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Our gazes collided and held. Chemistry built so thick around us that I could feel its electricity sizzling against my skin. I tumbled into his stare, losing myself for long, quiet moments, reveling in his undivided attention. If I doubted this was my fiancé before, that doubt perished beneath the undeniable pull I felt between us. I wouldn’t feel this way about anyone but the man I was going to marry.
“Jess, baby.” His persuasive voice was softer than velvet. “Tell me where it hurts.”
I swallowed thickly, my tongue darting out to dampen my dry lips. “It doesn’t anymore.”
A low, guttural groan filled the room, and he leaned in, pressing our foreheads together so tight that the tips of our noses bumped. “You scared the hell out of me.”
“I’m sorry.” I heard myself apologize, but deep down, I wasn’t really sorry. Deep down, I was relishing this attention and the comfort he was practically smothering me with.
I like it so much.
The pads of his fingers slipped into my hair, tenderly cupping my head. “Don’t apologize. This isn’t your fault. You did so good, baby girl. I’m so proud of you.”
My lips rolled in, pressing into a tight seal. His praise was doing things to my insides. Things I desperately wanted to keep from escaping.
“I didn’t do anything.”
He made a noise, contesting my words. “You did everything. You called me, let me know where you were. You came through surgery and a head injury. You woke up.” He settled even closer, clutching me as if he were afraid I’d disappear.
For a moment, my heart stopped because I thought he was going to kiss me. I felt his want shimmering right there. Want so intense it inspired my own. I teetered on the edge of anticipation, hoping for our second first kiss. A kiss that I could tuck into my mind where all the others had been.
But then his chest expanded, and his shaky exhale whispered across my lips instead. “Thank you for waking up.”
I let out a ragged breath, practically deflating right there, but I wasn’t disappointed. How could I be when he was so grateful I was here?
“Even if I forgot you when I opened my eyes?” I whispered.
“Mm,” he hummed. “I’m in there somewhere.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you called my name.”
He was right. In my confused, frightened state, I’d asked for him without even really knowing why, just feeling I needed him. And in that desperate need, my heart called for him.
“I was hoping that name belonged to you,” I confessed.
“If it hadn’t, I’d have changed it.”
I giggled.
His smile was fast, lighting me up like a bolt of lightning. The corners of his eyes crinkled with amusement, and I was once again ensnared by his mismatched gaze. Suddenly, it didn’t seem like that big of a deal that I couldn’t remember anything because it was like all the answers were right there in his eyes.
“Do you think a person can trust their instincts even when everything else is unclear?” I asked.
He was quiet a moment, thinking about what I’d asked as he reached up to gently tuck the hair behind my ear. “I think the mind can play tricks and the heart can be blind, but instinct never lies.”
I tilted my head into the touch, hoping he would drag it out and not pull away. When his fingers slid down the length of my hair, his knuckles grazed the side of my neck, and my eyelids grew heavy.
“What is your instinct saying right now, sweetheart?”
I didn’t have to think about it. I didn’t open my eyes either. “Your name.”
He groaned, cupping my head and leaning in to touch our noses once more. My heart fluttered erratically, and my breathing turned shallow. Anticipation created a soft hum below my skin, and my lips parted.
His nose affectionately rubbed against mine, warm breath expelling between our lips like he was fighting for patience.
I breathed in that breath and expelled it back to him, giving it a soft voice. “Ben.”
