Page 81 of Heston
Heston nodded, his blood running hot with rage thinking how close he’d come to losing her. But getting worked up now was not how to help London relax. He controlled his breathing and let her talk.
“And I need to go to the drug store.” Her fingers raked over her short hair. “I want to be me again.”
“Turquoise?” He hoped.
She nodded a timid little nod. “Yeah, if you like it.”
“Uh-uh, it’s not what I like. Only thing that matters is what you like. It’s your hair. But honestly…” He gave her his most lopsided grin. “I loved it. It was so—you.”
That seemed to be what she needed to hear. “Yeah. Turquoise, then. I like turquoise.”
She’d gone from supremely overconfident to downright timid. This was going to take time, but Heston had two weeks off, and if London needed more time, all he had to do was ask.
“After or before our bath?”
Her arms circled his neck, and for the first time since she’d come home, she ran her fingers up his neck and into his hair.
Heston closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation of her touching him again. He’d been so worried she was too traumatized to ever want to be with a man again, but now, he could breathe again.
“You like when I do that,” she purred.
“I do. It’s…” He drew in a deep breath, searching for the right word.
“Intimate?” she whispered just before she kissed the corner of his mouth.
“Umm…” It was difficult to concentrate.
“Hot?” she breathed into his ear.
Shivers raced up his spine.
“Affectionate?”
“‘Killing me softly’,” he said, quoting the old Roberta Flack song London loved.
His eyes were still closed when she tipped onto one foot, lifted her other leg over his thighs, and straddled him. “I changed my mind.”
“Women’s prerogative,” he whispered, his voice gone gruff and so damned hopeful.
“Bed first. Bath later.”
Opening his eyes, Heston met the fiery jewel-toned, sparkling eyes of the woman he adored. London was finding her way back to him. She was taking the first steps. She’d opened up with Kelsey, and now, she was talking with him.
“Abso-fuckin’-lutely,” he breathed into her face.
London smiled, and that was all Heston wanted, his woman to be happy.
Lifting to his feet, he cradled her ass in his hands and took her straight to bed.
Theirbed.
Chapter Thirty-Six
London was on her back. She stretched both arms over her head and grabbed the slats in Heston’s headboard because he told her to. She enjoyed him being bossy in bed. There was a definite submissive streak she hadn’t admitted to before, although he’d probably guessed, given how often he’d spanked her. Playfully, she reminded herself. Not hard. Never just for the sake of pain. Mostly for stimulation. Heston was always careful with her, always tender, even when they got rowdy. Still…
Knowing that didn’t squelch the panic simmering at the back of her mind.
His chest was on her belly, and his long, hairy legs were nestled between her bent knees. He’d sucked one nipple into his mouth, the other was caught between his thumb and finger, getting pinched and rolled. This man was taking his time. His talented fingers had already lit the invisible line of det cord between her nipples and core. If he kept doing what he was doing with his oh, so warm mouth on her breast, she might—
