Page 61 of T is for…

“Hurt or sensitive.”

“Sensitive to the point of hurting.”

He immediately moved his thumb, then placed a gentle kiss on her breast. Sliding off the bed, he folded back the covers on his side, then patted the mattress. Tara rolled into the spot he’d just vacated and wiggled her toes under the covers, sighing happily.

Nathan pulled the cover up over her, then dug under the bed for the bag he’d stashed there, pulling out a pair of black boxer briefs.

“You get underwear?”

“Yep.” Nathan circled the bed and slid in beside her.

“And I…” Tara rolled onto her side to face him, arm tucked under the pillow.

“Don’t.” He rested his hand on her bare thigh, thumb moving in lazy strokes.

“If I wasn’t exhausted…” she breathed, sliding closer to him.

Nathan rolled onto his back, then hauled Tara against his side. It took them a minute to get comfortable, but they finally settled, her head on the corner of a pillow which in turn rested on his shoulder. One breast was pressed against his ribs, the other soft, delectable mound resting on him. He gripped her thigh, pulling her knee up across his hips to stop himself from grabbing that pretty tit.

They lay like that for several contented minutes. Nathan was fully relaxed—satiated and satisfied, both his libido and dominant needs quiet and content.

“Tara?”

“Yes, Nathan?”

“Why aren’t you in a relationship?”

Chapter 15

“Why aren’t you in a relationship?”

Tara stiffened and considered pushing away. She was well within her rights to tell him it was none of his business. The question wasn’t appropriate in an aftercare setting. At least it wouldn’t have been with anyone else.

He must have felt her stiffen because Nathan’s hand tightened on her knee. “You don’t have to answer. I’m just curious.” There was a brief contemplative silence. “But you came closer than I did.”

“To getting married?” Tara reached over and brushed Nathan’s hair off his forehead, her initial resistance to his question softened by his subsequent words.

“Or a serious relationship. I’d say long-term serious relationship, but I think we both had long-term relationships that weren’t serious.”

“True.” Tara smoothed back his hair again, this time lightly scratching his scalp with her nails. “You can be with someone for years, but if you only see them once a month, or less, it hardly feels like a relationship.”

Nathan made a happy grumbling sound in response to her touch. “I think I dated that one girl for…two years?”

“Your grad school girlfriend?”

“Yep. I broke up with her when I started my post doc. Which is when you started dating that guy in med school.”

Tara grimaced at the memory.

Nathan popped up onto one elbow, tumbling her onto her back, then leaning over to peer down at her, their noses nearly touching. “What was that?”

“You’re too close. Making me cross-eyed.” Tara covered his face with her palm, fingers spread to brace against his forehead, and pushed.

Nathan flopped onto his back with a dramatic noise, causing her to laugh. Tara pulled the covers up over her cold shoulders and turned on her side, their legs still tangled together.

Nathan rolled to face her, and there was something shockingly intimate, yet almost innocent, about their positions. She wanted to pull the sheet over their heads like this was the backstory scene in a movie.

“Can I tell you something?” she said.

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