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“Want to talk about it?” he asks.
“No.”
“Are you all right?” He trails his hand down my bare arm, rubbing over the scars, and I hiss. “What is it? What did you dream of?”
“My family.” His touch burns through my skin. It hurts, but then it soothes. My eyes close as I sink into the sensation. “I think my family did things…” I suck in a sharp breath. “I’d never allow anyone to go through the same. When Simon hurt Jesse Lee, I knew I had to stop it.”
“What did your family do to you, Jase?”
My eyes snap open. Dammit, he always distracts me, and I say things I shouldn’t. “Nothing. It was just a dream.”
“Like hell it was.”
But I can’t talk about it. That particular can of worms is too terrifying to touch right now. “I need a shower.” I hesitate, but I’m still in my pants and socks, and I stink of sweat and fear. “If that’s okay. You—”
“This is your home now, too. No need to ask.”
I open my mouth to argue, but decide against it. Instead I give a quick nod and get off the bed. “Thanks.”
Hurrying into the bathroom, I undress and turn the water on, leaving it to warm up. The steam rising turns the Plexiglas opaque, and I pass my fingers under the water, aware of how easy it is to get used to comfort. Warm water, towels, central heating.
Safety and quiet.
“You know you can use my shampoo and soap,” Raine says from the bathroom door, and there he is, dressed in his gray sweats and nothing else, all hard angles and beautiful smooth skin, one muscular arm braced on the doorframe, the overhead lights catching honey streaks in his hair.
He’s watching me, and it makes me feel hot all over. I guess he’s expecting me to say something, but my mouth is dry and my dick feels heavy between my legs.
Then he steps inside and places a folded towel on the rack. He gives me a crooked smile, his gaze raking over my body, lingering on my half-hard dick. “I’ll leave you to it.”
“Stay.” I grab his hips, pull him to me and start pushing down his sweats. “Take what you want. We can try it in the shower—”
“Jase, stop.” He grabs my hands, those clear blue eyes darkening. “We don’t have to have sex.”
I step back. “You don’t fucking understand.”
I can’t pay him back for this in any other way. This has always been the one thing I really own, even when everything else was taken away from me. My body is my currency.
“I understand,” he says quietly. “But you don’t get to pay for being at home. And you don’t get to pay for what I feel for you. This isn’t business.” He takes that one step that brings us back chest to chest. “You can stay, or you can go, and it’s all up to you, I swear. No strings attached. No payment due. I just hope you decide to stay.”
Some time later, smelling of apples and milk soap, the towel wrapped around my hips, I step out of the bathroom.
Still confused. Still unsure.
“Your home.” He’s said it so many times. As well as that… other thing that I don’t dare believe.
He’s asking me to trust him. Hell, I’m trying. I keep thinking I’ll need to pay back for everything. That nothing’s for free, and last night’s blowjob can only cover that much.
Yeah, and I just don’t wanna admit to myself how much I wanted to taste him until I had him in my mouth. And how grateful I was to crawl back in here after the day from hell that I had, after all the terror and pain, where it’s warm and safe and he’s with me.
Damn.
Will Raine’s buddies really take care of Simon’s threat? Adam left three days ago. I’m the last one. He can’t hurt my friends anymore. Is it possible that it’s all over?
Raine’s in the kitchen, dressed in blue jeans and a black T-shirt, flipping perfect golden omelets. He says he doesn’t know how to cook, but he’s obviously not telling the whole truth. The aroma makes my mouth water.
He shoots me a grin and pushes a plate toward me, piled high with omelet and bacon. “Breakfast.”
Will I ever not be suspicious of everything he offers me? Will I ever be enough for him with so little to offer? Sex. Blowjobs. Back-alley ninja skills. An interest in food shows.
