His Horizon - Con Riley Page 0,26

followed orders. Capable hands slid his shoes off before he could argue. He wiggled toes that had been largely bare for months, and sighed out, “God, that’s better.” That sigh turned into a deep groan. Rob pressed a thumb into his instep, pressure so relaxing that he just lay there and took it. “I know your game.”

“Yeah?” Rob’s hand now looped Jude’s ankle, more a caress than a shackle. His voice was so quiet. “What’s that then, genius?”

“It’s obvious.” The light through the portholes was a bright glare. He slung an arm over his eyes to shield them until Rob reached over him to pull the porthole curtains half closed.

“Is that so?”

Jude drifted, dapples of sunlight heating his chest almost as much as opening his eyes to find Rob’s face right above his did. “You just wanted to get me into your bed.”

“Oh, Jude.” Rob closed his eyes.

From this close, Jude saw every single black lash lower before lifting.

“Please don’t tempt me.”

9

“Why not?”

Rob’s answer was low and gritty. “Because we’re keeping this strictly business, remember? And—” he sat up abruptly, his back turned.

Jude reached out, body twisted as he leaned upon a forearm and pressed a palm against the blade of Rob’s shoulder. He felt something between a flinch and a shiver. “And what?” he asked, quiet even though there was no one there to overhear them. “Come here.” He snagged the bottom of Rob’s T-shirt, pulling the fabric taut until Rob let out a huge sigh and turned. Jude repeated that action, only this time he pulled at the front of Rob’s shirt, saying, “Closer.”

“This is close enough.”

“No, it’s not.” It really wasn’t. The twelve inches or so between them was at least a whole foot too distant. That distance increased as he gave in to tiredness, slumping back onto Rob’s pillows, every cell of his body weary yet strung so tight, expectant, wanting this man who wore the same slight frown as when preparing food for Susan. “And what?” Jude repeated.

It took an age for Rob to answer. “It doesn’t matter.” He exhaled very slowly, frown still in place and deepening. Jude reached up, trying to smooth it away with a brush of his fingers. This serious man wasn’t who he’d left in London. Here, with his back to the portholes, his face cast in shadow, Rob looked nothing like Jude remembered. Gone was any whisper of the casual confidence Jude had witnessed during the contest.

“Spit it out,” Jude said, tired. He’d close his eyes if Rob wasn’t such a sight for sore ones. “And what, exactly? Tell me.”

Rob equivocated, saying, “You must be drunk with tiredness.” He shook his head and added, “Such a lightweight,” but the subtle shift of his expression was a clear reflection. It showed yet more of the fondness Jude had seen Rob extend so often today to his sister.

Fondness wasn’t what he wanted from Rob right then.

Jude stopped waiting for a real answer to his question, and instead took some action. He pulled, tugged, reeled Rob in, and down, and on him, his arms a knot around Rob’s neck that wouldn’t be easy to unravel. Rob braced over Jude, contemplative in the space between breaths, poised as if faced with a meal, wondering what to taste first. “I must be out of my mind.”

“Why?”

Rob closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them, his pupils dark wells. “Because,” he admitted with a sigh, “I know you’d never do this if your head wasn’t a mess. Lou told me,” he said as he put some distance between them. “So I’m going to go tick a few jobs off her chore list while you both nap.” Jude made to sit up. Rob’s hand landed on his stomach, lingering for a moment, pressing. “No. You catch forty winks. I wasn’t up for half the night like you were.”

It was very tempting to stay horizontal. “What did you mean?” Jude asked. “She told you what about me?”

“That you’d never liked anyone enough to bring them home to meet your family.” His smile was small compared to the wide one Jude preferred. “I think I can guess why, which is why I can’t do this with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re not out.” Rob’s frown described confusion. “I don’t get it, but you do you, I suppose. That means I can’t just pick up where we left off, not with what I had planned.”

“You had plans?”

“Of course I did.” Rob’s sigh was long-suffering. “I said I wanted to