Page 128 of Just Between Us

“Morning,” I murmur, eyes still closed, my voice still graveled from sleep.

“Good morning.” Cassie’s fingers continue, twisting the chain around my neck, nail scratching lightly at my throat. “You were snoring.”

“I don’t snore.”

“Believe me. You snore. Before I put him outside, Mutt and I were discussing how it’s by far your worst quality.”

Huffing a laugh, I catch her hand and bring it to my lips. I kiss her knuckles, then the tender skin of her wrist, letting my lips linger where her pulse beats a steady rhythm, warm against my mouth. When my gaze lifts, I take my morning inventory, my eyes scanning all the places she’s healing. The scar on her head is mostly hidden by hair that’s growing back. The bruising has faded so much, it’s hardly visible anymore. She’s more and more like herself with each passing day since we’ve been home.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she whispers.

My eyes jump to hers. “Like what?” I bring her hand back to my mouth and kiss her open palm.

“Like you’re scared of me.” I hate how small her voice is. I hate even more that my actions caused it.

She scoots closer, closing the distance between us until our noses touch. I can feel her breath on my lips and the warmth of her body through the thin cotton of my T-shirt, the one she’s claimed as her own.

“I miss you,” she says quietly.

“I’m right here.”

“You know what I mean, Liam.”

And I do. We’ve both felt it, this invisible wall between us since the accident. I touch her like she’s made of glass. Every night in bed, I’m afraid I’ll roll into her and press a bruise or hurt her somehow in her sleep. One night I even put a pillow between us and she rolled her eyes and threw it across the room.

Her hand slides to rest on my chest, curling against my heart that beats only for her. “I need you to stop treating me like I’m broken.”

“Cass—”

“I’m serious.” She pulls back, her gaze fierce and demanding. “I love you for how careful you’ve been. Truly. But I need to feel like your girlfriend again. I need to feel like myself again.”

Her words hit their mark, and I swallow hard. She’s right. Even after her follow-up appointment clearing her for certain…activities, I’ve been so consumed with protecting her that I forgot she doesn’t need protection from me.

“I’m scared of hurting you,” I admit.

Cassie takes my hand and places it firmly on the curve of her hip. “Touch me however you want, and I promise I’ll tell you if it hurts.”

Sliding my palm up, I lift her shirt until one breast is exposed and swipe my thumb back and forth over the hardness, flicking my eyes up to her face as I do, watching for any sign of even the slightest wince. Instead, her breath hitches and a spark of that familiar fire lights up her amber eyes.

“See?” she whispers. “Doesn’t hurt. Do you trust me?”

“With my life.”

“Then trust me with this.”

I lean down and press a kiss to her collarbone, where a bruise once marred her skin, then to the spot between her ribs that I knew was especially painful for her. This is an act of worship, acknowledging her scars, letting her body know I see what it survived and I’m not afraid of it.

When I lift my head, Cassie’s eyes are glassy.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Yes.” She releases a shaky, watery laugh. “I’m just…I’m so happy I’m yours, and I’m here, and…” Her words trail off.

“I know, angel.”

She pulls my mouth to hers and the last of my hesitation goes up in smoke. All the memories of the last six weeks are drowned out by the taste of her mouth, moving against mine. Fumbling, I work to free my cock, and hook my hand behind her leg to drape it over my thigh. When my thumb reaches her center, I find she’s already bare and ready for me. She woke me like this, already ready. I run the tip through her wetness once and groan into her mouth. Will it ever fade, this desperation I have for her? It feels endless.

In a single fluid thrust, I push into her until I’m buried to the hilt and my eyes slam shut at the melodic gasp of pleasure she makes. We move together slowly, relearning the rhythm we used to know by heart. Every touch carries the weight of almost losing this. Every whimper I draw from her is a sound I feared was gone forever. Her fingers grip my shoulders, and she pulls me closer.