I fanned my face.“You good?”he asked, amused.
“You lost your shirt,” I blurted.
He glanced down at himself and shrugged.“You want me to put it back on?”
My head shook quickly.“No.No, uh, no shirt is a good shirt.”I wrinkled my brow.“I mean… no shirt is good for me.”
His smile turned slow and dangerous.He planted one knee on the bed.“How drunk are you, babe?”
“Uh,” I said, thinking hard.“Well.I feel good.”
He added his other knee, bracketing me in.“So good that you’re gonna pass out?”
I pressed my lips together, taking inventory of my body.The warmth.The buzz.The awareness had nothing to do with alcohol.
“Um, no,” I said confidently.“I am alert and… clear.Floaty, but clear.”
His eyes darkened, and he looked me over, making sure.“Floaty is good?”
I nodded.“Floaty is so good.”
“Floaty is the new good,” he chuckled.
“Are you going to come…” My mouth went dry on the word.“Here?”I choked out.
He leaned down, hands braced on either side of me, and kissed me slow at first.Testing.When I met him eagerly, he deepened it, and his weight settled over me.My hands roamed over his chest and arms, trying to take in every line of ink and muscle and heat, but it wasn’t enough.
I wanted all of him.
He tugged my shirt over my head, breaking the kiss only long enough to pull it free, and then he froze.
I felt it immediately.The shift.
His gaze dropped to my stomach.
The bruises had faded some, but not all the way.Dark, muddy colors still lingered.And the faint imprint of a boot was proof of what had happened, even now.
“God damn, Star,” he growled softly.Anger and something like grief tangled in his expression.
I reached up, hooked my finger under his chin, and tipped his face back to mine.“It’s worse than it looks,” I said quietly.“It doesn’t even hurt much anymore.”It had been hell the first week home, but now it was just uncomfortable when I coughed or bumped into something.
His fingers brushed over the marks with devastating care.“They did this to you,” he murmured.
“It’s okay,” I whispered back.“I’m okay.”
His jaw tightened.“They’re gonna pay for this, Star.”
I didn’t doubt that for a second.
But right now, I didn’t want vengeance.I wantedhim.
“Yeah,” I said softly, and pulled him back down to me.“But right now, I need you more than I want to think about them.”
Something in his face softened instantly.
He kissed me again, this time deeper, hungrier like he understood exactly what I was asking for.
Our hands were everywhere.His mouth traced along my neck and my collarbone.I arched into him as my fingers slid over his shoulders and down his back.Clothes were pushed aside, forgotten, until there was nothing between us but heat and need.
