AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He slid his hand away.
Leaving a gulf of silence behind.
Silence bearing a weird mix of shit for her. Regret, but indignation. Flinging out the formality, when her body was still flushed from sex she couldn’t find a descriptor for? Not so copasetic. But neither was his clingy act, when all they’d done was find a great way for relieving a little tension.
Okay, a lot of tension.
In a really great way.
“Your life?” Though he’d dropped the hand, he remained close to the bed. Too damn close. His voice persisted with the intimacy too. Dammit. “You mean the life that officially doesn’t exist right now?”
Double dammit.
She rocked her head back on her shoulders. Tore the man’s own page from his own playbook, crossing her arms and steeling her features. “For an island boy, you sure as hell know how to skate on thin ice.”
If the guy was smart, he’d recognize that as the Zamboni truck on his ice, and clear off.
The guy was not smart.
His own head shifted on its shoulders—to lean over her with lips all but snickering. Even more stupid, as he fitted those lips atop hers. The king of stupid, as he caught the hand she raised with intention to shove him the hell off.
“For an island boy,” he murmured, as soon as they pulled apart, “I’m also being pretty lolo for a mainland wahine.”
Tracy twisted free from his grip—but her hand didn’t drop. It was drawn, like a damn electromagnet, toward the muscled slope between his neck and shoulder. “But she can’t be lolo for you.” She dug in with her nails, underlining the ache of her retort. “Because her life will have to exist again one day…and she’ll be somewhat of a working mom.”
Franz laid his chuff atop her watery laugh. “Somewhat.”
He drew a hand across his chest as if pledging an allegiance, only his fingers ended atop her hand. The pressure in his hold was the physical form of the new texture in his gaze. Quiet reassurance…penetrating attention…as if he were trying to memorize her…
Though she already knew she’d never forget him. Tried, probably in vain, to tell him with her deeper grip into his neck. She didn’t even care about marking him now. Perhaps even wished she did.
“John…” Leaden swallow. Why was this so hard? They’d had fun. He’d even been a big boy, ensuring that was all it could be. “I’m—I’m sorry.”
“Why?” The query was sincere.
“You deserve…” She looked away. “More than this. So much more.”
He unpeeled her hand off his neck. Dragged it forward so he could press lips to the inside of her wrist. The whole time, the dark certitude of his stare didn’t falter. “But right now, this is all I want. So…” He hitched the top of his head toward the artistically arranged pillows against the headboard. “Let me have just a few minutes more?”
Tracy giggled. Couldn’t be helped. There was plenty of cocky arrogance left in the silken words, but they were also husky…in all the right ways. Grating just enough to nick at the edges of her heart, exactly as he’d tempted the fringe of her libido…until there was nothing left to resist him with.
As she nestled with him under the covers, she mitigated her actions by knowing Luke was, for the moment, safe and happy with Zeke Hayes and Ethan Archer nearby. Gem and Ronnie were probably still passed out where she’d left them, with nothing left to do but wait until Sol contacted them through the dark channels he and Franz had established.
So in several ways, the smug bastard was right.
For all intents and purposes, her life was still pretty much a giant blank.
Which was kind of funny…considering she couldn’t remember the last time she felt this perfectly sated.
And finally, at last, exhausted.
Recognizing, as she yawned and settled her cheek against a warm, hard slab of pectoral muscle, that sleep was a lot like Keoni John Franzen. Best when simply surrendered to.
