Brandon shifted to reach for her. They settled back on the bed together, her head pillowed on his shoulder. "Somehow, I don't think you're going to allow that, either, after getting rid of one, two, and three."
She twisted carefully to look up at him. A teasing grin touched his lips before he became serious once more. "I'm starting to believe you, Allie." His voice was husky with emotion when he spoke, his heart bursting with the love he saw in her eyes for him. "I'm wanting to take hold of this dream and share it. But, I don't want to hurt you – with my selfishness."
Allie gently traced the hard set of his whiskered jaw line and chin, skimming over the places she'd kissed earlier. He closed his eyes, his breath coming ragged and uneven. She pushed herself up to kneel beside him. "You will never, never hurt me, darling," she whispered. "Not unless you leave me again."
He drew in a slow steadying breath and let it out on a long sigh as her fingers began to unbutton the shirt he'd put on earlier that day. "Don't close your eyes, Brandon. Don't shut me out. Never again. I'm here for you. I belong to you, and you to me." Her hands moved to the third button, and his eyes slowly opened as he lay back further on the bed to give her better access.
"Be sure, Allison."
She smiled at that, the way he used her full name as if to impress the importance of the decision she was about to make on her.
"I'm sure." She opened the final button and pushed the shirt to either side, revealing a slice of bronze muscled chest and torso with a wide swath of bandaging across the ribs.
"Because—" He swallowed hard as she started on his belt buckle.
"Because?"
"What I take from you this time will be a helluva lot more than a blue ribbon."
"I'll wager that's the truth." She gave him a saucy smile. "Though I realize now I gave that prize to you a bit prematurely."
"Allie—" Brandon reached to grip her hands as they competently opened his belt and started on the placket of his jeans.
"Say it. Just tell me this is what you want – that I'm what you want. Once it's done, it's forever between us, baby." His voice was low.
****
She nodded, swallowing her words until she found the right ones. Brandon wanted her as much as she wanted him, but trusting his heart – and hers – was not easy for him.
"I think I missed a spot," she murmured, her eyes holding his. "When I was kissing you earlier – the places where you were hurting."
"You did?"
"Uh-huh. The most important place of all, Brandon."
"Show me," he whispered roughly.
Very slowly, she leaned down, past his cheek, past his jaw and chin. She breathed in the scent of his skin – sunshine and pine and the wildness of the woods. Her mouth descended unerringly to gently kiss the warm flesh at the top of the white bandage across his chest, lingering there, for a long space of time just over his heart. If anyone could heal his heart, it would have to be her.
****
His breathing hitched and he closed his eyes, letting her sweet expression of love wash over him. No words she might have spoken could have ever been more eloquent than that gesture, but she said them anyway.
"I love you, Brandon Gabriel. I always have. I always will." She raised her eyes to his, finally. "I give you the only thing I have. The thing I was too young to give you before." Her lips curved slightly. "Myself. If – you want me. If you think we can make it work—"
He caught her to him quickly, his lips crushing hers, cutting off the rest of what she'd been about to say. How could he have ever left her in the first place?
An image of the serious young girl she had been all those years past flooded his memory. She hadn't asked him to stay, because she understood it would kill him to live in that hell another day. He'd convinced himself that her life had been better, easier because she'd been a girl. A white girl. But now, he knew better. She was offering him the greatest gift he could ever hope for, and he couldn't turn it down.
Her lips were firm yet gentle on his, and he knew she was remembering his injuries. He pulled back to look into her eyes, a faint smile touching his mouth.
"I think, earlier, I interrupted you," he murmured, brushing a strand of her hair back. "You were – helping me undress."
She gave a shaky, self-conscious laugh. "Shall I finish?"
"It's the only way I can hold on to that blue ribbon, love." He held up his bandaged hand. "Still can't use it properly."
"I guess I feel awkward, somehow." She nestled closer to him, tension in every line of her body. "Brandon, I've never done this before."
Chapter 14
He stiffened at that shy admission. Somehow, he'd thought she'd have had some experience in love. "Allie…I wish I could make it perfect for you." His voice was low and quiet. "I wish so many things for you."
"It will be perfect."