“Yes.” The terror was gone. She didn’t even care that this woman he was talking about was probably a shrink. She could see him in the dull morning light, she could feel the strength of him, the deep smooth muscles, the texture of his flesh. She didn’t feel anything remotely close to terror now. She felt something she didn’t think she’d ever felt in her life. The feel of him beneath her palm, beneath her fingers, it made her so alive her body was thrumming with the power of it.
“Dillon?”
“Hmmm?” He didn’t know if he had any more words available to him. His brain was all in his groin, need for her was raging through him, making him shake, and it took everything in him to keep control.
“I feel really warm, but warmer in some places than in others. My shoulders feel really cool, but not other parts of me, like my chest.”
She was seducing him? No, that couldn’t be right. He prayed that it was, then cursed himself. He had to get out of there. He should be back in his own bedroom, with two doors closed between them. He cleared his throat. “Talking would help, but if you can’t talk, then I’ll go back to my own room. That would be the smart thing to do, going back to my room this very instant would be the very smartest thing to do.”
“I know.” She sighed deeply, leaned her face into his shoulder, and lightly bit him. She then licked where she’d bitten. “You’re probably right. But I have to tell you those warmer places have gotten even warmer. Hot nearly.”
“Sherlock, stop now. This isn’t good. I knew it wasn’t good when I got in bed with you. Now I know it’s maybe one of the stupidest things I’ve done in a good long while.” He thought if he moved now, he was in for seven years of bad luck, because he’d crack into a billion pieces, just like a mirror.
She pulled her hand away from beneath his. He sucked in his breath in disappointment. “I’m sorry. Ollie told me you didn’t ever get involved with your people.”
Why had Ollie told her that? He had dated Hannah before she’d joined the Unit, but then he’d called a halt when she’d come on board. Well, yeah, at least at one time Ollie had been right. Actually, until an hour ago, he would have bet the farm on it. Maybe even just ten minutes ago he would have bet a second farm on it. “No, I don’t get involved with any of my people. At least I haven’t. It seems that’s shot all to hell now, though. And don’t say you’re sorry again. If you do, I’ll do something unsuave.”
“What?”
“Sherlock, I’m outta here. I’m not about to take advantage of a nightmare. You’re vulnerable and afraid and I happen to be convenient. But you don’t need me now. You’re okay, right?”
She didn’t say a word. He thought he’d been punched in the gut when he felt her tears against his chest.
“Oh damn,” he said, hauled her on top of him, and kissed her. All light, feathery kisses, and between the kisses he was
saying, “Don’t cry. I’m trying to be noble. It’s a battle and I’m losing. You’ve got to help me with this. I want you a whole lot, but this isn’t the way, surely. Actually, I want you whole again, I just said it wrong. Does that make any sense to you?”
Her palm smoothed over his thigh, upward. She said against his ear, “That must be what it is then.”
He didn’t know what she was talking about. All he was thinking about was kissing her.
“I’ve got to stop,” he said between another round of kisses, “or if I don’t, then I’m going to be on top of you and that nightgown is going to end up on the floor.”
She lurched away from him, taking him completely by surprise. “Let me be plain about this,” she said, smiling down at him. He wanted to weep until he realized what she was doing. “Let me be straightforward. I don’t want you to have any doubts where I stand on this.”