Bare Skin (Skin Deep 5)

“Yeah. Let’s go to bed.” I stood, pulling her along with me, turning the lights off as we went.

I stopped automatically in front of the guest bedroom, hanging back while she checked on the baby, but then went back to the living room to grab the baby monitor so she’d have it in my room.

She was already walking down the hall towards my bedroom when I got back, so I followed her into my room, shutting the door behind us. She looked over her shoulder at me, but I held up the monitor to show that we could still hear him and she nodded.

“I have an extra monitor, too, so I can leave one in here. I mean, for nights I sleep in here,” she quickly corrected herself.

I stared at her intently and told her, “Dani, I want you in my bed every night, for as long as you’re here. As long as you want to be there, that is.”

She didn’t answer me, just sat on the edge of the bed. “I, uh, didn’t grab anything to sleep in,” she said, breaking the silence that had descended.

“Then don’t wear anything.”

I watched her tense after I said that, so I reached into my dresser and pulled out a t-shirt, tossing it to her. “Or you can sleep in that, if you want, or I can go grab something for you.”

I was grasping at straws, feeling like things were turning awkward between us and I had no idea why. But she grabbed the t-shirt up and smiled gratefully at me. I nodded towards the bathroom, assuming she’d want to go in there to change.

She didn’t, though. She stood by the end of the bed and stripped her clothes off right in front of me, and then watched me with a look that was almost daring as she paused, giving me a perfect view of her amazing body before she pulled my shirt over her head, slowly.

I could still see the shadows in her eyes, though. I could see that they were a little red, knew without a doubt that I’d been right earlier when she came home, that she’d been crying while she was gone.

And there was no way in hell I was taking her up on that dare, not while she was still fighting whatever ghosts she’d encountered tonight.

I calmly stripped my shirt off, then slid my jeans down my legs, kicking them off as I turned away from her, not to be an ass, but to hide the uncontrollable reaction my body had had when she was standing naked before me. I reached for a pair of boxer briefs and tugged them on, turning back to her once they were safely covering everything.

I could tell that she was a bit confused by my actions, even more so when I turned off the light, pulled the covers back and slipped into bed, patting the mattress beside me.

She stayed standing at the end of the bed, finally complying with my silent request after a moment. As soon as she laid down beside me, I wrapped my arm around her waist, sliding her closer to me and tucking her against my side.

I kissed the top of her head, murmuring, “Good night,” to her in the darkness.

She responded in kind, yet she hadn’t relaxed against me.

I cupped her jaw in my hand and turned her face towards mine. “I’m keeping my promise. Just letting you know. But I know something upset you tonight and you’re not in a place for me to do what I really want to do to you tonight, even if you think you are. And Dani?”

She made a questioning sound, but didn’t speak.

“You gotta know that I don’t like knowing you’re upset but not knowing why. And if I find out that someone did something to make you cry…”

I didn’t finish, letting the warning just hang in the air.

I felt her relax a little against me, so I leaned closer to her, my mouth almost touching hers. “So I’m just gonna hold you tonight.” I kissed her, slowly and tenderly, just barely tasting her with my tongue and then pulling away. “Now sleep.”

She relaxed completely against me then. I pulled her even closer and closed my eyes on a sigh, willing sleep to claim me once more.