With Grace.
With Grace.
Spin away. Spin away.
“Release—”
“One, two, three, four.”
My shoulders slumped, an opened water bottle was before me, and I took it and drank slowly as Grace’s fingers wiped the hair back from my face.
“Lie down. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere until Boner gets back, okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered hoarsely, lying back down on the bed.
“And don’t worry. I changed the sheets when you were taking a shower.”
“You did?”
“I didn’t look too closely, but I wanted you to be comfortable. I have this thing about clean sheets. It comes with age. You’ll see.”
We laughed together, and that lightness felt good.
Grace shut off the light in the room, and I curled myself around a pillow and let out a breath.
There was still more to give to the diamonds.
A light tickle skipped up and down my neck, and I arched away from it. “Hmm.”
An arm wrapped around my middle, settling on my belly. “Jill.”
His voice.
I opened my eyes.
“You okay?” Boner asked.
I turned in his arms and nestled in his hold. “Are you okay?” I murmured against his throat, savoring the mild creamy soap scent of his damp skin.
“He ain’t coming near you again. He gets to come see Becca and his mom and Tania, and that’s it. You don’t ever have to be in the same room with him.” His hand stroked up and down my back. The hand that probably, moments ago, had been punching Catch, smacking him, throttling his neck, making him bleed.
For me.
I curled up in Boner’s arms, my one hand sliding in his wet long hair, so cool and lush against my fingertips. “Thank you.”
“You’re not scared, are you? Being here with me?” His voice was low, tentative.
“No. No, not at all.”
“Grace and Lock are spending the night here, too.”
“Good.”
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. He was worried. My hand smoothed up and down his tense back.
“He scared you, threw you on a bike, half-dressed. All this in front of his ma and Becca?”
“Yes.”
“Such a motherfucker.”
I planted a long kiss on his tense shoulder. “It’s over.”
“He fucking hurt you. You got nothing to say?”
“I thought I’d never see Becca again. I thought I’d lose this baby.”
He gently kissed the side of my face over my bruise. “Fucker,” he whispered.
“Or you. I thought I’d never see you again.” I melted against him, my lips brushing his chest.
He sucked in a tiny breath. “You okay with this? Us together?”
“Are you?”
“You said you didn’t want to be an old lady again. I get that.”
“And you said you didn’t want an old lady.”
“We can do this until the baby is born. Then, you’re free of me, of all this.”
Free of him?
A heaviness seeped through my middle. He had claimed me to protect the baby. Of course he had.
I didn’t want to be an old lady though. I didn’t want that role. I wanted…damn it, I didn’t know what I wanted. I only knew that, right now, it felt good, so good, to be in his arms, in his bed.
I got what I had told him I wanted, didn’t I?
“Right, exactly. For the baby,” I said. “I can pretend to be your old lady until then.”
Boner coming to my rescue had been grand and valiant, impulsive and smart. But still, I didn’t think Catch would let this go so easily. He liked to prove all his points, and he always had to have the last word. The Jacks might have gotten their licks in tonight and made the boundaries clear, but Catch wasn’t done. I was sure of it.
I tangled my legs in Boner’s. The T-shirt I wore suddenly felt thick and rough between us. I yanked it off me.
“Jillee.”
I threw the shirt on the floor. “I need to feel you.” I lay down on top of him. “Hold me,” I whispered.
Boner took in a slight breath. His hand slid over my ass, and a shiver zipped up my spine as he stroked my rear, his other hand diving into my hair. His cool skin against my heat left me breathless. I was hyperaware of every part of me touching every part of him—our feet, our legs, his huge erection hard under his boxer briefs, his heaving chest under mine.
I needed this blunt honesty to ground me right now.
His minty breath was hot against my skin, and I swept his sensational long, thick hair back from his face.
His brows tensed together in a dark knot for a moment and then released, as if he didn’t understand the mystery before him but realized that it didn’t matter. It was simply better to admire it.
I felt small within his unyielding firm embrace. He rubbed my scalp, and sighing, I relaxed under the power of his gifted fingertips. I glanced up at him. His tender touch and intense gaze had me under a spell.
“I had to make sure he understood,” he whispered, his heart beating steadily underneath me.
“I know. You don’t have to explain.”
He was concerned about my feelings. Holy shit.
“I had to,” he said.