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My eyes sprang open and I bolted out of my bed, only to ping back like a boomerang when my hand wouldn’t comply with the rest of my body.
Of course it wouldn’t.
Not when it was welded to a much larger hand.
“Five more minutes, babe.” Gerard echoed my earlier words from under a mountain of pillows and teddy bears. “I’m resting my eyes.”
“Come on, get up,” I groaned, battling it out for dominion over my hand and losing when he pulled me back down on the mattress without breaking a sweat—or cracking open an eyelid. “Hugh’s right outside my door. Apparently, you’re supposed to be at the gym.”
“The gym can suck my balls,” he mumbled, rolling onto his side and pulling me flush against his chest to spoon. “Fucking Kav.”
“Gerard!”
“Snuggling my Claire-Bear equals a happy Gibsie. Running laps on the treadmill until I puke equals a very unhappy Gibsie.” The feel of his big body pressed to mine set loose what felt like a cage of wild butterflies in my chest. “It’s all about priorities, babe.”
“And I’m yours?” I teased.
“Always,” he confirmed sleepily, tightening his hold on my waist.
Jesus.
Breath hitching, I forced myself to exhale slowly, all the while desperately trying to channel down the somersaulting sensation in my belly. The one that felt like I had just driven over a massive hump in the road, that caused my organs to shift around in my body.
Everything between us was starting to feel a whole lot different lately. More intense. More grown-up. Even though he was the same boy I’d spent most of my life adoring, he certainly didn’t look like that boy anymore.
Sure, his silvery-gray eyes still sparkled with boyish mischief, but the puppy fat that had once lingered on his belly was long gone. High cheekbones and a defined jawline that was speckled with day-old stubble had replaced the chubby cheeks he once bore.
It was fair to say that Gerard Gibson was all man now, and that piece of knowledge caused something to stir inside of me.
I liked it, I realized—maybe even more than liked it.
My body seemed to react to the sight of him, causing my skin to flood with heat and my heart rate to skyrocket.
“Just relax,” he mumbled sleepily. Not bothering to crack an eyelid open, he draped his big bicep around my body and pulled me back down. “Hmm.” A deep rumble of approval escaped his lips when our bodies melded together once more. “Better.”
Unable to repress the full-body shudder of pleasure that rippled through my core, I grew lax against him, knowing that it was a terrible idea with Hugh just outside and especially when I could feel Gerard’s, uh, morning ladder steadily erecting, but I couldn’t resist the temptation.
Completely aligned, with my back to his chest, Gerard buried his face in my neck and inhaled deeply before whispering the words, “Stay with me,” in my ear.
Oh god.
“You’re going to get in trouble with Johnny,” I announced, repressing the urge to shiver in delight when his lips brushed the curve of my neck. The move was featherlight and clearly accidental on his behalf, but it caused my toes to curl. “And you’re all sweaty.”
“Kav will be grand.” His breath fanned the back of my neck when he spoke. “And it always happens after, ah, you know.”
After one of his night terrors, and, yeah, I knew all too well.
Last night was a bad one and I could still remember it vividly.
Heat emanated from his skin.
Sweat trickled from his neck to his shoulder.
I watched the glistening bead as it moved.
Sliding over his bare flesh, expunging itself from a body I could never get close enough to.
It wouldn’t be long now.
