“Wait here,” he murmured, then got off the bed.
Unable to keep myself upright, I dropped face-first into his pillow.
A chuckle echoed in the bathroom as water ran in the sink.
He was so silent on his return, chills hit me when he kissed the divots above my ass. He trailed kisses up and down my spine before he washed me with a warm cloth. When he finished, I languidly stretched and rolled over.
Appreciatively, I watched his muscles ripple under his tanned skin as he dressed.
Jesus, the man was an Adonis.
Once he’d covered all that delectable flesh, he pulled his hair back and secured it, watching me the entire time. His gaze was heated despite the bone-melting fucking he’d already given me.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can. Maybe you could look for houses online while I’m gone, yeah?”
“Mmmm, okay,” I said with a satisfied tip of my lips. “And the answer to your earlier question is yes.”
His grin was almost blinding in its beauty as he approached the bed. Resting his hands next to me, he leaned down to give me one last kiss before he left the room.
Holy shit. After eleven years, I was finally going to be Mrs. Lucian Stone.
Clicking away on my mouse to look at picture after picture, I was deep in the house hunt when my door opened again.
“I’ve found several possibilities, but I’m not sure exactly where you want to be or how big,” I said, but stopped talking when I saw his expression.
“I have to go,” he said.
“Go where?” I asked, suddenly worried and on the edge of panicking.
“I’m not able to say exactly at this time, but we think we found the woman you’re looking for.”
I jumped up from my seat. “You found the island? You need to take me with you.”
“Hell, no. We already discussed this. It’s going to be dangerous as fuck, and I don’t want you anywhere near it. Do you remember what you’re supposed to do?” We had come up with a plan as soon as they had Khatri’s men. Since we had no idea how long it would be before we had something to go on, they wanted to be prepared for action. I hadn’t said anything at the time about going because I was afraid they’d tell me no, and I was right.
“Yes. As soon as I get the call that you have the target secured, I call Ryan, who notifies his friends with the FBI that are on standby with the Coast Guard.” I rattled it all off like I was a flight attendant going over preflight checks.
Though I wanted to argue about going with, I knew I wouldn’t get him to budge. Unhappily resigned, I sighed. “Do you know how long you’ll be?”
He shook his head.
“When do you leave?” I asked, hoping I’d be able to have a few moments with him.
“Now.”
“Jesus. Okay.” It really wasn’t. I was freaking the fuck out inside, but I knew he didn’t need to be worrying about me.
“Keep your phone on you for our call. You know what to do,” he said, and I nodded.
We moved at the same time, and my arms flew around him as he wrapped me in a tight embrace. “I fucking love you,” he said, causing me to smile.
“I love you too. Please be careful,” I said into the soft fabric of his chambray shirt.
“Always.”
Reluctantly, we parted. He sifted his fingers through my hair as his pale gaze drank me in.
“Can you give me some search criteria before you go? Buy, rent, size, location?” I asked, trying to lighten the somber mood.
“Close to the clubhouse, if you can find something. Other than that, whatever you like. If you want to buy, we buy. If you’re not ready to decide, we rent.”
I nodded.
He gave me one last passionate kiss, and there was a knock on the door. “Yeah?” he called, barely pulling away from my mouth.
“It’s go time!” whoever was waiting said.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said firmly before he was gone.
I dropped back into the chair and wrapped my arms around myself, already wishing they were his. We’d been apart for years and handled it; why it was suddenly crushing was a mystery. Then I prayed he’d be home soon and safe. I also prayed they found the young woman unharmed, but in the back of my mind, I prepared for the worst.