He might have offered to sleep on the floor as part of the giving her space and time negotiations, but he couldn’t do it.
The mattress springs made a racket as he climbed on next to her, easing an arm over her waist and settling in to spoon her warm body. They fit together just right.
She murmured something but didn’t wake.
The memories of the scene next door kept his cock under control, which was good. His poor girl. He wanted to comfort, pamper and protect her.
She needed that right now.
Being this close to her, his skin slicked with sweat in no time. He felt like he had a fever. No way was he moving.
Because, despite being this close to her, the in and out of her breathing soothed him. How she riled him up and calmed him down al at once, conscious or not, defied logic.
Weeks of exposure had taught him to block out the moaning coming from the street, to shove it to the back of his mind and not let it consume him. He could lie there and stroke her arm, breathe in the scent of whatever shampoo she had used up a bottle of and bide his time. It was all good.
For the first time in ages, he had hope.
CHAPTER SIX
Ali woke with a gasp, taking a moment to get her bearings.
The morning sun hadn’t woken her, Daniel’s wandering hand had. His hand and the whole body ache his touch generated. Her skin felt prickly, disturbingly alive and alert.
The hand cupping her breast would have been cause for castration, except for the fact that her hand was shoved down the front of his boxers. Her fingers curled around a hip like she owned it, with her wrist resting beside a sizeable appendage greeting the day in the usual way. Whoa boy. The head of his cock came close to peeking out from beneath the waistband of his boxer-briefs. His member matched the rest of him in size.
Wicked thoughts drove her silly. She needed to calm down. Do the deep breathing. Which was a mistake because he smelt good, warm skin and clean male sweat.
She inhaled him, just to double-check. He smelt amazing. A girl could get high on him. She wanted him. She did. Wanted to feel him inside her, wanted this ache to end. Desire owned her, and it was leaving her a big, wet mess. What a terrible power to hold over someone. He didn’t even have to do anything to turn her to shivers, her own mind and body could run riot just fine.
But it was a natural urge, nothing to worry about. It had been a while, and a stressful situation and curiosity being what they were, blah, blah, blah. All the old clichés.
Curiosity. What a lame ass excuse. She could do better.
Thank god he wasn’t watching her now. Her cheek rested on one sun-burnished pec and God help her if she had drooled on him in her sleep or something. How special would that be?
Someone so hard-bodied shouldn’t have made such a comfortable mattress. She needed to get the hell off him.
Ali averted her gaze, pulled her mind out of his pants, then extricated her hand from his boxers one cautious millimeter at a time.
“You awake?” he murmured.
She whipped her hand from his underwear like her fingers were singed.
He chuckled, chest shuddering beneath her cheek. “I’l take that as a yes.”
“I’ll have my breast back now.”
“Mmm.” His fingers uncurled ever so slowly, but his other hand, the one resting on her lower back, moved not at all. “Heard a motorbike close-by earlier.”
“What?” She scrambled up into a sitting position, startled wide awake, as if he had doused her in coffee. Her heart pounded, and every hair on her body stood erect. “When?”
“Hour or so back. Nothing since.” He stretched both hands up, tucked them behind his head. How the hell could he be so relaxed?
“Be calm,” he said.
She shook her head in wonder. “Be calm? I haven’t seen any uninfected around here in over a month. Bit of a coincidence them turning up the day after I fire the shotgun. They were searching for us.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Might be you’re just feeling a bit paranoid, babe. Which, I would add before you rip my head off, is fair enough. Either way, unless you’ve put out a welcome mat they’re not going to find us. Have you?” he asked, mouth twitching. “Is there some sign out there that you’re in residence? No spray-painted announcement on the door? Another pair of these cute cotton panties left hanging from the mailbox, perhaps?”
Her face heated. The asshole. “No. Of course not.”
He yawned and scratched at the short spiky dark hair pointing every which way. He was al over the morning appeal. In comparison, she probably looked like she had been tumble-dried. But he had a whole charmingly disheveled thing going on with his bed hair. If she hadn’t been balancing scared shitless and embarrassed there might have been time to stop and appreciate it.
“Then, be calm,” he said. “We’re okay.”