My grip on his chest turns fierce. “No. Stay here.”
“I’m not leaving.” He kisses the top of my head. And then kisses it again. “You were brave to trust me to do that to you.” His slow caress of my lower back is soothing. “It shouldn’t surprise me. When we’re alone, you always trust me.” His voice grows even softer. “I missed that. For two years.”
His hand cups the back of my head and strokes my hair like he’s petting me. Like a kitten. Likehiskitten.
* * *
SHANE
At two in the morning,I wake. I’m alone, which is every kind of wrong.
The thought that Avery might have left the house makes me roll out of bed, my feet hitting the rug with purpose. I stalk down the hall, and as I pass the guest bathroom, the scent of shampoo and bath gel is strong. That’s promising since if she took a long bath, she’s probably still here.
In the guest room, Avery’s safe and asleep, her hair still damp and smelling like coconut shampoo. My bed’s the more comfortable of the two, so I scoop her up and carry her back down the hall. She’s wearing a t-shirt and yoga pants that are almost as soft as her skin. When I set her back in the bed, she stirs. I climb in as she rolls onto her side away from me.
“Go to sleep,” I say, spooning her with my nose practically against her scalp.
I guess I drift off because the next time I’m awake, her hands are pushing back against my ribs. I’m hard, and my cock’s pressed against her ass until she scoots to the edge of the bed to escape.
I draw in a slow breath and look at the clock. Three thirty.
“Come back,” I say, my arm snaking around her waist. I tug her to me.
She puts her hands back to create a barrier between us right where my cock is trying to nestle into the crevice between her ass cheeks. Her hands literally cock-block me, which makes me smile.
I roll onto my back, so the only part of me that’s touching her is the arm that’s under her neck. She rolls onto her other side to face me, and possibly to protect her ass from another invasion.
“My cock gets hard on and off all night. I’m not expecting you to do anything about it. It’ll go down on its own.”
“It’s not like that because I’m here?”
So innocent…mostly. “Your being here definitely makes my cock hard on the regular, but you didn’t cause this one.”
My eyes close. I feel her sit up, the warmth of her skin against my arm suddenly gone.
“If you’re thinking of leaving my bed, you’re wasting your time. I’ll just carry you back again.”
“Why?” she whispers.
That’s a decent question, but I’m too tired to get into the answer. “Come on, Ave. Lie back down and go to sleep.”
Her cool hand comes to rest on my face. I kiss her palm, eyes still closed.
“Why are you really doing this?” Her voice is almost inaudible.
“Doing what?” I mumble, trying to get my eyes open since we’re clearly not done talking. When I finally get my lids up, I find her sapphire eyes staring at me. “What?”
“I can’t, Shane.”
“What can’t you do?” Sleep still hasn’t let me out of its grasp, and her lingering touch on my cheek isn’t helping me think straight. “Sleep in the same bed with me?”
“Yes.” Her expression is grave as she pulls her hand back, crossing it over her chest to grab her upper arm. A defensive position if I ever saw one. Trouble is, her arm also does wonderful things for her breasts—pushing them up and stealing my attention.
“Can we have this fight after sunrise?” I don’t want to have this fight at all, but if I can push it back until we’ve both slept, I’ll handle myself, and her, better.
“Does it have to be a fight?” Her glossy hair falls forward, hiding her face. “I’ve drifted into the deep end of the pool. I don’t like being in over my head.”
That gives me pause. I may be a man who’s half asleep, but, in this bed, it’s my responsibility to take care of her, especially tonight. “Because of the kind of sex we had?”
