in the pale light radiating from the windows, reminding me just how much I enjoyed the feel of all that skin, sweat, and muscles rubbing against me.
“You’re back,” he remarked, swiping the forearm of his left arm across his brow. “Have fun?”
The question was asked of the room at large, but I didn’t miss the extra lingering glance he offered me before sliding to where his sister was dropping her beach stuff on the kitchen table.
“You could have come,” she said instead.
Darius shook his head. “I didn’t want to get in the way of your girl time.”
“So, you decided to take a swim in your own sweat instead?” Lavena countered, eyeing the tall, dark, delicious state of him.
“I was in the workout room,” he muttered.
Lavena wrinkled her nose as she brushed past him, leaving her mess on the table behind her. “Well, I hope you’re planningon taking a shower. You stink. Also,” she called loudly over her shoulder, “you better help with dinner tonight, you freeloader.”
Darius rolled his eyes but said nothing as his sister disappeared from sight down the hall. Sasha and Kas followed, taking their stuff with them; we were all too used to Lavena’s routine when it came to messes. She’d do what she needed to do and return to gather up her things once she was ready to. We just learned to leave them for her to deal with later.
“Can I borrow your hairdryer?” Sasha was saying as the pair headed towards the front of the house. “I forgot mine.”
I didn’t hear Kas’s response.
Darius had caught my wrist as I went to follow them. His warm fingers closed around the delicate bones and drew me to him.
“You okay?” he asked quietly.
I hadn’t forgotten my last words to him before I’d left, nor had he it seemed, but I still had no answers. Between the longing in my chest and the terror in my head, I didn’t know what to listen to. On the one hand, I was still disparately in love with the man. On the other hand, I wanted him to live even if that meant living without me. It was all a matter of just how much I was willing to let go.
“Yes,” I whispered at last. “Are you?”
He gave the tiniest bob of his head. “I want us to talk.”
It was my turn to nod. “Can we do it later? I want to take a shower.” I caught his hand when he started to release me. “Come with me?”
His focus sharpened on my face, hard and watchful. “Are you inviting me to shower with you, kitten?”
I realized I must have been sending him a lot of crazy signals and winced. My grip on him released and I started to take a step back, but he caught me with a single, hard arm hooked around my middle. I was lured into the heat of his chest.
“Only if that’s okay,” I said quietly, unable to meet those unfathomable eyes. “I don’t want you to think—”
“Oh, I’m thinking plenty. Most of it involves getting you naked.”
I was absolutely okay with that. There was plenty of time to talk and figure things out after, I told myself as I tugged him towards the stairs, but he stayed stationary.
“What?” I asked when he slipped free.
“Too risky,” he said. “You go up first. I’ll be up in a minute.”
