Gino stripped the clothes from her shivering body and then from his. He took her into the stall and let the water pour over both of them. He was familiar with her body, the curves and valleys, the way she felt when he washed the muddy water from her. He kept his arm locked around her rib cage, taking most of her weight off the soles of her feet, all the while washing her clean and trying not to react.
He knew he wasn’t a saint, and there was no controlling his body around her even when the circumstances weren’t conducive for seduction. She had to feel the hard length of him, but she didn’t say anything, nor did she object to him rinsing her hair and then his own, all one-handed. She didn’t say a single word. He took her out of there, set her on the sink and wrapped a towel around her. He should have wrapped one around himself, but instead, he crouched down to examine the bottoms of her feet.
“Baby, what part of ‘don’t walk’ do you not get?”
“They would have taken her. Nonny. They were coming for her.”
“They were coming for you. They might have tried to use Nonny to get to you, Zara, but you were their goal, not Nonny.” His fingers slid over her ankles. She would have more bruises on her ankles and around her neck, just as they were fading. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t let them take her, or worse, kill her, Gino.”
Her voice was soft, appeasing, not remorseful, and he knew she would make the same decision again.
“Cayenne and Bellisia are fast, princess.” Abruptly he yanked a medical kit out from under the sink and prepared an injectable painkiller. Her feet had to be hurting.
“Not as fast as I am. I got there. They didn’t. I had the shotgun, they didn’t.”
He wanted to shake her. He was damned proud of her, but he never wanted her to do anything like that again. “You put yourself in danger. How is letting Whitney get you back going to help anyone?” He injected the medicine into her thigh and stood up. It was fast acting and would take effect soon.
“I’m so fuckin’ pissed at you right now, Zara,” he warned. He shoved both hands through his hair, trying to get his breathing under control. Trying to get himself under control. He could have lost her. Like his mother. His father. His grandparents. All of them. He could have lost her. He saw the exact moment when the drug hit and her breathing calmed. Her eyes went a little hazy. At least he could do that, take away pain, even if he couldn’t keep her safe.
“If they pulled a woman in her eighties into that water and held her there, she would have drowned, Gino.”
“Stop arguing with me. Let me just have this one, Zara. You took ten years off my life.”
He looked up at her and her eyes met his. She seemed shocked at the level of anxiety he had, but he was a little shocked as well. He couldn’t find his calm no matter how much he tried to breathe the fear for her away. He stood up abruptly and nabbed a towel, refusing to turn away from her. Let her look. Let her see what she did to him no matter the circumstances. Yeah. He wanted her. He wanted her no matter what kind of shit was happening around them. He wanted her every time he heard the sound of her voice, let alone looked at her when she was naked.
Her gaze dropped from his eyes to his chest and then lower. He heard the little hitch in her voice. Yeah. That was better. She wanted him too. He caught the front of her towel, so that his fingers curled between her breasts as he yanked her close to him. He pushed her thighs apart to allow his body to be even closer. When she tilted her head to look, he took her mouth.
She gave herself to him. There was no holding back. Her mouth moved under his, lips parting and then he was taking every damn thing he wanted. Her mouth was pure flame. Sheer paradise. He devoured her, taking control the way he wanted, showing her who he was and what she could expect when she scared the crap out of him and he was pissed as hell.
Maybe it wasn’t her fault and she’d done the only thing she could, but all that adrenaline and rage swirling in him had to go somewhere. Her arms slid around his neck and he yanked down the towel. She kept kissing him, not acknowledging that the towel was gone.
He was aware the moment there was nothing between him and her body. He was always aware of her skin. Her breasts. That tucked-in waist. The flare of her hips. That really nice ass and the way her curls were tight and silky over her mound. He kissed his way over her chin and down her throat to the curve of her left breast. His hand cupped her right one, thumb and fingers working her nipple while his mouth closed over the left.
She gasped, but she didn’t pull away. If anything, she arched her body to give him better access. He took his time, making sure that she knew who she belonged to. He was gentle at first, judging her reactions. He suckled harder. His fingers got rougher. Her hips bucked a little, and he used the edge of his teeth. A sound escaped, a soft moan that she tried to suppress but failed.
He lifted his head, his eyes moving over her face. “Don’t do it again.”
“I can’t promise you that,” she said softly.
He retaliated, his mouth on her again, using his teeth and tongue on her breasts, the undersides, down her belly, his shoulder pushing into her until she had no choice but to lean back, hands gripping the edge of the sink behind her. He bit the inside of her thigh and then licked up her leg. “Don’t do it again.”
“Gino.” Her breath came in ragged gasps. “I want to promise you, but you know I can’t.”
One hand to her belly, he pushed until she was lying on her back, only elbows supporting her. He put his mouth between her legs and lifted her to him. She tasted like she always smelled, that hint of citrus and vanilla. He had no idea where the scent came from, it wasn’t in the soap he’d used on her, but the hot honey spilling from her had just a faint hint. Enough that he wanted more of that elusive taste. He loved the way she tasted, and twice that day, while he was supposed to be working with the others on solutions, he thought about that taste and craved her like a drug.
He gave her no mercy. She hadn’t given him any. He’d watched her nearly be taken from him. He’d watched her leave the safety of the porch and run barefoot on her damaged feet straight into hell. In those few moments, he’d known, without a single doubt, he wasn’t just making some decision that could be taken back, making her his choice because he was physically attracted to her. She was wrapped up inside him, tight. Wound around his heart. How the hell she’d gotten there when he’d protected himself for so long, he didn’t know, but she was there and she wasn’t going anywhere.
His heart had nearly stopped. His world had tunneled. He saw that run in slow motion. Wyatt, Ezekiel, Trap and he had sprinted for the pier, all four shoving guns in their jeans as they came out of the laboratory. Looking back, he had no idea what had warned them, but they opened the door to see Zara running toward the dock, Bellisia close behind her. Pepper had raced to get the triplets to the safe room, and Cayenne had stayed on the porch to protect the children.
Gunfire had erupted from the swamp, with return fire from other team members. The attack came from water, road and swamp. Nothing mattered to Gino but getting to Zara. They weren’t going to take his woman.
Gino wouldn’t have been surprised, when he looked in the mirror behind her, to see his hair gray. He used his tongue and teeth ruthlessly on her, driving her up. She gasped. Writhed. He didn’t let her go over. He lifted his head.
“Baby, don’t do it again.”
“Gino.”
Just his name. Breathless. Almost a sob. A little panic-stricken. He took her there again. And then a third time. Each time he punctuated his action with the same thing. “Don’t do it again.”
Her fists curled tightly in his hair. “I didn’t know I was going to do it. It just happened. I didn’t think first.”
He closed his eyes. Of course she hadn’t. She’d acted. And she’d do it again. It wouldn’t matter if it was Nonny or one of their children. She’d go flying to the rescue because that was who Zara was. He rubbed the darker bristles along his jaw over her thighs.
“Coward my ass. You’re going to make me old before my time, woman.”