Page 23 of Reclaiming Izabel

Drake sighed, pulled away, and gave me his eyes. His dark, piercing eyes that seemed to skewer right into my soul. The part of me that was supposed to know him. Our faces almost touching. Our warm breaths mingling.

Excitement raced through me. The kind that was unfamiliar, dangerous, and raw. Though my heart yearned for the tenderness of the husband from my memories, the rest of my body responded at a more primal level. My brain battled with my heart to give myself permission to explore this man before me.

If it weren’t for Drake’s eyes, I would think I’d been sent a clone. A rougher, scarier replica of my husband.

“You look bigger.” I squeezed a bicep. Drake was thickly muscled everywhere. Shoulders, chest, and back. He’d never been a slouch with fitness and always had an athletic build. Now the ridges of his muscles were more defined under his shirt. His face above his beard was leaner, cheekbones sharper.

A slash of white flashed through his face as he grinned. “Three years of celibacy. I needed an outlet.”

I took a step back while heat suffused my cheeks. “Are you saying you haven’t had sex?—”

“Stop right there before you piss me off,” Drake growled. “Unlike you, I knew I was married. Iwasmarried to you this whole time. I’d cut off my dick before I’d cheat on you.”

I believed him. Look how long it was taking me to move on.

“And the scars?”

He fingered the area of skin on the left side of his neck. “Are you willing to listen to what happened now?”

“You won’t get into trouble for it?”

Drake shrugged. “My handler knows I’m done keeping secrets from you. But I can’t reveal anything about the ongoing op.”

My brows furrowed. “You’re not done? Are you leaving again?”

He shook his head. “No, and no. The last part of our mission will be done in-country, but I cannot tell you what it is.”

I wasn’t the understanding SEAL wife anymore, nor did I want to return to that. A tendril of anger licked against my calm, reiterating to myself how circumstances had changed.

Drake eyed me warily, but there was something else. Loss. “You don’t believe me.”

My chin came up. “Can you blame me?”

“No.” His shoulders slumped. As if years of exhaustion suddenly came crashing down on him and his next words confirmed that despite the years apart, I was still attuned to my husband’s tells.

“It’s been a long trip,” he muttered. “Do you mind if I shower first and have coffee before we have that talk?”

I hitched my shoulders. “Not at all. I need one myself.”

Our eyes locked, and heat crawled up my face.

“Separately,” I added sharply.

Drake smirked. “Of course.”

Drake

I slammeda palm against the tiles as cum spilled all over my fist. I stroked my cock, milking my release as the spray of the shower washed over me.

When the tremors left me, I blasted the temperature of the water to freezing.

“Fuck,” I grunted, struggling to let my body cool off. I’d expected Izabel’s resistance. I expected a gut-punch rejection. What I didn’t expect was the unleashed primitive force that refused to settle for a hug. It wanted me to throw her on the couch, possess her, and reclaim her.

And as torturous as hugging her was, it was also so fucking sweet.

Feeling her familiar curves against me. She was made for me, dammit.

I wasn’t going to go all caveman and scare her away. Not upon the first meeting. I wasn’t that moronic, so I quenched my thirst for her in the only way I knew how.

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