Page 105 of Wait for Him

There's a lot sitting in this room with us now.

“Drops are normal,” she says eventually. “Sometimes all those chemicals your body dumps during a scene fall off faster than your system knows what to do with. It can leave you shaky like you were. Cold, even emotional and anxious. Pretty much everything that just happened to you.” Her fingers drift over my forearm. “You had something similar happen after the hotel room, but not this bad. I should've remembered that. I'm sorry if I pushed you too hard.”

“You didn't.”

She looks at me.

“Rose, I'm serious. I'm not sorry about any of it. I just wasn't prepared for whatever the fuck happened afterward.” I shake my head. “One minute I felt fucking incredible, and the next I was standing in your bathroom staring at a wet towel like I'd never encountered one before in my life.”

That pulls a small smile from her.

“Not my finest showing.”

“You were dropping. You don't get graded.”

“Good, because I would've failed spectacularly.”

“But fuck, baby, I wouldn't change a fucking thing about what we did today. I've never wanted anything more.” I rub my hand slowly along her back. “And I love that you trust me enough to give me that much control with you. I know what that means coming from you.”

She goes quiet against me.

“It feeds something in me too,” I admit. “Being dominant with you. Taking care of you that way. Having you trust me enough to let me.”

Her fingers curl lightly against my stomach.

“As you're well aware.”

“I may have noticed.”

I laugh and squeeze her closer. “So don't rewrite what happened because my nervous system decided to throw a fucking tantrum afterward. I need to understand the drop better, sure. Be ready for it next time.”

Rose lifts her head. “Next time?”

“Baby.” I look down at her. “There is absolutely going to be a next time.” I kiss her lips. “And a next time, and a next time after that. No matter how many times I've imagined being with you again over the years, and it's been more times than any man should admit, my imagination never came close to doing it justice. For an elder, you are a really hot fuck.”

“You're waking a vengeful beast in me, Marcus Jackson. Don't poke the bear.”

Even as she threatens me, she's settling deeper into my arms, nuzzling into my neck and inhaling like she's committing the smell of my skin to memory. Her lips brush over my pulse before she kisses her way down my chest and across my stomach.

“You're not so bad yourself, young buck.”

I laugh and pull her back up before she can get too far. “Young buck? Jesus Christ.”

“You started it.”

“Fair.”

She smiles against my chest, but it doesn't last. I feel the change in her before she says anything, the way her body gets a little less loose against mine while her fingers keep tracing absently over my skin.

“I can't stop thinking about everything you told me. It's all I thought about while you were sleeping, Jackson. I know you said you didn't want me involved, but I could help. You know I could.”

“No. I don't want you mixed up in it at all. That's the whole reason I haven't told you.” I kiss her temple. “I'm sorry I've kept it a secret.”

She goes rigid.

It's subtle, but she's lying half on top of me, so there isn't much she can hide.

I rub my hand over her shoulder and look down at her. “You okay?”