He took a deep breath—well as deep as he could after having his ribs pounded on for a while—and pushed himself up off the couch, putting most of his weight on his right leg. As he unbuttoned his jeans, he watched Julie.
Her pupils dilated and she subconsciously licked her lip.
Immediately his arousal came slamming back. This was going to be bad. “Um, maybe you should turn around?”
Her narrowed eyes flew to his. “Seriously? I’m a professional.”
“Well, you’re not looking at me like a professional.”
Blood suffused her face and he spun his hand in the air in a turn around gesture. She huffed out a frustrated sigh, but complied.
As he eased his jeans down the swollen knee, he gritted his teeth. He avoided looking at it, knowing it wasn’t going to be pretty. He sat back down on the couch and pulled the jeans off his feet, then resettled back against the cushions with a pillow drawn over his pulsing cock. Even with all this pain, the knowledge that Julie was about to touch him had his member throbbing and engorged. Who would have guessed a week ago that he’d be wishing he could get rid of an erection?
“Okay, you can turn back around.” He laid back on the couch so he could rest both legs across the cushions.
When she turned around her gaze immediately flew to the pillow and she smirked at him, but her demeanor turned professional as she inspected lower. She gasped as she caught her first glance at his knee and he couldn’t resist the impulse to look, too.
He knew better. The knee was the size of a softball, heading toward a basketball. Already, shades of purple, black, and blue radiated out from where the boot had hit. His stomach roiled. You would think by now he would be used to seeing his body, in particular this knee battered and bruised. But knowing how close he’d come to losing that knee entirely, the nausea surged with the possibility of going through that whole ordeal again.
A delicate finger lifted his chin and he looked into Julie’s concerned hazel eyes.
“Hey, it’s okay. I know it looks bad, but I watched you move. It’s not as bad as it looks. Don’t panic,” she said softly, trying to get him to relax.
He hadn’t realized that his breath was sawing in and out like he’d just run a marathon. Damn, he was hyperventilating.
She lowered her head closer to his and focused on his lips. “Chris, it’s okay. Just breathe in and out.” She brushed a feathery kiss across his lips and all thoughts of his knee fled.
Pear and jasmine invaded his senses. He threaded his hand through the hair at her nape and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. The adrenaline of the evening after the frustration of last night was just too much. He wanted her closer.
She obviously agreed, pressing her hands into the folds of his t-shirt to explore his chest as his tongue ravished hers. She lowered onto his lap so she straddled him. The pressure of her heat against his erection was bliss and torture at the same time. It had been so long. His hips surged up of their own accord, seeking satisfaction against her. He hurt everywhere, but need overtook that pain quickly.
Julie writhed frantically on top of him, her hands massaging and rubbing whatever skin she could find. Impatient, she ripped his t-shirt over his head and immediately rained kisses along his chest.
Eyes shut, he dropped his head back, enjoying the feel of Julie on him. Oh God, he’d thought he’d never feel this ever again. Needing more, he slid his hand under the edge of the leg of her shorts and discovered she wore no panties. Groaning, he began the trek across her skin to find that place of heaven. Arousal saturated her silky folds and he couldn’t resist the need to sink his finger into them. As he did, she arched her back, making a perfect present of her breasts heaving toward his mouth. Lowering his head, he kissed her nipple through the thin fabric of the t-shirt. He suckled and stroked the hard nub with his tongue as he dipped a second finger into her core. The muscles of her vagina clenched around his fingers and a drop of moisture leaked from the tip of his cock.
Damn, he needed to slow down or he wasn’t going to make it to the finish line. He switched to work her other breast,