Page 38 of Always Heated

“I need to know you’re okay. I need to know you’re still…”

“Yours,” I finish. “Ask me if I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“I’m not proposing to you while you’re naked and your family is in the other room,” he deadpans, but a smirk still tugs at his lips.

“I’m not looking for a ring, or a proposal. Ask me.”

He blows out a long breath. “Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?”

“Yes.” The word can’t escape me fast enough. “I love you, Travis. I’min lovewith you. I’m yours.”

Travis grips my thighs and pulls my legs around him, then walks me into the ensuite. “Say it again.”

“I’m in love with you?”

“The other thing.”

“Travis,” I groan, “which other thing?”

He sets me down and I’m unable to appreciate the updates he’s done as he commands, “Tell me you’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” I whisper.

“Good. Now I can take care of you, and you won’t fight me.” He turns on the water and strips out of his clothes. “Until you’re healed, I’m not touching you.”

“I’m not broken,” I grunt, even if it’s not entirely true.

“You’re not-not broken,” he counters, walking me into the shower. “I know you and this next month could have you spiraling. Before we left the hospital, I overheard the doctors when they told you you’ll need to take a few weeks off. With no nursing, no shop…” The rain shower head beats down on us and he doesn’t have to continue.

“I’m not broken,” I repeat, insisting, “I’ll be okay.”

“I love you. Let me be here for you.”

I don’t fight Travis as he kisses me. It tugs at my soul, every swipe of his tongue stealing more of me for himself. We’ve never had a shower together where one of us wasn’t on our knees. I ache to touch him, to be closer to him, to bring him pleasure. He refuses, swatting my hands away.

Retrieving a dark gray loofah from a hook and a bottle of body wash, he squeezes the soap onto the sponge, to no avail—the bottle is brand new. It takes him a moment to figure out there’s still a seal on it.

“Let me.” I take it from him, ripping off the protective seal under the cap and tossing it over the shower door, with every intention of throwing it away when I’m done. As I squeeze a dollop onto the loofah he’s holding, I can’t help wanting more than he’s offering. I massage the soap onto the mesh sponge,suds bubbling between my fingertips. “I’m not broken,” I repeat for what feels like the hundredth time.

“I know,” he sighs, eyes swirling with pain and grief. “You’re the strongest woman I know—a diamond made under pressure.” Dragging the loofa down my arm from my shoulder, he adds, “You’re precious, Cass, not broken.”

As he washes me, my breath hitches each time he grazes my breasts or gets anywhere near my pussy. My whole being aches with each swipe. “Touch me,” I plead, the words coming out strangled.

“No. I’m not going to explain to your family or some rookie paramedics why my girlfriend is having respiratory problems, when she should’ve been resting. You want me to touch you? It’ll have to wait until tonight, after I check your lungs and heart, and when your oxygen is close by…andwhen your dad and brother aren’t in the next room.”

“Fine,” I groan, but gasp as he slides his hand between my legs, circling my clit. “I thought you said tonight?” He slips two fingers inside me, forcing a moan from me. “Travis.” His name passes my lips as a sigh,

Pulling his fingers from me, he brings them to his mouth, sucking them clean. “That’s all you get until tonight.”

Fucking tease. No matter how much I crave him, he’s right, I need to be careful. He kisses me, a hint of my pussy still lingering on his tongue. I reach between us, slowly stroking his cock. This time, he doesn’t stop me.

There’s something powerful about touching him. Sliding up and down his shaft, I enjoy the weight of him in my hand. His lips never leave mine as his groans fill the shower. The water pelts us from above and he kisses me harder the closer he gets. I’d love nothing more than to drop to my knees and feel his hot release spill down my throat, but he’d never let me.He’s moments from coming in my hand and I pick up my pace. In an instant, I’m pressed against the shower wall, and he hitches my leg onto his hip.

“Tell me to stop,” he growls, slipping his tip into my pussy as I continue stroking his cock.

“No, don’t stop.”

Travis pulls my hand away and drives inside me in one hard thrust. I cry out as he fills me, his release seeping out and down my leg as he continues slowly rocking in and out of me. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, but I kiss the words away. As he pulls out of me, he presses two fingers into my pussy, teasing my clit with his thumb. “I lied. I need to feel you, Cass.” He grips my throat, owning me as he checks my pulse. “Your heart rate is elevated, if it spikes, I’ll stop.”

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