King wasn’t blind, he wasbroken.
He needed someone to help put him backtogether.
He covered her hands with his, and turned to press a whisper-soft kiss against her palm. Her breath caught, chills raced down her body. Desire pulled between her thighs, made her nipples ache. It was like there was no filter between them. That one small touch speared right through her. When he gently directed her to lay her cheek against his shoulder once more, she willingly did just that, thankful for the excuse to hide herself from him. What kind of woman was she to want him so badly after he’d just confessed suchtragedy?
* * *
King shudderedand wrapped his arms tightly around Laura. He had to divert her gaze before he did something stupid like kiss her. Neither of them was ready for that. She’d opened up a Pandora’s box inside him, leaving him completely out of control of his emotions. He ached, wanting to take her, touch her, to get inside her. But he also wanted to hold her like this. This was definitely the safer of the two options. He wasn’t thinking straight right now, in fact, he wasn’t thinking at all. He was just feeling. And feeling was something he did not know how todo.
“So, tell me more about Faith. Does she playsports?”
Laura went back to picking at the edge of his bandage. “Gymnastics. She’s really good at it. She’s been working on her back handspring and was close to getting itdown.”
Before he’d taken them from their home and totally interrupted theirlife.
“We’ve got a training facility downstairs. There are mats on the floor. You’re welcome to take her down there if she wants to practice or play,” heoffered.
She laid her palm flat on his shoulder, warm heat radiated through his flesh. “That would be nice. King, I need to tell yousomething.”
“Anything.”
She hesitated and then said, “Faith is deaf. She was born thatway.”
Chapter 12
“Isthat why she’s been so quiet? I noticed she hasn’t said much ofanything.”
“Yeah, she’s just started learning speech. I had her cochlear implant fixed last year and we started speech therapy. She’d been nonverbal before that.” Laura shifted, brushing against his length, his pants a pitiful barrier. King tensed, trying to concentrate on what she wassaying.
“She’s got intelligent eyes, like you. I bet she’ll be a quickstudy.”
Laura drew her hand back down to her lap. “Yeah.” He didn’t need to hear her soft tone to know she was withdrawing fromhim.
Alarmed, he tipped her chin up, enjoying their brief connection more than he should. “What’swrong?”
She averted her gaze but he wouldn’t let her turn her head, forcing her to look at him. “Laura?”
She let out a sigh. “Her cochlear implant processor was charging in the kitchen. At myhouse.”
King swore. “Christ. Can you order a new one? Online?” He knew absolutely zero about anything related to hearing or implants or speech therapy. Give him a gun and he could dismantle and reassemble it in seconds. But anything outside of military operations and he waslost.
She slowly shook her head, her chin still between his thumb and finger. “No, those have to be fitted at the hospital with the audiologist and the therapist. In order for the insurance to cover it the doctor will have to order it. Then we have to go in for programming and speechmapping.”
“That sounds complicated.” And totally out of the question. He couldn’t risk letting them go back to the hospital, or even leave the compound, until Dawson was captured. For all King knew, he could have possibly tracked them here and would be waiting for them to leave. He was smart andlethal.
Laura’s gaze dropped to his mouth and his gut tightened. Light green flecks in her eyes darkened. The pulse beneath her pale skin at the base of her neck kicked up, beating faster. Her nipples beaded beneath the thin material of her nightgown. He could read her body like an open book. She wantedhim.
The thought ratcheted his arousal up to an unbearable level. He should send her away, put some distance between them. Instead he leaned in closer, drawn to her. “What are youthinking?”
He could hear her slightly indrawn breath. Her cheeks flushed and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. “I’m thinking I’m totally crazy and that I should be terrified ofyou.”
He inched down. “But you’renot.”
“No, I’m not.” Her hands went to his biceps, her fingertips digging into theskin.
She should be scared of him. He had nothing to offer her but pain. She would hate him when he finally captured her brother. If he was any kind of a gentleman, he’d stop rightnow.
But he’d never been a gentleman. With a groan, King shifted his arm up and speared his fingers through her hair, tilting her head back. He crushed his mouth to hers, forceful and demanding, overtaken by the need insidehim.
