I’d lost control over the situation. Not that it mattered. He was doing a wonderful job of taking me to that magical place where just the two of us existed.
He smoothed a gentle hand over my hair then trailed his fingers down to toy with the sensitive skin of my neck. Chills dances along my skin. I broke away from his kiss to pant for a quick breath. Before I could recapture his lips, he proceeded to kiss my brow, then my temple.
The move brought the column of his throat close to my mouth. I strained forward slightly and kissed him just below his jaw. He froze above me, and fine tremors shook the bed.
Something about him, about this, called to me. I tentatively ran the tip of my tongue over his skin.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I whispered, nipping his neck gently.
He groaned in frustration.
“It hurts to wait.”
Everything in my vision was happening just as I’d seen. I didn’t hurry. I continued to kiss and nip, slowly becoming the aggressor. He groaned every time my teeth scraped his skin. He kissed my collarbone and shoulder, giving me plenty of room. Bursts of hot need filled me and pushed me closer to what he wanted, to what I wanted. I finally understood biting him was about me making a choice. And I chose him.
I bit down firmly, just enough to break the skin. The bite healed almost instantly. I tenderly kissed where I’d bit him. Mine. He claimed my mouth in a searing kiss then pulled back.
I studied his face, expecting to feel different. My stomach flipped wildly as it always did when I looked at him, but as far as I could tell nothing fundamental had changed. He looked relaxed and very pleased with himself. A feeling of complete contentment washed over me.
“Go to sleep, now,” he whispered, shifting me so I lay curled against his side.
Exhaustion caught up with me, and my eyes closed against my will. I frowned sleepily. I wanted more kissing.
He leaned over to place another kiss on my forehead.
“I love you,” he murmured in my ear.
I didn’t have the energy to respond.
Chapter 20
I slowly became aware of Emmitt’s arm on my stomach. Although it wasn’t extremely heavy, it did rest right on top of the bruised area. I kept my eyes closed, wanting to go back to sleep. If I could just move out from under him and then roll over, I’d probably sleep another hour.
Carefully, I tried rolling away, hoping he’d feel it in his sleep and remove his arm. My stomach cramped. I cringed and gingerly settled onto my back again.
“Might as well open them.”
My eyes popped open at the sound of Emmitt’s voice. Reclined on his side with his head propped in his right hand, he studied me. He lifted his offending arm and ran his fingers over the skin of my stomach. The skin of my stomach? I let out a squeak. I was supposed to be wearing a robe.
I lifted my head to look, but doing so caused more pain in my already tender stomach. I flopped back down, frowning at the ceiling. Damn, that hurt.
He’d used a bath towel over the robe to cover the important bits, exposing the rest of me. I wanted to be offended, but I knew he’d only been checking me over for injuries.
It wasn’t how I’d expected to wake up, but I didn’t mind. I remembered what he said before I fell asleep. He loved me.
Turning on my pillow, I gave him a shy, sleepy smile. I’d been so busy making sure I was covered, I hadn’t noticed his serious expression. Was he still upset about my injuries? I thought he’d gotten over it last night, after I bit him. I blushed thinking of it. My heart stuttered a beat. Had I really Claimed Emmitt?
“You lied to me. You’re not fine.” His fingers stroked my stomach again, just over the most tender part. “How much pain are you in?”
Ah, so that was it. I looked down again, surprised to see an actual surface bruise. I’d thought it more of a muscle pull. I looked at my wrists. They were tender but not as bad. Given what I’d been through, I thought I was lucky. When Frank had strapped me to the chair, I’d expected far worse.
“Emmitt, I’ll live. Don’t make a big deal out of this.”
He said nothing as I modestly gathered the robe around myself, tied it, then tugged the towel out of the way. Though I wanted to sit up, I knew better than to try. Instead, I rolled to my side, facing him so he could see me, held my stomach with one arm, and used the other to boost myself up. It wasn’t a pain free effort. My stomach protested, and boosting hurt my wrist; but I withheld every twinge from my expression.
Emmitt watched me closely from his reclined position, his expression growing more guarded by the moment.
Maneuvering carefully, I turned away from him and eased my legs off the bed. As I sat there, taking a small break, I noticed the time on the alarm clock beside the bed.
“We need to get to the lawyer’s office. How long will it take from here?” I paused, looking around the room, remembering the long run. “I don’t even know where we are.”