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He tossed the antiseptic wipe in the trash and dug out a packet of antibiotic ointment. He squeezed some out on his finger and dabbed it tenderly across her scrape, his eyes again watching hers for signs he was hurting her. “This has an analgesic in it, so it should help with the pain.”
She nodded, closing her eyes as he finished.
“Okay, babe. I’m done. You can open your eyes again.” She did, and he grinned at her. “I think you’ll survive. You want me to cover it with a bandage or leave it exposed to the air?”
“Leave it.”
“Okay, but you’ll need to sleep on your side.”
She nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
He dug some pain meds out of the kit and moved to the dresser. Picking up one of the plastic cups next to the ice bucket, he pulled the paper wrapping off it. Then he moved to the bathroom and filled it half way with water. He returned to the bed, and stood beside it as he held the pills and glass out to her.
“Here, take these.”
She went up on an elbow and took the pills, tossing them back then reaching for the glass and chasing the pills down with water. She gave him back the glass, and he set it down on the nightstand
It was then he noticed for the first time that the room only had one bed. Fuck.
She lifted her hand to him. “Lie with me.”
He shrugged off his cut and tossed it over a chair, then he sat on the side of the bed to pull his boots off. They landed with a thud on the carpet. He stood. “I’m gonna take a shower. Wash some of this road grime off.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
His eyes slid over her bare legs, and he swallowed, thinking he might make that a cold shower.
Fifteen minutes later, he stepped out of the bathroom, his jeans pulled back on, the top button undone. His eyes swept over Jessie as he moved toward the bed. Her eyes were closed, her hands tucked under her cheek. He smiled. In sleep, she looked like the young girl he remembered. He slid on the bed next to her, his back to the pillow and headboard and put his arm around her. She snuggled closer, her head moving onto his chest and her leg sliding over his thighs. Her arm stole across his bare abs.
He kissed the top of her head, his hand coming up and his fingers sliding through her hair, over and over. His eyes couldn’t help but drift down to her ass that was revealed as the flannel shirt rode up. He fought the urge to take his hand from where it played with her hair and move it down to stroke and squeeze that cute ass cheek. His jaw clenched as he tried to tamp down the desire he felt swelling. He couldn’t have thoughts like that. Not about her. Then his eyes moved along her hip to the red scraped skin, and he closed his eyes, again thanking God that things hadn’t been worse.
He’d promised Tommy he’d look out for her; take care of her if something ever happened to him. It was a promise he intended to keep. She hadn’t made it easy, running off like she had, disappearing from his life, but he’d understood it, understood why. And with the way things had been before he’d moved out, maybe distance was the best thing between them. But now she’d come back into his life, in typical Jess fashion, bursting upon him with all the drama of a chase scene. Jess couldn’t do anything simple or the easy way. No, it always came with drama and flair.
Question was, what the hell was he going to do with her? When they got back to Birmingham, the trouble she was running from would follow. Which meant he’d need to keep her safe, and that meant he’d need to keep her close.
And there was the rub of it. The two of them together, how long would it be before he couldn’t fight the attraction that flared up every time he was near her, the desire that right now was clawing at his gut?
As if she read his thoughts or maybe felt the sexual energy vibrating through his body, her hand began to move across his abs, her palm gliding over his skin, lighting him up like a fucking Christmas tree, a trail of static electricity shooting straight to his gr
oin.
The hand that still toyed with her hair froze. Her head lifted, her big eyes coming to his before dropping to his mouth. Ah, hell. Don’t look at me like that, babe.
She only had to move a couple of inches, sliding up ever so slightly, and their lips met. Soft at first, just a touch, and then her mouth opened, and the tip of her tongue traced along his lips.
And fuck, that’s all it took.
His hand in her hair tightened, holding her head as his tipped to the side to fit their mouths together, and he opened and took her kiss, taking over control, taking the lead. His other palm came up and cupped her face, holding her head immobile as his tongue swept inside her mouth.
Jesus Christ, he’d forgotten how sweet her kiss was. No, that was wrong. He remembered. He remembered every blessed moment of that kiss they’d shared so long ago. But she wasn’t sixteen anymore. She was a woman now. And her half naked body was pressed against his in a soft warm bed. A situation that could test the will of a saint, and he was no saint.
He couldn’t stop his hand from straying down her throat to the opening of that soft flannel shirt of his she still wore, his fingers curling around the first button, popping it free, then the second, which was all she had buttoned. The edges fell free, and his hand slid inside. He’d been expecting to find her lacy bra underneath, but when his hand closed over warm silky skin, he broke the kiss, staring down at her.
“Where’s your bra?”
She looked up at him dazed and confused, a little frown creasing her brow as she answered, “I took it off.”
He hadn’t meant to go this far, hell he hadn’t meant to do any of this. And he could tell, looking down into her eyes that she was still a little tipsy. He pulled his hand away, but not before realizing just how perfect her breasts were, soft and warm in his hand, how perfectly they fit. He gritted his teeth, pushing her away, his hand closing over her upper arm to do so.
