Page 67 of Silent Heart

Tangled together, we swam to the boat’s ladder. I pushed Kole against it, gripping his hips with my knees. From the angle of the boat, we were hidden from the shore.

Our hands were everywhere, touching and feeling. The kiss left us breathless, and moments later we were connected, taking one another with hard, sure strokes.

It was a hard coming together, a blistering claiming. At any moment, we could be caught by some wayward fisherman. So we tore into each other with reckless abandon.

Kole pinched my nipple, making my insides convulse. “I can’t believe you dove naked for me.”

“Me either,” I panted. The pleasure of his cock filling me was delicious. I would never tire of it. “I haven’t gone skinny dipping before—always wanted to, though.”

He bit on my lip, pulling it between his teeth. “Saints, you feel so fucking amazing, Harley.”

I gasped as he pistoned his hips, fighting the water’s natural resistance.

“I can’t hold back—” he groaned, hands bruising into my hip.

His cock twitched inside me, emptying itself. Knowing that he was there, bare, and inside me set off a chain reaction. My body, coiled tight, snapped in a furious release.

Waves of soul-consuming pleasure, stronger than any blast of nature, crashed over me. I held onto my anchor, relishing his strong hold. So long as he held me, nothing bad could happen.

You mean everything to me.I gazed at him, unable to speak that sentiment aloud yet. It was there all the same, simmering in my chest.

But too soon, we needed to untangle.

The storm announced its arrival on the far edge of the lake. It would hit this bay in a matter of minutes.

“Wait here,” Kole said gruffly, pulling his board shorts back over his hips and climbing up the ladder. Little waves splashed against my breasts as I bobbed in the water.

Kole tossed me the coverup. I dressed, still crouched on the ladder. By the time I crawled back in the boat, Kole was leaning, one knee on the captain’s chair, and tapping on his phone. Since he rarely looked at the thing, I wondered if something happened.

“Need me to drive us back?” I offered.

Flicking a glance at where I secured the anchor, he nodded. I took a seat behind the wheel, turned the motor on, and slowly pressed the throttle. Unease crept into my bones. It was a sense, more than physical observation. Something was definitely off. The speedboat whipped around. The usually silent man was stony as we flew over the surface of the lake.

Chapter 26 – Harley

Thunder greeted us as we landed at the dock. I felt the quake vibrate to my bones. Shooting a quick glance to the side, there was no emotion on the unreadable features of the gargoyle. At least the storms didn’t seem to bother him while he was conscious. Four weeks, and there’d been no sign of his zombie. The haunted shadows were gone from his face, and Kole looked well rested.

I did that.I healed the stray monster.

But as we hurried across the path, I couldn’t shake the cloak of dread that settled over my shoulders. Kole was rarely on his phone, and yet whatever message he’d read seemed to disturb him terribly.

Torn between my curiosity and the unspoken lines about his personal life that we never seemed to cross, I bit my tongue. It wasn’t until we were in the house, and I was ready to step in the shower that Kole spoke.

“I have to go to Chicago.”

My heart slammed to a halt in my chest. “Okay. For how long?”

Kole only watched me.

Oh, shit.This was it.

This was the end.

I’d known this day would come. Now that it finally had, the air left my lungs as a suffocating hold squeezed my ribs.

“Okay, yeah, sure,” I said with forced cheer.

“You can stay here. Use the house as long as you need.” Kole brushed a lake-drenched lock of hair behind my ear.

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