“Take off your shoes and socks,” I tell him once we’re in my room.
And he does, never moving his pained gaze off me. “Ivy…”
I pull his sodden shirt free. In the soft light of the table lamp, his torso is pale and prickled with cold. “Let’s get these things off first,” I murmur. Together we tackle his jeans, our fingers tangling. Gray pushes it all off, but I don’t look. I can’t right now. My eyes stay on his shoulders as I lead him to my bed, lifting the down comforter up so he can slide in.
Fully dressed, I follow and pull him close. Instantly, he wraps an arm around my waist and burrows his face into the crook of my neck. I get cold just holding him, and I tuck the covers tighter around us.
“Crazy ass,” I murmur, my hand rubbing soothing circles over his broad back and down his arms to get his blood flowing. “You’re half frozen.”
Gray grunts, his grip on me tight. The cold wet of his hair seeps through my shirt. But he’s getting warmer. It feels so good to hold him. The low place in my belly that has been hard and pained eases. Then awareness sets in, the heavy weight of his arm along my waist, of how he’s completely naked, wrapped around me, his thick thigh pushed between mine.
I touch a damp strand of his hair. “I should have gotten you a towel.”
Slowly he stirs, and then his breath gusts against the sensitive skin at my neck. “I should move. But I don’t want to.”
He sounds so petulant, like a boy in threat of losing his favorite toy, that my lips tremble on a smile. “Oh sure, get me all wet. I don’t mind.”
Gray makes a strangled noise, and a weak laugh escapes him. “Oh, Mac, so many things I could do with that. It’s almost too easy.”
A furious blush hits my cheeks as I realize what I’ve said. But I find myself snickering against his temple. The urge to kiss his forehead makes me bite my lip. “I’ve missed you, Gray.”
He lifts his head. His thick lashes are clumped together with damp. “You told me to stay away.”
“I didn’t mean all the time,” I mutter, still stung.
“Truth, Ivy? I can’t be around you and not think of what we did together. Not want to talk about it.”
That quickly, all the confusion and fear I’ve been feeling surges like an incoming tide. The need for escape has me breaking free from his hold and jumping out of bed.
From the corner of my eye, I see Gray lurch up. His hard, irate voice follows. “Don’t you dare run again, Ivy.”
“I’m not running…” My words die on my tongue because Gray is out of bed and stalking toward me and, sweet mother… Wide shoulders, flat-packed muscles leading down to a narrow waist, he’s so gorgeous my knees go weak. His massive thighs bunch and shift with each hard step, his cock hanging thick and heavy between them.
Out of breath, I lean against the wall to keep from toppling. But he doesn’t notice. His gaze burns bright and angry. He walks right up to me, not stopping until he’s caged me in, bracing his arms on either side of my head. And then I see it isn’t anger in his eyes, but desperation. His voice comes out soft but insistent. “Looks like running away to me.”
God, he’s too close. I can’t think. My breath comes out choppy, my breasts nearly brushing the taut wall of his chest. “Gray, get back in bed—”
“Only if you come with me,” he rasps, his gaze roaming my face. But the bluish tinge of his lips worries me.
When he shivers again, I duck under his arm, earning a sound of protest, and head to the bathroom with Gray hot on my heels.
“Ivy—”
“Hold on,” I tell him when we enter the bathroom.
Because it’s my dad’s guesthouse, the shower stall is massive, with white marble slab tiles and a glass partition wall to keep the water from splashing everywhere. I turn the shower on full heat. “Get in. I can’t talk to you when I know you’re half frozen.”
I cross my arms over my chest and wait, not looking at him. Naked Gray is not something I can handle without dissolving on the spot. But I feel him brush past me, muttering under his breath about stubborn women.
“I’m in.” His deep voice echoes throughout the room as steam begins to rise. “You happy now? Can we talk?”
“So talk.”
He doesn’t answer. The steady beat of the shower fills the silence. And the air grows humid. My heart thuds against my ribs.
“Ivy. Look at me.”
“Um. You’re naked.” The muscles along my back tense up with the urge to turn and stare.
“You just saw me naked.” There’s a smile in his voice.
“Yeah, I think we need to have that boundaries talk again.”
A drop of water hits my neck, and it sends a bolt of feeling to my toes. His voice is close now, and I know he’s leaning past the glass. “Ivy Mac, I want you to see me. Nothing between us. Please, honey. Look at me.”
The request wraps around my heart, has me turning. And, holy hell. My mouth goes dry, and I have to brace myself. Standing half behind the water-streaked glass, nothing is hidden. Wet is a good look for Gray. Droplets of water bead silver on golden skin, trickle in paths over valleys and hills of muscle.
My fingers twitch to slide along that slick skin, to run along his dripping hair, now bronze with wet. But it’s the way he’s looking at me, his blue eyes pleading to let me in, that has tenderness squeezing my chest.
Smooth glass meets my palm. Gray’s hand lifts, presses against the other side, his fingers so much longer than mine. “Ivy, I kissed you and—”