Page 43 of Shielding Aubree

Want to touch.

Want to love.

Aubree looked at him as if she was discovering something sweet. "I'd let you comb my hair. It's something I love to have someone else to do. When I was waiting for the surgery to fix my back injuries, I'd go to a hairdresser just to have someone wash and comb my hair. I'd never known how many back muscles it takes to do either and when I tried to do it for myself, it hurt like crazy."

"Well, I'll do it just for fun. Just let me know when you want me to do it."

She cuddled up against his chest and leaned into his embrace. "There's a whole lot of things I want you to do with me."

The sound of her voice, the gentle heat of her gaze and the way her hand moved over his chest, all seemed like they were done to drive him insane with arousal. But he could feel the honest hunger in her touch, too.

"Aubree, honey?"

She didn't lift her gaze from his chest. She worked her fingers down over his t-shirt and under the hem of it. "Mmm hmm?"

"You know I'm not expecting anything, right?"

Smiling at him, she looked up into his eyes. "I know you don't, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to do them."

He heard her words, and his brain was working to understand them, but he was also dealing with the lack of blood and oxygen getting up into his brain.

"Do you," she put her palm against his belly and skimmed her skin over his, "want to do them?"

He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek, trying to keep his need under control.

"I would love to do them," he was struggling to keep the blood rushing through his ears at a dull roar, "but I don't want you to think that's the only reason why I'm here."

"I know that." She leaned in against his chest, her head on his shoulder. "It's part of the reason why I feel like I'm falling for you."

Ruben didn't know what to say to that.

He looked down at Aubree and saw the way that her eyes were drifting closed.

"You're falling for me?"

Aubree's hand moved up and settled on his chest, her fingertips stroking his skin. "Mmmhmm."

She shifted again and her hip rolled against his erection.

Torture.

Of the best kind.

He waited until she fell asleep and then he shifted them both, so they were both comfortable. It took him over an hour to fall asleep after her.

He spent his time combing his fingers through her hair and trailing his fingers up and down her back.

It was odd. Feeling her raised scars through the soft fabric of her shirt was almost like feeling his own scars along his spine.

They'd both suffered in different ways, but they'd suffered and come back from that pain.

Ruben looked over at the piles of paper and the folders where she kept her case information. He knew that she was still forging her way back from her pain and her fears, but she'd made great strides. And he knew that she wasn't going to stop until she was healed again.

He just wondered if remaining a law enforcement officer was going to be in the cards. She had the dedication to do it, but he had a feeling that the job wasn't going to make it easy for her.

But he knew that no matter what the job had in store for her, he wanted to be there beside her and help however he could.

She might be walking better on her feet, but he'd be there for her to lean on when she needed it.

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