“Sorry,” I say softly as I approach. “I know it’s a little skimpy, but it’s all I brought.”
“You, uh … I mean, they’re …” I smirk when he pauses his rambling to shake his head. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be on my way out soon,” he finally manages.
Well, that settles that.
“Right,” I say and press my lips together, desperately trying to stop my chin from trembling as I find the medicine and squirt some of the cream onto my fingertips. “My hands might be a little cold,” I warn him, and he reaches up to remove that brown cord before I begin at the base of his neck. He winces and shivers as I continue working, and I notice his breathing quickening again.
“What kind of necklace is that?” I ask.
“It’s, um … it’s a scapular,” he says, still tripping over his words. “Some Catholics wear them as a devotional.”
“A devotional?”
“It’s sort of like a penance, since it’s made of scratchy felt,” heexplains, holding up one of the square pieces to show me the embroidered outline of a woman. “It also serves as a reminder to pray throughout the day and to imitate the Blessed Mother in everything we do, all rolled into one.” He leans over to place it reverently on the side table.
“Hmm. I guess I can see the utility of something like that,” I tell him and push gently on his shoulder, signaling for him to turn around.
My eyes are trained on my hands as I begin applying cream to his chest and collarbone, but I can see his shoulders rising and falling with every strained breath. His pulse throbs in his neck, and I can’t stop myself from dragging my fingers up and pressing them to the spot. He closes his eyes, and I watch his throat contract as he swallows.
“Claire?” he rasps, and I draw my hand back when the vibration from his voice reaches my fingertips.
“Yeah?”
“I think I may have waited too long,” he says before he opens his eyes and looks up at me, his mouth only inches away now.
“For what?” I want him to kiss me so badly that it’s taking everything I have not to straddle his waist and press my lips to his.
“It feels like my Benadryl buzz is back.” He blinks lazily, and I see the heaviness in his face now. “I was okay for a while with all the epinephrine and caffeine, but that second dose has me feeling a little … funny.”
“Funny?”
He nods, his eyes refocusing on my mouth. “Yeah. Silly.”
“Then you probably shouldn’t risk driving home in your condition,” I tell him.
He nods again. “Think our girl Tiana’s still on duty?”
“Just … stay here,” I offer, sliding my hands over his shoulders. “I did promise to keep an eye on you.”
“I could call the front desk and ask them for my own room,” he mumbles.
“That sounds like a waste of a good buzz to me.”
His mouth curls into a one-sided smirk, and I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a man as badly as I want him right now. “I suppose I don’t have to rush off right away.”
“At least stay long enough for me to make sure that cream is helping.” I arch my back a little and hope my skimpy pajamas are working to my advantage.
He hums, drinking me in. “And what if it takes all night?”
“I know something we can do to entertain ourselves,” I murmur before I give up and hitch my leg over his hip. Rowan doesn’t hesitate to curl his hands around my back and draw me in closer, reassuring me that he is in fact into this.
“Do you have any idea how sexy you are? How tempting?” he blurts out, his eyes running over me and his voice sounding deeper than before, and my stomach dips. This isn’t the same guy I saved in the hotel lobby. Between the allergy cocktail and my shameless advances, his inhibitions have obviously been lowered.
“I could ask you the same thing,” I reply, clasping my hands behind his neck. It’s too bad that cortisone cream has left his skin a little sticky, or I’d already have my mouth on him. But I don’t have to lament for long, because his hand cups the back of my head and pulls me in.
His kisses are slow and heated this time, a little less frantic than before, but no less intense. He groans when I shift my position in his lap and begin fumbling with his belt buckle. But he surprises me by pulling away.
“I’m sorry, this isn’t me. I don’t usually talk like this, or act like this, for that matter,” Rowan says, squeezing his eyes closed and shaking his head.
