18. Marko

Chapter 18

Marko

H e loves me. Holy shit.

“I think I’ve loved you since the day you brought me to the lavender gardens.”

Heath’s lips part in surprise and I can’t help swiping a thumb across them.

“Really? But that was like our second non-date date.”

Shaking my head with a small laugh, I bring his hand to my lips and dust my lips across his wrist. “I still can’t believe you didn’t think that was a date. It was the sweetest, most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me. I wanted to kiss you that day—so bad.”

My confession makes me overheat and want to turn away. But not Heath. His palm presses against my cheek, holding my gaze to his.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure you were into men, for one thing.”

Heath snorts. “At the time I wasn’t.”

“I think I suspected that. You were…na?ve, yet giving me all these mixed signs. I didn’t want to screw anything up, so I waited. And hoped.”

“Hoped for what?”

“For you to like me that way because you make me laugh. You’re so fresh and beautiful. So damn unique that just thinking of you makes me forget my own black clouds.” His eyelashes, still wet from his earlier tears, make my heart ache and bloom at the same time. How could I have doubted his reaction to my news? “I was afraid it would all end if you knew about my past.”

“No one has ever seen me like you do,” he whispers. Heath’s fingers scratch into my scruffy beard. “You fill this space for me. This empty feeling that’s been bothering me goes away with you. I don’t want that to end.”

“I love you, Heath. You are… moja sre?a .”

It fits him perfectly and the words feel so right across my lips.

“What does that mean?”

“My happiness. And you are, Heath. Without you, I just go through the motions of life. You make everything about it better. You’re my happiness.”

“That’s the sweetest fucking thing anyone has ever said to me.”

A single tear rolls down his cheek and I wipe it off.

“I’m sorry for not trusting you. I should have just told you the day you shared about your mom with me. But I was so infatuated with you, I didn’t want to risk losing you. I had it bad for you, ljubavi . Still do.”

Heath closes his eyes with a breath and the hand on my cheek trembles.

“Thank you. So much. Don’t doubt me again. I’m not going anywhere, Marko.”

Heath leans forward and kisses me. Soft and gentle, the hand on my cheek drifts down to my chest to rest over my heart. “I will never hurt you here.”

“Heath…”

What do I say to that? He forgives me for causing him pain and promises never to hurt me all in the same breath. After I ran like a coward.

He silences me with another kiss and slides us closer. The blanket bunches a little under him as he moves, and he huffs the cutest little growl.

“Stupid blanket. I just want to be next to you.”

Wrapping an arm around him, I roll onto my back, taking him with me.

“Is that better?”

“For now. I just want to kiss you under the stars.”

“I wouldn’t mind.”

And we do. It makes me feel like a kid again, breaking curfew and making out in dark alleys or, a few times, even the woods. Heath’s weight on me reminds me he’s real and we have something so special growing between us that making out on a blanket in my yard isn’t the same as those trysts.

He makes me want to do better.

With everything.

“Did you just feel a drop of rain?” Heath pauses his kisses and lifts his head. When he does, a single raindrop splats on my forehead.

“We’ve been out here so long we didn’t notice clouds roll in, I guess.”

The rain is light now and Heath laughs with his full body.

“How cliché.” He laughs even more. “Can we stay out here like this? I want to live the fantasy of peeling you out of wet clothes and towelling you dry before I slip you under the covers and hold you close.”

“I will purposely stand in the rain every day if that’s my reward.”

The rain now falls harder, and he shivers as his T-shirt clings to him.

“Okay. You know, it’s kind of cold out here in the rain. Maybe we should do this on a hot evening in July instead.”

Heath sits up and together we scramble, gathering the blankets and dashing into my sunroom, laughing. And we don’t stop laughing as we work our wet clothes off, stealing all the touches and kisses in between.

But his towelling-off fantasy needs to wait.

Backing him up against the patio door, rainwater still dripping from his hair, he gasps when the cool glass meets his bare skin.

“ Woo !" Heath steps away from the door. "That’s cold. What are you doing?”

“Not waiting to dry off. I want you right now.”

Wrapping my hand around his cock, he leans into me with a moan. “I’d be agreeable to your plan.”

Smiling, I kiss his neck and back him into the glass again. “I thought you might be.”

“You think I’m easy, don’t you?”

“Not at all. You’re eager.” A kiss to his cheek. “And sexy.” A stroke on his dick. “And so damn ready for anything. It’s my fault that you test my patience.”

“I was never good at tests." Heath's voice is serious and I pause. Is he wanting to talk about this now? "Tests give me anxiety. What if I didn’t study enough? What if—”

“Heath…stop talking and let me make you feel good.”

He wraps his arms around my neck, and it always makes me melt when he does that. I don’t know why, but I love it.

“That’s a solid plan,” he murmurs against my lips and tilts his hips, sliding his cock through my grip.

With a firm hand on his chest, I pin him against the patio door before dropping to my knees in front of him. Nipping his thigh, I don’t wait a second to taste him, taking him in my mouth right away.

A loud thud sounds as he drops his head back against the door with a groan. His fingers tangle in my hair.

“Oh, hell…Marko…”

There’s nothing skilled right now. I’m slobbering all over him like a dog with a bone and desperate to the point of pain to make him come. To make him mine. Mine. It flashes in my head like a sign on the Vegas strip.

I almost fucked up and the blender of emotions is spinning with the lid off. Everything is out.

Love. Want. Mine. I’m sorry.

“Close…Marko…”

Heath’s moan isn’t sexy. It’s like a wheeze of an asthmatic donkey. When I release his dick and stick out my tongue, he gasps and wheezes again before he unloads on my chin and face. He slides down the door, ass squeaking, before he hits the floor with a sated smile.

“Let me finish you. Don’t let my practice go to waste.”

He offers his mouth and I rise off my knees. Gripping my thighs, he urges me forward. It won’t take me long, not with Heath wet and naked on the floor and his cum all over me. I curl my fingers into his hair and let him swallow my dick .

“ Tako …fuck, Heath…”

Fuck, his throat is heaven on earth.

He does the same as I did, popping off my cock and offering his tongue when I’m on the verge. My knees quake as I come with a roar, and Heath leans back with a tiny smirk, watching me jerk myself through the mother of orgasms and paint him with it.

Ragged pants are the only sound as we both catch our breath.

“I had no idea I was this filthy, you know. But new discovery unlocked.” He takes my hand and I pull him up off the floor.

“And what would that be?”

“Having you come all over me. It’s so…primal. Like you want me to smell like you or something and I’m bonkers for it. You don’t even have to ask to do it. I like it that much.”

“Yeah?” I bring my lips to his, and he loops his arms around my neck again, pressing our sticky, sweaty bodies together.

“Yeah. Seems you’re at the heart of most of my discoveries these days and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“You might change your mind after meeting my baka and the old Croatians this weekend. They might send you running for the hills. What if it’s too much for you?”

“Won’t happen. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because nothing will ever be too much for me to be with you. Those things don’t matter. What matters is us and how you treat me. How you make me feel. People can say all the things they want about you, Marko, but I know who you are. I love who you are. Crazy family members won’t ever change that.”

His soft gaze searches my face, and I lean down to press my forehead against his .

“I believe you. Just be prepared for an inquisition.”

Leading him to the shower, I add, “Oh, and be prepared to talk about when the wedding is.”

He stops dead in the hallway, and I bite down a laugh.

“Uh, what?”

“You’ll see, ljubavi . You’ll see.”

***

“Shit. Sorry.”

I groan as Heath fumbles with the alarm on his phone.

“What timezit?”

“It’s 4:30. I need to get to the ranch for chores and make arrangements for the weekend.” His lips brush my forehead. “I was trying to sneak out.”

“Don’t ever sneak out. I don’t care what time it is. I want to wish you a good day and kiss you goodbye.” My hand finds his in the dark, and I pull him back to me, placing a lingering kiss on his lips. “Have a good day, sre?o. Text me when you get there.”

“Sweet talker.” Heath kisses me back and untangles our hands. “I will.” The rustling of clothes in the dark brings a smile to my face. It’s just a little thing, but it’s a comfort listening to him let himself out of my place.

But Jesus Christ it’s early.

And I’m probably not going to get back to sleep until I know he’s made it to the ranch okay .

With a sigh, I flick on the bedside lamp, and after my eyes adjust, I fish out a pair of lounge pants from the mess of clothes on the floor. In our haste last night, we knocked over my basket of clean laundry and never picked it up.

Heath was…insatiable. I wasn't ready for another round, but I was more than happy to satisfy him. When we knocked the basket over, it was because I couldn’t see where I was going since he insisted on climbing me like a tree and carrying him. Another turn on, apparently.

Shaking my head, I pile the clothes back into the basket and set them on the bed to put away later. Much later. Maybe three coffees later. Because I’m not used to late nights and sex that leaves me wrung out. It’s all good though. If I’m going to drag my ass, being tired all day, there’s no other reason I’d prefer.

Curtis will totally call me on it, too. I should consider my reply to his taunts now.

When I finally make my way to the kitchen, the light over the stove is on and scrawled on a paper towel is a note from Heath.

We need to clean your patio door. I left ass prints.

With a snort, I head to the sunroom and there it is. When the light hits it just right, two cheeks and two handprints. Farther up I think is a bit of shoulder rub and my skin flushes as I recall everything we said and did.

I don’t think I’ll clean that door just yet.

After making a coffee, I settle at my easel. A rush of inspiration hits, and I reach for my sketch pad and a pencil. I could paint this, but that would take me too long, and I really want to finish what just came to me before I go to work .

My phone sings Tarzan Boy and I smile like an absolutely deranged person as I reach for it.

Tarzan: I’m here safe and I still smell like sex. Can’t say I hate it.

Not Jane: Thank you . I can make you smell like that whenever you want.

Tarzan: Every. Damn. Day.

Ah, fuck. This man is something else.

Not Jane: Will I see you and Jeff for coffee this morning?

Tarzan: I’ll let you know for sure, but I’m planning on it. Talk soon.

He adds a heart, and I acknowledge it before setting the phone aside and returning to my sketch. Whatever I don’t finish now, I can do later.

When later finally comes and I need to get ready for the shop, it’s almost done. I just hope Heath likes it.