Page 63 of In the Arms of a Hero

Staring at the back of her head and where her bandage was over the exit wound, he was dubious. “Sweetheart, I’m not sure how we can do this.”

“That’s okay. I just wondered.”

He heard the disappointment in her tone and hated that he couldn’t give her something so simple. Looking at the bathtub, he sucked in his lips, working the problem. “Believe it or not, I think I have a solution.”

She turned around carefully, and the joyful expression on her face was worth everything to him. As he finished rinsing her off, he looked up to see her eyes on his semi-erect cock.

“Don’t pay any attention to him.” He chuckled. “First of all, he has a mind of his own. And second of all, biology is going to have him saluting when he’s standing next to a beautiful, naked girl who I care for.”

Relief speared through him when she burst out laughing. “I just feel bad that there’s nothing we can do right now.” She held his gaze and continued. “Honestly, I would give you a blow job if I thought I had the energy to finish it out!”

He laughed and shook his head. “There’s plenty of time for all of that when you’re healed.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he snapped his lips shut. Assuming she’d be giving him a blowjob was presumptuous as fuck. “That’s not what I meant,” he rushed. “I didn’t mean to assume or imply?—”

Her fingers landed on his lips, and he stared at her smiling face.

“It’s okay, Aaron.” She leaned closer and whispered, “I’m afraid to lift on my toes, but if you lean down, I’ll show you how okay it is.”

He held her securely as he bent, and his heart leaped in his chest when she kissed him gently. Separating, he stood straighter and kissed her forehead. “Thank you, Belinda.”

“For what? A simple kiss?”

“Yes. And for letting me take care of you.”

Her response was to smile as she patted his arm.

Helping her out of the tub, he followed her and then handed her a thick towel. They dried off, and he slipped on his boxers and a T-shirt before walking back into the bedroom and digging around in the suitcase Bess had brought. Finding panties and a large T-shirt with a cat reading a book on the front, he started to walk to the bathroom when he stopped, changing directions. He tossed the shirt back into the suitcase and grabbed one of his clean Navy T-shirts before returning to the bathroom.

Holding up the shirt, he said, “If you have no objections, I’d love to see you sleeping in my shirt.” She nodded, smiling, and he helped slide the panties up her legs and her arms through the T-shirt before re-adjusting the sling.

“Stay here, and I’ll be right back.” He walked into his kitchen, snagged one of the chairs from the table, and then returned to the bathroom, where he placed it next to the tub. “I’ll have you sit, wrap a towel around your shoulders, and you can lean your head back. With the handheld showerhead, I can wash your hair. I can’t promise it’ll be perfect, but it’ll be clean.”

Once again, the look on her face filled him with joy. As tired as she was after the shower, she followed his directions andleaned her head back. He wet her hair, ran the shampoo through it, and then rinsed. “Bess brought over some conditioner. It says to leave it on for several minutes?—”

“Don’t worry about that. Just squirt a little, rub it through the strands, and then you can rinse it out right away.”

He could tell she was tiring and made quick work of conditioning and rinsing her hair. Then with the towel around her shoulders, he lifted it to her head and gently patted her hair.

“Bess included a hairdryer, but other than pointing it toward your head, I can’t do anything fancy with it.”

She laughed. “That’ll do just fine.”

Moving the chair away from the bathtub, he placed it in front of the sink, and she resettled. He plugged in the hairdryer, turned it on, and let the air whip her hair all around. Once he was satisfied it was dry enough for bedtime, she took a big comb and slid it through the slightly tangled tresses.

She stood, holding the sink counter, and turned to face him. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“What’s perfect is you, Belinda.”

She stepped closer, placing her right hand on his arm to steady herself. “What a coincidence… I think you’re perfect, too.”

“I hate to disappoint you, but I’m far from perfect.”

She held his gaze for a long moment and then said, “You don’t have to be a perfect person. You’re just perfect for me.”

At that moment, he wasn’t sure there was enough oxygen in the room to fill his lungs, much less keep his thoughts steadier than his vibrating body. He pulled her close to him, breathing in the scent of her shampoo and kissing the top of her head. Allowing him to take care of her, she’d given him the greatest gift of all—her trust that he would handle all of her with care—something he silently vowed to always do.

He walked her back into the bedroom, flipping off all the lights except the one on his side of the bed. Making sure she wastucked in carefully, he rounded the bed and slid into his side. He kept a separation between them, not wanting to make any assumptions.

“Please tell me you’re not going to sleep over there for the entire night?” she whispered into the dark.

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