Page 83 of Strike Fast

He grinned back and dropped a soft kiss on her mouth. “I’d love to.”

She blinked up at him. “Really?”

He chuckled at her surprised expression. “Mmhmm.” He’d love to do anything that would make her feel better. “Come on.” Taking her left hand, he led her into the bathroom. The tub wasn’t huge, but it was deep enough to hold both of them. “Do you like it warm, or hot?”

“Hot.”

He started filling the tub, then turned to face her, tenderness flooding him when he noticed the way she shifted her stance and fidgeted with the hem of his shirt at her bare thighs. “Not nervous about being naked in front of me, are you?” he teased.

Her cheeks turned the prettiest shade of pink. “A little. This isn’t exactly the scenario I imagined for when this happened next.” She gestured to the sling.

“No? Then what did you imagine?”

“Something a hell of a lot hotter and more romantic than this.”

“I’ll show you romance,” he promised.

Holding her gaze, he reached for the hem of his shirt and stripped it over his head. Tess’s eyes traced over his naked torso, leaving tendrils of heat in their wake that sent a rush of blood to his swelling cock. She wasn’t in any kind of shape to do anything about it, but everything about her turned him on and he couldn’t help his body’s reaction to her.

He took off his boots and pants, sliding his underwear down his legs with them. Tess stared at him with open, unabashed desire, the pink in her cheeks intensifying and her lips parted. “Your turn, gorgeous.”

Tess didn’t move, just watched him with hungry green eyes as he undid each button of the shirt to reveal the white bra she wore beneath, and the strip of creamy skin all the way down to the dark blond curls between her thighs.

Shelving all the sexual impulses bombarding his brain for later, he took care extricating her injured arm from the sleeve, and dropped the shirt on the floor before gently removing her bra. She immediately moved to hold her right arm in place against her chest, and he wasn’t sure whether it was from nerves or if it was more comfortable for her shoulder.

Settling his hands on her hips, Reid tugged her toward him and gently, softly kissed the curve where her neck met her right shoulder, just at the edge of the bandages. She caught her breath, goosebumps rising on her skin. He ran his hands over her hips and back while the sound of rushing water filled the air, kissing his way up to her jaw, her cheek, and finally her mouth.

Tess moaned softly and swayed toward him, her lips parting for the slow stroke of his tongue. He cradled her head in his hands, rubbed his fingertips against her scalp as he kissed her, caressing her tongue and the roof of her mouth.

When he pulled back a minute later, she was breathing faster and her eyes were a little glazed. But the nervousness was gone, and that’s what he’d wanted.

Checking the temperature of the water, he shut it off and helped her into the tub, placing a rolled up towel beneath her head. He used the moveable showerhead to wet her hair, then spread the shampoo in his hands and knelt beside the tub to massage her scalp.

Tess groaned and closed her eyes, her gorgeous body relaxing in the water. “Oh my God, that feels incredible.”

It made his dick even harder, seeing her all sleek and wet and hearing those pleasurable sounds in the back of her throat. But this was his chance to give her what she needed, and so he lathered and massaged her scalp while she lay there.

Once her hair was rinsed off he gently eased her into a sitting position and slipped into the tub behind her, drawing her into the curve of his body. She settled against him with a contented sigh that satisfied something primal inside him, her head on his shoulder.

Gently grasping her swollen right wrist, he pushed aside her left arm so she could rest it and kissed her temple.

“I never did thank you properly for what you did,” Tess murmured, eyes closed while he ran the soap over her. “If you hadn’t come in after us when you did, I’d probably be dead.”

It chilled his blood to think of it, of losing this vibrant, amazing woman. “You don’t ever need to thank me for coming after you, Tess. Anywhere, anytime, if you need me, I’m there.”

She tipped her head back to meet his gaze. “That’s nice to hear, thank you.”

He wanted to tell her a whole lot more than that, but not while she was facing away from him in a tub. He spent some more time smoothing his hands over her wet skin, telling her without words how much he cared, how much she meant to him.

When she was half asleep, he rinsed her off and lifted her out of the tub. After setting her on her feet to dry her, he helped wrap her arm back up in the sling and scooped her up to carry her to bed.

“I haven’t been carried like this since I was a kid,” she said on a laugh, her left arm looped around his neck.

Her husband hadn’t done this for her? Reid held the question back, not wanting to bring him up right now. He settled her on the bed, crawled in beside her and tugged the covers over her. “What way are you most comfortable?” he asked, stroking her hair back.

Her green eyes were full of mirth. “Honestly? They’re all really damn painful.”

“What about this?” he asked, gently turning her onto her side facing him and sliding a pillow between her bent knees. He shifted close and wrapped his arm around her waist, well clear of her injured arm and the sling.

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