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“Let’s get you ready for bed.”
Matthew helps me up from his lap then leads me over toward his bed. “Um. Matty?” He turns, raising an eyebrow in question. “Shouldn’t you be showing me which guest room is mine?”
He just shakes his head. “You’ll stay here.” The way he says it is so final that I know there is no sense in arguing. “I’ll take the guest room.”
“I can’t kick you out of your own room. I don’t mind a guest room. They are way nicer than anywhere I’ve stayed in the past.”
“Nonsense. My room is more comfortable. The other rooms don’t have a bathtub like this one does. You’ll be more comfortable here.”
I look from him to the massive bed. I chew my bottom lip as I consider the options. I can do what he says and stay in his room while he takes the guest room, or we could both stay here. It’s not any different than him staying with me at the clinic. He shared a bed with me last night, and that bed was half the size of this one.
“You can stay here too.” My words are impulsive, and I know it. I’m fooling myself if I think that sleeping beside him in his bed is the same thing as sharing a hospital-like bed. It isn’t at all, but I don’t hate the idea of sleeping together. I slept better with Matthew by my side than I have in years.
“Rose, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Why isn’t it?” I do my best to sound nonchalant. I have no doubt that he’s also thinking about what sharing a bed could mean. He obviously doesn’t want me to feel uncomfortable. He wants to keep me safe. That’s enough for me to know that I want him to stay here with me.
“It just isn’t.”
“That’s the biggest non-answer I’ve ever heard. The bed is huge. There’s plenty of room. Besides,” I can feel my cheeks heating with a blush, “I like the idea of sleeping beside you. I feel safe with you.”
Matthew lets out a pained groan, then pulls me against his chest, hugging me. “I can deny you nothing, sweetheart.”
“So you’ll stay?” I ask, hopefully.
“Yes, love. I’ll stay. Now let’s get you tucked in. You look exhausted.”
“I am,” I say on another yawn, proving my words to be true. It feels like it’s been days since I slept. In reality, it’s barely been ten hours since Kisten drove me away from the club.
“Do you want a shirt to sleep in?”
I think about it for a minute. My back feels a ton better after my bath, but it sounds like torture to sleep in clothes. I shake my head no and bravely drop the towel from around my body. Matthew makes a pained sound, and his eyes darken. He’s looking at me the way I looked at that cheesecake earlier like he wants to devour me and lick up the crumbs. In the past, a man looking at me like this would make me shake from fear. Matthew wearing the look warms me from the inside out.
I shiver as Matthew reaches out and puts his hand on my shoulder. I’m not quite sure what he’s doing until he turns me around so that my back is facing him. Another shiver skates down my spine as he carefully traces the worst of the cane marks on my back.
“Daniels is fucking lucky it isn’t nearly as bad as it looked. Stay here, I’m going to grab some salve.”
He’s only gone for a minute. The salve is cool and smells minty. Matthew slowly works the cream into every inch of my back before moving to my bottom. The nurses at the clinic always helped me with this part. It was always clinical. This doesn’t feel clinical in the least little bit. That same warm feeling from before spreads through my body, and I can feel wetness between my legs again. The feeling is overwhelming, and by the time Matthew is done rubbing salve onto my upper thighs, I’m practically panting. I really don’t want him to stop.
His hands on me feel so good. So different from any other man’s touch before his. I know he was only tending to my injuries, but it felt like so much more. Every time he touches me, it feels like so much more than how he intends. I know he’s just looking out for me and being kind. I talked to one of the nurses about the club and dominants, she said that Matthew—well she called him Master Bennett like everyone else around the club calls him—takes care of his submissives.
The same spark of jealous flickers inside me at the thought of one of the gorgeous submissives from the club with my Matthew. God, I’m in so much trouble. He’s not my Matthew. I’m just the girl who he rescued from a bad situation and feels like he’s responsible since my injuries occurred in his club.
“Time for bed,” Matthew says, pulling me from my jealous thoughts. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”
“Okay.” I crawl onto the big bed and lay on my stomach. The bed is the softest bed I’ve ever laid on. It feels like a cloud, and it smells of Matthew. I unabashedly watch him undress. He strips down to his black boxer briefs, his hands pause at the waistband. He looks at me, then strides into the bathroom, his underwear still in place.
Not even going to lie… I wanted him to keep going. He confuses me—my reactions. I don’t like casual contact, and yet I crave Matthew’s touch. A week ago, I couldn’t imagine falling asleep next to a man, and now I want it more than anything. I’ve never felt desire or attraction before Matthew… I feel out of control. I want things that I’ve never wanted before. I don’t understand what it is about this man that makes me react completely different than I would with anyone else.
I hear the shower turn on and try to imagine what Matthew looks like naked with water streaming down his muscular chest. Lord, I’ve sunk way far down the rabbit hole. I close my eyes and try to focus on something else. Anything besides these new and overwhelming desires of my body.
I must fall asleep because the next thing I remember is Matthew crawling into bed. There is a flash of disappointment when he doesn’t pull me close, but I don’t have time to dwell on that. Matthew might not pull me close, but he does start combing his fingers through my hair. It feels so good that sleep quickly swallows me up again.
* * *
I wake up to sunlight streaming in through a crack in the curtains. The space Matthew put between us last night is completely gone. He’s got me wrapped up in his strong arms, and it’s absolutely the perfect way to wake up. There isn’t an inch between us, and I love it. I relax back into him, my head on his chest directly over his heart, an arm wrapped around his waist. I even have one leg thrown over his.
I don’t want this to end. I close my eyes and listen to the steady beat of his heart. I let the sound lull me back to sleep. My last thought before sleep consumes me is of home.
