Page 101 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

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The achein my shoulder returned full force as I woke up and found myself laying in an uncomfortable position. With a groan, I rolled over and stared at the wall, wondering what time it was. The clearing of a throat had me sitting up in bed. The sheet was no longer covering me, and as I sat there staring at Cash staring at me, I realized my towel was no longer on me either.

Across the room, Cash lounged with his legs spread wide as he rested one elbow on the arm of the chair and his head resting against his fingertips. His eyes darkened as they roamed over my naked body. I could feel my nipples pebbling under the weight of his stare, but still I couldn’t move. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been excited to be around a man, wondering what it would be like to touch him and have his hands on me.

He shifted in the chair, his hand moving to his crotch to adjust his growing hard-on. Embarrassment washed over me and I tugged at my towel, trying desperately to pull it up and cover myself, but the way I was laying on it left little fabric to actually cover up with. I tugged harder, only to twerk my shoulder. I gasped in pain, using my right hand to shift my arm into a better position.

“You should be wearing the sling,” Cash grumbled, his voice low and gravelly.

He stood and walked over to where I had dropped the sling on the floor. After grabbing it, he stood and stalked toward me, every step more predatory than the last. I couldn’t stop staring at his cock, and with every step he took, the more I realized he was lined up directly with my face. A deep blush rose in my cheeks as I imagined him unzipping his pants and pulling his cock out for me to taste.

Instead, he sat on the bed behind me, pulling my arm gently into position as he wrapped the sling around my arm. I could feel his hot breath on my neck as he leaned in closer, looking over my shoulder at the strap. His fingers brushed against my already hard nipple as he adjusted my arm.

I closed my eyes as his fingers trailed up my bicep, then gently brushed my hair aside as he finished getting the strap in place. His lips skimmed my shoulder, heating my body. For a moment, I allowed myself to imagine turning into his arms and giving myself to him. My head dropped back against his shoulder as his lips continued to explore my heated skin.

They suddenly stilled and his whole body went rigid. My eyes flew open as he stood and pressed a swift kiss to my forehead, then patted me like a dog.

“All better,” he said, then walked away, as if he hadn’t just kissed me…well, my shoulder. But it still counted, and it was rude to walk away from something like that. And since when did men pat women on the head?

But then it hit me. I had just told him about my step-father last night. He probably thought he was taking advantage, or maybe he just didn’t want me knowing what happened. Anger surged inside me that he didn’t even bother to talk to me. I stood in all my naked glory and grabbed the towel, walking into the bathroom without another word. I slammed the door behind me, making it clear just how pissed I was. When I came out, he would know he fucked up, and he would be sorry.

35

CASH

Yeah,she was pissed. She stood, not even bothering to try and hide her nudity as she glared at me and stormed into the other room, slamming the bathroom door behind her. I ran my hand over my face, cursing myself for being such a goddamn idiot. What was I thinking? I fucking kissed her, and I knew better than to involve myself with a client. They got a sort of hero worship thing after you rescued them, which was what I had just done.

That’s all this was. I kissed her because we both nearly died multiple times. Well, I was pretty good. I never really thought we wouldn’t make it out of that, but she was different, fragile. She’d been through so much already, and here I was acting like a fucking fool, kissing her shoulder, ready to throw her down on the bed and shove my cock in her. All because…because of what?

Because she was fucking gorgeous. Because every time I saw that strawberry blonde hair fall over her shoulders, it felt like she was hiding secrets from me.Dirty secrets. Hell, I doubted her hair was even that color. I knew her name wasn’t Beth. For some reason, that hadn’t been the first thing I wanted to ask her. There were so many mysteries around this woman, and I found myself wanting to unlock them all.

But touching her was just fucking stupid. And then to make matters worse, I patted her on the head like a fucking dog. I cursed myself as I paced around the room. I had to figure a way out of this, one in which I could pretend that none of this ever happened.

I stopped pacing and grinned to myself. Why couldn’t I just pretend none of that happened? I was putting on her sling and…and my lips found her shoulder and then trailed along the curve of her beautiful neck? Fuck, I was screwed.

The door to the bathroom swung open and she stepped out, still fucking naked. I was at a loss for words. She was fucking gorgeous. The curves of her body, the weight of her breasts…and her pussy on full display. I did the only sensible thing a man in my position could do. I pretended nothing had happened.

“You ready to go?” She stood in front of me, her hand on her hip as she waited on me. For what, I wasn’t sure. “Do you need me to get you some more clothes?”

“Clothes? You think that’s what I need?”

I stared at her in pretend confusion. “Well…you are naked.”

“You kissed me,” she accused.

My mouth opened, and then closed. “Right, but that was an accident,” I came up with. “I was helping you with your sling, but I was never—”

“Is this because of what I told you?”

Okay, now I really was confused. “What are you talking about?”

“I told you that my step-father nearly assaulted me, and then you got all weird.”

“AfterI kissed you,” I pointed out.

“Exactly!” she snapped, catching me in my own lie. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“Can you put on some clothes first?” I asked, already feeling myself getting worked up.

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