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“We can stay in the room until they leave,” I tell her, locking my phone and tossing it onto the bed.

“What?” Selene laughs. “Of course not. Come on. Shower first, then we’ll go downstairs.”

“I just want a little more time alone with you, pixie,” I murmur, my voice dropping into a softer, more coaxing tone.

She pushes my hand away from her thigh and fixes me with an intense look.

“It was hard enough refusing you last night, Zayn,” she says reproachfully, as if it’s my fault she turned me down. “Stop tempting me.”

“But why are you even doing this?” I ask, lifting my uninjured hand. “I’m perfectly capable of having sex, making love… whatever you need.”

She quickly climbs out of bed and heads for the bathroom, but pauses in the doorway.

“First of all, you’re supposed to avoid putting in too much effort for a while.” She raises one finger. “And second, we had sex once with everyone else downstairs, and every single one of them figured it out.”

An embarrassed look crosses her face before she adds quickly, “Never again, Zayn.”

Then she closes the bathroom door behind her.

But she doesn’t lock it.

And me… I can move almost perfectly.

So I get out of bed and follow her.

She can try to refuse me all she wants, but I know she needs me just as much as I need her.

And I spend the next hour proving exactly that.

Because absolutely no accident is going to stop me from taking my woman whenever and wherever I want.

SIXTY-ONE

Selene

“Oh my God,” Sara and Maya exclaim in unison when they see Zayn.

They wanted to fly to London the moment they heard about the accident, but their husbands and the guys managed to calm them down. Since Zayn is supposed to rest for a while anyway, we decided to come to New York instead.

Everyone was waiting for us at the Thomas house, including my parents, and the mothers were shocked when Zayn stepped out of the car.

It’s been three days since the accident, so the scratches on his face and forehead are still visible, though the bandage on his forehead is finally gone.

His leg is still wrapped at the knee, but he’s wearing loose sweatpants, so it doesn’t show. And his arm, of course, is still in a cast.

Zayn walks over to them and lets them hug him one by one, but he doesn’t release my hand for even a second.

“I missed you, daughter,” Dad says, pulling me into his arms.

Mom immediately joins us, wrapping herself around both of us until we end up tangled together in a tight embrace.

“I’m so relieved you’re both okay,” she murmurs. “We were terrified when we heard about the accident.”

“I missed you, guys,” I whisper, letting them hold me as tightly as they need.

I can’t remember how long it’s been since I last saw them. But so much has happened in such a short amount of time that it feels like years have passed.

“Selene, you look beautiful,” Maya tells me when it’s finally her turn to hug me.