I shouldn’t be here. I needed to leave. But I had never felt so powerless as I did when her hands smoothed over my body. Each seemingly innocent scrape of her nails over my skin sent desire shooting straight to my core. My arms lay limp at my sides though my body was tense with fight to keep still. This reaction was not normal. She had been trying to help me. I would not scare her with my action.
But her hands continued to explore me. She murmured soft questions about where things hurt the most. My entire body hurt but not how she meant it. I kept my eyes closed, forcing control where there was none. My growing admiration for her was impossible to hide now. She sat next to me and my body shook with barely leashed desire. And then her hands settled on my shoulders. She looked up at me with the huge blue eyes, questioning and unsure.
“Who are you?” Her voice was hardly louder than the crackling fire.
“I’m not sure.” I slowly brought my hands to cup her cheek, gentle enough to cradle a baby bird.“I just know I have to leave quickly. I’m searching for my brother, I think.”
I winced as I tried to pull up the memory. Her thumb brushed my furrowed brow and I relaxed into her touch.
“Your injuries?” Her hand moved to trace fingers across a large bruise on my ribcage, yellowed and almost healed. “You seem so much better.”
I swallowed and her gaze went to my throat.
“I heal quickly.”
“Clearly.” She moved to stand up.
“Don’t go,” I whispered and reached for her hand.
She hesitated, her expressive eyebrows twisted with doubt.“You said you have to go.”
“I know,” I added.I tugged her back closer. “Just a few more minutes.”
She relaxed her full weight next to me. I tugged her closer until my erection pressed against her thigh. She gasped. The pajamas were thin and the only thing separating us now that the blanket was gone.
“I don’t even know you. This is insane.”
“But it feels right,” I said.
She felt it too; the raw desire that filled the air between us. It was as tangible as holding her in my arms. I rested my head on her chest. She tensed at first but soon relaxed, bringing her arms around my head to hold me closer. The heat of her body was all I needed to feel better. It soothed me like a salve. Her sweet and spicy scent filled me with hope and a feeling of rightness. I wrapped my arms around her small body. So strong, yet so soft. So much fight in such fragile packaging. Each thump of her steadily beating heart calmed my aching muscles. We held each other for a long time, just listening to the snow falling and the fire crackling.
I couldn’t remember who I was or where I came from, but this feltright. I was meant to meet this woman. But there were reasons I was here. Reasons I had to move on.
Eventually . . .
“I don’t even know your name.” Her nails scratched softly through my hair.
“Me neither,” I said.
She laughed and pulled back so I’d look at her. She lifted my chin. Her features scrunched as she studied me. “Where did you come from, really?”
A flash of light. The blur of stars. The feeling of falling. Suddenly, a piercing pain shot through my skull. I winced and pressed fingers to my temple.
“What is it?” she asked.
“My . . . head.”
“Let me see your pupils. It could be a concussion.” She gently cupped my face to look into my eyes, straddling my lap in her haste to examine me.
I winced as she tugged up an eyelid.
“What the hell?” she gasped. I forced myself to relax. “That was weird . . . I swear, for a second your pupils disappeared . . .”
I closed my eyes again to collect myself. “I’m okay.”
I forced my eyes open to take in the beautiful woman in my lap. When I focused on her, it was like all the pain in my brain ceased. She was my relief.
Slowly, she stood up and off my lap though I didn’t want her to go.
