He kissed me softly as our breathing calmed.

“Is it just me, or have we gotten even better at that?” I asked, feeling slightly drunk on pleasure.

His smile was lazy, and all the more gorgeous for it. “Just imagine how good we’re going to get.”

I stroked his face, letting his day’s worth of stubble rasp the skin of my palm. “I’m not sure I can take anything better.”

His forehead puckered. “Are you sure? Because I’ve been dreaming of this for the last two and a half years. I have quite a few ideas.”

“Oh, really?” I teased, my fingers tracing the raven tattoo that flew down his right pec.

“Really,” he promised in a low, sultry voice that already had my exhausted nerve endings waking back up.

The things this man did to my body with just his voice were criminal.

“Like what?” I asked.

“I thought for starters, we’d try out the huge Jacuzzi tub in there,” he said, motioning behind him. “Then I figured it would be night, and I could take you back on that deck and watch you come under the moonlight. But, I mean…only if you’re up for it.” His eyes took on a wicked, sexy gleam.

“Oh, I’m up for the challenge,” I promised.

One bath and an orgasm later, I found out that he could balance me on a railing and take me at the same time.

Given how loudly I screamed his name, I was certain that our neighbors heard us. I was also certain that I didn’t care.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Landon

Midair

“Mind if I sit?” Pax asked as he stood next to my empty seat.

I took off my headphones and let them drape over my neck.

“Since my girlfriend just stole your seat, I feel like I have to say yes,” I told him and moved over.

We were thirty thousand feet over the Pacific and only a half hour from LAX and reality. At least we were in the Wilder Enterprises private jet. With twenty of us on board, it was crowded enough. One good thing about having two weeks off from the cruise would be the luxury of space.

“You look happy,” he said, clasping the seat belt as I did the same. We’d hit some wicked turbulence an hour ago that I had no wish to repeat.

“Is this where we have the epic man talk?” I asked.

“Nawh,” he said. “I’m just glad you two worked your shit out.”

I looked ahead and over to where Leah and Rachel sat, deep in conversation. The past two days had been perfect—not just the sex, but the feeling of commitment, the idea that we just might make it…if I didn’t fuck it up.

“That remains to be seen,” I said quietly.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

I swallowed the fear that had been knocking at my door since the moment she told me she loved me back on Fiji. “I meant to tell her…before.”

“Before what?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Don’t be stupid,” I snapped.

His hands went up to his shoulders like he was under arrest. “Okay. For fuck’s sake, you’re testy for someone who finally got laid.”

“Seriously?”

“Come on. She’s all mellow, and you’re looking at her like she’s a cake you can’t get enough of. You two fucked.”

I cringed. “Don’t…” I shook my head. “Unless you want me talking about Leah like that, just don’t.”

His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. “Fair enough. I’ve just never known you to be sensitive on that shit.”

“Yeah, well, it’s Rachel.”

“Understood. Now what has you freaked out? What the hell didn’t you tell her?”

“Why I left.”

His eyes widened. “What? She knew it was for the competition, right?”

“Right. But she doesn’t know why.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he said, sliding his hand over his face. “You fought with that girl for the better part of two months and you never told her?”

I shook my head. “She was so pissed. If I told her to start with, I never would have gotten within a hundred yards of her. She might have left…and taken Leah with her.”

“Oh no, you do not tie Leah to this. I made that mistake and it almost cost me her in the first place. As a matter of fact, you saw what me keeping shit from her almost cost me. How the hell can you be so stupid as to repeat my mistake? You’re the smarter of us.”

“It’s not exactly easy,” I hissed. “All I’ve ever wanted is a second chance with her. She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved—the only woman I will ever love. So I figured I’d tell her when she started talking to me again. But then she did, and I didn’t want to chance losing her. So then I figured I’d do it when we were in Fiji. That was why I rented that bungalow. I figured if I told her there, we could work it out away from everyone else, and then carry on.”

“But instead you decided to…” He opened up his hands like he was asking me what the fuck I was thinking…because that’s exactly what he was doing.

“Then she told me she loved me, and well…” I opened my hands in the same fashion.

He shook his head. “You know what? I got nothing. How the fuck are you going to clear this up? She’s about to be home in a few hours, and you know how much her parents hate you.”

“I don’t know. I keep trying to open my mouth and just tell her, but…” I raked my hands over my baseball hat. “But I’m terrified of losing her. I know without a doubt that she’s it for me. She’s the only woman I’m meant to be with. What the fuck do I do if she leaves me?”