Page 89 of Wicked Little Darling

He pushed to his feet, and god knew where he thought he was going. I wasn’t done with him; I wanted more of his attention.

All of it.

“Let me hold you,” burst out of me before the words had even fully formed in my mind. “Can I hold you? Please?” I held my arms open and tried to look as unimposing and inviting as possible, although I wasn’t really sure what Reese would consider inviting. A cactus, maybe?

Reese let his gaze travel slowly down the length of my body, and when his eyes finally found their way back to mine, he narrowed them and asked, “Why?”

“Because it’ll make me feel better.”

“And why do I care how you feel?”

“Because you do.”

“No, I don’t,” he muttered while moving toward me, his words once again at complete odds with his actions.

He totally cared.

He sank one knee down by my hip, then hesitated. “How…I mean, where should I—” He gestured at my body with an irritated fling of his hand, like it was annoying him that he couldn’t figure out how to lie on me. Like he’d never lain with or cuddled another person before.

He was killing me, and it took all my willpower to not just drag him onto my lap.

Hmm, how should he lie on me?

“Turn around,” I said, a smile stretching across my face at his skeptical expression. “Go on, I’ll put you where I want you. You don’t have to do any work or think about it at all.”

His cheeks darkened, and fuck I wanted to bite them so badly.

Reese pulled his knee off the bed, then moved until his back was to me, but kept his head turned toward me so he could watch me.

I sat up, pulled him toward me until the back of his legs hit the bed, then wrapped one arm around his waist, slid the other hand down the back of his thigh and pulled him on top of me. He made a startled sound and grabbed onto my forearms, but didn’t resist when I settled back on the pillows and pulled him closer, nestling him between my legs. Mine were so much longer than his, and fuck if I didn’t love that. He was like a little pocket demon I wanted to carry around with me everywhere.

“Dakota…” The uncertainty in his voice made me want to wrap all my limbs around him and protect him from everything, to keep him here in my arms so I could always keep him safe.

“Mm?”

He shifted slightly, which only put his ass more firmly against my dick.

“Do you feel better now?”

Fuck yes I did.

“Uh-uh. Not quite. Just a little longer.”

Reese sighed heavily, then let himself sink back against me. Did he realize he was moving his thumb back and forth across my skin? I wasn’t about to point it out because then he’d stop.

“Let me know when you feel better,” he mumbled, turning his head slightly until I could feel his slow puffs of breath against my bicep.

He fell asleep holding my arm, his face turned to the side and pressing hard into my chest, like he wanted to breathe me in even if he suffocated.

Or at least, that’s what I was going to pretend.

He looked so goddamn sweet when he was asleep. I carefully brushed his hair aside so I could see his face. It was completely relaxed, all those lines of worry and anger smoothed away.

He’d had another nightmare last night. He didn’t get up and move around in his sleep, but he was very distressed and did a lot of talking and crying.

No wonder he was so tired.

It must be exhausting to be him. Always on the defensive, keeping his guard up. I wasn’t sure what secrets he was holding onto, what past hurts were invading his dreams, but I wanted to save him from them.