Page 30 of Lost in You

“You’re not weak,” I assure her. “We’re in this together every step of the way.”

Her expression softens. “I’m sorry about the mood swings. And about irrationally denying them.”

Damn. She’s a dangerous mix of cute and sexy. I want to pick her up and kiss her until she wraps her legs around me. Get in bed with her and use my mouth and hands to make her forget about feeling sick because she’s so turned on.

“Anyway.” She clears her throat and looks away. “Are you leaving soon to go look for help?”

“Thought maybe I’d wait another day. That okay with you?”

She nods. “Of course. It looks pretty windy out there. I don’t want your tracks to get blown over.”

“I won’t go out when it’s windy.”

She sits back down on the bed. “It’s hard not having anything to do. I’d give anything for a day packed with conference calls and meetings.”

“Will you try something with me?”

Her cheeks flush. “I guess that depends on what it is.”

I can think of many dirty things I’d love to try with her, but I can’t, so I shove the thoughts away. “I work with a mindset coach and we do mindfulness meditation. You want to try it?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Okay, so we need to sit across from each other. Let’s do it on the bed because of your ankle.”

We both get comfortable and I take a few seconds to remember how my mindset coach, Jen, starts these sessions. I used to be dismissive of mindset coaching, but then I started to see the improvements it was making in my life, both on and off the ice.

“Clear your mind of distractions and think about somewhere that feels peaceful to you,” I say. Picture that place and then we’re going to do some breathing where we inhale for three, hold for two, and exhale for four. Breathe deeply. Put a hand right here.” I take her palm and place it beneath her breasts, my thumb brushing over the curve of one breast.

Her eyes flare open slightly from my touch, and I start to get hard again. I foresee a lot of jerking off going down in the outhouse while we’re stuck here.

“You want to feel your chest moving in and out as you breathe. Just focus on that and on the counting.”

She moistens her lips with the tip of her tongue and I let my mind roam for just a second, imagining myself lunging toward her to kiss her and press her down against the mattress.

She’s twenty-six and if only two people have seen her naked, I imagine they were both sexual partners. I already know her well enough to know she’s uptight in bed. Fuck, how I’d love to bring her to the brink over and over with edging, making her tell me what she wants in order to finally get it.

“I’m ready, Linc,” she says softly.

“Right.” I shake myself out of the daydream, hoping she can’t see my erection.

At least I’ve got jeans on instead of the damned long underwear. I sleep with my back to her every night, so I don’t have to worry about her waking up and finding my hard dick poking the bedcovers into the air. Or worse, touching her when I’m on my side facing her.

“Okay, we’re going to inhale for one...two...three.” I keep my hand on hers to make sure her chest is rising and falling. “Hold for one...two. Now a long exhale. One...two...three...four.”

She closes her eyes as I count and she breathes. It’s a heady sensation, having her trust me with the knowledge she has anxiety and being allowed to help her manage it. When we were thrown together in this situation, she was forced to rely on me, but now she’s choosing to.

I’m past the locked gate she puts up to protect herself, and it makes me want to throw my own gate open and let her see me, too.

Dalton’s face appears in my mind, and I imagine myself having to tell him the team captain and friend he trusts like a brother fucked his younger sister when she was in a vulnerable place.

Many times. Because it definitely wouldn’t just be once.

I can’t do it. I mean, I could, but I won’t. I’m a better man than that.

I’ll just have to find a way to resist my primal urges toward Trinity while we’re trapped together in a one-room cabin. With one bed. And a bathtub she likes to soak naked in.

Fuck.

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