Page 33 of Static

It took a full minute, with my heart in my damn throat, but she finally jerked in my arms with a heavy gasp. Her beautiful blue eyes were cloudy and confused as she stared up at me. "Static?"

"There she is," I said with a smile. I kept my voice low and soothing. She needed calm and safety right now.

"What-" She looked down. "Why are we in my shower?"

"You're okay," I told her. I stroked her wet hair back again.

"Why am I in my shower with you?"

"You were having a bad dream. I guess the sleeping pill made it worse," I explained.

She wasn't fighting to get out of my hold. She laid her head on my shoulder and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Sugar," I told her. Reaching down, I turned off the water. I stepped out carefully, still holding her, then sat her on her bathroom counter. "Stay here a minute."

She watched me, quiet as a mouse, as I stripped off my soaking wet jeans and t-shirt. Her eyes widened, but she still didn't say a word.

"Spread your legs for me, Baby Girl."

Now her mouth was hanging open.

I grinned at her. "I assume your towels are in that cabinet there?" I pointed to the cabinet door under the sink, directly under where she was sitting. Her cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink, a much better color than the stark white they were before. She spread her legs and I knelt between them to grab a few of the fluffy blue towels she had stowed away there.

Her eyes roamed over my chest as I stood. She was still trying to come out of the fog the sleep medication had put her in. I wasn't going to take advantage, but it didn't mean I wouldn't tease her a little.

"Like what you see?"

She narrowed her eyes on me, but her lips lifted in a small smile.

"Hands up, Sugar." Defiance flashed in those blue depths as she looked at me again. "I need to get those wet clothes off you. The last thing you need is to catch a cold."

"Not happening." She folded her arms over her chest.

I put my hands on either side of her hips on the counter and leaned in. "Hands up." Our noses were nearly touching. "I want to get you dried off so we can go reassure your kids that you're okay."

That cinched it. Her head turned and I had to put a hand on her thigh to hold her in place. "Clothes first," I demanded. "Then we'll go see them."

"I didn't know they were awake," she whispered, looking horrified.

"Hey, hey," I grasped her chin, gently pulling her face toward mine so she'd look at me. "It's okay. They're alright. Let's get you taken care of, okay?"

She searched my eyes, then lifted her hands up over her head. She held my gaze as I pulled her wet shirt up and over, then tossed it in the corner with my clothes.

I wasn't a gentleman. And even if I was, there was no way for me not to get an eyeful of her small, perky tits. But I didn't touch her, and I was pretty sure that should qualify me for sainthood. Instead, I grabbed a towel and dried her off. Her nipples were hard points as I ran the towel over her chest. Her eyelids lowered to half-mast as she watched me with a dazed expression on her face. She was still under the effects of the medication and the nightmare she had.

Blowing out a breath, I left her sitting there and opened up drawers on her dresser. I took a minute to try to adjust my hard dick, but there was no hiding it when I was wearing nothing but wet boxer briefs.

I grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms, a t-shirt, and a pair of panties at random and closed the drawers before heading back into the bathroom to torment myself some more. Could I toss them at her and demand she put them on herself? Yeah. Was I going to? Fuck no. One, she could fall and hurt herself. Two, I was a bastard and would be dreaming about her sexy body for a long time to come.

"Arms up," I told her again. My voice was nothing more than a rasp of sound, but I ignored it. Just the same as I ignored the way her eyes were wandering over my body as I dried her. I dropped the oversized t-shirt over her head and gently pulled her arms through the openings. My hands went to her hips and I stared into her eyes. The groan was forced from my chest when she licked her lips. They looked soft and plump and it took all my self-control not to kiss her. Or to imagine them on my body. "Arch your hips."

She put her hands down on the granite countertop and pushed up as she did as I requested. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Fuck. Now I had to choose between watching what I was unveiling and looking up at her. I chose the decent route and met her gaze. To my horror, I saw there were tears in her eyes. "What for, Sugar?" I kept pulling her bottoms and panties down as I spoke. Better to keep her distracted because something told me my girl was shy.

"For waking you up. For...this." A sob escaped her mouth and she wound her arms around me and buried her face in my neck. "I didn't mean for this to happen." The words were mumbled into my skin.

My flesh pebbled where her lips moved against it and I was trying my fucking hardest to keep my cock under control. This wasn't the time for an erection, but the damn thing had a mind of its own. And the woman I'd realized I was in love with was half naked on the counter in front of me. I pulled her closer, forcing her legs apart as I stepped between her knees so I could comfort her.

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