Chloe should have never broached the subject of his enlistment. She knew better than to open festering wounds. Had dealt with countless families who lived with grief, loss, and helplessness on a daily basis. The more they talked, the wilder Nate’s expression had become. Like an animal caught in a snare with no other choice but to chew its own leg off or die. She’d pushed him too far.
She reached up and wrapped her fingers around his elbow. He wouldn’t let her coax him to relax his grip. His hands were locked behind his neck, the knuckles turning white. Tense didn’t begin to describe the way his muscles bunched at his back, fanning out from the solid wings at either side of his torso and tapering down to his narrow waist. He wouldn’t budge and so Chloe changed her tactics, stepping behind him to lay her palms to the muscles she’d just been studying.
She’d ease his anxiety and tension whether he wanted her to or not. It was going to take more than a pit bull expression and a few barked words to scare her off.
Chloe reached out and gripped the mounds of muscle that rounded his shoulders. She massaged in slow circles with the pads of her thumbs, kneading every individual knot until she felt them loosen. Nate let out a slow breath and his hands relaxed their grip a fraction of an inch. Downward, she traced each vertebra until she got to the small of his back where it met the gentle swoop of his ass. So much power in his body. He exuded strength. The man could have been cut from marble.
Outward to his torso, Chloe focused her efforts on his laterals, pressing with the pad of her thumb and allowing her fingertips to splay out over his ribs. Nate’s breathing grew deeper, more even, though he refused to release his grip on the back of his neck. For almost a half hour, Chloe continued. Over his shoulders, down his spine, up the sides of his torso, and then she started again. When he finally unlaced his fingers and let his arms drop, Chloe knew he’d finally calmed down.
She rose up on her tiptoes and spoke close to his ear, “Let’s go inside, Nate.”
Without a word he turned and followed her back into the room. She grabbed his hand and led him to the bed. “Lie down.”
Again, as though he had no choice but to do as she said, he eased himself down onto the mattress. Chloe knelt down beside him and began to massage the solid muscles of his arms and across his chest. “It’s okay to freak out, Nate.” He let his eyes drift shut but she knew he was listening. “No one could go through that and just brush it off. You can’t beat yourself up for it, either. It’s okay to feel. And you don’t ever have to be embarrassed about it. Especially with me.”
His body relaxed into the mattress and Chloe soothed him with gentle touches and smooth passes of her palms, interspersed with harder concentrations of her thumbs and fingertips. His breathing grew more even and the deep furrow that marred his brow eased until he no longer appeared distressed. She thought that maybe Nate had fallen asleep until his hands reached out to grip her wrists.
Chloe paused and her heart began a wild rhythm in her chest.
Nate’s eyes opened, the intense hazel depths boring straight through her. Her breath caught as he sat up. He released his hold on her wrists and unbuttoned her shirt before dragging it down her shoulders. Chloe shrugged it the rest of the way off and it fell to the floor with a rustle of fabric. Nate reached up and cupped her cheek as he brought her mouth slowly to his. The kiss was slow, sensual. A lazy caress that drew Chloe’s stomach tight and caused her blood to race through her veins. When he pulled away, Nate simply stared for a long moment before pulling Chloe down beside him on the bed. He tucked her body against his and the heat from his chest nearly burned against her back. A long, exhausted sigh escaped from between his lips. Nate wrapped his arms around her, hugging Chloe tight to him as though he was afraid she might try to get away.
Long, quiet moments passed and Chloe listened to the sound of Nate’s breathing as it transformed from short little clips to long, easy pulls of air. His arms relaxed around her as sleep overtook him. Chloe wished she could find the calm necessary to sleep but her heartbeat refused to slow as it pounded in her chest.
Her fingers drew a lazy pattern on the muscled length of his forearm as she stared off at some unknown point on the opposite wall. Whatever this was between her and Nate, she suspected that they’d just crossed into territory from which there was no return. And she wasn’t entirely sure if it thrilled her, or scared her to death.
SEVEN