Mission For Love (Love By Design 6)

“This is a rehab center, and I am in need of rehab.”

He looked fine to me, but what did I know.

“And you should really invest in some flip flops.”

“A little foot rot doesn’t scare me. I’ve trekked in the desert for weeks with the same pair of socks.” True to his word, he didn?

??t look phased in the least.

“That’s disgusting.” I said and he grunted back. It wasn’t my place to be judgmental, but my mouth ran ahead of brain as usual. “Are you here for mental or physical rehab?”

David disarmed me with his lop sided grin. Looking at the way his face crinkled, I wondered how often this man smiled if at all. He seemed to do it in my presence, but I wondered how many others got to see it.

“Mental. PTSD. Although, coming to a gym like this is good for me. I used to work out a lot anyway for football in high school. Clears the head I guess.” David ducked his head down like he was almost embarrassed or shy by telling me this.

“Oh.” Lost for words I didn’t know what else to say. We were at a stalemate. I didn’t like him encroaching on what I felt was my territory, but I was also compassionate enough to realize he needed this space as much as I did. Maybe I was a sucker for lost causes or guys built like brick houses with soft hearts.

“You come here a lot?” He stuck his hand in the water like he was testing the temperature. I wanted that hand on me, doing things he shouldn’t, and the thought unnerved me.

“At least three times a week during the off season. Roy is great. I’ve been working with him since, well, since everything.” I didn’t go into details. It didn’t seem like I needed to and David nodded like he understood. It was nice not having to explain. I could be normal and whole no matter what condition my body was in.

“How’s the water.” David plunged his hand deeper and then reached for me. I felt his fingers graze my outer thigh tracing a pattern before cupping me at the knee.

“It’s uh, great. Warm. Perfect.” My hand reached for his covering his thick fingers that dug gently into my skin prying my legs open.

“David!” I hissed snapping at him. He had a lot of nerve if he thought, well, never mind what he thought. It so was not happening at my physical rehab center I’d been coming to since I was a kid. Roy was like a big brother, uncle, and mentor wrapped up into one. I wasn’t letting David ruin this and told him so out loud.

“Relax. Roy has Chase doing some burpees. The guys are busy.” His fingers spider crawled up my leg, one slipped under the band of my suit, hooking and pulling.

“Let me go, army boy.” I pushed his hand away, but like the rest of him, he was immovable. Determined.

He got closer whispering against my neck. “Live a little Kiara. I won’t tell if you won’t.”

And there was the crux of the matter. The dare. The dumb reason I did things despite knowing better, I craved that excitement as much as he did. Unapologetically.

I snatched my hand away from his and watched his smirk morph into a full-fledged smile fit for a less sane man. David leaned against the tub and I tilted my head back to look at him. Hazel eyes winked with mischief. We were in a public place and I wasn’t sure what he thought was going to happen with my training partner and PT coach mere steps away.

“Do you ever relax?” His presence enveloped around me. Strong arms. Rippling muscles that had a lifetime of sinew and experiences I couldn’t begin to understand.

“No, I bet you don’t.” He chuffed resting his head on my neck while I sat in the bubbling water prisoner to his naughty ministrations.

“I do, but I feel like I have to keep moving and doing because I’ve been given a huge second chance at life.” I rest my arm on the edge of the tub and let go. David was intent on having this moment whatever it was with me and if I had to suffer through it trapped in a hot tub I guess things in life could have been worse.

“I can understand that.” His lips moved against my skin and I tilted my neck opening myself up to him. He was the quintessential predator. The alpha male returned home from war and unspeakable things. However, he was gentle in a quiet, waiting kind of way that made me want to sink down in the water, subvert myself under his gaze, and I was not that girl.

In my head, I was the girl who beat cancer and made smart choices when medicine and science failed me. I adjusted to my losses and wore a smile on my face despite everything. But when had I actually lived for me? That was much harder to quantify and I only had an inkling of what David knew.

We hummed quietly, the wallpaper poster on the wall across from us was of Sky Top Tower, a local scenic view one had to hike to in order to view the mountain ranges and the historic hotel that lay beneath its watchful tower. It was one of my favorite places, though right now I wouldn’t be hiking up there anytime soon with my leg as it was.

“Been up there?” I asked David who remained stoic flicking my clit in slow passes forcing shivers from me. My teeth scraped my bottom lip struggling to remain composed.

“Once during summer football camp. Our coach made us run up there and back down. Didn’t give us much time to take in the view so when I stayed up there a minute longer to scale the steps up the tower I had to run back down faster than the freshman so he wouldn’t know.”

“It’s beautiful.” I imagined him as a teenager, on the skinny side, gangly, but full of energy.

“It is, but it deserves more than a one minute gander and a sprint to the finish. Beauty like that requires time and appreciation.” His hands moved back down into the water and I got the distinct impression we weren’t discussing the view from Sky Top. One arm was over my shoulder and the other snaked underneath trapping me in a loose hold.

“David.” I warned him, my eyes darting back to the weight area I was unable to see from behind the screen.