hospital room finally opened. When Cipher stepped inside, holding a duffel bag in one hand and a gift bag in the other, Brook sat up so quickly she yanked her nasal cannula right off her face and out of the box supplying her oxygen. “Ow!”
“Brook!” Cipher snorted with amusement and quickly crossed the room to plug the tubes back into their ports. He tucked the lines behind her ears and back into her nose. “Careful, sweetheart.”
“Sorry, sir.” Feeling suddenly bashful, she glanced down at her hands. “I’m just excited to see you. Other than Chance and Stinger coming in here to check up on me, I haven’t had much interaction.”
“I’m sorry for being gone the whole day and most of the evening.” He brushed his fingers down her cheek before leaning down to kiss her. It was a gentle, chaste kiss that left her wanting more, so much more. “I was called in for work, and it took longer than anticipated.”
She studied his face and noticed the tight line of his jaw. “Something bad happened?”
He seemed a bit surprised she had read him so easily. “Not yet, but it might.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” She hated to see him stressed.
His expression softened. “You’re doing it right now.”
Confused, she asked, “How?”
“You’re being my friend and my partner,” he explained. “You’re letting me know that you care.”
“I do care.” She gripped his hand. “I know we’re new to all of this, but I do care about you, Cipher. Anything I can do to help, I will.”
“I know.” He kissed her again, this time letting his lips linger on hers. He stroked her hair, feeling the dampness. “You took a shower?”
“Yes.” She lifted her arms and bent them to show she had free range of motion. “They pulled out those awful tubes. As long as I keep drinking all the fluids they bring and my vital signs are stable, I don’t need them.”
“Did you have any problems with the shower controls?”
“Chance showed me how they worked.”
Cipher’s eyes narrowed. “He went into the bathroom with you? Alone?”
She rolled her eyes at his jealousy. “He was a perfect gentleman.”
Cipher didn’t seem convinced. She had a feeling he would have words with Chance in the morning. He let the issue drop and presented the gift bag to her. “This is for you.”
“Thank you.” She had noticed the bag when he entered the room and excitedly opened it to see what he had brought her. Her eyes darted to the bright orange fruit on top, and she gasped, “Where did you get these?”
“Torment,” he said, bending down to unzip the sides of his boots. He toed out of them and left them next to the door. “He wanted you to have them.”
“Why?” She had only tasted an orange once before as a child. She and her parents had shared one at a company picnic. They had been given out to each family as a gift for the year’s record-breaking production of minerals. Even now, all these years later, she could remember the taste of it bursting on her tongue.
“Because you saved Terror,” he said, taking off his belt and gear and placing it on the counter near the door. He lined each piece up in an order he had obviously used for years. “You’re lucky to have someone like Torment in your corner. He’s the kind of friend everyone needs when shit gets real.”
“I can see that,” she murmured, watching as he unbuttoned his uniform shirt and folded it loosely. He wore a dark undershirt that clung to his muscular chest and arms. She swallowed hard, wondering what it would be like to run her hands over his skin and feel all that power beneath her fingertips. Her face flushed at the thought of having his strong, heavy body on top of hers, pressing her into a mattress. Her gaze drifted lower and settled on the taut curve of his bottom.
Unbidden, the image of him between her legs, thrusting into her while she gripped his behind, appeared in her mind. She could practically feel his panting breaths on her neck and smell the scent of him surrounding her as he made her his wife. She squeezed her thighs together as the pulse of heat there throbbed almost painfully.
The machine tracking her heartbeat betrayed her thoughts, chiming loudly as her heart raced. Not wanting to get caught leering, she glanced away as he turned and busied herself with unpacking the contents of the bag. If