Page 44 of Twister

This time her orgasm triggered his own, and he followed her right over the edge with a rough, guttural groan. His climax was scorching hot, an unbridled surrender of body and soul that left him shaken and stretched across her limp, sated form, his facepressed against her wet neck as he struggled to come back to his senses.

When he did, there were soft, slow kisses as the water continued to slide like silk over them, then it was back up to their belongings, still touching and kissing until they dried off and got dressed. Once they were back at the hotel, there was more unbridled passion in the shower, then to bed, snuggling up to each other.

He pressed a kiss to her temple, then slid his fingers along her scalp, cradling her head in his firm grip. The heavy, silky weight of her hair tangled around his fingers, the loose fall like satin down her back, and Twister closed his eyes and hugged her hard, a swell of emotion making his chest tighten, stunned by how much she filled that hole in him.

She took a soft breath as he soothed one hand across her hips and up her back, molding her tightly against him. Easing in a tight breath of his own, he brushed a kiss against her neck, then said, “I’m sorry I hurt you, Sadie. I can’t say it won’t ever happen again, I’m sometimes caught up in my own strong emotions, but I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

“Thank you, but I’m glad you pointed that out.” A tremor coursed through her, and Sadie dragged her arms free and slipped them around his neck. “I was…sleepwalking, I think, through life, trying to make everyone else’s dream come true, ignorant of my needs and desires. You opened my eyes, and I’m grateful for that.”

Twister drew an unsteady breath and angled her head back, making a low, indistinguishable sound as he covered her mouth in a kiss that was raw with emotion, governed by the need to comfort and reassure, and Sadie yielded to his deep, comforting kiss. Twister slid his hand along her jaw, his calloused fingers snagging in the long, silky strands of her hair as he altered the angle of her head. She moved closer to him, and he released abreath, tightening his hold, a fever of emotion sluicing through him.

When that rush passed, he looked down at her. She looked mussed and thoroughly sated and as soft as velvet, that variegated honey hair a wild tangle around her face.

“Tell me about your father.”

That was a touchy subject with him, and he didn’t like talking about him. Suddenly, he wondered at the reluctance. Maybe it was because it made him so damn angry that he avoided it.

“Why do you want to know about him?” Twister asked, stalling, hoping she would drop the matter.

“I sense that he is the source of your pain.”

He stiffened but relaxed when she stroked his chest, her hand soothing and warm.

“Why?”

“You get this…inflection in your voice and you tense. What happened to make you so wary of talking about him?”

He closed his eyes, resistant to delve into his heart and his memory because there was deep, dark pain hidden behind a door he’d closed when he’d been very young, so that he could carry on with all the responsibilities that were piled on him. He’d learned to adapt because he had to.

When he opened them, she was watching him, quietly, patiently with a wealth of care, interest, and fascination in her eyes, and that intimacy washed through him, giving him a kind of feeling he’d never felt before. He’d already opened his heart to her, was already vulnerable, already committed, reciprocating her feelings. Now she was asking more, asking him to bare himself completely. But she had somehow known he struggled with how he felt about his dad.

“You can’t fix what’s broken, Sadie. As much as I love you for it. This is my shit to deal with.”

Touching his face gently, she smiled, and he loved the way she held his gaze and the intimacy unabashedly in her eyes. She stroked the curve of his tense jaw, and his anxiety melted away, letting his breath go as her strength, warmth, and promise enveloped him. “I’m well aware of that fact, you sweet man, but I’m not asking you so that I can fix your problems. I just want to be brave with you while you face whatever it is that is causing these panic attacks.”

“I don’t know what to say to that. I’ve never had that kind of offer.”

“Just tell me about him. Let your thoughts flow. You’re safe with me…always.”

He swallowed hard and looked away, his jaw clenched tight against the sudden ache in his throat and the full-to-bursting feeling that was clogging up his chest. Heknewthat.

It hit him hard that if he wanted to be with this woman in a future yet undefined, she deserved to know him inside and out, and he deserved to understand himself better. In the end, wasn’t that what it was all about? Why people gravitated toward each other, gave themselves over to relationships that were often tough, rich, and rewarding?Because of this.

“He’s a great man,” he said, trying to find the right words, his tone starting off neutral. “World-renowned heart surgeon, champion of the downtrodden, poor, and displaced, sought-after public speaker, and a father of four, the last two, twins.” He stared at her a moment, then looked away as he began toying with her hair. His voice gruff, a bitterness welling in him choked him for a moment. “A great man,” he murmured. “So great he decided to put the needs and plight of strangers before his own family. When I pointed that out, I was ignored, labeled a black sheep, and not exactly ostracized, but punished by him withholding his love.”

“Oh, Shane…”

The sympathy in her eyes made him automatically think it was pity, but it wasn’t. She wasn’t pitying him. On the contrary, she was empathizing with him. There was a big difference, and he finally realized that what he’d thought was weakness for so long was just the pain of his needs not being met when he’d been younger. Not owning his emotions had been the weakness, the fault he needed to overcome. “Hebetrayedus—” His voice broke, his eyes stinging with the memory of his father’s rejection, his censure, his judgment, and his attempts to control that boy who craved his father’s attention and love. He roughly massaged his eyes, then he hauled in a tight, unsteady breath. His voice raw with emotion, he continued. “He betrayedme. He was our father first and foremost, and I resented having to spend all my time as a child and teenager tending to their needs.” He gouged at his eyes again, trying to control the moisture that gathered along his lashes. “I know it’s petty, and it was cruel, but I let him think I was going to medical school to be just like him. I got good grades, got into an excellent college, then dumped it all and joined the Navy.” He drew another deep breath and dropped his hand. He was very sure his face showed all the raw emotions that were coming out of him on his exhaled breaths. He looked at her, his voice strained to the limit, and her attention, her direct stare bolstered him. “But it seemed I couldn’t escape completely because medicine attracted me, and I signed up to become a medic after BUD/S.”

“And service as well. You protect the innocent, downtrodden, and defenseless people in this world whenever you and your team encounter them. It’s part of your mission for Uncle Sam and for you personally.”

He nodded, his throat tight. “Yeah, he was right in that respect…it’s fulfilling when you experience it firsthand.”

“How does that all translate to Haiti?”

“I never wanted to be controlled, and the Navy isn’t about control. It’s about authority, and being a SEAL is completely voluntary. I could go back to the fleet at any time or separate. It’s always my choice. But the irony that’s hitting me right now is he’s been controlling me all this time. I swallowed his lie that service is everything, and when I thought I was going to die, it all felt so hollow, and I didn’t know how to process that. So, I did what I always do: deny my feelings even when I was so damned torn up inside, and I was having such a hell of a battle with feelings that I thought I’d buried years ago that I couldn’t put it all together.” His face felt ravaged with his torment. “Don’t be weak, Shane. Be a man, Shane.”

The pain she felt for him was evident in her eyes. She cupped his jaw. Her voice shaking with emotion, she said, “You’re only human, Shane.”

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