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“I couldn’t keep myself from touching you. I’d have rather put my hands inside those ugly pajamas, but I settled for stroking your hair.”
“It was nice. The kind of touch I needed then. What were you going to ask?”
He hesitated. “When we were in the shower, you said it was nice to be needed. You practically asked permission to give me the best damn hand job ever.”
“Really?”
“Don’t get me off the subject. What I’m wondering is…You don’t have to tell me. You owe me no explanation. I just—”
“Jasper neither invited or welcomed attention like that. He didn’t…He never said, ‘Have at it.’”
He didn’t respond immediately, and when he did, it wasn’t to pursue the topic of her relationship with Jasper. “I probably could have said something a little more romantic.”
“It was romantic to me.”
He tipped her head up. His eyes moved over her face, taking in every feature. He ran his thumb along her lower lip. “Sleepy?”
“I’m having trouble keeping my eyes open.”
“Let’s go to sleep.” His reach was long enough to turn off the lamp on the night table.
Talia was about to move off him, but he wrapped his arms around her, one under her bottom, the other just below her shoulders. He raised his head and pecked a kiss, then left his lips against hers. “Stay here.”
“Like this?”
“Just like this.” He dabbed the corner of her mouth with the tip of his tongue. “I’m not ready to leave you yet.”
“I may get heavy.”
“I may snore.”
She returned her cheek to his chest and closed her eyes, feeling more languid and safe than she could ever remember feeling. “You thought my pajamas were ugly?”
He answered with a soft snore.
Chapter 33
At some point during the wee hours, Drex had disengaged from Talia, moved her off him, and turned her onto her side so they could spoon. He woke up with his arm tingling from having gone to sleep supporting her head. He checked the clock on the night table and was surprised by the time. He hadn’t planned to sleep that long. It would be daylight soon.
As tempting as it was to stay snuggled with Talia, he had thinking to do.
He eased his arm from beneath her head and scooted off the bed without waking her. He took only his phone and pistol with him as he tiptoed from the bedroom and into the bathroom. Five minutes later, he emerged, showered and dressed in the clothes he’d worn the day before and which had remained on the bathroom floor all night.
Downstairs, he brewed a cup of coffee, then sent Mike a text asking for an update on Gif. Mike called him back. Keeping his voice low, Drex answered on the first ring. “How’s he doing?”
“I got to see him around four-thirty. He had woken up, but was still under the influence. Wanted to know what had happened to him.”
“He didn’t remember?”
“Remembered a throng of people. He was making his way through as best he could toward the cordoned-off crime scene. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground, in pain like none other, paralyzed. Couldn’t even breathe.”
“He never saw his attacker?”
“He wasn’t looking for one.”
“Right,” Drex said. “Did you get any sleep?”
“Couple of hours. You?”
