Page 41 of Protect

I can’t pull my hand away or it will be obvious he’s affecting me, so instead I do what I do best.

I ramble. My hurried voice cuts the thick silence between us in an almost whisper. “Our bodies, well, they’re self-soothing.” I move higher up his thigh. “Self-healing. They always know what they need, and they tell us in various ways.” I watch Rowan’s throat work to swallow, as I move inside his thigh. “All we have to do is listen to what they need and provide whatever that is without, um, overthinking it.”

His deep blue eyes hone in on mine. Without breaking eye contact, he stops my hand by placing his over it. I look down and realize I’m mere inches from his very large, very hard cock under the gown that is doing nothing to conceal it. He holds me here, his thumb grazes mine, and a tingling feeling runs the length of my forearm.

I was not trying to make that sound sexual in any way but there’s no denying that in this moment, I did. The room is a quiet hum and there’s an almost electric connection between us. Inches away from him when he’s practically naked feels way too close.

“I couldn’t agree more,” he says with that lopsided smirk that makes my stomach somersault.

He looks down to his obvious erection, not even trying to hide it. “I think I’ve, uh, got it from here.”Oh God.

I move to let the blood circulate through my veins and the breath fill my lungs again the moment I break our gaze and hand him a clean towel.

“Okay, well, you can pat dry…I’ll be back in a little while to work on those dressings?—”

“Vi, you said it’s not too busy here tonight?” Rowan asks.

“That’s right, but you’re not supposed to say that out loud. You’ll jinx me.” I answer honestly, moving to the bio bin and pulling off my gown, feeling the need to wrap this up and get the hell out of this room.

“I could, uh, really use a distraction from the fact that I’m lying here. I feel like I might go fucking postal,” he adds, his eyes pleading. “Two handed Euchre?” he challenges, one eyebrow raised.

I start to answer, to say no, but he stops me before I can speak.

“Please? All I can think about is why I got out and…he didn’t,” he adds.

My chest fills with grief, and I let out a breath. If a sponge bath didn’t break me, a game of cards isn’t enough to make me want him again, right?

I nod in agreement, because I’ve also been asking myself the same damn question since the moment he was wheeled in here.

“We don’t exactly keep playing cards around here,” is the only answer she offers me. It’s so quiet it’s almost a whisper.

I take a deep breath and do my best to will my raging hard on to go away after the sponge bath to end all sponge baths.

I nod to the window ledge without thinking, just grateful she didn’t say no. “My crew brought me some,” I say without thought, before I remember that there’s a goddamn titty magazine in that basket.

Before I can protest, Violette starts to move toward it.

“Fuck, actually can you just pass it to me? These guys are a bunch of fucking d-bags,” I say, my voice almost frantic. So frantic it piques her curiosity enough that she raises an eyebrow when she gets to it and sees the bottle of Liquid Silkand a rolled up magazine secured with an elastic.

She smirks as she grabs the latest edition ofWicked Magazineout of the basket and pulls the elastic off. I’m notsure whether I’m mortified or turned on as she starts flipping through it with interest…slowly, like she’s studying the fucking thing. She gets to the centerfold and completely opens it up. I haven’t even looked at it, but from here I can see the woman who’s earned the coveted spot spread eagle, two fingers on her clit.Fucking Christ, that’s it. I blew it. Violette is gonna think I’m just a fucking pervert.

She doesn’t look at me like I’m a pervert though, or tell me what a jackass I am. Instead, she starts laughing. Really laughing.

“Wow, I admire the old school vibes here but, um…you realize your door is always open here, right?” she asks in a giggle. “At least try to keep your porn in your phone like a normal person, King.”

I realize she’s busting my balls here, but I still might fucking kill the guys anyway.

“Fucking pricks…” I mutter.

“Uh-huh,” she jokes. “Whatever gets you through the day.” Violette shakes her head and rolls the magazine back up, then starts digging though the basket in search of either more ammo or snacks, I can’t tell which.

“Have you had any practice at Euchre since the days when I destroyed you?” she asks with a cocky little tone, reminiscent of another time that almost has me bricking up again on the spot. “Every single time we played?” she adds.

I like playful Vi. Fuck, I’ve really missed her.

“Everytime is a bit exaggerated. And to answer your question, no. When you’re naturally good at something, you don’t really need to practice,” I answer.

She scoffs at me. She did beat me and Jacob almost every single time.

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