“Your leg hurt?” he asked the moment his hand found mine.
I tugged him forward. “Come here.”
His brows knitted together but he still allowed me to pull him up onto the bed, swinging a leg over my waist when I curled my free hand under the backside of his knee and tugged. He was mindful with settling himself down onto my hips, keeping most of his weight pressed forward into the mattress by leaning onto his knees.
We were at an awkward angle with how I had one leg, my good one, dangling off the edge of the bed while the other was slightly hiked up onto it, my hip popped out at an angle to keepmy leg from cramping inside of my cast. The damn thing was, thankfully, not up to my thigh, a threat Silas had made damn sure to pass onto me if he caught wind of me misbehaving and not using my crutches.
Still, having Blake sitting on me made up for the slight twinge in my back.
“Much better.” I grinned.
He huffed out a short laugh. “I don’t think we should be doing this. Weren’t you just complaining about your ribs yesterday?”
“Nonsense. Silas said thirty minutes of exercise a day is good for me.”
“I think he meant walking around your house.”
“If he did, he should’ve been more specific.”
Blake simply shook his head, leaning away as if to get up again.
I clamped my hands down on his thighs, keeping him pinned against me. “And where do you think you’re going?”
His eyes went wide. “Marlow.”
His shirt was easy to slip my hands under, his body jumping at the sudden contact. He was warm and pliable under my touch. Leaning into it without meaning to while he let himself go for a split second before his mind caught up to him and told him no. His lips parted as I reached his waist, moving my hands up to his chest and flattening both palms there.
He grabbed at my wrists, keeping them in a tight hold. “We... shouldn’t.”
As he spoke, he rolled his hips against mine, drawing a moan out of both of us.
“I won’t break, Blake. If that fall didn’t kill me, this definitely won’t.”
Whatever I said seemed to break the spell immediately. Gloom returned to his eyes while the corners of his lashes grewwet with tears. My heart squeezed, watching the pinch between his brows become more pronounced by the second. He slid my hands out from under his shirt, pushing them back toward my body in an effort to untangle himself from me.
“No.” I grabbed at him again, snatching his arm before he could fully pull away from me. “We’re not doing this.”
“Please,” was all he said.
“I’m not letting you push me away. Not this time.”
His breath hitched. “I’m not trying to.”
“You are if you keep acting like I’m still in that damn hospital bed.”
He bowed his head, shame causing his shoulders to sink. Reaching up slowly, I traced my thumb along his temple to his cheek, cupping my other fingers around his jaw to keep him from moving again. The small and dejected sigh that came tumbling from his mouth only served to make me tighten my hold on him.
“Listen,” I spoke softly. “I know you feel bad. I hate to see you continuing to kick yourself over something you had no control over. I’mokay. Better, actually, with you staying here with me. I only wish you could give yourself some grace.”
His watery eyes met mine. “When I found you... I didn’t—I thought...” He swallowed thickly. “It follows me in my dreams.”
Oh, Blake.
That explained the poor sleep.
“I’m sorry you were the one to find me.” No one should ever have to stumble upon a sight like that, trained or not.
“I’m not.” His hand was tight where he grabbed my wrist. “I got to make sure I was the one who kept you still breathing. There was no other person I would’ve trusted to do it over me.”
