He’d been a lonely, lost and rebellious kid with too much money and freedom and not enough love. He’d made some stupid decisions but Ella had nailed it—it wasn’t his fault that Brianna had followed him to that pub. That had been her decision; he’d never asked her to.

His parents, and her parents, shouldn’t have laid all the blame at his door. But when the unimaginable happened people needed a place to put their anger. He’d been disliked, misunderstood and difficult, and it was easier to blame him than to apportion any blame to the angelic-looking girl being kept alive by a feeding tube.

He got it; he did.

You’re also in a coma, but yours is an emotional one...

Ella was correct—he was. And he was the only person who could pull himself out of it, to start to live again properly and fully. And he wanted to do that with Ella.

He tightened his grip on his bottle, wondering if he was just confusing lust and gratitude with a need for permanence, to create the family he’d always wanted. Was he imagining himself in love with her—or something close—because she’d cracked open some emotional doors and made him look at things differently?

In the space of a few short days, she’d changed his life but, bombarded with emotion, he didn’t know what was real or false any more, what was true and lasting or ephemeral.

Before he said something he couldn’t take back, before he did anything that he couldn’t unravel, he needed to make sure of his feelings.

Very sure.

Ella went upstairs and walked into Micah’s shower, turning the powerful jets to cool. She stripped off her clothes and stepped under the spray. When the first blast of water hit her skin, she started to cry.

So much made sense now, things she hadn’t understood were falling into place. Micah wasn’t meant to be alone, he had too much to give, but he’d taken himself away and made himself emotionally unavailable because he felt as though he didn’t deserve to be loved, to be in love.

He was a guy who took responsibility, too much of it. Yes, he’d been a stupid kid, but his girlfriend had chosen to run to Micah’s rescue—out of love, friendship, a need to protect and save...who knew? The result of that decision had been catastrophic but Micah wasn’t to blame...and how dared his and her parents do that to an already messed up kid?

Despite the life blows he’d been dealt as a young adult, he’d managed to become an incredible man. So many kids would’ve lost themselves in alcohol or drugs, but Micah had just absorbed the blows, got an education, become a successful businessman and looked after his family. He was amazing, she thought, tears mingling with the shower spray. How was she going to stop herself from falling in love with him now?

How was she going to leave?

Ella heard the shower door opening but didn’t turn around, not wanting Micah to see her red eyes. She felt his arms encircle her waist and he pulled her back and touched his lips to her hair. His big body enveloped her and, for the first time since she’d been sixteen, she felt completely safe. He’d stand between her and the world; he was that type of guy.

A guy she needed, enjoyed, possibly loved.Probablyloved.

Micah’s big hands came up to cup her breasts and his thumbs brushed over her nipples. Ella arched her back, pushing into his touch. She loved the way he could pull her out of the mental and into the physical, how he managed to stop time in its tracks.

Micah pulled her hair to the side and ran his tongue up her neck, then back down again and across her shoulder, gently nipping it. His erection pushed against her bottom and lower back, hard and insistent, but Micah didn’t turn her around, instead choosing to slide his hand over her ribs and down her stomach, flirting with the small triangle down below. Placing her hand on top of his, she guided his fingers between her folds, releasing a gasp when he hit her sweet spot.

He knew exactly how to touch her, when to slow down, when to speed up. When to retreat, when to push her harder. Tears forgotten, Ella arched into his hand, needing the amazing orgasm only he could give her.

She reached back and hooked her arm around his neck, turning her head to find his warm lips, his seeking tongue. They kissed like that for minutes, years, millennia, wanting to spin out this moment. But, when Ella pushed her hips back and stood on her tiptoes so that Micah could slide his finger inside her, he spun her round and captured her mouth in a kiss designed to shatter stars. Without releasing her mouth, he boosted her up his body, resting her back against the wall.

‘Wrap your legs around me and hold on,’ Micah told her, his voice guttural with need.

Ella did as he commanded and he positioned himself to enter her but pulled back at the last second, cursing. ‘Condom,’ he muttered, pulling a foil packet off the shelf to his right.

With her feet back on the floor, she watched him open the packet, jumpy with impatience.

“Hurry up, Micah, I’m dying here...”

She’d barely finished her sentence when Micah pushed inside her, filling her completely. The shower wall was cool against her back, and water droplets from the shower peppered her head, but all she cared about was that Micah was kissing her, rocking her to new heights.

Ella felt herself skimming along the face of a huge wave, wondering when she’d crash. Whenever she thought she would, Micah would slow down, pull back, and the wave would die just a little. But he’d build her up again to the point she was screaming, begging for him to let her tumble.

He surged once, then again, and he hit a spot deep inside her. Ella screamed in pleasure and she was hit from all sides by sensation...

She heard Micah’s shout and felt as he tightened his grip on her hips, his release pulsing deep inside her. It was enough to make her come again. Smaller this time, but no less intense.

As their heart rates slowed down, Micah stepped back and held her steady as her feet hit the floor. He pulled her into his arms and held her close, his face buried in her neck. After a while, Micah turned the shower off, tossed his condom and led her, naked and soaking, to his bed.

CHAPTER TEN