Ava Gray - Skin Tight

“Søren!”

“Love you,” he answered, as if it had been a question. “I do. Always, always, always.”

Rolling with her, he gathered her close and tucked her beneath him as he took control. His thrusts became short and shallow, and she held him while the aftershocks spilled through her like liquid light. She stroked his back as he came, shuddering in her arms.

Later, he lay on his side, studying her face as if he could never tire of it. At last he shook his head. “You’re here. You’re here. I’m not dreaming.”

She smiled slightly. “Surely you could do better than me, at least in your dreams.”

“Never,” he said, eyes blazing. “But… I have nothing to offer you. Nothing. You love a dead man, Mia. You said so yourself.”

“You were never dead. You were only… lost.” Idly, she traced his sharp features, lingering at his brows.

He went on doggedly, “I have no home. No family. There’s so much I can’t give you, like a normal life. I know you long for security-”

She laid a finger against his lips. “ Normal is overrated. I have no real urge to buy a house and start nesting. What I want, only you can give.”

His glacial blue eyes shone as if sunshine poured through the ice. “What’s that?”

Mia framed his face in her hands and kissed him as she’d kissed no man before, nor ever would again. It was a forever kiss. “Your heart, beloved. Your mind.” She punctuated the words with delicate butterfly kisses. “Your touch. Your laughter.”

“It’s yours,” he said then. “All of it.”

In that moment, she knew she wasn’t finished. There was precious little she would not do for him, and this was a relatively small thing. “There’s somewhere we need to go.”

By his incredulous expression, she figured she’d shocked him. “Right now?”

Mia smiled. “Whenever we finish here. Soon enough.”

He relaxed then, nestling her closer. “Where, then?”

“ Minnesota.”

“Pine Grove,” he guessed.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Why? I don’t want to discourage you-I understand you want to see my family, but-”

“But nothing,” she said firmly. “I’m giving them back to you. Even if they don’t recognize you at first, I can tell them things that only you would know, until their expectations change. Until they’re willing to believe.”

She saw slow, unwilling hope dawning. “I don’t know if it’ll work. Remember, they think they’ve buried me. I never tried because I didn’t want to frighten them. It was bad enough to have my mother open the door and tell me she wasn’t interested in whatever I was selling.”

“I can do this for you. Let me.”

Søren took a deep breath. “Very well. We’ll try.”

“What’s the house like?”

“Faded red brick. She’ll be baking something when we get there. She always was.”

Mia could picture it in her mind’s eye, and a pang of longing surprised her. His home could be hers, too. His family could be hers. They would have a place to go during the holidays. For the first time, they could both have a place they belonged.

They made love twice more before dawn, and Mia awoke just before first light to find him watching her. “What?” she murmured.

“You take my breath away.”

“I bet you say that to all the naked women.”

“Only the ones named Mia Sauter.”

She smiled sleepily. “That narrows the list. I do love you, Søren. And I’m not going anywhere, so it’s safe to take your eyes off me.”

“I’m afraid to.”

“Don’t be. Not anymore.”

Light spilled across the windowsill, prompting her to get moving. After all, they had a long way to go.

TWO MONTHS LATER

“It was Collins, wasn’t it?” Mia asked the question as they pulled off the highway, exiting into the Minnesota neighborhood that was every bit as faded suburban as Søren had described.

It had taken a while to convince him of the wisdom of this plan and then longer to persuade him they shouldn’t wait. He was a little reluctant to leave Beulah, but Mia knew that was just an excuse. She had developed a great fondness for the lady and was grateful that Beulah had offered Søren enough comfort to keep him from doing something drastic in the days when he’d thought Mia was dead.

Today she read fierce tension in the line of his shoulders. He still wasn’t convinced this was a good idea, but he was willing to try, for her. They’d talked about what they might do, going forward. With his myriad skills, he could pretend his way into almost any job, but he didn’t want to lie anymore. She’d suggested he turn his talents toward helping people, and he was mulling the idea over. Nothing so formal as a private investigator but more of a troubleshooter, solving problems that fell outside everyone else’s purview.

Money wasn’t an issue, but she didn’t think he would enjoy sitting idle any more than she would. They both thrived on challenge. Hell, maybe she’d handle the business end. God knew, she had the contacts.

He flashed her an appreciative look. “When did you know?”

“About two states ago. I’ve been crunching the numbers in my head and going over all the data. He’s the only one who makes sense.”

“That’s why he didn’t want to hire you,” he said. “The man knew you’d find out, sooner or later.”

“So, not a racist, then.”

“No, just a convenient pretense for a white man.”

She grinned. “Funny. What are we going to do about it?”

Søren made the turn, heading into a quiet neighborhood. They had to be getting close now. “I’m inclined to let him rob them blind and then take off for the islands. It will slow the Foundation’s ability to resume their research, if nothing else.”

A chill coursed through her. “So you don’t think we stopped them for good.”

His hands tightened on the wheel. “They’re like the hydra. You cut off one head and two more grow in its place. That probably wasn’t even the only lab, love. Just the only one I could find.”

“That’s… beyond horrible.” She watched him in silence for a few moments, wondering if he wanted to continue the search.

But he seemed to guess her thoughts without even looking at her. “I’m done. My life is with you now. Whatever we make of it.”

Her heart warmed and steadied. The man loved her enough to live. Given the way he’d been only a short year ago, that seemed miraculous.

He angled the car onto a tree-lined drive. Dirty snow lay on the ground, mounded up by the curb. It wasn’t pretty, but she could tell by his expression that they had arrived. Søren parked the car on the street, and she followed his gaze to the house with the red and white gingham curtains.

“That’s the kitchen,” he said. “I can see my mom in there.”

“Baking,” she guessed.

“Probably. It’s that time of year.”

A few weeks before Christmas-it was the perfect time for a family reunion. How much would it take before they believed her? Would they cry?

“Did they know about your ability?” she asked.

“Not really. It only affected them in small ways before-”

Before Lexie’s accident. Before he drove his car into a wall.

“It’s my turn,” she said then, gazing at the house where he had spent his formative years.

“I’m sorry?”

“You gave the last quote at dinner. We’ve been a bit busy since.”

He half smiled. “A bit. Is this a game we’re going to play forever?”

“Would you like to?”

“Yes,” he said gravely. “Please.”

“Then we will. Here’s your quote: ‘It will not change now/ After so many years;/ Life has not broken it/ With parting or tears;/ Death will not alter it,/ It will live on/ In all my songs for you/ When I am gone.’ ”