Exhale (26 page)

“Get on your knees,” he said. She lifted a brow, flipped him a saucy smile, and presented her arse. He grabbed her by the hips and hoisted her to the edge of the bed, then eased back in, stifling a moan.

He leaned across the length of her back and bit her shoulder. His fingers slid down her tight belly, found her nub, and worked it in slow circles while he banged her from behind. She met his quickened pace and stepped it up.

Climax was coming soon. For both of them. But something niggled the recesses of his brain. As he stared at the back of her head, saliva flooding his mouth, he realized what it was. He used to fuck the groupies from behind because he was afraid of what he might see head-on. It was easier not to care about them that way.

“Roll over,” he said.

“Why? You feel perfect just like this.” Still fully engaged, she reared up on her knees, eyes closed, with her back pressing against his chest. She wrapped an arm around his neck. Her breath tickled his metal-laden ear and the stubble on his cheek.

He kissed her exposed throat softly while his fingers continued rubbing, and their bodies strained together, faster now. “I need to look in your eyes when we come. I have to see inside you.”

Shit, he knew it didn’t make any sense, but he didn’t want her to be like the others. She had to stand out from the faceless crowd of his past.

Zoe tagged his lips as she released her grip, and he slipped out. She lay flat on her back and spread her legs. Without wasting a millisecond, he dove back in.

He slid his gaze down her naked curves to where his cock twitched inside her. Her back dug into the mattress as she accepted his thrusts, her red aura shimmering like glitter over her skin. She drew a leg up and pressed her foot to his bare chest, grinding it into him as if putting out a cigarette there. Jesus Christ, that was beyond hot. He brought the foot to his mouth, kissing the tips of her toes as he pounded her. A bead of sweat cascaded down his cheek and fell with a plop onto her upraised foot.

Her slowly rising moan signaled the beginning of her orgasm, which triggered the spark that set off his own.

A Watery blue wave rose higher than a mountain and crashed over both of them. Her hips pivoted as if twisting the top off a bottle—or the head off his cock in this case. He pitched forward, kissed her hard in a jumble of lips and teeth. Arms clung to his shoulders, and their souls entwined so tightly, he couldn’t tell where his ended and hers began.

Control cashed in its chips. Reality lost its bet. The world tilted on its arse end in that moment of pure bliss, and Gavin floated away with her until he ceased to exist.

There was only Zoe.

And he balls-out loved her.

Chapter Twenty-five

Had she bitten him? Everything happened so fast, Zoe couldn’t remember
what
she’d done.

Well, aside from The Orgasm. That, she remembered with crystal clarity.

Zoe opened her eyes. Gavin lay collapsed on top of her, the weight of his body pressed against hers, stirring cravings for another round. He seeped into her pores like an aphrodisiac poison. Trapped inside the perfect cage of
him
, she would have bled to stay there.

Face buried in the pillow beside her head, he hadn’t moved. Just held her. She brushed a hand over his tattooed arm. A light sheen of sweat covered his skin. His hair was soaked, reminding her of the night in Brisbane when he came off stage, dripping wet.

What she wouldn’t give to hear him sing to her now.

The sounds of slowing heartbeats and easing breaths punctuated the silence of their embrace. She didn’t know how long she lay there, swimming through the waves left in the wake of their passion. If the world had been falling apart around them, she wouldn’t have noticed or cared.

Her skin burned, despite the chill air coming through the window she’d forgotten to close. Little pings registered in her ears. Rain. The smell of damp earth mixed with the cedar of his soap and his natural scent. She smoothed a hand down his hard back.

He was still inside her. She squeezed him with the muscles down there to give him a wake up call. Muffled laughter rose from inside the pillow and quaked through his body. The bed shook. He slowly pulled out and rolled to his side, resting his head in an upturned palm.

The Water tattoos covering his left forearm woke up with a lazy yawn, catching light and swirling subtly. Crazy how they did that.

When she turned her gaze to his, shivers squirmed through her gut. His dark blue eyes beamed with aqua along the fringes, giving them a haunting quality. Holy crap, she felt so…
full
looking at him—hell, just lying beside him after all that intensity. Was she saturated with Water?

She reached for his cheek, but he scooped up her fingers and kissed them before they landed. Now that she’d seen all of him, she couldn’t decide which part she liked best. The strong angles and lines that composed his face, the thick black lashes, eyes that seemed to read her every thought…

The lip ring wiggled.

His mouth…

Heat bloomed low in her belly.

Washcloth. He needed to clean up. She eased out of his grasp, stood, and slipped her robe on. “I’ll be right back.”

He nodded but said nothing.

She stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her. Her mind raced while she went on a covert quest for supplies. She’d just slept with a twenty-four-and-a-half-year-old Australian rock star. She touched her lips and smiled. Wow.

After gathering what she needed, Zoe returned to bed and handed him a cold bottle of water. He sat up and nodded his thanks. She glanced at his semi-erection and bit her lip. She’d be sore tomorrow.

“Can I help you get cleaned up?” she asked, holding out a warm, wet washcloth in one hand, a small plastic bag in the other.

“Sure.” His cheeks flushed as he pulled the condom off and dropped it into the open bag.

She wished he’d come inside her. Shaking the thought away, she sat next to him and gently worked the wet rag over his hardening length while he watched. Man, oh, man.

She could tell by his tight smile that he tried to project an image of control, but a hint of shyness shone through his stare. She loved his youthfulness. Made her feel so alive.

In her mind, the tiny wooden bird with seashell wings peeped just outside the door of propriety, but she closed it. Gavin wasn’t the little boy she’d given that bird to. Not anymore. He was quite clearly a man now, and she’d done nothing wrong by sleeping with him, despite what the guilt tried to tell her.

“What are you thinking about?” His voice, though only a whisper, caught her off guard.

She tossed the bag and cloth on the floor, toed them under the bed, and slid the robe off. The blue in his eyes got bluer. She lay down beside him on her back, and stared at the ceiling.

“The past,” she said. Wasn’t a lie, but he didn’t need to know the whole truth. So she sacrificed another truth in its place. “The scars on my legs—”

She ran a hand down one side and traced the subtle grooves.
Lifelines
, Mother used to call them. His callused fingers followed hers. Instinct shouted to pull away, but his face bore no malice, scorn, or disgust. He seemed innocent enough, maybe even interested in what she had to say.

“They’re stretch marks.” She waited for his reaction.

His fingers paused but he said nothing.

“From growing too fast.”

His gaze settled on hers. His lack of judgment gave her the courage to keep going. Outside of her mother, Adriene was the only person who knew the ugly truth that was about to unfold.

“I’m tall because I have Triple X Syndrome. Basically means I have an extra X chromosome. My consolation prizes for winning this particular genetic lottery were dyslexia, an inability to relate to people, and early language difficulties. Oh, and panic attacks. Can’t forget those.”

She paused to give him an opportunity to ask questions, run away, whatever.

He continued to stare.

Why the hell was she telling the hottest guy in the world her pitiful secret after having sex with him? Was she
trying
to push the best thing that ever happened to her away?

“You have panic attacks?” His warm hand clasped the ugly lines on her thigh. He rubbed his thumb over them.

She gulped and nodded. “That first dream, when you rescued me? I freaked and fell out of a boat while trying to disentangle a whale. Scared the shit out of Adriene.”

His eyes darkened. “Did anything strange happen before that?”

She thought for a moment. “Touching the whale triggered some bad memories for me. I got the whole tunnel vision thing, dry mouth, nausea. But come to think of it, as I was heading for the water, I saw a cliff…”

Oh, shit. The fiery red figure on that cliff suddenly made sense.

“I’m pretty sure Scarlet was on top of it.”

The rubbing on her leg stopped.

She met his eyes. “Scarlet was the one who pushed me. She was the whaler in the vision that prompted the whole thing…”

Gavin got out of bed, that yummy package bouncing against his leg. Jesus, every bit of him was as tight as a pin. And that ass…

He walked to the window and peered out into the rain. None of the tattoos were glowing, so maybe everything was okay. He closed and locked the pane, returned to bed, and climbed in behind her.

Spoons. She loved being spooned.

A heavy painted arm fell across her waist. She pushed her back flush against him. Crazy girlie tingles shot through her stomach for the hundredth time. Jesus, it was like her first middle school crush all over again.

He held her close and whispered in her ear, “I’m not surprised Scarlet was involved from the beginning. But don’t worry about her right now. I want to hear more about Triple X Syndrome. And your dyslexia.”

She shrugged. “I think in pictures and sounds, not letters and words. I’m not stupid, just different.”

That came off as defensive, but the labels people had slapped to her forehead through the course of her youth had made her so. Thanks to Mother’s disapproval, she’d trained herself to be reactive, rather than proactive.

“Nobody said you were stupid, Dr. Morgan.” His arm squeezed her.

“I’m sorry, I probably sound bitter, but I’m not really. It is what it is. I got a lot of help from special education classes. My only regret is that I let my mother’s disappointment rule my life for so long. She made me doubt myself. It took a lot of therapy to get past the guilt she put me through. I still struggle with it. But I’m better. I’m okay.” She was. Really.

“You’re heaps more than okay. You’re my muse.” She couldn’t see his expression, but she felt his smile in the way he held her closer.

“Well, my life can’t be any weirder than yours, rock star Sentinel.” She turned in his arms to face him, tangling her legs with his. “What else lies hidden beneath all your hotness?”

Expecting a grin in reply to her tease, she got something closer to a frown.

“My eldest brother is HIV-positive. That’s why I’m so obsessive about the condoms.” He paused. “And why I’ve never had sex without one.”

“Never?” Her heart raced. “Not even once?”

Damn, she’d slipped up and gone without plenty of times—and worried about the possible consequences—but everything had been okay in the end. Unlike Gavin’s brother. Poor guy.

“Never.”

“Your brother—is he all right? I assume he’s receiving treatment.”

Gavin nodded. “He’s doing really well, actually. I always respected Callum a lot. I was about fourteen and still a virgin when he got the news. He talked to me about safe sex and made me swear I’d always use a condom. I haven’t broken my promise yet.”

“Does that mean you never will?” Her thoughts flew to Scarlet, and she secretly gloated. At least there was one part of him Scarlet couldn’t claim.

He pressed his head against hers and closed his eyes. “That means I’m going to get my HIV test tomorrow. I usually do it every three months, but a little early won’t hurt.”

Zoe’s chest swelled. “I got my clean bill of health before I left the States.” She’d made a point of getting tested after she discovered Randy had cheated on her.

Gavin might not be suggesting what she hoped he was suggesting, but damn it, she’d be ready for him if he changed his mind.

He smiled. “So, are you willing to be seen with me in public now that we’ve slept together?”

Her eyes widened. “Absolutely not! If you tell a soul what happened, I’ll deny it.”

“When they see the look on your face tomorrow, they’ll know.”

True. She laughed against his cocky grin. The soft pops of their kisses filled the air. Their bodies melted together and mouths remained touching as they cuddled under the covers.

She’d never known true contentment before now. She had waited her whole life for someone to set her free. Who would have guessed the kid she’d given the falcon to twenty years ago would be the one to do it?

Chapter Twenty-six

Zoe got to the white door and banged.

It didn’t budge.

Not again. She’d had no problem getting into the Dreaming the night before. What did she do to piss off the Powers That Be this time?

Great. Tomorrow would be another day of exhaustion under the chokehold of burning-ass temperatures on the boat.

She sat down, back against one of the door’s marble columns, and waited on a never-ending time loop for morning to wake her up.

Sensory deprivation sucked.

* * * *

“Christ in a crack house.”

“Oh. My. God.”

Maniacal giggles.

Maybe someone had finally unlocked the door. Zoe felt like she’d been waiting a couple of lifetimes to get inside. She stood up and stretched. The door became fuzzy. It fractured, and the shattered pieces flew apart in a million directions.

Warmth. She hadn’t noticed it before, but something warm beside her stretched, shifted, pulled away.

“G’day, ladies,” Gavin said, his voice full of gravel.

Zoe opened her eyes.

Adriene, Dani, and Elizabeth crowded the door to her bedroom, each expression a mirror of the next: raised eyebrows, huge grins, mouths open. Pure shock.