When I was done, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my hips.
My reflection in the mirror made me wince, so I didn’t linger. I dried off hurriedly before I put on my boxer briefs, and then I took myself and my bloodshot eyes outta the bathroom.
I paused at the bed, seeing Ace’s hair splayed all over her pillow, and I couldn’t keep myself from walking over to her side. It was a magnetic pull that I had no control over. She was asleep and hugging a stuffed animal to her—a birthday present from Boone, if I wasn’t mistaken. I bent down and brushed a kiss to her forehead, and I fucking hated how quickly she was growing up. From the age of four, she’d been a tiny adult. It wasn’t often she slept with her stuffies anymore.
“Case.”
I straightened and glanced over at Boone. Maybe he was worried I was gonna wake her up. The couch was visible through the railing dividing the suite, and he’d prepared one side of the couch for me. The only thing that stood between me and crisp sheets now was Boone himself. There were two steps, and I could only descend one of them because he was blocking the way.
I lifted a brow in question, even though he wasn’t making eye contact. His tired gaze roamed my body instead, and his inner turmoil suddenly became painfully clear to me. He couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was feeling.
“I don’t know what to do when close isn’t close enough.” His low, rough voice shook me with the openhearted plea in it.
“No, I think you know,” I murmured. He was just afraid, and I got it. A lot was at stake. “But whatever you’re going through, I’m here.” It was terrifying to me too, but there was no alternative. I’d wanted him for so fucking long that even if this turned out to be a temporary phase of confusion for him, it didn’t matter. He could use me. I had no pride or dignity in the matter.
I had very little hope, too, to be honest. Boone had always been straighter than an arrow, and I was willing to bet he was mixing up his grief—missing me, wanting to raise Ace with me, be a family—with the types of feelings he otherwise reserved for women. But now I was back in his life, and perhaps he didn’t know what to make of it.
“What do you wanna do right now?” I asked quietly.
He finally looked me in the eye, and there was no doubt about what he wanted. The fire ignited instantly. He closed the distance between us and kissed me, and I was fully prepared for once. I cupped his cheeks and pressed myself to him, feeling less cautious and a lot more demanding.
He was getting bolder too, and I fucking loved it. As I deepened the kiss, he slipped his hands underneath my boxer briefs and palmed my ass roughly, squeezing me to him. It shot a bolt of lust through me, and I moved my hands to the back of his head and my fingers into his hair.
He exhaled the sexiest groan when I tugged at his hair, so I made sure to do it again.
Despite that he only had a couple inches on me in height, it felt good to stand on the middle step and tower over him a little. It felt even better how he seemingly went all in and took everything I gave him. I wanted to go so much further, but I had to slow my roll.
I swept my tongue around his and tried to go for a more unhurried kiss. Not just for him, for me too. If I kept going much longer, I’d be hard as a rock.
I didn’t wanna stop kissing him, though. His lips felt too fucking good against my own. Warm, both soft and firm, with the sexy rasp of our beards.
“Go take a shower.” I had to clear the lust out of my voice. I wasn’t sure what turned me on the most, kissing him or feeling his cock getting hard against my thigh. “When you’re done, go to bed if you’re tired. Or—come to me, and I’ll take care of you.”
He shuddered and inched back a little. “Don’t put those thoughts in my head.”
I mustered a ghost of a smile and kissed him quickly. “I’m not asking for anything in return, and I won’t push you. But I won’t lie. I want that cock in my throat.”
“Jesus.” He took another step back and scrubbed his hands over his face. “The thoughts are in my head now, jackass.”
I chuckled and passed him on the way to the couch.
I was passed out seconds after my head hit the pillow, so it was totally up to him what happened next. Either he woke me up and got head, or we’d wake up at the same time when Ace deemed it was time to get breakfast.
Neither happened. As if my body had been expecting it, I went from fast asleep to wide awake when Boone crawled under the duvet with me sometime later. He couldn’t have come straight from his shower. For one, his hair was dry. For two, the night sky was giving way to a new day, slowly but surely.
We had maybe an hour or two before Ace would be up.
“What time is it?” I whispered.
“Five.” He pulled the duvet higher up and landed on the pillow. “I just wanna be close to you.”
I swallowed past the dryness in my throat and shifted an arm under his head. “Okay. I’m right here.” He looked like he hadn’t slept much. I was ready to get a few more Z’s, though. I didn’t wanna move around too much either, ’cause I could sense a headache threatening to overtake if I got cocky.
He sighed contentedly and buried his face against my neck, and I
