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Samuel’s eyes widened.
She took his hand and pressed his fingers to her left bicep, right above the slight scar. “Feel that?”
“Yeah…”
“That bump? That’s my birth control. This one was put in a year ago.”
“Jess…”
She lifted her head and pressed her lips to his, kissing him soft and slow. His body relaxed by degree until he was kissing her back.
“That’s… Are you sure? Are you positive?” he asked.
“Only fools are positive.” She chuckled at the quote. “Contrary to what you might think of me, I don’t do this. But you’re all I can think about.”
“There’s a good reason—”
She arched her back. “That I don’t care about.”
Samuel groaned and kissed her back, this time with a sense of urgency. But she needed the words.
Jessica pushed against his shoulders. He responded immediately, pushing up so there was space between them.
How was it a smart woman hadn’t already scooped this man up? He might be a little brusque, but he was thoughtful and considerate. She could see him growing with someone, to create a beautiful partnership.
Samuel closed his eyes. “I haven’t been with anyone in two years…”
That tidbit of knowledge shocked her, but she filed it away for later.
“And?” She slid her hands down his chest then up under his shirt.
His lids lowered the moment her skin touched his. “No STIs or anything of the kind. But, Jess? I could—”
“You could just stop talking and go with it? If you want to, that is. Because I really, really want to.”
She yanked on his shirt and Samuel finally obliged her by pulling it up over his head.
This was not the first time she’d seen him shirtless or even the second. She still felt a moment of reverence looking at him. Sure, he’d been laid up in a hospital bed for weeks—just like her—but the softness of his body was the only thing that made him look like a real person and not a figment of her too-perfect imagination. She had a feeling that when he was in top physical shape, he’d blow her mind.
Two almost perfectly circular scars marred his dark flesh. She reached up, covering the wound closest to his heart with her hand. No, she hadn’t known him when it happened. At that point in his investigation, she’d thought Harper was just a right-time-right-place kind of guy.
It meant the world to her that Samuel had done everything possible to stop the men kidnapping her best friend. A part of her would love him until the end of time for that. Robin was closer than her own family, and she wouldn’t be here now if it weren’t for Samuel. But at the same time, Jessica wished he hadn’t taken that risk. She wished he’d have a little more care for his safety.
In that aspect, they were the same.
He held still as if he knew she needed a moment.
Her gaze rose to his face and emotion clogged her throat.
Today was another brush with death. This time it could have been final. But they’d made it through. Together this time.
Jessica reached up and pulled him down. His mouth was soft and yielding when their lips met. His hand pressed to her chest, just as she’d done to him. As if he needed to feel her pulse to reassure himself she was okay.
They were both alive, though not quite whole yet.
Samuel wrapped his other arm under her then lifted, dragging her up the mattress.
She chuckled and tried to smother her giddiness. Getting manhandled was a turn-on for her. Was it cliché? Probably. Were her panties wet as hell? That was a positive.