Finally, he pulled back like he had both times before. When he set me on my feet, I was thrilled to see he was as out of breath as I was. I loved that I could have that effect on him. I’d never dreamed of such a thing.
“Can’t,” he gasped.
“Yes, we can.”
“You could’ve died out there.”
“But I didn’t, and we’re here, and I don’t expect anything from you, but I… I want you.”
He just kept staring at me, not responding. I got a little dizzy as I steeled myself for his rejection.
17
Xavier
We were in danger. What if I hadn’t gone to look for Emilio when I had? What if my shot had missed?
You never miss.
This could have been the first time.
Emilio could have died, and I would never have been able to… Fuck. There was no way in hell I could deny us anymore. I needed to fuck him, needed to find out how deep my feelings went. Was this just temporary insanity, or was it what I feared it might be—something way bigger, way less able to be controlled?
“I have to deal with the man I left out there and contact my team and the Marchesis.” I laid a hand on his chest. “And then… then I’m going to give you what you want.”
He held my gaze. “I want your dick in me.”
He said the words defiantly like he thought they would make me flinch. I just smiled. “That’s exactly what you’re going to get. That and more.”
“Wow. What can I do to help?”
“Nothing. I don’t want you—”
“I’m already involved. Tell me what I can do.”
As much as I hated it, he was right. “Find out everything you can about John Wayne Thibodeaux.”
“The man out there… You’ll just…”
“Dispose of the body. I know you don’t want to think about that, but—”
He shook his head. “No. I’m not… I mean, I don’t, but right now, I’m just thinking how fucking hot it was to see you in action. You looked ferocious.”
My cock jumped at those words. I needed to get Emilio away from me, or I was going to touch him and not stop until I was buried inside him. As much as I wanted that, I had to deal with the present danger first.
“Go. Get your laptop and take it to my room.”
“Yes, sir.”
Damn, I loved hearing him say that. I watched his ass as he walked to the door. It was perfectly cupped by his swimsuit. I hoped he didn’t change out of it.
I had sharp words with my head of security and assigned him to clean up the body and figure out what the hell went wrong. “I need to know how that man got on the island. There will not be another incident like this, do you understand?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll find out what happened, and I’ll bring in a few more of my men from St. Croix.”
“I want full background check information on anyone you send to me.”
“Of course, sir.”
I ended the call and got Niall on the phone. Of my team members, he was the most likely not to hang up on me and get on a plane to the island without listening to the whole story.
“X, what’s up?”
“I just killed a fucking bastard who snuck onto the island and got way too close to Emilio.”
“Shit. Did one of Emilio’s enemies track him there already?”
“Before the intruder died, I got him to tell me who sent him. Jimmy Wayne Thibodeaux.”
“Fuck. Someone from New Orleans?”
“I’d put money on it.”
“I didn’t think they’d move that fast.”
“Neither did I. We need to figure out how and why.”
“Fuck right we do.”
“I’m calling Lucien next, but I want you to fill in the rest of the team.”
“Are you heading back?”
“No.”
“Don’t you think—”
“I’m not going to run from this. I’m going to face them head-on right here where they think they have me trapped.”
“X, I don’t—”
“I’m not letting this go on any longer. I want to lure JW and his friends here and cut them down.”
“What about Emilio?”
“He’s looking into this Jimmy Wayne as we speak.”
“What about keeping him safe?”
“When JW makes his next move, I’ll be ready, and Emilio will be in the safe room.”
“You could send him back here. The Marchesis would—”
“No!” I winced at the force of the word. “I promised to protect him myself.” There. That sounded calm and reasonable.
“Do you need to talk about—”
“No, I do not. Emilio is my responsibility, and I’ll take care of him.”
Niall sounded like he was trying hard to hold in laughter, trying and failing. “You know who you sound like?”
“No, and I—”
“When Giorgio was protecting Lane—”
“That’s—I don’t want to even think about that.” I needed to change the subject fast.
“So you are interested in Emilio?”
Niall was lucky he was so far away. “That’s not what’s important here.”
“As soon as this is all over, it needs to be.”