“As much as I love you thinking about my balls, let me worry about them.” The moon cast a spotlight on his blinking blue eyes.
“Oh, what the hell.” I angled the carbine to the side and raised my chin. A deep breath. “Kiss me.”
A smile spread over his face and his rifle creaked in his hands. He bent his head and his full lips swept over mine. His body moved closer and his mouth parted. Jesse had full lips. Would they feel like—
A fist shot out of the dark. Tallis’ head snapped to the side.
Dammit. “Jesse, stop.”
They rolled over the weeds in a whirlwind of flailing arms. I chased them, carbine banging against my back. Jesse landed atop, knuckles poised for a strike.
I trapped his forearm with mine, locked it between my thighs and brought his body to the ground. My other hand pressed his jugular. A little more pressure and—
His movements froze. “You’re a dead man, Reynolds.”
Nose to nose, I leveraged my weight and tacked on more discomfort to the arm bar. His jaw clenched.
“We talked about your threats. Besides, he had my consent. Acknowledge your mistake.”
Tallis squatted next to us sporting a bloody nose and a smug expression.
Jesse’s throat bobbed against my fingers as he looked daggers at the other man. “Wanunhecun, you dead fucking dickhead.”
I inhaled his breath. Under the hickory was all man. “Tallis, can you take the watch by yourself for a bit? Jesse and I have some things to discuss.”
“You bet.” He wiped his face on his sleeve and planted a kiss on my temple. A growl erupted under me.
“Okay, Jesse. I’m going to release you, but you’re going to promise two things. One, you won’t touch Tallis and two, you’ll talk.”
His glowing eyes bored into me and stoked the heat where my thighs locked his arm.
“I’m waiting.”
Emotions paraded across his face, none of them submissive. “You have my word on both things.”
The tension in my fingers loosened from his throat. His arm pulled free and his body twisted. In the next breath, I was flipped and straddled. The carbine clunked at my side.
Chest against mine, elbows other either side of my head, his breath smothered my face. “What do you want to talk about?”
I shut my eyes and girded myself for temptation. Then I engaged his gaze. “I want to get back to your motives. How do I sever the link between you and my ghosts?”
A storm raged in his eyes. “You think I’m here because of them?”
“It’s obvious.”
His expression thawed with his voice. “Obviously, it’s not.” The back of one finger traced my face from brow to chin. His lashes fanned down as he watched the slow caress. “What I feel for you has nothing to do with Annie and Aaron.”
The inches between us vanished. His lips touched mine. I had to strain to feel the contact, yet it caught my body on fire.
He trembled through jagged breaths and slipped his hand between our chests. “Everything I want is right here.” His fingers spread over my breastbone. Then he pushed up.
I yanked him back by his shirt. “Then why do you keep pulling away?”
Pain flashed through his eyes. “Dammit, Evie.” Steam huffed against my mouth. “I’m fucking drowning in my desire to be near you, to touch you”—he dropped his brow on mine and inhaled—”to be inside you.”
My own desire exploded in my womb and sizzled through my veins. We lay there in silence, his heart knocking against mine, his mouth, close enough to taste his breaths, but too far to savor his lips. I arched to reach him. The hand on my chest held me down.
Too soon, he raised his head, the resolution in his gaze diluted by mystery. “I’ve seen things. Things I can prevent if I keep distance between us.”
“Distance? What are you saying?”
His palm circled my left breast. “I’ll never be farther than a heartbeat.”
Emotional distance then. “This is about your visions. The dark ones.”
He shoved off me. “I can’t talk to you about that.” His eyes clouded over as if he’d traveled to another time, another place.
“Okay. I trust you. But you know that partnership you mentioned?”
His face slacked.
“It goes both ways, Jesse. I won’t let you get lost in their world.”
“I know.” He backed away, his muscular frame blending amongst the treed silhouettes.
When I turned toward the house, I wasn’t surprised to see the dark shadow blackening the porch. Even darker was the face attached to it.
“You okay?” Michio leaned against the doorjamb.
“Yeah.” My small smile agreed. “Thanks for not interfering.”
He crossed his arms. “I was two seconds away from losing your gratitude.”
Despite his schooled posture, I knew he was thrumming to run to me, sweep me back to bed. I blew him a kiss. “Go to sleep, gorgeous. I’ve got your back.”
As I paced to the perimeter, my steps lightened, knowing that even on my watch, Michio would always have my back.