Chapter 31
Lilac tried to stifle a yawn, but Tanner immediately spotted the movement.
“Time for you to nap.”
“I don’t need a nap. What I need is to get up and move around.”
Actually, what she really needed was to pee. Between the IV and Tanner reminding her to keep having some of the protein drink, she was busting.
He eyed her. “No.”
She raised her eyebrows. “No?”
“No.”
She frowned. “Bossy Tanner.”
“You bet. When it comes to your health, I’m all about bossing you around. Now, do you need to pee before you sleep?”
“Are you a mind reader?” How did he know? She didn’t think she’d done anything to give herself away.
“Nope. I just figured you were beyond the time that you should need to pee, and that you weren’t going to ask me. Am I right?”
Well, he wasn’t wrong. But she still wasn’t going to admit that he was right.
That seemed like the wrong avenue to take with a man who always seemed to think he was right. No way was she validating that belief.
“Come on, baby.” He stood and drew her covers back.
“What are you doing?” she asked in alarm.
“Taking you to the bathroom.”
“I don’t need anyone to take me,” she complained as he lifted her in his arms. Thankfully, she’d been disconnected from the drip although the line was still in her hand.
This wasn’t a good idea.
Because she liked this way too much.
He shifted her so she was lying against his chest with his arm under her bottom as he walked into the bathroom. Her bladder protested the movement.
Shoot. She might have left it too long to pee.
“You’re certainly not doing it alone. You could get dizzy, fall, and hit your head.”
“It’s like five steps,” she told him dryly as he set her on her feet in front of the toilet.
“Five steps too many. Put your hands on my shoulders.”
His tone was so dominant that she immediately obeyed him without thought. Then he crouched down to pull down her pants and panties.
“Tanner!” she cried.
“What?”
“You can’t do that!” She knew she had to be bright red.
“Why not? Nothing I haven’t seen before. I think we should take these shorts off and get you changed into one of my T-shirts. It will be so big on you that it will cover everything.”
“Shoot. I didn’t think about what I was going to sleep in.” She really needed some fresh clothes.
“It’s either my T-shirt or a hospital gown.” He nodded at the shelf filled with hospital gowns.
Yeah. No thanks.
“Do you have a spare one? Are you sure it will cover me?”
“Yep, and you’re tiny. Of course it will cover you. I’ll go get it while you use the toilet. Don’t get up off the toilet without my help. Call me if you need me.”
Um. Yeah. That wasn’t happening.
He stood there. What was he waiting for? She really had to pee.
“Sit down,” he commanded.
“Good Lord,” she muttered. But she sat, still blushing.
He disappeared, leaving the door open. Um, no. She didn’t think so. Leaning over, she managed to nudge the door closed.
“Lilac,” he said warningly through the closed door.
“I cannot pee with you listening,” she told him.
That was a step too far.
She ignored the sound of his sigh.
After she was finished, she slowly stood. Then she flushed the toilet before moving to the sink to wash her hands.
The door immediately opened like she figured it might.
“That’s three, baby,” Tanner said from behind her.
She turned with a gasp, the room spinning slightly.
“Damn it, Lilac.” Stepping forward, he lifted her into his arms. “What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I can pull my own panties up and wash my own hands.”
“All right, then how about this? Stop thinking and start letting me do the thinking for you.”
That really shouldn’t be so appealing. But it was. It really was.
“I need clean clothes for tomorrow,” she mumbled as he carried her into the bedroom and laid her on the bed. Turning, he grabbed a large T-shirt out of his duffel bag.
What did it say about her that she really wanted to wear his clothes?
She wasn’t really sure.
As he reached for her T-shirt, she suddenly changed her mind. She really did feel gross and dirty.
“I really need a shower.”
“And you can have a shower, but I’ll need to help you.”
“You’ll get all wet.”
“Hmm. I won’t be the only one.” He winked at her.
Lilac groaned. “That was awful.”
“Really? Huh. I thought it was some of my best work.”
She sighed. “B minus at best.”
His eyes widened. “B minus? I’ll take it. I was always a C student.”
“You’re terrible.”
“Terribly good?”
“I think you know the answer to that. And I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay to shower by myself.” She was being honest about her hairy legs.
“Baby, I don’t care about your hairy legs. Besides, I just had my face right next to them when I helped you go to the toilet.”
She gasped in realization. “Damn it.”
Tanner gave her a wicked grin. “Come on, you’ll sleep better if you’re clean. Stay there and I’ll turn the shower on.”
As he turned the shower on, she carefully sat up and reached behind her to undo her bra, pulling it off while keeping her T-shirt on.
A sigh of relief left her, and she heard him chuckle.
“That was a big sigh.”
“Men have no idea how good it feels to take a bra off. I mean, I know I don’t really have anything there anymore, but . . .” she trailed off as his smile turned into a frown.
Yikes.
Okay, she shouldn’t have reminded him of that.
She basically had a whole new body now. Would he like it better? Or not?
“I think I might call Abby and get her to help me,” she told him, feeling even more self-conscious.
Tanner eyed her for a moment. Then he walked closer. Stopping in front of her, he placed his hands on the bed on either side of her.
“Let’s get one thing straight, shall we? No matter what you look like, I am still going to want you. Did I think you looked sexy before? Fuck, yes. I thought I was going to come as soon as I got inside you. Very nearly did.”
She snorted. Urgh. She had to stop making that sound.
“Am I hard at the thought of getting you naked now? Hell. Yes. Do you want to see the evidence?”
Yes.
“No!” she cried.
His lips twitched. “Liars get their bottoms spanked.”
Lilac scowled at him. “That is not three.”
“Nope, it’s four.” Reaching up, he ran his finger over her lip. “I’m hard as fuck over the idea of seeing you naked, touching. I still want to eat that pussy until my appetite is sated, knowing it will never be. All I want, baby, is for you to be healthy and happy. Okay? And I think we can agree it’s not ideal to skip meals.”
There was no condemnation in his voice. He didn’t look at her like he blamed her in any way.
“I guess so,” she said, letting out a sigh.
“Come on, let’s get you clean. It’s well past your nap time.” Picking her up once again, he carried her, along with his T-shirt, into the bathroom.
Setting her on the counter, he stripped off the T-shirt she was wearing. Bending down, he cupped one breast. She hadn’t been lying, there really wasn’t anything there anymore.
But the look on his face was one of wonder, of reverence. Dropping his mouth to her nipple, he took it into his mouth, sucking.
A whimper escaped her. She wasn’t ready nor had the energy for sex. She still didn’t feel that desirable . . . although with the way he was staring at her, touching her, perhaps that was all in her head.
His mouth slid to her other nipple, sucking on it.
“Tanner, we can’t . . . we can’t do this,” she said, breathlessly. She didn’t want him to stop, but she wasn’t prepared for anything more.
He drew back, regret on his face. “Sorry, baby. I got carried away.”
She nodded. She understood that. He lifted her onto her feet.
“Hands on my shoulders.”
“I can balance, you know,” she told him as she did as ordered. He crouched in front of her and drew her panties down.
She gasped.
Crap. She just remembered what other part she hadn’t had time to take care of. It used to be that she had a standing appointment to get waxed. Stefan had even made noises about having her hair lasered off.
Was it weird that her brother cared about her appearance? That he insisted that she keep her pussy and legs waxed?
Oh yeah. Uber weird.
But that had been her life.
“Baby, you okay?”
“What?” She stared down at him. Lord, his face was so close to her pussy. All he had to do was lean in and he’d be touching her.
“You’re trembling.” He had her lift one foot, then the other, before he had her panties completely off. “This is too much for you.”
“No, it’s not that. I was just thinking about my brother.”
He stood and grasped hold of her hips. “What?”
All right, she could understand how that sounded weird.
“It’s nothing,” she said hastily. “Can we get in the shower?”
“I’ll shelve the conversation because I want you back in bed, napping. But we will circle back to this, make no mistake.”
Something to look forward to.
He checked the temperature of the water before helping her into the shower. She sat on the bench seat as he stripped off his own T-shirt.
Lilac sucked in a breath, watching him hungrily. But all he did was pump some shower gel onto his hand.
She didn’t even bother to protest as he started to wash her. Truthfully, she was already tired and feeling a bit woozy. And his touch felt so nice.
“You’re so tense. You need a massage.”
Lord, yes.
“Want me to wash your hair?” he asked.
“No. It will be all right.”
He moved his hands over her breasts and stomach. Then he had her sit forward so he could do her back.
Finally, he moved down to her legs. “Part your legs, baby.”
With a whimper she did as directed. But he kept his movements soft and brief as he cleaned between her legs. Finally, he turned the water off and grabbed the towel.
“I don’t want to put those panties back on,” she grumbled after he’d dried her off.
“Then don’t.”
“I can’t get back into bed without panties on.”
He huffed out a laugh as he carried her back to the bed. He drew the curtain around the bed for privacy in case someone came in before stripping off the towel.
Then he put his T-shirt on over her head. By this time, she was completely exhausted. He tucked her into bed, even fluffing her pillows up for her.
“Tanner, I need panties.”
“You’re fine, baby. No one will know. I can get one of my brothers to stop at your place, though, and pick up a bag for you.”
“I can’t ask them to do that, they’ll be busy. Especially as I’m sure I will be going home tomorrow.” She yawned. Lord, she was so tired.
He snorted. “Busy. Good one. They’re not busy. Lazy slackers. You’ll need stuff to wear tomorrow. And in case you have to stay longer.”
No way was she staying in the hospital any longer. There was too much she had to do. Plus, she hated to think of the cost of staying here.
“I can get Raid to pick up a bag of your stuff. But I’ll text Opal and ask her to get everything ready. I don’t want him touching your panties.”
She was sure that Raid had no interest in her panties.
“You have Opal’s number?” she asked with surprise.
He shot her a look. “Baby, you called her from my phone.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, I’m tired,” she said.
“Then go to sleep.”
“I don’t think I can,” she grumbled. Sleep was so hard when your brain just wouldn’t shut up.
“Roll over and face the other way,” he ordered.
Confused, she did as he said. He drew the blanket down to her waist and started massaging her back. The massage was gentle, but it started to relax her.
“That’s it,” he said in a low, soothing voice. “Off to sleep you go, good girl.”
She really didn’t deserve him. But perhaps she could find a way to keep him.