up my sleep schedule anyway.” I sit up, stretching out the ache in my back from being cramped in the same position. The television is on and there’s an action movie playing.
And Oreo is asleep at his feet.
My eyes shoot to his in surprise.
“I guess she decided if her mama could trust me, she could too,” he murmurs.
My phone rings from the kitchen pulling my attention from this minor miracle. It’s still in my bag where I dropped it earlier. It stops ringing before I can reach it. I swipe to see who it was.
Missed call: DRAMA MAMA
With a sigh, I drop the phone back in my purse.
Vin looks up when I come back to the couch.
“It was my mom. Probably excuses about why she couldn’t come today. Or more stories about the latest thing my father has done to get on her nerves.”
He grabs my hand. “You don’t owe anyone your attention today. Today is for you.”
Somehow it’s the exact right thing to say. No one would accuse me of being a martyr but I do have a bad habit of trying to make other people comfortable.
My patients at the hospital.
My parents.
My friends.
This is great at work but not so much at home. Maybe it’s okay to spend a little time thinking about what I need. Vin was right that first night we met. I do push people away. But that’s because it seems easier to be alone than deal with being disappointed in people all the time.
“You’re right. I can deal with her tomorrow.”
“Today, we do what you want to do.”
“Anything I want?”
“Of course.”
I swing a leg over his and straddle him. Vin groans and tries to hold my hips away from him.
“Ari, baby. What are you doing?”
“You said we could do anything I want.”
“You want to do that? Now?”
His befuddlement is really cute. Not only that I could be interested in sex randomly but that I’d initiate it out of the blue. Who does he think he’s dealing with?
I appreciate him taking care of me since I definitely needed a shoulder to lean on earlier. But I don’t need anyone treating me like glass. I’m not fragile. I’m a frickin’ boss.
And as I told my friends, I’m also really horny.
Don’t judge me.
I roll my hips, gratified at the strangled groan that falls from his lips.
“What you said earlier, about giving me what I need? Did you mean it?”
His hands tighten on my hips, so hard I’m sure I’ll have bruises in the shape of his fingers later. I love the pain, it makes me feel alive. Like I’m still here and can do some damage in this world.
“I love you. I would give you the beating heart from my chest if you’d let me.”
My head falls forward and our lips meet, a furious class of lips and teeth. I am humbled by the things he says, completely and utterly undone. I don’t know what I did to deserve this kind of love but for once I’m going to be selfish and take it.
“You could break my heart. I don’t think I could bear it.”
He stands with me in his arms and the blatant display of strength is sexy as hell.
“I never would. One day you’ll believe it.”
I point down the hall so he knows where my room is and he carries me the whole way, stumbling into the wall when I bite his neck.
“Woman, that mouth is going to get you into trouble.”
“Mmm, trouble. You know how much I love that.”
Together we crash on top of the bed, knocking a box of tissues and a paperback book off the nightstand. We’re kissing like we can’t breathe when we’re apart and it’s a struggle to get our clothes off with our mouths fused together. His shirt is probably in tatters with the way he ripped it off and my nightshirt doesn’t fare much better. As soon as my shirt is gone, Vin’s mouth trails over my chest. He pauses to kick off his pants, leaving him in black boxer briefs.
When he goes to take my bra off, my hand clasps his.
“What is it, baby?”
My mouth is suddenly dry as dust.
“Um, I have a scar. From a lumpectomy.”
Showing my scar makes me feel more exposed than the loss of my clothes. Usually I keep my bra on in bed because it makes me more comfortable to keep it covered. But here, with Vin, for the first time I feel I can be truly naked.
He kisses me gently and waits