20 Questions

Chapter 126

If I could measure the distance in this room, I guarantee I've paced a mile. Hunter and the team are moving closer to the warehouse and I will have no updates until tonight, assuming they aren't captured or killed in the process. I run to the bathroom and purge my self-deprecating thoughts down the toilet. This is too much for me. The worry surrounds me like a heavy wool blanket, itchy and suffocating.

I flush the toilet, brush my teeth and walk out to the bedroom to get dressed when I hear a knock on my door.

"Jenna, what's going on? Are you sick?" Griffin asks, concern in his deep voice.

I slide on my yoga pants and a tank top, opening the door to a very distraught Griffin. I give him a smile and let him know I am ok. I'm not actually ok, but I don't want to get into it. I grab two bowls from the cabinet and pour us some cereal. Griffin and I eat our breakfast in silence, him on his phone and me trying to ward off a panic attack. I've splashed milk all over the table from the shakiness of my hands, but Griffin is kind enough to not point it out.

"What do you want to do today?" he asks, discretely sliding a napkin over to clean up my spilled milk.

"I don't know. Maybe we can lounge by the pool if you want to."

"Sounds good. You go ahead and get changed and I will put the bowls in the dishwasher."

I walk into my bedroom, close the door and open the drawer containing all my swimsuits. I definitely won't be wearing my red one because it's a trigger for Griffin, but the rest of my bikinis aren't much more concealing. Not putting any more thought into it, I grab the black one and get changed. I grab a couple towels and sunscreen before exiting the bathroom.

Griffin stands in the living room wearing a pair of dark blue swimming trunks and no shirt. I've seen him shirtless before, but it never fails to take my breath away. The man is a machine, all muscles and testosterone. I reluctantly pull my eyes from him and walk out back, him not far behind me. Laying my towel on the chair, I pop open the sunscreen bottle when the realization hits me. I have nobody but Griffin to rub it on my back. I consider just getting third degree burns on my skin to avoid provoking him, but I don't have that high of a pain tolerance.

I rub the lotion on my legs, arms and stomach first. When I glance up at Griffin, he is transfixed on me. We lock eyes, but he quickly looks away so I take this opportunity to rub it on my exposed cleavage. I'm mid-fondle when his eyes return to me.

"Griffin, I need some on my back, but if you don't feel comfortable doing it, I'll just try to reach what I can."

"I'll try," he says, looking pained.

He walks over to my chair and I turn away from him, lifting my hair off my neck. The second his hands touch my back, my skin sizzles hotter than the sun. Griffin has great hands. Big, rough and aggressively masculine. He starts under my hairline, rubbing my neck and shoulders. I close my eyes and enjoy how it feels to be massaged in all the areas I carry my tension. He slowly moves down and covers my midback, dipping his hands under the strap of my bikini top and moving downward. He squirts more in his hand and rubs it over my lower back, moving around my hips and working his way up.

My eyes have yet to open, but my heart rate has continued to rise. I suck in shallow breaths and appreciate the contact I've been missing since Hunter has been gone. He rubs the lotion on my rib cage, over my flanks and when his fingers slowly graze the sides of my breasts, I gasp. He notices and drops his hands immediately. I sit there breathless for a moment, trying to compose myself.

"I think you are all lotioned up," he pants and quickly stands, moving with purpose and cannonballing into the pool.

The cold water may do him some good and to be honest, it would do me some good as well. I've been worked up all day, I'm hornier than usual because I always get that way before I start my period, and hearing Hunter's raspy tone this morning didn't do me any favors. It's no wonder some sensual sunblock application left me panting. When I've calmed myself down, I walk over to the steps and lower down into the water. Griffin watches me and I wonder what's going on in his head. I know that wasn't easy for him.