hands shook as he turned and pulled her into his arms.
“Shea. Baby, wake up.”
When he got no response, he called to her with his mind.
Shea. I’ve got you. No one can hurt you now. Wake up and look at me. Feel me. I’m right here. I have you.
She came instantly awake. No gradual climb to consciousness. Her eyes flew open and her breath exploded from her lips in harsh puffs.
“Grace,” she croaked.
Nathan frowned. “Grace?”
She scrambled to sit up in bed. Her hands shook. Her entire body shook. She raised her hands to wipe away her hair but then buried her face against her palms and rocked back and forth.
Distress radiated from her like a beacon. Her shoulders started to twitch and he realized with alarm that she was crying.
Her mind was a chaotic mess. He frowned at the images of her captors and then he saw a beautiful, dark-haired woman. Taller than Shea. Toned and tanned. Just as quickly as he caught the image, his mind went completely blank. Shea had slammed the link shut and closed herself off from him.
It stunned him how empty he suddenly felt. A surge of hurt followed by anger built before he could call it back. It felt like a betrayal. Like she didn’t trust him.
The thoughts were irrational. But he couldn’t turn them off no matter how much he thought she was justified in her caution.
He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do now. She shut him out so maybe she didn’t want him prying. So he sat there, feeling like an idiot as she wept into her hands.
Then the decision was made for him. She turned and flung herself into his arms, holding him so tight that for a moment he couldn’t breathe.
“I’m sorry,” she choked out. “I didn’t do it to hurt you.”
He eased his arms around her and stroked her back, trying to comfort her.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked softly.
“I just didn’t want you to see. It was so overwhelming and I couldn’t shut it off, so I shut you off instead.”
His hold tightened around her. “That’s bullshit.” He took another breath and tried a more tactful, sensitive approach. “You and I are quite a pair, aren’t we, Shea?”
She pushed up to face him, her eyes drenched with sadness and shame. “What do you mean?”
He touched her cheek, his heart growing soft at the sight of her tears. “We both try to hide from the other and yet we have a more intimate connection than any two other people on the planet. You can’t hide this from me any more than I can hide my scars from you. Why would you demand to see my shame and then hide yours from me?”
She sighed and then her lips turned up into a rueful half smile. “I knew it would upset you and I didn’t want to be the cause of that.”
He leaned forward and kissed her nose. “How about you let me decide what I want to be upset about? Damn right it upsets me. The idea of you in those bastards’ hands makes me crazy. But it doesn’t mean you’re going to hide it from me to protect my fragile little psyche. Anything that involves you, I want to know about. Are we clear on that?”
She smiled. “Crystal clear.”
“Good. Now come here.”
He pulled her against him and kissed her hungrily. They’d just made love a few hours earlier and yet he still ached. His need for her defied logic. He couldn’t explain it any more than he could fight it.
Already he was as hard as a rock, his dick straining upward, tenting the sheet that covered his thighs. He pushed impatiently at the covers, not wanting any barrier between them.
He settled her astride his thighs so that his erection rested against the blond curls that covered her tiny mound. She looked so damn sexy sitting atop him, her blond hair disheveled and falling over her shoulders. Her eyes were sweet and sleepy looking, but when he cupped her breasts, her pupils flared and her eyes went more black than blue.
He loved the feel of her plump breasts against his fingers. Small against his much larger hands. He rubbed his thumbs over her nipples, fascinated by the hardening nubs.
Unable to resist, he stroked over her shoulders, down her back then around the curve of her waist and then over her hips and underneath to her buttocks. He couldn’t get enough of simply touching her.