Chapter 14
DANTE
I steady myself in the doorway.
Everything in my body is telling me that I shouldn’t even be on my feet right now. Specifically the exhaustion from the blood loss.. but none of it is enough to make me leave.
Not when she’s right there.
Steam curls around her. It’s thick and hazy as it clings to the glass, softening everything except the way she’s looking at me.
The water hits her shoulders and runs down, tracing lines I shouldn’t be focusing on, but I am anyway.
Because I’m still me.
And she’s still her.
And whatever the hell this thing is between us hasn’t gone anywhere.
My grip tightens slightly against the doorframe as my vision blurs for half a second, and I force myself to focus on her again. On staying upright. On not dropping right here in front of her.
“You should be in bed,” she snaps.
I let out a quiet breath, something almost like a dry laugh, though it barely makes it past my chest. “Yeah.. you’re probably right.”
“I’m always right.” She says casually as she turns to the side, doing her best to cover up her breasts and..
My eyes wander downward for half a second before I force them back up to meet hers again.
She catches it.
A faint look crosses her face, somewhere between nervous and amused, but she hides it fast.
“You planning on staring all night?” she asks, though her voice doesn’t hit as confidently as she probably wanted it to.
I lean a little more of my weight against the doorframe, breathing through the pain tearing through my side. “Probably shouldn’t,” I mutter.
But I still don’t look away.
Steam continues to bend around her, blurring the edges of everything except her eyes. Those stay clear. Locked onto mine like neither of us knows how to break whatever tension’s been building between us for the last year.
Maybe longer, but that’s difficult to admit.
The water runs down her skin in uneven streams, and I drag in a quiet breath before shifting my focus back to her face again.
Control yourself.
“You’re bleeding through the bandage again,” she says suddenly, her expression tightening as her eyes drop to my side.
I glance down briefly.
A dark stain has started to spread through the fabric coating my side.
I dismiss it. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine, Dante.” She snaps back.
The way she says my name sends a shudder through me.
That’s dangerous.
For both of us.
Because that shudder went straight to my cock, and all it can think about is her.
I straighten slightly, immediately regretting it as pain burns through my ribs hard enough to make my jaw tighten. My hand slips from the frame for half a second before I catch myself again.
And she notices, her expression changing instantly.
The irritation disappears.
“Screw it,” she mutters under her breath.
Then, before I can stop her, the shower door slides open slightly and warm steam spills out around me.
“You’re going to pass out again,” she says.
“Wouldn’t be the first time tonight.”
“That’s not funny,” she mutters, grabbing the towel off the counter and quickly wrapping it around herself.
She stalks over to me with whatever attitude she can still manage, then grabs my other arm and throws it over her shoulder, helping steady me before I collapse again.
I meet her eyes again, and for a second neither of us moves.
She’s standing up against me now, wet hair clinging to her shoulders, skin flushed from the heat of the water.
And suddenly, the air around us seems to shift.
Her body is warm against mine despite the slight tremble in her arms from holding part of my weight. The towel barely stays secured around her as she adjusts her grip on me, trying not to jostle my side too much.
Not that it helps.
Pain still burns through my ribs with every breath.
But somehow that’s not what my body’s focused on anymore.
My hand tightens slightly on her shoulder as another wave of dizziness hits me. She immediately steadies me again, annoyance flashing across her face.
“You are such an idiot,” she mutters.
“Debatable,” I answer quietly, my eyes staying on her.
Her gaze flicks up to mine for half a second before she looks away first.
That’s new.
Leigh never looks away first.
I notice the exact moment she realizes that too, because irritation flashes across her expression like she’s annoyed with herself for it.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she says, guiding me slowly out of the bathroom.
“Like what?” I question innocently.
“You know exactly what.”
A faint grin threatens to pull at my mouth, but the pain in my side kills it before it fully forms.
We make it two more steps before my balance slips again.
Her hand immediately slides tighter around my waist to keep me upright, and the second it does, both of us freeze.
Her fingers graze my skin and press right against my stomach, just below the edge of the bandage, and I swear I feel every individual one.
My eyes drop to her mouth before I can stop them.
Pink, wet from the steam and slightly parted.
Fuck.
Too many sexual thoughts run through my head at once.
She bites down lightly on her bottom lip, her brows pulling together as she watches me.
“You keep doing that,” I mutter.
Her eyes narrow slightly. “Doing what?”
“Looking at me like you’re worried.”
Her expression softens for the briefest second before she catches herself again. “You got stabbed, Dante.”
“But I’m still breathing.”
“Barely.” She murmurs as she carefully lowers me back onto the mattress. The second I’m sitting again, exhaustion crashes into me hard enough that black starts creeping at the edges of my vision.
She catches on immediately.
“Hey.” Her voice sharpens slightly as she kneels in front of me. “Stay awake.”
I let out a quiet breath through my nose, forcing my eyes back open fully.
She’s still in between my knees, wrapped in nothing but that towel.
Blood rushes somewhere else entirely as my mind drifts to all the things she could do to me in a position like this.