61. Zara #2
“If it weren’t for my chronic illness, I could’ve flown back with Peony.
” My tone is the calm of a teacher hammering home a point.
Please get what I’m saying. Please don’t make me have to keep explaining.
My heart can’t take it. “My injuries weren’t bad enough for me to be hospitalized.
” I touch the spot under my collarbone where gauze covers thirty stitches.
“But the spondyloarthritis is. That’s why I’m here and not at home. ”
“I know. The physician explained all that when Samuel and I got here.” Garrett threads his fingers with mine, and the reassuring strength of his hand grounds me.
But it’s not enough to change my mind. “I don’t want to be a burden, Garrett. To you or anyone else.”
“Why would you think you’re a burden?”
“Because I have a chronic illness that makes it difficult to do things. Especially when the symptoms flare up.”
“So?”
“So I don’t want to be a burden.” What isn’t he understanding?
“If our places were reversed, would you stop loving me because I had a chronic illness or because I survived an accident that left me disabled?”
I snort out a laugh at the ridiculousness of that question. “No. I love you no matter what.”
“Exactly. You’re not a burden.” He leans down and brushes a kiss on my jaw. The tension in the air coils around us, drawing us closer. “You’re my everything, Golden Girl.”
I shift my head slightly to catch his gaze. The love I see reflected back at me has me sucking in a soft breath. Is this real? Is he really in love with me?
“You’re a beautiful, strong, courageous woman.
You protected my daughter under the worst possible conditions.
” His lips press ever so gently on mine.
The touch lasts a fraction of a moment, but it still steals the air from my lungs.
“And I would have flown halfway around the world to tell you I love you, regardless of the reason for you being there.” His mouth hovers above mine, our stuttering breaths caressing.
“I was going to apologize when I got back from Tucson for what I said and tell you I do love you. But everything happened before I had the chance.”
The feel of him, his taste, his scent…my senses are thrown into overdrive. He kisses me again, this time lingering longer on my lips. “How ’bout for the next few days, we just focus on us. You and me. And on how I want to grow old with you. Because I love you.”
His words are like aloe vera to the soul, easing my fears, my misgivings, my self-doubts. Words I never imagined I would hear from Garrett. Words I’ve longed to hear. And I believe him. He. Loves. Me.
And not just as a friend .
My heart pounds, my breath hitches, and a wave of tingles sweep over my body, our new reality winding around me in a loving embrace. “Okay.” My reply brushes my lips in a whisper.
He slowly pulls away, his eyes searching mine. “Those men…did they touch you?” He traces over the bruised side of my face. “Other than here.”
“No. Not in the way you’re thinking.” Thank the Lord for that.
And thank the Lord Peony had never been touched that way either.
Tilly confirmed that. She’d told me a lot of things while I was her roommate.
Things I don’t want to think about right now.
I’d much rather think about this man in front of me—this wonderful, sweet, caring, sexy man…
who finally, after all these years, is all mine.
A sexy glint lights his eyes. “So…so you’re okay if I touch you?”
“Are you asking if you can give me much-needed orgasms…for pain relief?” A wide smile spreads across my face. “Because the answer is yes, please. But you might want to lock the door first.”
“Good idea.” He clicks the door lock and returns to the narrow bed. I scoot over to give him more room.
He lowers the head of the bed to make things a little more comfortable.
Hospital beds weren’t exactly designed with sex in mind.
A nervous giggle escapes me at what we’re about to do in a very public place.
But heck if I’m changing my mind. I need him, this, so badly, I ache for it deep in my bones.
And not just because of what it means for my physical pain.
He’s in love with me.
Garrett lies next to me and lovingly cups my breast with his hand over my gown, his thumb stroking the nipple. I give in to the sensation, my body celebrating his touch, and I arch into his palm.
Outside the room door, the regular hospital sounds click, squeak, announce, chatter, but inside the room…
inside the room it’s just us and our rapid breaths, my soft moans.
Moans at his touch. Moans as I worship the feel of his mouth on mine.
Worship the dizzying sensation of his mouth on my jaw, my neck, the shell of my ear.
“I’ve booked a hotel room.” His breath blows hot across my skin. “Do you want to stay with me in my hotel while you recuperate, until it’s safe for you to fly? ”
“I would love to.” The whispered words fall out on a quiet whimper as his fingers do delectable things to the ache between my legs. I widen the space between them, a wanton groan building deep in my throat.
Oh, Lord, I’ve missed this. Missed the way my best friend, the man who has my heart and my soul, knows how to play my body. Knows how to get me begging for more.
Garrett moves his mouth to my ear. “You ready to fuck my hand, Golden Girl?” The question rides on the low, throaty rumble of his voice, and I plunge closer to the edge of euphoria.
My “Oh, yes!” rolls out on a whimper, my body writhing and bucking against his hand.
Garrett’s fingers sink inside me, claiming me. “And once you’ve been released from this hospital, it will be my mouth on this gorgeous pussy.”
His words and his touch and his sexy voice are all it takes for the white-hot heat to consume me—in a giant wave of ecstasy and relief.