When he ended the kiss, he stared down into her dazed gaze. “You okay?”
“So good. But tired.”
He turned her under the spray and cleaned her up, though he loved seeing her marked with his cum. He dropped to his knees, lathered her legs and shaved them for her, trying not to notice how close he was to her wet pussy. Her energy was fading, he could tell, and she steadied herself with one hand on the wall.
The soft grin never left her lips as she stared down at him taking care of her.
At last he rose, turned off the water, wrapped a towel around her and dried her softly. He quickly dried himself with anothertowel, then used it to squeeze the water out of her long hair. He grabbed her brush off the counter and ran it through the slick strands. With every minute that passed, she became more relaxed. “Do you want a shirt or something to sleep in?”
“If it’s yours and smells like you, yes.”
He pulled her into his arms. “You make me think dirty thoughts and want to hold you close all night.”
“Hmm. That sounds nice. I forgot how nice it feels to be close. But I never felt it this strongly until you.”
He brushed his thumb over a particularly puckered scar on her shoulder. The gash had to have been deep.
Who hurts their child like this?
He kissed her forehead. “I’m here for all the cuddles you want.” Nothing felt better than having her skin against his.
While he’d pushed everyone away for a long time, it felt so good, so right to keep her close.
He put ointment on her shoulder wounds and thigh, then re-bandaged them. It took a bit longer to treat all her scrapes, especially since he kissed above every injury, hoping to ease her pain and build the intimacy between them. “The head wound looks better. Less swollen.” He kissed her forehead, brushing her soft cheek with his thumb.
He thought about her plummeting down into that ravine and the callous person who sent her plunging to her death. He wanted to find them and beat them bloody.
He tamped down his rising anger and grabbed the shirt he’d worn today and slipped it up her arm on her injured side, then over her head, and pulled it down so she could put her other arm through the hole.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now you look like you’re done in, so go climb into bed. I’ll be there in a second.” She walked away, leaving him to clean up the bathroom.
He needed a minute to cool off. He’d never wanted a woman the way he wanted her. That hand job in the shower wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy him. He wanted to be balls deep inside her.
Soon.
He wanted her safe.
Right now, she needed comfort and his protection. He’d give her both. Everything she needed and more. Because she belonged to him and he belonged to her. Once she believed it, they’d grow closer together. They’d build a life. And neither of them would ever feel alone again.
And whoever was out there plotting to hurt her again, they’d get what’s coming to them.
He wouldn’t stop until they were found and neutralized.
Chapter Eleven
Hawk woke to Lucky mumbling in her sleep, her body twitching. It took him a second to realize what she was saying.
“Don’t Desiree. No, no, no.”
She kicked him in the leg and pushed at his chest, her nails biting into his skin.
The nightmare made her restless. Nearly panicked.
“Des, stop.”
He wondered what her best friend was doing or saying in the dream.
