He knew that now. Making love to her was what poets write about. It was a give and a take and a give again. The look on her face when she dissolved under his touch . . . that image would fuel him for years.
Time was ticking, and he knew it wasn’t going to take long for everything to crash in. He had to uncover her secrets so he could assure her that no matter what they were, they could figure it out together. Obviously, Neil and his team wanted to help her as well. She had to see that. Accept that.
His dreams had connected several dots about where she came from as she slept in his arms. She spoke in German, talked about going into a library at night. He had some questions for Sasha. Questions he didn’t expect she’d answer, but he’d ask anyway.
Leo finished his shower and dressed.
When he made it to the kitchen, Olivia had left and was taking a shower of her own.
Sasha and AJ were in the kitchen talking to each other in hushed tones when he walked in.
“’Morning,” he said, making a beeline for the coffee maker.
“You okay?” AJ asked. “Sasha told me what happened.”
“I’m fine.” Yeah, right . . . like they couldn’t see past that. He poured a cup of java, turned. “Olivia was speaking in German last night . . . in her dreams.”
Sasha’s gaze flashed to his. “Did she realize it when she woke up?”
“No.” He put the cup to his lips. “I’m going to tell her.”
“Don’t.”
Leo knew that would be Sasha’s order.
“That’s where you know her from, right? Germany?” He kept his voice low, listened for the hot running water in the cold pipes to turn off.
Sasha and AJ looked at each other.
“From school. Boarding school, right? The kind where kids will sneak into a library once everyone has gone to bed to drink or get laid?”
“What did she tell you?” Sasha asked.
She didn’t, but you just did.
“When you told her that you knew a girl in school she reminded you of, and her name was Olivia . . . that was the truth. You both went to the same school.” Leo put his cup aside, looked at AJ. “And your father was an ambassador in Germany. Maybe you went there, too.”
“Leo,” AJ said on a sigh. “Trust me when I tell you, you don’t want to follow this path.”
He shook his head. “No. That’s where you’re wrong. That woman means something to me, and in order to keep her safe I need to know what or who could be after her.”
Sasha lifted her chin. “You no longer think that bullet was meant for you?”
“I don’t know that. But I will find out one way or another.”
He picked up his cup and started toward Olivia’s room. He wanted to spend every second he could with her.
“Leo?”
He turned.
“Be careful,” Sasha said before heading toward the downstairs surveillance room.
AJ stepped forward when his wife was out of the room and paused. “She’s not capable of loving you back,” AJ warned.
Was it love?
He was so screwed. “You’re wrong about that.”
“I’m not.”
“You underestimate her,” Leo said.
AJ shook his head. “That is the one thing nobody in this house does.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“We’ll go outside, get bone cold, and then come back in and warm up.” Olivia lifted her eyebrows and licked her lips, making sure Leo knew exactly how she’d like to be warmed up.
“We’re going to have a snowball fight, aren’t we?” Leo was sitting on the edge of the bed slipping on a warm pair of socks.
“I’m not twelve.”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
She turned to leave his room. “Downstairs in five.”
Damn, the day felt good. It shouldn’t, considering how little she slept the night before. But she was energized. Bouncing out of her skin with restless energy. And with the clouds threatening to give them more snow, now was the best time to get out in it.
She bundled up with a knit hat that covered her hair and ears, a scarf that cut the cold around her neck, and ski pants and a waterproof jacket Sasha had picked up the last time she’d gone into Durango.
With all her layers in place, she worked her way downstairs, putting on her gloves.
“Grab some wood when you come back up,” Lars told her from where he sat next to the fireplace.