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Chapter 17
The door opened an inch and Stephanie’s beautiful face peeked around the edge.
“How are you feeling?” she asked. Her mouth and eyes were smiling, but he could see that something was on her mind.
He had no idea what. Ace smiled to himself. He definitely wouldn’t mind spending a few decades trying to find out the answer to that question.
Her face lit up when she saw his reaction to seeing her. “Are you feeling good? Is your pain better?”
“Yep. It’s a lot better now that you’re here,” he replied. Inside, he cringed. It was such an overused cliché. If he had been operating at full strength, he would’ve certainly come up with a smoother line than that. But, judging by her face and the blush that crept across her cheeks, she didn’t seem to mind how played out that line was.
“I’m serious,” she said, trying to maintain her professional nursing demeanor. “How is the pain? For real.”
“Not bad,” he said. That wasn’t exactly true, but…close enough.
“One to ten?” she asked.
“Two.”
She grimaced.
“What? Two’s not bad.”
“No, two is not bad. If it was a real two. But I’m adjusting up two points for general badassness, I mean you’re a professional after all, and then another two points because you’re a man and men never like to admit when they’re in pain, and another two points because you don’t want me to insist on you taking something for the pain. So that puts you at an eight.”
Damn, she really had his number. Literally, in this case.
“Impressive.” His grin grew wider. “Smart and beautiful.”
There was that blush again. The one that took his breath away. He’d never get tired of it.
He watched as she licked her lips and shook her head slightly. He liked that. He liked seeing visible proof that he affected her.
She crossed to the bed and sat down next to him. “Let me check the wound and then we can talk about whether or not your stubborn refusal of relief is really the best course of action.”
Her tone was firm and professional and he liked it. It was just one more thing that turned him on about her. The more time he spent with her the longer the list grew.
When he’d first seen her the list had all been physical. Just what he could see. Her hair. Her body. Her eyes. Her smile. Then once he’d talked to her, other sensory components started adding up of the auditory and smell variety. Her voice. Her scent. But now that he’d spent time with her the list was so much more nuanced. It included her heart, her sense of humor, her reactions, her mind and her soul.
In the short time that he’d been lucky enough to know Stephanie she’d somehow managed to break down every wall, every barrier he had up. When they were together everything felt right. He wanted to show her how he felt. To tell her how he felt. He knew it was crazy, that they barely knew each other, but he already felt like they’d wasted too much time.
She edged the blanket down and began to peel away the bandage. Her fingers on his skin caused him to suck in a sudden breath. Her eyes shot to his, concerned. “Are you all right? Did that hurt?”
He shook his head, a little foggy. He was actually slightly dazed from the contact. The same warm, light sensation that her touch always delivered spread through him now. “No, it didn’t,” he said, sincerity pouring from his stare as his eyes locked with hers. “When you touch me, it makes my pain disappear. I only feel pleasure. You are my relief.”
For a moment she didn’t say anything. Then, she shook her head and gave him an oh, please look. When she moved her hands to begin taking off the bandage again, a forced puff of air escaped her as her lips lifted in a smirk. “Nice try, Casanova. But you’re not getting off that easy.”
He let out a small laugh, loving that she called him out when she thought he was trying to get away with something. He loved how she could be sensitive and nurturing one moment and sassy and making him toe the line the next. It was just another example of how she could be both adorable and sexy at the same time.
Shaking his head slightly he was still grinning as he covered her hand with his. “I’m serious, Stephanie. I’m not trying to be funny, or witty or charming. This time, anyway. I’m being completely honest. When you touch me, everything else fades away. The rest of the world. All the pain. When you touch me, this warmth and light fills me. It’s not like anything I’ve ever felt before. And when I look at you nothing else exists. Just you. There’s nothing but you.”
At his declaration, her eyes widened slightly and she inhaled a shaky breath. Her fingers tightened around his as she opened her mouth to say something and he couldn’t wait to hear what it was going to be.
But nothing came out. Rather than expressing herself verbally, she let him know how she was feeling physically as she leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his. The kiss started out timid and gentle. Her lips brushed his lightly. He tried to let her take the lead, to control the pace, but after a few moments he raised his hand and threaded his fingers through the hair at the nape of her neck. He flexed his hold and tilted her forward slightly. When he did she parted her lips giving him unrestricted access to her mouth. A moan rumbled in his chest as he slid his tongue into her wet, warmth and explored the recesses of her mouth. What had started out as gentle and sweet quickly heated and she began kissing him back with fervent passion. Her hands clung to his shoulders as if her life depended on it.
As their lips moved together faster and harder and their tongues mingled in an erotic dance, he felt arousal flowing through his veins like rocket fuel. He didn’t feel like he’d been injured in that moment. He felt superhuman. He would’ve taken any dare, attempted any physical feat right then. Jumped off a cliff, tried to leap a tall building in a single bound…anything. And it wasn’t just the adrenaline affecting his thought process, making him more reckless than he normally would’ve been. No, when she touched him, kissed him like this, he really did feel invincible.
He needed that strength and drew on it as he did pretty much the hardest thing he could imagine forcing himself to do at that moment—he put his hands on her shoulders and broke their kiss.
