Chapter 20
FIVE DAYS LATER
GAGE
I step out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around my waist, another in my hand as I rub it over my wet hair.
Fighting a smirk, I freeze and give her a second to finish her perusal before her eyes finally flick up to meet mine.
I raise a brow. “What are you doing?”
When I went to take a shower, she was napping, something I’m quite confident she never did before the explosion. If anyone had suggested it then, she likely would have responded by going another round in the ring with Atlas or pinning some unsuspecting sucker on the Jiu-jitsu mat.
But that was before.
Now, she’s battling exhaustion she can’t hide, aches in her muscles and joints, not to mention the headaches that just keep coming back no matter what we try to do to help them.
Since she refuses to take the medication that might relieve some of it, and I’m not about to force it down her throat, it has meant she’s been uncomfortable for days, which in turn has made me miserable watching her suffer.
But the way she’s looking at me now, it does not appear she’s at all uncomfortable.
If anything, she’s eyeing me the same way she accused me of looking at her that day in the gym—like she wants to pin and straddle me.
My cock starts to harden, pushing against the confines of the towel that does very little to hide my reaction to her wearing one of my T-shirts, sitting casually on my bed, like it’s hers and she belongs there.
It would be, if I had my way.
It’s where I want her to stay, far beyond the two-week restriction Nora put on her return to work and her normal life, but I know the second she gets medically cleared, she’ll be out of here as fast as she can run.
Given the training she usually does, I bet that’s pretty damn fast.
She holds up the book. “I found this in your nightstand.”
“Huh…” I return to drying my hair. “So you were snooping?”
Grinning, she shakes her head. “No, I was bored.”
My eyes dip to where her phone lies on the comforter beside her bare legs. “Bored or annoyed?”
She scowls, and I know I’ve read the situation accurately.
It isn’t the first time I’ve caught her trying to wring information from one of the Hawkes.
She’s made her way through the entire family over the last several days, hoping one of them might have a weak moment and tell her what’s been happening with both the investigation into the bombing and their continued hunt for Satriano.
Given how frustrated she continues to be, it’s clear she hasn’t gotten anything out of anyone, but I have to give it to her for the continued determination and lack of quit.
I don’t think this woman even knows the meaning of the word.
“You were texting your dad again, weren’t you? Trying to get some information from him?”
She purses her lips together, her fingers tightening around the open book. Her annoyance at being kept out of the loop has only grown the longer she’s remained confined here and in the dark, but it’s for her own good, whether she likes it or not.
The fact that she continues to have intense headaches and be so sore only confirms the need for more time to recover.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel for her.
I can’t even imagine how unsettling it must be knowing someone is out there targeting the people she loves when she is helpless to do anything about it. If I were in her shoes, I would be trying everything to get back into the mix, too.
And seeing her continue to stress about it when she needs to relax in order to speed up her recovery makes me feel helpless.
I toss the towel I was using on my hair back into the bathroom so I can crawl onto the bed with her.
Taking her face in my palm, I tilt it up toward me.
“I know it’s killing you to be in the dark about this, but I promise, if there was anything we absolutely needed your help with that someone else couldn’t handle, we would come to you—even against doctor’s orders.
” Her jaw hardens, and I run my thumb along it.
“Tensing up like that isn’t going to help your headaches. ”
She pulls out of my hold and grabs her phone, tossing it on the bedside table along with the book. Her tongue snakes out across her lips, wetting them as she returns to looking at me like I’m a goddamn snack again. “You’re right, it won’t. But I know something that will.”
Her hand cups my semi-hard cock through the towel, and I groan, slamming my eyes shut against the glorious sensation after so many days of sleeping beside this woman and not touching her the way I so desperately want to.
“Fucking hell, Bishop.” I shake my head as she drags her thumb across the piercings that line the top, making my cock twitch in her hold. “No…”
I start to shift back off the bed, out of temptation’s reach, but she loops her free arm around my neck and tugs me closer, until I’m practically in her lap.
She strokes my cock that’s now fully hard and raring to go, skimming her lips across my cheek. “But I heard an orgasm is good for pain relief.”
I grab her wrist, keeping her from doing any further damage to my already frayed willpower. “I’ve heard that, too. Are you in pain right now?”
Her gaze flicks over to the nightstand and the book on it. “I see where you’re going with this, Gage. It’s a Catch 22, right? If I am in pain, touching me could relieve it, but if I say I’m in pain, you won’t touch me because you don’t want to risk hurting me more.”
Smart woman…
If I weren’t trying so hard to fight how fucking turned on I am, I would show her just how impressed I am that she figured out exactly where I was going with that question so quickly.
Bishop’s safety and comfort is my number one priority, even if that means rejecting her and probably facing her wrath for it.
She leans up and presses her lips to mine, the taste of the tea she just drank on her tongue mixing with the scent of the jasmine that always hangs around her, filling every breath I take.
God, it’s so hard to resist her when she’s like this.
Still, I force myself to pull away, still gripping her wrist. “I know what you’re up to, Hellcat.”
“What’s that?”
I have to hand it to her, she somehow manages to appear confused and innocent even when I damn well know she’s one of the most cunning women on this planet.
“You think if you have sex with me, I’m going to tell you something that I haven’t already about what’s happening.”
It’s only there for a second, just a brief flicker of distress across her gaze, but it’s enough to know I’m right.
“Another very good reason not to do this right now, Bishop.”
I shift away, releasing her wrist and trying to put some space between us so I can get a clearer head, but her hand catches the towel and she tugs on it, pulling it free of my waist.
Her gaze zeros in on my very hard cock, the metal piercings glinting under the overhead lights. “It looks like you’re very on board with this idea.”
“Not when you’re hurt. And not when you have an ulterior motive.”
She pushes up onto her knees. “Just because I have an ulterior motive doesn’t mean I don’t desperately want you right now. Two things can be true at the same time.”
I crawl closer to her and pin her back against the headboard. Gently. Ensuring I’m not pressing her anywhere that would make her sore or aggravate any of the bruises on her body.
“You know how much I like playing games, Hellcat. Especially with you. But I’m not going to tell you anything, and I’m not going to risk hurting you.”
The plea in her eyes might as well be a dagger straight to my heart. “It’s going to hurt me if you don’t.”
She says the words so softly that I barely hear them, and I might think they’re just a ploy to get me to cave…
If I couldn’t see the truth in her gaze.
Bishop needs this.
It isn’t just about hoping I’ll slip and give her some information.
She’s feeling out of control again, like everything is happening around her and she’s locked away in some castle tower but still suffering the consequences from it.
Maybe she can’t admit it out loud.
But it’s true nonetheless.
She needs control tonight.
She needs me to give it to her.
And I don’t know that I can deny her anything that might make her feel better, that might give her something to cling to when she’s spiraling.
I take her face in my hand again, holding it firmly. “I’ll tell you what, Hellcat, I will gladly make you come to see if it makes you feel better, but if I think for a goddamn second that it’s hurting you, then we’re done. Agreed?”
She nods eagerly, and I drop my free hand down between her legs, sliding it up under the hem of my T-shirt and into her panties to find her core already starting to slicken.
“Is this from seeing me come out of the shower?”
Her gaze dips to all the ink on my chest. “I love looking at you. You’re a beautiful man.”
I can’t help but grin at her. “That might be the first time anyone’s ever said that to me.”
“Really?”
I nod. “Is that why you’re with me, Hellcat? Because I’m so beautiful?”
Her breath hitches, and I see fear flash across her gaze as she shakes her head. “No.”
It wouldn’t have mattered in this moment if she had answered “yes” to that question, but her slight hesitation and that tiny sliver of fear are enough to tell me I’m not alone in feeling that what we have goes far beyond the sexually charged energy between us.
I crush my mouth to hers, truly kissing her for the first time in almost a week. She moans, wrapping her arms around my neck and tugging me tighter against her. I loop my arms around her back and roll onto mine, taking her with me, careful to ensure I’m not holding her too tightly.
“Pull off that shirt and come sit on my face, Hellcat.”
Her eyes flare wide as she stares down at me, but her fingers find the hem of the shirt and she tugs it up and tosses it over the side of the bed, then reaches down and slides off her panties, throwing them on the floor, too.
Even with the bruises marring her skin, Bishop is the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen on this planet.