Page 28 of Warrior's Cross

“I would have been subtle,” Julian insisted with a straight face.

Cameron was completely bowled over. “Subtle? How is getting down on your knees and beggingsubtle?”

“I could make it subtle,” Julian insisted under his breath as he waded through the puppies and around the bar to join Cameron. He took the wine cork with one hand and Cameron’s hand with the other before he gracefully dropped to his knees in front of him and looked up at him with impish dark eyes.

Cameron had not one single idea what to do. All he could do was stare down at the gorgeous sight in front of him. Thatglittering gaze held him mesmerized as he tightened his fingers around Julian’s.

“See?” Julian asked innocently. “It’s less subtle when I’m naked, but you get the point,” he said in a low voice, obviously trying not to smile as he released Cameron’s hand and slid his hands up the backs of Cameron’s calves. It was obvious he was enjoying himself, but Cameron wasn’t quite getting the joke.

Cameron waffled a little and finally lifted his free hand to ghost over Julian’s short hair. He thought about it for a long moment before finally murmuring, “Point taken.”

Julian grinned up at him and let his hands move up over the backs of Cameron’s thighs. “Were you cooking?” he asked.

“Cooking?” Cameron repeated in a daze, hand still moving lightly over Julian’s head to curl down and coast over his ear and cheek.

Julian laughed softly, seeing the effect his actions were having.

Cameron shook his head to clear it and dipped it to one side. “I would have said yes,” he whispered.

Julian gave that a genuine smile that warmed his eyes to a deep brown. “That’s good to know.”

Cameron felt a flash of panic. “You’re not going to try it, are you?”

As he put a hand to his heart, Julian gave him the most angelic face Cameron had ever seen. “Try what?” he asked.

Visibly worried, Cameron reached down to tug at Julian’s hand, urging him to stand. “Not that I would mind the effort,” he clarified as Julian grunted and got back to his feet slowly. Cameron looked up at him. “C’mon; I’ll feed you,” he said abruptly, trying to dispel the sudden tightness in his chest. “But you’d better get dressed or I’ll get distracted again.”

Julian smirked as he looked down at his towel. He watched Cameron moving toward the oven for a moment beforeturning on silent feet and padding across the main room to disappear behind the screen. Cameron’s eyes lifted to watch him the whole way, and he slowly licked his bottom lip. Once the man disappeared behind the dividing screens, he let out a shuddering sigh and practically collapsed against the counter.

Julian had wanted to beg him.Beg him. The concept literally took Cameron’s breath away. For his own reasons, Julian wanted him.

Badly. And in no way would Cameron put any sort of stop to it.

Cameron took a long, shaky breath. He could very easily love this man. That was far scarier than any gun or ambiguous job.

Julian was frowning and rubbing at his chest when he stepped back out into the outer room, wearing one of Cameron’s T-shirts and a pair of sweats that didn’t quite reach his ankles.

“How are you?” he asked Cameron abruptly.

Cameron looked up from the heated lasagna he was pulling out of the oven when Julian spoke from across the room. He really had no idea how to answer that question, given the last half-hour. He settled on the easier answer. “Hungry.” He nodded down to the hot dish. “This just needs to set up some, and I’ll get some French bread and salad out.”

Julian came closer carefully. “It smells wonderful.”

Nodding, Cameron unwrapped the bread with only slightly shaky hands and turned back around to look at Julian and grasp for something to say. “Wine?” he asked after his eyes cast over the newly opened bottle.

Julian looked down at the bottle and smirked. “No, thank you,” he responded. “Am I making you uncomfortable?” he asked, his voice low and calm once more. “I can go,” he offered.

Cameron glanced at him and just as quickly looked away. “I just don’t know what to say,” he said. “No one’s ever said something like that to me before. I don’t want you to go,” hemanaged to get out as he stared at the wine bottle. “Why did you come back?” he asked starkly.

“I promised I would,” Julian answered in surprise. “I intended to get here earlier, but I tend to drive faster than I can walk.”

“I didn’t expect to see you again,” Cameron told him. “Like I said earlier, you’d never spoken much to me at all.”

“You didn’t think I’d come back?” Julian asked in a hurt voice.

“I don’t know you,” Cameron answered defensively. “Not really. And for the most part, anybody I get involved with isn’t interested in sticking around,” he added.

Julian stared at him in open shock. “Then you’ve been fucking the wrong people,” he finally said with absolute certainty.

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