Page 43 of Proof

So I did exactly what he said.

CHAPTER 14

Jj

What am I doing?

That was the question I kept asking myself as I started slowly pulling my clothes off while Cass watched me with unveiled desire.

All the confidence I’d had as I’d repeatedly told Cass to shut up throughout the course of getting him off the kitchen floor and moving him to the only bathroom in the cabin was wavering quickly.

I could have easily told Cass to get in the shower and left him there so he could let the hot water soothe his stiff muscles, but every time I’d told myself that was exactly what I’d do, I’d done the opposite.

The fact was, I wanted him.

Badly.

I’d been wanting him from the moment he’d kissed me on that quiet canyon road. Despite all the humiliation I’d had to deal with each time he’d put his mouth on mine, my body had been and still was starved for his touch.

My mind had been fighting all those encounters and had passed them off as nothing more than a biological reaction, one that I’d had no control over. It had all been bullshit.

That fact had been strikingly apparent when I’d woken up on the kitchen floor, my upper body cradled in Cass’s arms.

I hadn’t remembered much about the night before other than the blinding pain in my head that had left me completely helpless. At the time I’d been certain that my brain had finally decided to call it quits and give in to the damage left behind, but once again, my eyes had opened, and I was thrust back into a reality I wasn’t sure I even wanted anymore.

It had taken me a while to get my bearings. One of the first things I’d seen had been an array of blurry images and black lines and curves. I might not have been able to see clearly, but I had been pretty sure what they were. The first thing I’dfelthad been even better: strong, warm fingers gently pressed against the spot where my throat met my shoulder. What I already knew to be a broad chest had been the pillow for my right cheek but there’d been no skin to revel in, just the soft material of a well-worn shirt.

Cass’s shirt.

Cass’s fingers.

Cass’s broad chest.

Despite the lingering pain in my head, I’d taken a moment to run my fingers over the denim-clad thigh my hand had been resting on. I’d assumed Cass was awake, but he hadn’t stirred.

I’d said his name softly, but there’d been no response beyond the up-and-down movement of his chest.

After repeating his name again, along with giving him a little shake, fear had taken over and I’d tried to extricate myself from his hold. That had been the only time he’d seemed to react to my presence because he’d tightened his arms around me—notenough to feel like he was trying to keep me imprisoned but more like he was content to have me stay where I was.

The little whimper that had escaped his lips had told me that he wasn’t just faking sleep so he could keep me where I was. It’d been a whimper of pain.

At that point, I’d started the painstaking process of getting myself out of his arms so I could take stock of any injuries Cass might have had, maybe from his walk the night before. It was only when I’d stiffly climbed to my feet that I’d realized what the problem was.

Cass had beenkneelingon the floor instead ofsittingon it. With me wrapped in his arms and my lower body draped over his thighs, he had likely been stuck in that position the entire night. I’d been using his larger body as a pillow while he’d been on his knees. Thankfully, he’d lowered his ass so it was resting on the backs of his legs, but I wondered why he hadn’t shifted his body into a different position so he’d be more comfortable.

I’d been horrified at the thought of Cass being forced to remain in the uncomfortable position all night because of me.

Then I’d realized he hadn’t beenforcedto hold me.

Cass hadchosento hold me in his arms all night.

He’dchosento maintain a position that would offer him no comfort but would ensure mine, probably because he hadn’t wanted to risk moving me any more than he already had.

Cass hadchosento usehisbody to bringminerelief.

The man had been a Marine for a large chunk of his adult life, so he understood what it meant to be holed up in the same position for hours at a time, but I doubted any of those had been the kind of position he’d put himself in to protect me. At any point after he’d fallen asleep, his arms could have relaxed to the point that I would have slipped from his hold, but that hadn’t happened. He’d kept me in his arms the entire time. After I’d woken up, he’d been whispering my name, then he’d beencalling out to me. I hadn’t understood everything he’d said, but it hadn’t mattered.

Thewayhe’d said it had mattered.

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