Page 97 of Down & Dirty

Sky closed her eyes, fighting for strength. “Sure. I’ll braid it for you, okay?”

I wasn’t exactly sure how she’d do that, but it sounded lovely. Anything with her hands on me sounded divine.

Sitting on the bed while she got the water running, I almost laughed at how quickly our roles had reversed. She came back into the room, rolling up her sleeves, one hundred percent focused.

“Shirt off,” she said, flicking her fingers at me.

I raised my arms over my head, grateful it didn’t hurt more to do so. “This is not the way I imagined this going the first time,” I confessed with a playful grin. Skylar stripping me naked for any reason was not unwelcome, but I would have liked to be doing the same to her, if you know what I mean. But my disappointment was alleviated by the way she rolled her lips inward and her eyes dropping to the floor. “You either, huh?”

Sky stared at me, hesitation churning alongside the same desire I felt every time she was near me. She didn’t answer, but after she helped me tug my shirt over my head, she stepped in between my legs and her fingers landed on my bare shoulders. She trailed them up my neck, cupping my face and lifting it to hers.

“No. But like you said last night, we’ve got time.”

I wrapped my hands around the back of her thighs, yanking her toward me. She giggled, biting her lip.

“We’ve got time now.”

“You’re broken.” Her bottom lip stuck out in a pout that only made me want to kiss her more.

Those words coming out of Skylar’s mouth felt a hell of a lot different than they did when the doctor said them back in Maryland. He’d been wrong then, just like she was wrong now.

“Not the parts we need to work.”

She took a handful of my hair and gave it a tug. “Get in the bath, handsome.”

It wasn’t fair, her using my nickname now, making it impossible to argue with her. The sound of it, spoken even stronger than before, rang through me like some sort of elixir. As if this woman didn’t already have enough power over me.

She left me to turn off the tap, and throw in some Epsom salts, and I managed to get my pants off. In nothing more than my boxers, I leaned into the doorframe, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched her.

“You don’t have to do all this.”

She froze, holding my gaze as she came toward me. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“You have enough people to worry about, Sky. You don’t need to take care of me.” My pulse ticked up; as much as I wanted to do that for Skylar, the reverse wasn’t something I had much experience in. It felt like something it would be dangerous to get used to.

“I take care of the people that matter to me, Cory,” she said, frowning. “And that includes you now.”

I was fighting to steady myself, but everything about her threw me off balance. She stopped just in front of me, her hands landing on my chest, and I wondered if she could feel my heart pounding under her touch.

“Now, get in while I go make some tea.”

As soon as I lowered beneath the surface of the water, I knew Sky had been right. My whole body started to relax, tension and soreness easing out of me like the steam rising into the air.

But the real painkiller wasn’t found in a bottle or a bath. She was about 5’8”, with icy blue eyes that stole my breath as much as they made my heart race. Just thinking about Sky, helping me up, cradling my head in her lap, it made my chest too tight. It scared me how much her presence was affecting me, but I’d never let fear stop me before. And I wasn’t going to start with her.

“You decent?”

I looked down at my cock, distorted by the water, but still half-hard. “Yep.”

“I brought you tea,” she said, slipping into the room, her eyes well averted. “And a beer, because I knew the tea was a long shot.”

As she leaned to put the drinks on the floor beside the tub, I darted my arm out, catching her by the thigh.

“Stay.”

She swallowed, her eyes fixed on mine, as she took a shaky breath. “You need to soak.”

“So, soak with me.”

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