Garrison's Creed (Titan) (14 page)

“Good for you. Night.” She had to get away from him. It was confirmed, without a sliver of hesitation. She wanted Cash. Needed and craved him. Desperation would take her down, and he’d see her come apart. Her pulse raced, but her fingertips ached to run across his lips, just to take in their softness again.

“Nic, wait.” She heard him slap the mat. Halfway to the gym door, she turned around. No other man on Earth could sound so distant and still mean so much to her. “I’m sorry.”

Sorry for what?
He had spoken the truth. No surprises there. Her chest ached.

“No prob,” she lied, still needing to get away from him. A flick of a wave and she was out the door. It slammed behind her.

***

The caged, florescent lights above his head were set on motion detectors, and one by one, they blacked out. Click. Click. Click. Surrounded by darkness, Cash sat with his thoughts. It made for a lonely moment and summed up the last decade. Granted, he hadn’t physically been alone, but he sure as shit felt that way.

And I have no interest in being alone now.

He jumped up. Two flights of stairs later, he was at a guest room door. He knew Mia would give Nicola this one with its fancy private bathroom. Jared would get the other with the same layout. The rest of the grunts could share the hallway bathrooms.

The sound of footsteps padding on the carpet caught his attention. He looked over his shoulder to see tiny Mia with her big pregnant belly smiling as if she knew what clamored around in his head. She was a therapist, after all, so maybe she understood this maze of emotion.

She nodded toward Nicola’s door. “Are you going to knock?”

That was the question, all right. He hadn’t mapped out what he’d say. Or if he’d knock. A compulsion had brought him to her door, but it hadn’t clued him in on the next steps. “Not sure.”

“I think you should.”

“You don’t know—”

“I know enough, being that I’m a military therapist. Jared has no problem bouncing concerns off me.”

Cash laughed. Mia Winters might be the only woman in the world who would square off against Jared. It happened a lot, even more now with her crazy hormones, though he’d never say that to her face. Watching Mia take on Jared was better than watching a Saturday night barroom brawl. And Mia won almost every time. She was the odds-on favorite.

“Oh, I moved your stuff to the room next door. Adjoining doors, by the way.” Mia winked.

He choked when he tried to swallow and didn’t know what to say. There was no way he’d sleep tonight. He’d been sweating another night under the same roof as Nicola. Now one flimsy door separated him from her bed. No way. No how. He wasn’t going to survive the night knowing she slept mere feet away.

What would she wear to bed?

Time to find out.

Knock. Knock.

No answer.

Cash wasn’t going to let her ignore him, especially not when her clothing options, or maybe lack of, were on his mind. He knocked again. No answer. Cash turned the knob and walked in.

Nicola emerged from her bathroom in a cloud of steam with a tiny towel wrapped around her chest that barely reached her thighs. Her cheeks were fresh and rosy, and her blonde hair dark and shower-wet. He choked, again, and whatever he wanted to say dissolved into the steamy air. She looked like a heaven-sent angel.

“Cash!”

“Sorry.” He put his hands up in surrender, but didn’t retreat, freezing in place, mesmerized by long legs and a scrunched-up, pissed-off face. The scent of lavender filled the room.

He lowered his hands. “Can we chat?”

“I’m in a towel.”

“Don’t I know it, darlin’.” She clung tighter to the towel, as if Cash could will it off of her.

“I need to get dressed. Get out of here.” She tried to shoo him away without releasing her grip on the towel.

“Or I could get undressed. Even things out.”
Whoops, probably not the right thing to say.
He tilted his head, praying for her grin, knowing damn well he’d shed his gym threads quicker than she could say, “go ahead.”

She smiled and gave a tame laugh that said he wasn’t a dead man.
Thank God.
“What do you want?”

“You. Nicola Garrison.”

Her hesitant smile faded, but her warm eyes spoke with a fire and sparkle. She didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Didn’t give him anything to work with other than the brightness in her glare.

“Stop with the last name.”

“No.”

“I don’t want to be just another notch in your belt. I’m not one of your many conquests.” She smirked, and he made a mental note to give Rocco another round of hell for telling tales. Maybe this honesty bullshit would be the only way to figure things out.

“No, you aren’t a conquest. You were my first love, and I’d thought you’d be my last. Anything after you was just killing time.”

She turned away from him, fidgeting with a pair of earrings on the dresser. Her body looked strong, and the towel wasn’t hiding much. She cleared her throat. “Killing time until what?”

“I had no idea.” He scrubbed a hand over his five o’clock shadow. “But now I know.” Silence. She didn’t say a word, and his heart combusted, falling to the hard floor in a fiery explosion.

Her head dropped back, and she stared toward the crown molding. He took one step, then another. He had to save this moment. Had to save them.

Cash placed his hands on her warm, freshly dried shoulders. She smelled delicate and felt silky, satiny, and so much better than he remembered. He slid his hands, shifting her hair over the spectacular slope of her neck and thumbed the nape, rubbing her muscles until a soft sigh drifted into the humid air and hung between them.

Shivers erupted under his touch, and goose bumps rose. Chasing their path, he caressed her neck until she released another sigh.

There was no hiding his arousal. He thought about it too late as she leaned back into him. Hell. He’d tell her—he’d show her—the truth. He was consumed by her.

“I don’t want to be just another girl.”

“You weren’t, and I promise, you aren’t.”

“I’m confused. Concerned.”

“Why?”

“You hate what I do, and what I do is who I am,” she whispered over her shoulder.

“That’s your hold-up?” He trailed a finger down her arm.

“It was hard enough to walk away from you before, Cash. I can’t get mixed up with you again. It’s a recipe for heartache.”

“I loved you once. You think I can’t again?”

She sucked in a breath. His thoughts raced, dying to say something more, but having no idea what more there was to confess.

Nicola’s towel dropped like it was lead lined, taking with it any coherent thought left in his brain. Seeing her gorgeous back trail down to her perfect ass, all he could do was feel the smoothness and strength of her body. He fanned his fingers down toward her waist. Hands on her hips, he spun her to face him. Studying every inch of her body, one thought detonated in his mind.
Never just another girl.

He traced her jaw, tilting her head up. Trusting eyes met his. She fingered the hem of his shirt, and he shrugged it off.

“I need a shower. I should’ve…” He should’ve done a thousand things.

“I’ll get in with you.”

“You just—”

“I don’t care—”

He hushed her with a kiss as promising as he could make it. His hands knotted into her hair, and her mouth welcomed his. Cash tasted her sweet lips. A step forward and he crushed his body against hers, needing nothing but her.

She sighed into the kiss. “Shower?”

Taking her hands in his, he walked them into the bathroom. The fog on the mirror had started to fade, but the humidity and heat enveloped them. She turned the water on and stood naked by the cascading water, his image of perfection.

Cash was suddenly aware of himself, of his history. His unworthiness. She deserved better than him. Rocco and Roman were right.

“Cash?”

“Yeah.”

“You okay?”

“I’m feeling guilty.”

“That’s my line.” She smiled, warm and caring as an embrace.

“It’s just…” He gestured toward the bathroom counter, like that was supposed to mean something.

“Let’s take a shower. Kiss me like the years weren’t missing.” She stepped to him, pushed her bare breasts against his chest, and he almost moaned. He considered bartering for a ten second shower, then a long dive under the covers, but her lips met his, she hooked an arm around him, and they kissed into the shower. No bartering or negotiating needed.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Heat surrounded her. It wasn’t the hot water pouring down that made her feel wash-cycle dizzy. The granite-tiled wall of water jets and the rain showerhead added to the mind-reeling moment. Cash was naked, gloriously large, broad, and overwhelming. His rolling pecs and biceps rippled as he moved. His muscles barely hid under the layer of golden, water-flecked skin. He locked her with a gaze that made her legs tremble. The knowing and depth in his eyes told the story of their past and made her heart bleed and her hands heavy.

In this impossible moment, she existed in the midst of deliberate, tender kisses. The minty taste of his kiss flooded her mouth and melted away her hesitation in the way only a promise and a hope could. As Cash explored her throat, his stubble tickled the underside of her chin. This was more than she remembered. Deeper. A grown man on a mission. She teetered on the devastating edge of a Cash coma. She’d dissolve and slip down the drain, a puddle of the liquid fire burning through her veins.

“Sweet girl,” wet lips whispered against her neck. Vibrations buzzed inside her, and her body responded with a desperate wetness that only Cash knew how to command.

Nicola swayed forward, her hand finding balance on the rigid plane of his abdomen. Cash cupped her jaw, thumbs skimming over her cheeks.

“You still with me, Nic?”

Absolutely.
She nodded, a lust-drunk smile slipping onto her face. “Still here.”

“Good.”

“Wait.” Pulling back, reaching for reality, she grabbed the shampoo bottle. “We’re in here for a reason.”

“Nah. I’m here ’cause you’re the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen, and then you smiled.”

Oh, the things he said to her. Heat flared in her cheeks, and she focused on action, rubbing a dollop of shampoo into a lather. She reached for his hair. Caring for him felt as natural as running kiss-first into the shower.

Her fingers massaged in the soap. Lathered hair feathered under the water. Zips of sensation spiraled from her fingertips. Cash’s eyes closed. Sudsy, soapy water ran down his chiseled cheekbones and straight nose. All hints of the bruises were gone. His face was unmarred and unhurried.

“I missed you, Cash.”

The corners of his mouth turned up, not quite into a grin, just an acknowledgement of this perfect moment.

She rinsed his hair clean, watching the last of the bubbles slip down his chest and over his torso, past the light dusting of hair that rolled down his stomach leading to his hardened shaft. Nicola felt twenty years old again. All she could do was stare. Each time she brushed and moved against him, shockwaves of excitement pulsed to her core.

Startling blue eyes caught her staring. Her breath hitched in her throat, a rare mixed reaction of nervousness, interest, and eagerness. His finger ran over her lips, then he kissed her mouth.

“Come here.”

Water cascaded down her face, dripping off her eyelashes. Cash thumbed the droplets away and carefully lowered her down onto the massive shower’s built-in ledge. The cool tile was a welcome contrast to his warm, strong hands. Cash knelt in front of her and nudged between her knees with his large hands. He was a massive man. Built powerful and beautiful, and his laser focus made her feel like the center of the universe.

She wanted him. Wanted them. Nerves and doubt could disappear. She had no interest in second guesses. Right now, they had the opportunity to make things whole again.

“In your truck tonight—I swear.” Nicola cradled his chin in her fingers, holding his gaze to hers. “I trembled for your touch.”

Honesty. It was the only thing she could offer. The only thing she knew might heal the aching, gaping hole. A hole just like hers that every deep breath in his arms helped to repair.

He took her hand in his, put her palm to his mouth, and kissed. His tongue stroked each finger. Nicola moaned, whispering his name. Steam danced around them. The heat of his touch swirled with memories. Thank God for the warm waterfall protecting them from the outside world.

Putting one word after another was too hard a task, and his kiss said that it was all right. She would be okay.

Cash leaned forward and nuzzled the valley between her breasts, then turned his attention to one stiff nipple. He drew it into his mouth, and the tip grew tighter against his gentle suction. Her sex ached for contact.

He moved to her other breast, repeating the action. She arched forward, needing to be against him. Needed to feel him covering her. Her hands threaded into his hair, moving with the lazy motion of his kisses. Lips, mouth, and tongue, he teased her. Heat bloomed within her, a magical feeling both intoxicating and addictive.