Page 5 of Splintered Security (Aspen & Evergreen #2)

water droplets

Ren

I head for the shower, dreading what comes next. My suit jacket is destroyed. The decimated dress shirt below goes in the trash right behind it. It’s the undershirt that concerns me. And I wasn’t wrong to worry about it.

It’s caked to my body in dried blood and rips new scabs open as I remove it.

Since I’m a glutton for punishment, I check the mirror before flipping on the shower. My back may as well be ground zero. It looks like it’s been the site of more than one battle.

That’s because it has.

New day, new scars. They’re hidden at least.

I step under the spray and wince. When the color of the water switches from red to pink to clear, I soap up and rinse off, spending an extra minute or two in the steam and solitude.

My mind is reeling. I’ve never been through any kind of explosives detonating. Tonight was the first, and it still wasn’t the biggest bombshell of the night. How do I even think about being engaged to Anni? Marrying her?

It’s not her… she’s perfect, even if she is a little melodramatic. I pause at that thought. I don’t know this Anni. The Anni I grew up with was perfect, even when she was annoying, pesky, and inconvenient.

This Anni is the same person, just as smart, far more beautiful and alluring, but with… secrets. Secrets I want to puzzle out.

It crashes down on me. Everything will change. Everything changes now, actually. My home, my future, any and all plans. My whole focus requires me to think like a we and not just about me. This is going to fuck everything up.

I fist my cock. Just the thought of Anni in my home makes me want things I shouldn’t. But her moving around my house in a T-shirt and my boxers. It’s as sexy as lingerie when it comes down to it.

Something possessive rises from deep in my gut as I grip my hot flesh, tugging and yanking. I’m brutal in my grip and merciless in my strokes.

This is necessity.

This is punishment.

This is efficiency.

Not that there isn’t pleasure here, but I know her hands will never slide over me like this, her body will never choke me in its grip.

I signed up for who the hell knows what when it comes to sex. I’m not celibate, but I’m sure as fuck not an adulterer. Well, fuck .

I slam my hand against the shower surround and, in three more tugs, groan my release.

Anni

From the moment the water slides on, I start snooping. I know I shouldn’t and, quite honestly, I’ll have all the time I could ever want, but curiosity gets the best of me.

I’ve known Ren since I was six years old. But I haven’t known him in more than a decade. And since my life is now tied to his, and my safety only as good as his protection, I’m curious.

The reticent boy I knew, the one who was welcoming and kind, even if he was a bit aloof, is now all man. Like “oh my God, every head turns when he walks in the room” kind of man. He’s mysterious, and I have no doubt that adds to his charm.

No woman will ever know his secrets, and I’m sure most would die trying to unravel them.

His home is well-appointed if a little plain. It’s obvious a woman has never lived here. Shame on me for not even asking if he was seeing someone. This marriage of convenience may not be convenient at all for him. Will he continue seeing her? Will our marriage be a sham?

That thought causes me to snort as I open drawers and look inside closet doors. The last thing this is is convenient .

I’m uprooting my life, moving cities, changing my name, and everything else that goes with that nightmare. I also need a job.

A pounding through the bathroom wall makes me lose all my qualms. I run for the en suite bath in Ren’s bedroom hoping he hasn’t collapsed or something. I skid to a halt just in time to hear a moan echo off the bathroom walls.

That’s not a moan of pain. That’s… I tilt my head like it can help me hear any more clearly or rewind the scene so I can listen again. That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. I drop my eyes, committing the sound to memory, feeling warmth move through my body straight to my core.

Pure bliss suffuses me and lust pounds in my veins, just as the door pulls wide. There stands Ren in nothing but a towel. His chest glistens with water droplets. The fact that I notice them at all when his chest and abs look the way they do is a testament to my willpower.

Seriously. He has the vee. Good God, what have I gotten myself into?

He stands stock still, rivulets of water running from his hair onto his broad shoulders. He says nothing, but his face asks a hundred questions. The loudest of them is what am I doing here?

“I... Uh.” I bolt.

I literally run out the door, down the hall to the kitchen. It’s the farthest away from Ren and his water droplets, and the sound of his ecstasy. I open the walk-in pantry and step inside, closing the door behind me, as if that will save me from my own stupidity .

I peruse the shelves like the items here are worthy of my scrutiny.

It takes less than a minute, but light pours into the little space from the open door.

Ren fills the frame. His chest is bare. He wears only basketball shorts slung dangerously low on his hips.

His belly button is an outie, but I already knew that.

It’s the black hair surrounded it, pointing straight to his?—

Shit. I’m staring. I look away, facing the pasta section with great interest and put a thumb and forefinger to my chin. I need this to look like the most serious decision I’ve had to make this month, because I’ll die of embarrassment if we discuss anything that just happened.

“Hungry?” His voice is serious, but his lips tip up in a smirk.

“Starving.” I let my eyes trail the ingredients on his shelves like it’s my stomach we’re talking about. “You cook?”

“Yes. Come on out, Anni.” He gestures for me to trade places with him. “I’ll whip us up something quick.”

I’ll overlook the word “whip” so long as the topic stays somewhere safe.

“Are you allergic to anything?”

“Nope.” I raise my voice a bit, taking a seat at the bar, and silently catalog the ingredients.

Pasta and garlic come from the pantry. He grabs something green from the fridge, along with a couple of eggs and some bacon.

It’s when he turns around to set them on the counter that I suck in air .

Just like that, I’m off the stool and behind him. My gasp is the only sound in the room aside from the hum of the refrigerator. Ren’s back is pulverized. I reach up tentatively, but can’t find a place for my hands to touch or stroke that won’t cause more pain.

“We need to get you to the hospital.” My voice is a ragged whisper. I have no power behind it to compel the air out.

“I’m fine.”

‘This is not fine, Ren. I—” I search his back. New injuries and old. “I didn’t know.”

I don’t know lots of things. How much of this is tonight? Why did he protect me like he did? What the hell was here before that explosion?

I finally rest a hand on his hip. When air hisses through his lips, I quickly remove it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t.”

“Well, obviously, I did.” I smack his elbow lightly before checking to see if it’s injury free. Thank God it is. I already feel horrible. I’d feel even worse if I’d reinjured him.

He stands stock still with his chin lifted to the ceiling. Immobile and waiting.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” My question is loaded, and we both know it.

He shrugs. His wide shoulders bunching around ropes of muscles before relaxing into the statue he was before .

“Are you sure you don’t need medical attention?” My mostly one-sided conversation isn’t getting either of us anywhere.

“Positive.”

“Would you like me to cook to give your body time to relax?”

“How good are you with carbonara?” His response is not what I’m expecting.

“I can spell it.”

That warrants me a smile. “Well, sit your butt down and give me fifteen. We’ll have a decent meal.”

He waits for me to do as I’m told before grabbing something from the freezer. Soon enough, he’s frying bacon and garlic in a pan with leeks, and the whole kitchen smells like an Italian restaurant. Chalk one up on my list of things I never considered I should look for in a man.

He wasn’t lying about the fifteen minutes.

He must’ve needed that for the noodles, because it only takes that long for a gorgeous bowl of steaming pasta to be set in front of me.

Golden yellow Bucatini is dotted with red bacon, green peas, and fried leeks.

Cracked black pepper makes it look like this came from one of those white tablecloth restaurants.

He stabs a forkful and twists, throwing the huge bite in his mouth.

I do the same, but moan when it hits my tongue. “This is your idea of whipping up something? Seriously. Mine is a bowl of cereal.” My fake complaint is meant as a compliment.

He smiles down at me.

“It’s delicious. When did you learn to cook ?

“I learned the basics while I was in the Army. Played around after I got out. And for the time it takes to pour a bowl of cereal, you could have protein and veggies.” He uses his fork to point at the bowl.

“And pasta,” I add with far more enthusiasm. I dig in for another bite, letting another happy sound escape me.

“And pasta.” His repeated words are soft, but they come with a smile. “Did you make a list?”

“What?”

“While I was in the shower. You were going to make a list of everything we need to do tomorrow.” He looks up at the clock and shakes his head. “Rather, later today.

“Oh. That. Yeah, no. I went to find a piece of paper, but started snooping instead. Didn’t get very far before…”