When he ducked his head, wild tawny waves attacked the lower half of my face, and I breathed in deep the scent of my shampoo.
Pink cheeks and soft eyes lifted, the faintest smile curving his plump lips. “Two,” he said.
It took me a moment to understand what he meant, and then I realized I was supposed to be apologizing.
“Never ask if you can touch me again.”
My throat turned dry as if I’d swallowed a cup of sand. The gritty feeling was uncomfortable but not nearly as much as the idea of never touching him again. “Ever?” I asked, the word scraping from the Sahara in my throat.
He nodded.
Why couldn’t he have asked for a heart in a box?
He didn’t, and this was the price of my betrayal. I lifted my hands from him, starting to move away.
He caught the open collar at my throat, hands fisting in the material. “What are you doing?”
“Never touching you again.”
His eyes widened so much that I saw white around the different-colored orbs. “I said neveraskif you can touch me again,” he said.
“What?”
The grip on my collar tightened. “I don’t like it. It’s stupid. There will never be a time when I don’t want you to touch me. So just do it… whenever you want.”
My forehead pressed against his, relief making my neck weak. “You can’t give people blanket consent, Hazard.”
“I didn’t give it to people. I gave it to you.”
“I don’t deserve you,” I whispered.
“Oh, and you can tell me you own me all you want during sex. That’s so hot.”
I laughed. The force of it expelled a knot of tension I hadn’t even known was there. “I’m going to run you a bath. You can soak while I clean all this up and change the sheets.”
“I can help,” he argued, turning toward the tray on the other side of the bed.
“You need to rest.”
I went to the bathroom to turn on the water, and while it was filling, I sent a quick text to Ghost.We need to talk.
After, I carried Haz into the bathroom and stripped off the filthy shirt. Once he was settled in the tub with his stitched knee and hand propped out of the water, I switched out the empty IV bag for a full one.
He scowled and complained, but I did it anyway.
After giving him a glass of water and some pain medication, I left him to soak while I stripped the bed and then took a quick shower. Dressed in pair of black jeans and a fresh button-up, I checked my phone to see a message from Doc saying he’d be here soon to check on Haz.
Good. It will keep him busy while I talk to Ghost.
The clock was ticking, and I had to figure out what the hell I was going to do about the hit out on my little hazard’s head.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
Haz
“I’m not an invalid,” I told Kieran as he carried me back to the freshly made king-size bed. Seriously, I think he needed to be told. He clearly didn’t know.
