Page 72 of Healing Conviction
“Youdid. Without you helping with my exercises, making me feel like a goddamn warrior whenever I lifted five pound weights in the beginning, I wouldn’t have made it mentally. Yeah, the meds helped me. But without you? The past couple of months would’ve sucked and my morale would’ve been shit. Having you by my side got me through what the medicine couldn’t.”
“I just… hate that you had to resort to drugs.”
“It’s not like that. We were government guinea pigs that cost too much for them to hurt us. They wouldn’t have given us the stuff if it did.”
Hopefully.
She nodded slowly. “Okay, I get it. But I helped? I mean… at least a little?”
“Not a little.” He smiled despite her frown. “You’re everything, Pix.”
Her face brightened with that flash of panic he desperately wanted to find the source for. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, and she was smiling and swatting him with the washcloths.
“Moving on… I think a certain handsome stud mentioned a bath? And I don’t really see a clawfoot tub anywhere in these woods.”
He knew she was pushing her feelings aside for his sake. He felt like a dick for it, but he appreciated the reprieve for now. “We don’t need a tub when we’ve got a fire.”
Her eyes lighted with excitement and she smiled before climbing onto her knees. “What do you have in mind, exactly, Survivorman?”
He grinned as he roved his eyes up and down her body for emphasis. “I want to take care of you. Every single inch of you.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
The adoration in his eyes burned hotter than the fire crackling beside them, making her stomach flip.
He hooked a stick through the hole at the top of the fish-shaped tongs. They worked like a hook for the water bottle as he maneuvered it to tip water onto the washcloth before setting the container upright again. He gently pushed her shoulder until she was leaning back onto the log.
“Here, sit back, little pixie.”
“Ooh, I can’t wait.” She relaxed and reached for the washcloth in his hands, but he snatched it from her reach.
“No, Pix, let me.”
Not giving her the chance to object again, he kneeled over her and carefully removed her glasses, setting them on the nearby bag. Despite his big body blocking out the heat from the fire, her skin flushed with anticipation. The warm, damp towel brushed down her cheek using gentleness that she’d always instinctively known was inside him.
Shuddering inhales and exhales escaped her, joining their crackling fire soundtrack as his eyes locked onto hers. The chilly night kissed her skin where the heated cloth left her face, following his strokes down her neck. He leaned closer and left a trail of soft kisses along her throat. Her chest ached when she realized he was carefully avoiding her ear.
He tugged at the hem of her short-sleeved shirt and his soft beard made her shiver as he whispered against her neck. “Off.”
She nodded in a daze before pulling the shirt over her head and laying back down, covering herself with her arms while using his jacket as a makeshift pillow.
He pulled her shivering arms away, revealing her black bra. His large hands stroked down her slight curves, his tan skin against her light, both different shades of gold thanks to the campfire. They molded around her breasts before he fingered her bra straps.
“No wait. Not yet.” She squeezed his forearms to stop him. No way in all of the goddesses’ green earth would this man get to have all the fun. “Let me do you, first.”
Her phrasing had the desired effect, and he smirked while she grabbed the second washcloth on the blanket. He used the canteen to dampen both washcloths before setting the bottle back near the coals.
“Switch with me and lie back, handsome.”
A small thrill shot down her spine when he immediately listened to her, resting his hands behind his head. If it wasn’t for the electric hunger passing between them with every touch and glance, she would’ve thought him to be the epitome of relaxation. Her own body was wound up tight, practically drooling at the way the pose showed off his thick biceps and the winding tattoos up his arm.
When she straddled his waist, a moan slipped from her mouth thanks to her restrictive jeans, adding pressure to her sensitive core. He was already hard underneath her, making her ache for him to be inside.
He massaged along her outer thighs with his hands and his insistent thrusts below her made her pussy ache to be filled.
“I need… I need you inside me, Drake.”
“I won’t make you wait long, Pix. I want to know you inside and out.”