He rubbed his chilly nose along the back of my neck, nudging aside my braid. “Let’s take a hot shower.”
His words acted as kerosene and his warm breath sifting through my hair became the match. I shivered. My nipples pebbled to hard points, and this time, the cold wasn’t to blame.
As I remembered Carly’s similar reaction to Giovanni the other day, I started to laugh. Who was I to judge? Clearly, I was no better.
“Laughing at me?” Rather than getting offended at my reaction, he tugged me back against his firm chest—firm everything, I discovered quickly enough—and licked my earlobe. “C’mon, you know you’ve always wanted to do it with a pirate.”
I attempted a smile, well aware it fell short. His easy references to sex brought me out of the moment and turned it into something big and scary. Exciting too, but fear always rode shotgun. To him, sex was just a way to relieve stress or have fun or pass the time. It took so much out of me to try to seem relaxed.
“What girl hasn’t?” I replied, hoping he couldn’t hear the quaver in my voice.
He circled his hips and brought his semi-erection flush against my ass. “Don’t forget the VapoRub. My sinuses are on the verge of weeping with joy.”
Vey leaped up on the couch and stretched out, making himself at home. Within a minute, he was snoring.
“I actually have a homemade form of the stuff that Car makes.” Cold remedies were a safe topic. Those I could discuss without worrying about an imminent panic attack. “It’s a natural holistic blend.”
“Whatever.” He helped me take off his jacket then turned his head away to sneeze. “Slather it on.”
I tossed the coat on the arm of the sofa. “Do you have any allergies? Eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary?”
“Nope.”
“Cinnamon? Coconut oil?”
“No. But I do have an allergy to long-term hard-on-itis, which is when you turn me on then leave me hanging forever.” Walking backward, he tugged me toward the bathroom. “When will your sister be back?”
I looked at my watch. Just past ten. Carly had said she was catching a movie with friends after the gym so we had a little time. “Within the next hour, probably.”
“We’ll work fast.” He stopped and his smile faded. “If you, you know, want to work at all. I didn’t mean to assume.”
“Go get undressed.” Trying to smile, I gave him a gentle push and detoured to the kitchen. “I’ll be in soon.”
“Promise?”
God, he sounded so sexy when he pouted. “Promise. I might even bring you a treat.”
“I like treats.” After giving me an eyebrow waggle that didn’t work quite to the same effect with the eye patch, he headed into the bathroom.
Humming. Like he was happy. He’d just gotten out of the hospital and needed surgery soon, but he was perky as could be.
And me? I walked around like a living thundercloud. Always gloomy and seething. What the hell did he see in me?
&
nbsp; I fixed him a drink and carried it into the bathroom, expecting him to be naked and in the shower. It was small, but I figured he could fold himself in if he got creative with his position. Something I bet he had plenty of experience with. Which didn’t make me jealous. At all.
But he sat on the edge of the vanity, swinging his legs. Still fully dressed and patched.
“Why aren’t you naked?”
“Now there’s a question I wish I got more often.” He snatched the mug of hot cocoa before I could offer it and took a greedy sip. Froth coated his upper lip, making me laugh until he leaned forward and caught my lower one, transferring the flavor of mint and chocolate and Tray.
I’d missed that taste. Him. That sharp bite of his teeth, the slow, languid slide of his tongue over mine. Exploring without any rush. I’d thrown in little marshmallows too, and he slipped one between my lips in a playfully sexy move that made my nerves vanish.
He wound his fingers through my braid, freeing my hair so it tumbled around my face. Sipping slowly, he studied me, causing me to squirm. “You’re so beautiful.”
His tone, soft and reverent, was my undoing. Hell, he was my undoing. I was so tired of denying it.