The Healer's Hellion - Miranda Bridges Page 0,21

I gulp in air to keep from passing out. Braxton lifts his head, and I shift my gaze to his. I swallow deep at the heat in his eyes, and it makes me wonder what he sees in mine.

As I look at Braxton, the need I have for him grows, doing more than drowning my ever-present fear. He’s made it completely disappear, and I feel free. Like pleasure, it’s another thing I haven’t felt in a long time.

My hunger for him has me gripping the zipper at his throat in bold invitation. I slide it down, fully intending on reciprocating and giving him the same amount of satisfaction he gave me. Or at least I’ll try to, since mine was the best orgasm of my life. I’m not sure I can do that for him, but I’m up for the challenge.

He covers my hand with his, halting me. “You don’t need to do this.”

I blink up at him. “I know that, but I want to.”

“It is not necessary.”

“Necessary?” I repeat, my disbelief evident in my tone. “Considering your dick is hard enough to break through concrete, I’d say it’s more than necessary. I might be the biology major, but you’re the doctor, so you’ll have to tell me if blue balls is a serious medical condition or not.”

Is he seriously rejecting me right now?

“I’m not rejecting you,” he says, and that’s when I realize I’ve spoken out loud. “I am trying to do the right thing.”

I push aside my embarrassment at speaking my thoughts aloud and frown up at him. “Doesn’t it feel right to you?”

He mutters in a foreign language and drops his forehead to mine. “You have no idea,” he rasps. Then he lifts his head and shakes it. “But it does not change things.” He places a chaste kiss to my cheek before getting to his feet and extending me a hand.

I stare up at him in bewilderment, still trying to process the fact that the first guy I’ve been interested in since my sexual assault is saying no. To sex. With me. For the last couple years, I haven’t been aroused by any man, no matter how attractive. But now Braxton is here, and I find myself ready to be vulnerable and wanting to finally be intimate with someone, and he’s saying no.

Un-fucking-believable.

I take his hand and get to my feet, but when he tries to pull away, I tighten my grip. He gives me a perplexed expression, but it shifts to shock when I take my free hand and palm his dick.

Chapter 7

“Skylar,” Braxton warns. But his voice is hoarse, belying his struggle to stay impassive.

I tilt my head, determination swelling in my chest. I am going to break through his rigid self-control if it’s the last thing I do.

“I haven’t been able to stomach the idea of sex for years,” I say, hating the quivering of my voice. Even though this topic is hard to speak about, I feel like it’s finally time and that I’m strong enough. “Just thinking of a man touching me was enough to ruin any attraction I might have had.”

Braxton opens his mouth, and I drop his hand to cover his lips while still maintaining my hold on his cock. “Then you came along,” I say, my voice softening, “and I felt genuine arousal for the first time in so long. It upset me in the beginning because I didn’t want to feel that way toward you, didn’t need any type of complications in my life. Plus, the idea of allowing myself to be controlled by the cravings of my body was ludicrous. But the more time I spend with you, the more certain I am that this is something I really want. So I don’t understand why you feel the need to push me away when you clearly want me too.”

I drop my hands to rest by my sides and exhale long and loud. “If you’re going to reject me, at least do me the courtesy of telling me why.”

He clamps his teeth together so hard that a muscle in his jaw flickers several times. I watch as he clenches his fists and releases them over and over but doesn’t say a word. The room vibrates with an unseen energy that feels like static electricity, making the hair on my nape stand up. The mannequins shake, and there’s a gust of wind that can only originate from Braxton, since we are in an enclosed space.

“You know what,” I