loss as she loosened her hold on him, reluctantly allowing him to rest beside her. "I'm fine." He had obviously thought he was crushing her. Like she was a delicate flower? She was taller than some men in her bare feet. Simon was the only one who could make her actually feel petite.
She sighed as he hoisted her easily into his arms, pulling her against his side as he tucked the covers over their entangled bodies. She burrowed into him, her head on his shoulder and one arm flung over his mammoth chest. His muscular arm pulled her closer with a firm grasp around her waist.
"We made love," he grumbled, his voice weary.
Smiling slightly at his disgruntled announcement, she simply answered, "Yes."
Making love wasn't about the mechanics, it was all about emotion, although she had to admit that he was pretty damn incredible with the mechanical portion of the act. It didn't matter how they touched or in what way they came together; it was the emotion and the intensity of the experience that got her. The truth was, the sex tonight had been no different than anything that had happened between them before. It had been just as explosive, just as emotional, and just as earth-shattering. The man rocked her entire world every single time . And it was never indifferent or detached. It had been wild, passionate, intense love-making every single time. At least, for her it had been.
I wish he could trust me.
The deep, steady cadence of his breathing told her that he slept.
Small steps.
Simon didn't sleep with anyone, didn’t allow himself to be in the same bed with another person when he was vulnerable. The fact that he was sleeping with her plastered against him was bigger than a step; it was more like a huge stride.
Moving a little to get comfortable, her heart flipped over when he grumbled an incoherent protest and yanked her back against him.
Yep. They would need to have a talk about his trust issues tomorrow. She needed to know something about what happened to him, why he had reacted the way he had earlier. It wasn't possible to combat a ghost she couldn't see, couldn't understand.
Never again did she want to see Simon in the grip of panic, lost in an unknown fear. His vulnerability had nearly ripped her heart out.
A fierce protective instinct flowed over her as her eyes fluttered closed, completely spent and exhausted.
He'll dodge and be evasive. He won't want to talk about it.
If he wasn't ready...well...she'd wait until he trusted her enough to discuss it.
Satisfied that things would work out fine, she yawned against Simon's shoulder until her breathing matched his, deep and even, and fell into a dreamless, contented sleep.
Chapter 3
Three days later, Simon scrawled his signature on the last of a stack of mile-high documents that his secretary had dropped on his desk earlier that morning. Slamming the gold pen on the top of the pile with more force than necessary, he leaned back in an enormous leather chair with a frustrated sigh, wondering how many more days he could take of the tension between himself and Kara.
No sex. No touching. No waking up in the morning with her delectable body wrapped around mine like a silken blanket.
God, that morning three days ago had started off as the best morning of his life.
Unfortunately, what happened at breakfast also had it ranking right up there with one of the worst.
She had wanted to talk about the night before.
He didn't.
Oh, he had been more than willing to talk about and repeat what had happened after his freak-out. The actual panic attack?...not so much.
Raking his hand through his hair, he leaned back and tried to relax his body, admitting to himself that the distance between the two of them really wasn't really her fault. Much. She had taken his unwillingness to discuss it gracefully, giving him one of her sweet smiles and telling him that she would wait until he was ready. But then...just when he was thinking she might end up waiting until she was old and gray
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley