The Long Way Home (Corps Security #6)(72)

He clears his throat, and I come out of my lust-filled thoughts about him to give him my focus. I didn’t realize I was just staring at him.

He settled in to the bed and put a basketball game on when we got back. Probably should just leave it and take the sign for what it was—that he wanted to be alone with his thoughts. Something not too easy to achieve when you’re in a shared hotel room.

“I can go take a bath if you want some time alone to decompress, honey,” I offer, standing on the threshold of the bedroom after finishing up using the restroom.

“I don’t need to decompress, Liv.” He doesn’t look away from the TV.

“Maybe you don’t think you do, but honey … tonight was big for you. The adrenaline will crash soon.”

He takes a deep breath and turns the TV off, turning his head to give me his attention. “Come here, Olivia.”

“Maybe I’m good right here,” I smart, leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom.

He cocks an eyebrow and gives me a playful smirk.

“I’m just worried about you,” I tell him honestly. “Tonight was a lot. Hell, it’s all a lot, honey. More than a lot of people can handle alone. More than the average person will ever experience. I don’t know how to set aside that worry.”

“Baby.” He sighs, patting the empty side of the bed next to him.

“You have lunch tomorrow. You have lunch with your grown son, and you’re watching a game like today was just a normal day. Honey, I don’t know how to process the way you’re processing all of this.”

He lets a small laugh out.

“This isn’t funny, Zeke.”

His eyes flash.

His brow ticks up again.

“No way, mister. I know that look in your eyes.”

“Then get over here.”

I shake my head.

“Olivia,” he says in a deep and dark tone.

I give a little huff that he only laughs a bit more at. My feet take me to the side of the bed regardless of the fact that he’s now finding humor in my concern for him. I look down at the handsome man lying on the bed and marvel in just how beautiful he is. Something I’ve done quite a bit since his makeover by Sway. I can see a mix of the old him and the new him blended together, something I can say for sure after seeing so many photos of a young and carefree version of him.

“Come here.”

“If I come over there, you’ll just try distracting me by getting me naked.”

He grunts out a laugh but just silently pats the side of the bed next to his hip. I sigh but sit. His hand takes mine, and those stunning bright-blue eyes of his look into mine. He looks down at our hands, his thumb caressing my skin slowly.

“I’m okay, Liv. Just taking the time to be thankful. Thanking God that he thought I deserved this second chance, and that he gave me you. No doubt, babe, I never would have gotten this gift had it not been for you.”

I feel my brow furrow, watching his eyes when they go from mine up to them. His free hand coming out to run one finger lightly down the bridge of my nose, soothing the spot between my brows first.

“Maybe tomorrow it will hit me. Maybe a month or year from now. That my boy is a man I didn’t get to see grow, but today? Today, I’m going to keep riding this high you’ve given me. I might’ve missed his big milestones growing up, but now I get to get to know the man he’s become and with any luck, he’ll like the man I’ve become.”

“He’s going to love you, sweetheart,” I tell him honestly.

“Maybe,” he answers, small smile still on his full lips. Those dimples that have been causing havoc to my system pop out. Ever since the beard was shaved and they were uncovered I find myself rather obsessed with seeing them more and more. What I don’t see are all the shadows that are usually riding him hard behind his gaze. There’s something there I don’t quite understand, but there definitely isn’t sadness or pain.

“There’s no maybe, Zeke.”

“You may be right, Liv.”

“I know I’m right,” I smart.

His expression changes and the small smile he had on his face moments before turns into a predatory grin.

“You being smart with me?”

Placing my hand on his leg, I slowly start to move it up his muscular thigh. He cocks an eyebrow at me, but doesn’t stop me.

“Who me?” I wink, my hand stopping at the thick bulge between his legs and he makes a primal sound deep in his throat.

That’s all the warning I get.

His large frame lifts off the bedframe, and he pulls me over his legs. I let mine fall with his body between mine. The hardness of his erection presses against my heat, causing me to shiver. His mouth is on mine, kissing me deep, and I push my hands into his hair. The tickle of the shaved parts against my palm sends tingles of awareness up my arms. Our kiss is deep, slow and absolutely heavenly. His hands tighten on my hips, and he starts pushing up from the bed while his hold on my hips keeps me right where he wants me. I kiss him deeper when he rubs against my sensitive clit, pulling my head back and breaking our kiss with a gasp. His mouth goes to my neck, my hands to his shoulders, and he trails his hot kisses down the side of my neck and the exposed skin my shirt doesn’t cover.

We’re a tangled mess of limbs and fevered kisses as we try to get each other’s clothes off. I lose his mouth when he pulls my shirt over my head. Sitting back on his thighs, I watch with complete transfixed lust as he pulls his own up and off—tossing it in the corner of the room with mine. His eyes are on my lace covered chest. The hunger in his expression as he looks at me only feeds my own.