He made the call and handed me the phone. “I’m going to speak to the nurse,” he said, kissing me on the forehead. “I’ll be right there in the hallway.”
“Okay. I’ll be here.”
Axel smirked as he walked out the door. I picked up the phone to talk to Edith. “Hey. How are you?”
It took some time to convince her I was okay. She cried and apologized for sending me down to the basement. “You had no way of knowing what would happen. I would do it again.” That wasn’t exactly true. I may never go into a basement again, but she didn’t need my issues or the guilt weighing on her.
When Axel came back in, he sat by listening before he took the phone and assured her, I was okay. I moved over on my bed and patted the mattress. He hesitated, then climbed into bed with me. Right where I needed him. “See. I’ve got it under control,” he assured her. “He’s even agreed to marry me.” The unease I expected was nothing but happiness
Axel promised to keep her updated. When he ended the call, he gazed down at me. “I’d like to hire her to stay at our house when I go on the road.”
Our house.That was going to take some getting used to. “That would be good for her. And me. It will give her a chance to see I’m okay.”
Turning to my side, I rested my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Somehow, he’d slowly maneuvered us until we fit comfortably together. I smiled to myself, because that’s exactly how he’d been from the moment we met. Nudging me along until he worked his way past my defenses and into my heart. He’d known what I needed all along. Him.
His phone buzzed with an incoming message. Picking it up from the bed, he checked his messages. “Sorry, love. That’s our dinner.” He kissed my forehead and unwrapped himself from my hold. “I’ll be back.” Axel climbed out of bed, leaving me to get comfortable. But it wasn’t the same without him.
A short time later, he walked in carrying four bags. I snickered at him. “I’m hungry, but not that hungry, Hughes.”
His face lit up. “Good. One bag is ours, the other three are for the nursing staff. I sent some food from us to the ER, too.”
Us. Every plural pronoun had meaning now, and I was in awe of him. “How did I get so lucky to find you?”
He only shrugged but didn’t respond to my question. “They’re overworked and understaffed. It’s the least we can do.” Another plural pronoun.
I watched as he carefully unloaded the bag onto my hospital table, then took the others out to the nurse’s station. When he walked back into the room, I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
Chapter 42
Axel
The water from our dual showerheads rained down on us as we stood under the spray, holding on to one another. The minute we walked through the door, this was where Luca headed. His arms were draped over my shoulders as he tipped his head back under the spray, tilting it side to side. I watched his face as he breathed deeply, waiting to see if his cough would return. The extra day and some respiratory treatments helped him immensely. As if he could feel me watching him, Luca opened his warm brown eyes and smiled.
“I love you,” I said, leaning in to kiss him.
Reaching between us, he grasped our erections. Skin to skin in the most intimate way, a shiver raced through me as my need for him grew. Our tongues swirled as he slowly swept his thumb across my tip. I pulled back, but he only tightened his grip. “Don’t you want this?”
I bit my lip. “I do. But you just got out of the hospital.”
Soft kisses landed on my throat as he worked his way up to my ear. “You read the discharge instructions. Twice. Out loud. There was nothing about abstaining from sex.”
He was right, but I frowned. “Are you sure?”
Luca bit my earlobe, sending a bolt of electricity through me. “You’re not in charge today. I am. So, stand there and let me have my way with my fiancée.” His words reached into my chest and tightened around my heart. He knew how to get me to comply. And he was mine.
Luca nudged me against the wall and leaned in, chest to chest. I wrapped my hand around his. We were leaking like two men starved of the one he loved. Fisting his left hand in my wet hair, he pulled my mouth to his as we stroked ourselves together with his right, his thumb circling the head. More shivers erupted over my body as I fought the urge to take over. This was his moment, so I removed my hand and gripped his hair. He groaned and stroked faster as he brought us both to climax.
Resting his forehead on mine, we breathed together until the high passed. I pulled him close as he dropped his head to my shoulder. “We get to do this for the rest of our lives,” he whispered.
My heart was bursting with happiness. “Yes, we do, love.”
After we actually showered, Luca stepped out with the towel wrapped around his waist. “I need to borrow some sweats and a T-shirt,” he said.
“Check the closet,” I said, toweling off.
I followed him to my closet, where he stopped in the middle of the floor. His head swiveled from side to side as he took in what I’d done. “Are those…all my clothes?”
I put my hands on his shoulders and squeezed gently. Kissing his ear, I confirmed what he was looking at. “Yes. I had John and Caden pack them up and bring them over. Jenna let them in and hung them up for you. She didn’t want you to stress yourself with unpacking.”
