Skylar couldn’t help but gaze upon all that beautiful exposed muscle, the cut abs, that sexy V that disappeared into the low waist of his jeans.
There was a low stuffed arm chair in the corner by the picture windows that overlooked the beach. He sat down in it and bent to pull his boots and socks off, tossing them across the room, into the closet. Then he leaned back into the chair, and she could see the exhaustion rolling off him.
Coming to stand behind him, she started rubbing his shoulders, his skin smooth and warm beneath her hands. His head fell back, and his eyes slid closed as her fingers dug into the knotted muscles.
“Hmm, that feels good.”
She worked his muscles harder.
She thought about the fight he’d been in tonight. This was a whole new side of Shades. A side of him that was being revealed to her on this trip. First the violence in New Orleans, when he’d decked that creep in the bar. Then his confrontation with Blood that same night. And now this fight tonight. This was a side of Shades she hadn’t seen when they’d been together years ago. Maybe it had always been there, maybe he’d just kept it hidden from her. But she’d never been confronted with it before. She’d never been actual witness to it. Witness to its fallout.
She took in Shades’ face, still unbelievably attractive despite being all bruised up. She’d been taken with his good looks from the first moment she’d met him, but it had always been about more than his looks. It was his overwhelming masculinity, his intensity, his strength, his dominant personality. It was the rousing sex and the sweet kisses. The way he brought out the wild side in her, and the way he drew out her most guarded fears, secrets, hopes and dreams.
She’d fallen in love with his gruff voice and his dirty words, the gentleness of his touch, and his growly commands. The way he could be rough and playful with her one minute and sweet and tender with her the next. She never knew what to expect. He was anything but predictable. And she loved that about him. Skylar’s lips touched the skin of his neck and she felt Shades relax into the caress.
“You should sleep.” She slid her arms around him. “You’ve been going non-stop for days. You barely slept when we were in New Orleans.”
“If you wanted me to sleep, you shouldn’t have started touching me like that, sweetheart. When I walked in the room, sleep was all I had on my mind. Now you’ve got me thinking about something else.”
His hand came up to cup her neck, pulling her head down as he tipped his head back and claimed her mouth with his. The kiss was gentle, sweet, but she felt him holding back. When he released her, she looked down into his eyes.
“Come here, pretty girl.” He pulled her around in front of him and onto his lap, his arms encircling her hips. “We need to have an actual honest conversation.”
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Shades studied Skylar. He knew what was going through her mind. Skylar might try to play the tough biker chick, but she’d never fully pull it off, not when everything she felt played across her face.
“You’re upset.” He watched the frown form on her face, but she wasn’t fooling him. She knew exactly what he was talking about. “The fighting. You don’t like it.”
She did that cute thing he knew she always did where she sucked in her lips as if she was trying to literally hold back the words. His eyes dropped to her mouth. “Say it. Tell me.”
When still she stayed quiet, he squeezed her. “We have to be able to talk about shit, Skylar. We always could before.”
“It scares me. I’ve never seen this side of you. Maybe it was always there, but—”
“I did my best to keep that all away from you.”
“So, it was always there?”
He shrugged. “It’s been a stressful week, Sky. I won’t always be coming home with bruises.”
“But, the life you lead—”
“The life I lead is the same one I always led. You’re just in it now, in a way you weren’t before.”
“Is this the norm for you? First New Orleans and now here? Are you going to get in fist fights everywhere we go?”
“Sky, I don’t go looking for fights, but if someone’s insulting you or some goddamn club is trying to invade our turf, then hell yeah, I’ll make the motherfuckers bleed.”
She looked at him, and it was with anything but certainty.
“That look tells me that right now you’re questioning what the hell you’re signing up for,” Shades said in a low voice.
She looked down and he knew that was exactly what she was doing.
He lifted her chin. “Babe, look at me.” When her eyes connected with his, he searched them. “You don’t get to pick which parts of me you accept. You don’t have to agree with me or like all the decisions I make, but if you accept me, you’ve got to take all of me.”
“So this will always be a part of our lives? The violence?” There was a bite to her words, and it wasn’t lost on Shades. He took a deep breath and nodded.