“It’s weird. I don’t know you fantastically well, but I feel like I know you deep down, if that makes any sense.”
“It does. I understood you from the beginning.”
He had, she realized. “Exactly.”
Axel stroked her hair, and Mystery floated in a bubble of peace, liberally laced with happiness. They’d found something wonderful. Maybe it was chemistry. Maybe it had been love at first sight . . . delayed by six and a half years. She wasn’t sure. But she knew that she couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. It sucked that someone felt compelled to chase and threaten her, but that had brought them together—twice. Things happened for a reason, at least to her way of thinking. Maybe all this grief was meant to be because she and Axel were meant to be.
One step at a time.
“Anything hurt? Sore?” he murmured.
“Beside the obvious?” she winced, then laughed. “Not sure how well I’ll be walking tomorrow, but at least I’ll be smiling.”
“I’m hoping so. I’m also hoping that tomorrow I’ll be inside that sweet pussy again. Maybe even sooner.”
Even if she was tender, that sounded great to her. “I won’t complain.”
He laughed, then eased off the bed. Mystery lay in a dreamy haze, staring at the ceiling, wearing what was probably a stupid smile. And she didn’t care.
She heard the shower in the adjoining bathroom cut on. A spray of water hit the tile. He flipped on a harsh overhead light, dimmed it to something soft, then prowled toward her in all his big, masculine glory, minus the condom. He looked so amazing naked that she could barely remember her name.
When he reached her side, Axel uncuffed her before he wrapped an arm around her waist. Sluggishly, Mystery got to her feet and let him lead her to the bathroom. Steam now fogged the edges of the mirror, and heat rose from the sleekly tiled shower big enough for five. He opened the heavy glass door, and she entered the stall, moaning as soon as the warm spray hit her chest. Axel slipped in behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her shoulder.
“If you don’t force me to stop touching you, I may not be responsible for what happens next,” he warned.
“Force you?” She giggled at him. “How would I ever do that? And why?
Axel would never cross a line with any woman. Mystery knew that personally. He’d make damn sure he had consent before he touched her. She was just so euphoric that he’d finally chosen her.
From a nearby soap dish, he grabbed a bar and lathered it in his big hands. “Hold up your hair.”
She did as he asked, and he rewarded her, gliding his wide, soapy palms over her shoulders, back, hips. He bent to wash her feet, her legs, her ass, all the while kneading and rubbing at any knots of tension.
Mystery moaned. Was Axel just the perfect man? Hmm, no one was absolutely perfect. But he was perfect for her. Vaguely, she wondered what she’d tell her father about them when they talked next. He’d known years ago that she had a crush on Axel. She wondered if her dad would be surprised that nothing had changed.
“By the way, any worries that my father would care where you came from? Empty. Now, if you let him, he might ask you how to make his films about soldiers and war more realistic, but he’s already got a soft spot for you because you saved me once.”
“Rinse,” he demanded softly, not commenting.
She did as he’d bid. “It’s true. You know, he set up a college fund for Alvarez’s son. He paid for the extras the government didn’t provide for the burials of both your friends who died that day.”
“He tried to give me an obscene amount of money, too.” He grimaced. “I turned it down.”
Mystery knew it would sound crazy to most, and few men would have made that choice. But that summed up Axel. Her heart constricted. Oh, yeah. This was love. It had come hard, felt sappy and drugging—and she loved every minute.
She turned and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. “If I’m happy, he’s happy.”
He paused, then began soaping his wide, bulging chest. She followed his movements with her hungry stare. It seemed impossible that she could want him again when she felt this wrung out and more than a little sore. How could she ache to feel him inside her again already?
After he worked a good lather onto his torso, arms, and neck, Axel set the soap aside. That devil on her shoulder started riding her again, and she picked up the white bar. Once she’d soaped up her hands, she reached down and cupped his balls, then began working her way up.
Almost instantly, his cock rose to attention, the shaft filling, the head rising. Mystery watched in fascination, a shiver running through her as Axel groaned.
“Princess, you’re inviting trouble.”
“What a shame,” she teased, batting her lashes his way.
He drilled his gaze down at her, his blue eyes turning hot and dark. He braced one palm on the wall just above her head, caging her in the corner of the shower. But he didn’t stop her from stroking his cock in long, slow drags.
His jaw tightened. His breathing turned rough. “I don’t recommend this now.”
She swiped her thumb across the sensitive head, delighting when he hissed in a breath through his teeth and stiffened even more in her hand. “Why is that?”
“Because I’m about to push you against that cold tile wall while I shove my cock inside your pussy and ride you hard. And I don’t have a condom.”
Mystery didn’t hate the idea of playing with fire—at all. She sidled up to him and rubbed herself against his length, still gripping and stroking him. “Just a little more. Just for a moment.”
Clearly, he hadn’t expected her assent. Heath’s voice rang in her head again, telling her that she didn’t know Axel that well, but she blocked it out. Her bodyguard was wrong. He was the one who didn’t know Axel. He didn’t understand. Her heart did.
For a long moment, Axel stood frozen, simply letting her undulate against him, touch him at will. “You’re trying to tempt me, princess.”
She peered up at him with a smile. “Is it working? It didn’t the first time I tried in that little ghost town, but I think—”
He snorted. “Oh, it worked then, too. One more of those fuck-me stares, and I probably would have worked my way inside you and never stopped.”
“Really?” She blinked at him.
“Oh, yeah. I would have hated myself for it if I had.”
“And now?” She licked her lips and dragged her fingers up the long length of his shaft again in a slow tease. “I’m not a girl anymore. I’m a woman who needs you.”
His breath turned choppier. His shoulders tightened. A flush crawled up his face. “You understand you could get pregnant.”
“Not the right time of the month. Besides . . . would it be the worst thing in the world?”
Axel gripped her wrist, stilling her stroking hand instantly. He came closer, crowding her even more. His chest flattened her breasts. His intent stare dug into her. “Be sure.”
Mystery froze. He would really do it, knowing the risks? Axel wasn’t the sort of man to walk away from his own child or the woman who had birthed it. “Is there some other reason I shouldn’t want you naturally?”
He gave a sharp jerk of his head. “I’m clean.”
She lifted on tiptoe and kissed his jaw. “I’m hungry for you.”
Axel sawed in a long breath, on the fence, his fist tightening just a bit on her wrist. “Oh, I want you so bad.”
The words had barely cleared his lips when he had her against the wall, her back stinging with the chill of the tile, and her legs in the crook of his elbows. His cock probed her swollen opening, and he sank in to the hilt in one vicious stroke.
Excitement seized her breath, made her heart race. Then he hit that sensitive place deep in her pussy. “Axel!”
His head fell back with a massive groan. “Oh, fuck. Yes. You have such a tight pussy, princess. I’m going to take it. It’s mine, and I want to mark it.”