Page 37 of Reaper’s Wrath

CHAPTER 21

ELIO

We keep the boat cold at night. Until Evie showed up, it’s only been men on board, and all of us are hot-natured. Isa’s rebellion over the covers won’t last. It’s only a matter of time before she caves and joins me under the blankets.

I turn off the lights and pass out, exhausted from my day, but I must have subconsciously worried about her because I wake a few hours later to find her curled into the fetal position out in the cold. When I rest my hand on her forearm, I confirm that she’s freezing.

“Goddamn bullheaded woman,” I mutter while maneuvering her so I can get her under the covers with me.

“Huh?” Her sleepy half moan comes with a full-body shudder.

“I’m warming you up.”

I expect her to argue, but instead, she snuggles as close as she can, her front pressed to mine. “Ssso c-c-cold,” she chatters.

“I know, Ees. Let me warm you.”

Her feet are fucking icicles. I need her to warm up faster, so I tug off the joggers. Again, she doesn’t fuss, which almost bothers me more than if she had. Lying on my back, I pull her half on top of me, making sure to press my feet against hers as best as I can.

Slowly but surely, her body stops its shivers and relaxes into mine.

Mine.

It’s not so much a word as an overwhelming truth that settles deep in my bones as I hold her against me. It feels impossibly right yet infuriating at the same time. Why do I still want a woman who acts like she doesn’t remember what we shared?

We were each other’s firsts, for Christ’s sake.

Twenty years apart and an unforgivable cold shoulder, yet here I am, holding her to me like she’s the very air I breathe. That’s some fucked-up shit. I should have had more respect for myself, but I never did have self-control when it came to her. It seems some things never change.

My hips flex at the seductive sensation of something warm and solid rubbing up against my cock. I’m groggy with sleep but can sense the sun is up, which means I should be up. But I have company.

I inhale deeply and absorb Isa’s scent into my bloodstream.

Fuck, it feels incredible to wake with her body draped over mine.

Her thigh is hiked up so that her knee is resting on my engorged dick, adding to my growing problem. Well, not a problem to me, but I suspect she might not agree.

I give a small stretch, relishing the way she clings to me when I move. My brain practically implodes when she grinds her core against my thigh and releases a feminine moan. My arm at her back reflexively holds her closer, encouraging her to use my body for her pleasure.

When she does it again, a rumble of satisfaction vibrates from my chest. It must jar her fully awake because her entire body stiffens.

“Don’t stop on my account,” I purr.

She scrambles off my body and rolls away from me. “I was asleep. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“What you were doing was feeling good. No shame in that.” I wrap my arm around her middle and pull her back against my front and bury my face in her long golden hair.

“Just because my body responded to you in my sleep doesn’t mean I want to have sex with you,” she quips, trying to hold her body in a way to minimize our contact.

I know I shouldn’t find her discomfort amusing, but I do. I would never push her to the point of actual distress. But fuck if I’m not going to take every opportunity to remind her of the way things used to be. She may want to pretend it never happened, but I’ll never forget.

“You sure about that?” I say the words intentionally raspy, and as intended, her chest expands on a shuddered breath.

“Because … you’re a murderer.” Her voice is husky.

“And Mazzi isn’t?”

“He knew sex wasn’t a part of the deal.”