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“Kell?” He lifts his head.

“Are you okay?”

His expression changes, surprised enough that I almost smile. “Yes. I like that you trusted me with this.”

He stays inside me another moment before finally shifting his weight.

“Laura?”

“I’m good.”

His fingers touch the scarf around my right wrist. “Do you want out?”

I think about it for half a second. “Yes.”

He unties that wrist first. My arm sinks to the mattress beside me, suddenly heavy after being held above my head. Kell immediately takes my hand between both of his and flexes my fingers gently.

“Anything numb?”

“No.”

He rubs his thumbs across my palm, then over the place where the scarf circled my wrist. Only when he’s satisfied does he move to the other side.

The robe belt comes loose, and he gives my other wrist the same careful inspection. There are only faint pink marks, but Kell treats them as though they require a complete medical evaluation.

I should tease him. I don’t. His hands feel too good. He withdraws carefully, then bends and presses his mouth to the inside of one wrist.

My breath stops. The kiss is barely pressure, but the fingers of my other hand curl against the sheet as if he’s touched something far more vulnerable than skin.

“Kell.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” He stays there for another second, then gets out of bed.

“Where are you going?”

“Bathroom.”

I hear water running. He comes back with a warm washcloth in one hand. For some reason, that almost undoes me more than the wrist kiss.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know.”

He sits beside me and waits. I could take it from him.

Instead, I let him clean the sweat from my stomach and thighs with slow, practical strokes. Nothing about the touch is sexual now. He doesn’t have to do any of it.

He does it anyway. When he’s finished, he disappears again and returns with a glass of water.

“I can hold it.”

“I know that too.”

There’s no edge in his voice. I push myself up against the pillows, but my arms are still shaky enough that he keeps one hand around the glass while I drink.

“Bossy,” I murmur.