Page 11 of No Apologies
At his first glimpse of her face, his stomach twisted with a fear like he had never known. Her skin was pale and she had dark circles under her eyes. His hands shook as he stroked her hair back from her face and he felt how hot she was to the touch. She groaned in her sleep and he let out a relieved sigh, thankful that she was breathing because for just a second there, he hadn’t been sure.
“Sky, hey, it’s Colt. Wake up.”
“Mmm.” She moaned and cuddled her face into his touch, “No. Go away.”
He smiled at that, “Yeah, come on Skylar, open those beautiful blue eyes for me. I need you to wake up.”
Her brow furrowed and her lashes fluttered before her lids rose drowsily. God, she was so damn pretty it made his chest hurt. Even when she was sick. Even when she was looking at him like she wasn’t entirely sure who he was. He couldn’t stop himself from stroking her cheek any more than he could stop his heart from thumping too hard in response to the way she moved into his touch instead of away from it.
“Colt?”
“Hey angel.”
She stared at him for a long minute where he was scared to even breathe. Her blue eyes were foggy and far away. They weren’t bright and sharp like they usually were but he didn’t know if that was because she was tired, or sick or because she was never going to look at him the way he wanted her to look at him again.
The last time they’d talked, she’d yelled at him for being an asshole. He’d let her. He hadn’t even argued. Because he was, because he had to be, because if he wasn’t she might realize just how much power she had over him.
He braced himself for her to yell at him again. He thought she might send him away. Instead, she only stared at him with that confused look on her face and since she hadn’t immediately slapped his hand away he stroked her cheek soothingly.
“S’not real.” She finally muttered softly and her lids drooped, “Friggin’ great.”
He tilted his head in confusion, “What’s not real?”
“You. Being here.” She harrumphed and tried to tug the covers back up over her, “I’m hallucinating now. The fever is making me hallucinate.”
“You’re not dreaming, Sky.”
“Course not. I’m hallucinating. If this was a dream, you’d be shirtless.” She flopped a hand over her face and groaned again, “You’re usually shirtless in my dreams.”
He tried and failed not to chuckle at that candid remark, “You dream about me shirtless huh?”
“Mmhmm.”
Now was not the time, he reminded his cock when it jerked to attention. Skylar dreamed of him. Dreamed of him half naked from the sound of it. He wanted her to tell him every detail of those dreams, wanted to see if they matched up with his own. In his, she was usually completely naked.
“I’m gonna want to hear more about that but first I think we should head to the emergency room to get you checked out.”
That startled her into full consciousness, her eyes flew open and fear stared back at him as she shook her head, “No! No! No, I’m not going to the hospital.”
“Sky…”
“No!” She grabbed his arm so hard her nails dug into his skin, “No, please Colt. I’m begging you. No hospital. I’ll be okay. Promise me, no hospital.”
He frowned because he knew he should insist. She looked really sick. She’d thought she was hallucinating him. She was clearly running a fever and from the state of the bathroom he’d say she’d been in here all day. She needed to see a doctor but despite his urge to take care of her, he also hated putting that look of fear in her eyes. Skylar wasn’t scared of anything, not even him.
“Are you sure you don’t need a doctor?” He hesitated, “Your heart…”
Her grip on him tightened, “My heart is fine. Feel.”
Before he realized what she intended, she’d jerked his hand forward and placed it right across her chest. He sucked in a startled gulp of air as every nerve ending in his body hissed with recognition. No matter what he told his cock, it knew who the woman was lying beneath him, the same woman that he wasted most of his fantasies dreaming of touching, the same woman he tried like hell not to reach for whenever she was near.
Every single time he touched her soft skin it was torture. Something happened when he touched her, some electric current passed between them that made his entire body feel magnetized, the urge to get closer to her so strong he had to physically fight it. He yearned to have her spread out beneath him, open and needy so he could touch every inch of her but he knew that would never happen and even thinking about it right now was why.
He should have been focused on taking care of her. Instead he was fighting the urge to stroke his hand over her soft curves. If he moved his palm just a little he could cup her breast, find out if her nipple had pebbled for his touch. He was not a good man so he shoved his desire back down under the only thing more powerful, his overwhelming need to protect this woman.
“See.” Skylar’s voice was breathy when she spoke again and he fought a groan, “It’s still beating just like it should.”
Actually, it was kind of fast. He glanced back at her face and found her watching him from half-closed lids. Their eyes met and that current sizzled with heat and desire. She wet her lips with a swipe of her tongue and he struggled to force his gaze away. He couldn’t look at her when she was like this, when she didn’t bother to hide her reaction to him, when it was blatantly obvious that she was just as attracted to him as he was her.
