“Hi,” she whispered.
I reached up, tucked her long hair back behind her ear. My hips bucked when her thumb slid over the crown. “Best way to wake up. Ever.”
My voice was deep from sleep.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she admitted.
“Don’t whisper on my behalf,” Mac said from the other side of her. “You think I’d sleep through this?” He sat up, adjusted a pillow behind his back and leaned against the headboard. He’d taken off his shirt, but the blanket had fallen to his waist and I could see the top of his jeans.
“Anything you do is incredible. Trust me, you can’t do anything wrong if your hands are on me,” I said.
She gave a shy smile. “I want to make you feel good,” she replied.
“You are.”
“Fine, more than good.”
I took hold of her wrist beneath the sheet, made her stop, but she didn’t let go. “You don’t have to do this.”
Her fingers opened, and I gritted my teeth. “You don’t want… I’m sorry,” she whispered, looking away.
“Baby, listen. You’ve been through… fuck. I don’t want to scare you. You’ve been through too much.”
“Hardin, think about it. If it hadn’t been for Mark, what he did, we never would have met.”
Since I still held her wrist, she pushed her glasses up with her left hand.
Mac laughed. “That’s true. In the ER you wouldn’t have been so entranced by my dick that you couldn’t resist wanting more.”
She rolled her eyes and smiled. Mark had some guy slash her tire in the hopes she’d run to him, all damsel in distress. Instead it had brought us with the tow truck. Us and our dicks. She was right. I hated Mark, fuck, but maybe remembering this would keep me from killing him.
“I need to know you still want me,” she whispered, her voice suddenly unsure.
Christ, that was my doing. I tugged and pulled her down on top of me so she was close enough I could see the freckles across her nose. “That’s one thing you never have to question. I’ll always want you.” I rolled my hips so she could feel how hard I was.
Mac stroked a hand down her hair, along her back. She was still wearing the scrubs from the night before. I wanted her naked, but I had to be careful here. We had all the time in the world. “We both will,” he added.
She looked to him, took in his bare chest. We were so different, him with his tattoos and brooding looks. I was a fucking giant.
“Show me.”
I paused, studied her face.
“We don’t want to hurt you.”
“You said you’d never hurt me. The other day in the parking lot when we first met.”
“That’s right.”
“Show me,” she repeated. “Please.”
In one swift move I rolled us so she was tucked beneath me and I loomed over her, my forearms holding my weight. I looked to her one more time, but I saw nothing but eagerness. No darkness. No haunting shadows.
I kissed her, brushed my lips over hers. Gently. Softly. Again and again until she was lifting her head to try and take it deeper. Her tongue flicked my lip, but I still wouldn’t advance.
“Hardin,” she whimpered, letting her head fall back onto the pillow. “Don’t hold back.”
I shook my head. “You’re… it’s—”