Sunrise Kisses (The Kisses 8)

He stepped forward and into the light of the room. Scars ravaged his body. Long gashes ran across his arms and chest before wrapping around his back to disappear beneath the towel. The scar on his cheek was just part of a larger series of scars covering his body. I could see now why he wore long sleeves and pants all the time.

Rage burned red in his gray-blue eyes. I couldn't look away from his body, not because of the scars, but because of the way his muscles tightened and flexed and how the towel hid almost nothing. Pecs to die for, six pack abs and a strong V that pointed to his towel all had me drooling.

“I... I... heard a thud... and...” I stammered, unable to take my eyes from the towel. The knot was loose and was about to fall apart at any moment.

I took a step back, running into his heavy desk. It hurt enough that I looked up from his towel and into his extremely angry face. He radiated a rage that I didn't know was possible in a human being. He had seemed so calm and in control that I barely recognized him. All thoughts of the towel disappeared at his rage.

“Get out.” His voice was thick with fury and his eyes flashed lightning. “GET OUT!”

I ran.

I didn't stop in the hallway. I didn't stop on the stairs. Even in the foyer, I could hear him cursing. The whole house vibrated with his anger and I ran out to the beach to try and escape it.

Tears stung at my eyes as my feet hit the sand. What had I done? Why didn't I just leave things well enough alone? He had one request of me, not to go in the study, and I had blatantly disregarded it. I was the worst kind of person and he had every right to be furious with me. Hell, I was furious with me.

I ran along the cold, wet sand, letting the full moon light my path. I followed the curve of the cove, up the hill to another beach until I finally came to a rock outcropping that I couldn't get past, at least not in bare feet. There I collapsed into one of the larger rocks, my calves aching and twitching like rubber bands. I gasped for breath, and not just from the running. Falling to my knees, I sobbed into the sand.

It was too much. All of it was just too much. All the aches, the worry, the tension, the hopeless dreams came tumbling down on me. Between my father, Chad's betrayal, the lack of direction in my life, and now the rage in Bastian's eyes, I just lost it. It was all just too much to bare.

I sat and cried into the night. It felt good to finally let it all out. I cried until I couldn't breathe and then I just gasped at the air like a fish out of water. Giant sobs racked my body, shuddering cries that ached down through my toes. But it was what I needed.

I wasn't sure how long I cried, but after a while, the tears dried and I stared out at the ocean. I was finally empty. I had held in my emotions for so long that they had overwhelmed me and now I didn't know what to do.

I heard footsteps behind me, but I didn't turn around. I knew who they belonged to. The steps paused and then came closer.

Bastian sat cautiously beside me, close enough that I could feel his presence but far enough away to give me distance. He stared out at the moonlit water for a moment before offering me a hanky. It was just a simple white cotton square of fabric, but it smelled like him. It was more than I deserved.

Holding on to his hanky, I held my breath for as long as I could before finally releasing it. My lungs ached and my cheeks were still wet.

“I'm sorry,” I said quietly. I didn't look over at him. “I didn't mean to pry.”

He let out a long slow breath.

“I let my temper get the best of me,” he replied after a long moment.

“I shouldn't have been in there.” I shook my head, looking only at the white hanky in my hands. “I always seem to be walking into rooms that I shouldn't.”

A breeze rolled over us from off the ocean. I shivered, not just because the breeze was cool for the Caribbean, but from emotional exhaustion as well.

“Come here,” Bastian commanded, his arms wrapping around me, holding me close to his heart and warming me up. I leaned my head against his shoulder, and he pressed his cheek into the top of my head. He was so warm and strong that I clung to him like a child. I felt completely safe with him holding me, like the world could crumble into a million pieces, but with him holding me, I would be safe.

“I liked the pictures above your desk,” I said quietly after a moment. I figured there was no reason to hide what I had done now. I wanted to ask him about the scars, but given that he was now wearing pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt, they obviously were something he didn't want people knowing about.

I felt his lips curl into a smile above my hair. “I like them, too.”

“I recognized Leo in some of them. Is the man in the others Gabriel?” I felt my muscles finally relaxing. “The three of you look close.”

I felt him nod and he began to stroke my hair. “Yes, all the pictures on my wall are of my family.” He shifted his weight, getting more comfortable. “After my parent's car accident, I didn't have anyone. My parents didn't even have wills made up. I went into the foster system. I had a decent family, but they weren't mine. Charlotte was the closest

thing to family I had until Gabe moved in next door. I spent more time at Gabe's house than I did at my foster's. Then we met Leo our freshmen year of college.”

“What school did you go to?” I asked. He smelled so good, especially this close. Clean yet masculine. “Billionaire Harvard or Billionaire Yale?”

“Neither. I went to a state school I had a partial scholarship, but I still had to work full time to pay it off.” He shifted his back against the rock, finding a more comfortable position. “I wasn't a billionaire then.”

“You said you met Leo in college? Is that where you guys came up with your business?” I asked, snuggling deeper into his arms. He was so warm that I never wanted to leave.

“Just after graduation is when we came up with the idea. We all had degrees in business but no ideas on how to use them.” He shrugged. “So we made our own. Charlotte helped.”