His head tipped slightly back, Matt’s reluctant smile slid into a wince when she dabbed the cloth around the gash on his jaw. She knew it stung, hated that she hurt him, but there was no other choice. The wounds had to be cleaned.
“If I did anything right it was because of you, Rachel. You saw the best in me. Whenever I started to lose my temper I’d picture your face, imagine you were there watching me, and what would you think if I’d hauled off and flattened Wallace.”
“You give me too much credit.” She gave him a wry smile before rinsing the cloth. “I might’ve cheered you on.”
He put a hand on her hip, held still while she went back to work. “You would’ve told me it wasn’t worth it and to walk away.”
She lifted her shoulder in a small shrug. “Today, yes. Back when I was sixteen, I don’t know.” Sighing, she avoided his gaze. “Though tonight I managed to surprise myself.” She cleared her throat and focused on his chin. “Worse, I humiliated myself.”
He moved his head back. “How?”
Balling the cloth and setting it on the sink, she was in no hurry to meet his eyes. “I froze. I’m usually good in an emergency... I am. But when Eddie shoved me, I was so startled I froze. Not Nikki, she was great. She—”
“Don’t compare yourself to her. Nik’s lived in rough neighborhoods most of her life. She’s a scrapper and had to be to survive. You have no reason to be embarrassed.”
“But you needed me...they had you down on the ground and if I hadn’t hesitated maybe—”
“Look at me.” He waited, but she stubbornly stared down at the NEOSPORIN cap she was unscrewing. He nudged up her chin until his troubled eyes captured hers. “These scars on my body...most of them are hazards of the job. But not all of them. I was angry and full of hatred toward Wallace, myself, and I even resented my mom sometimes because she wouldn’t leave him. I got into bar fights, not giving a damn about anything other than an excuse to hit someone.” A muscle worked in his jaw. “I thought I’d worked out my anger issues. Tonight, when I saw him touch Nikki, I was furious. But I managed to keep my cool. When he shoved you, I was that guy again. I wanted to kill him with my bare hands. If I hadn’t been down, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”
Rachel smiled and squeezed some ointment on her fingertips. “You would’ve stopped yourself.”
“I don’t know that. Neither do you.”
She did, but she wouldn’t argue. Hell, she’d wanted to string the guy up, too. “After I finish applying this salve I’m going to get some ice. It’ll help keep the swelling down.”
He nodded, said nothing, just watched her.
Apparently Noah didn’t believe in frozen vegetables. He had no peas or anything else to use as a compress, so she found a plastic bag and filled it with ice. On her way back to Matt, she glanced into the guest room again, noted the perfectly made bed, and it finally occurred to her why Noah had given her brothers keys to his place. She reentered the bathroom, chuckling at herself for being dense.
Matt smiled. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing, really. Just—” She folded the bag of ice in a dry towel and pressed it gently to the swelling near his eye. “Should we wrap your ribs?”
He cupped his palm over the ice pack. “Nope. Not for bruising. Tell me what the joke was.”
She studied his chest, glad that Noah had a big ice dispenser because they were going to need a second bag. “The keys Noah gave Jesse and Cole. I finally got it.” She couldn’t hold herself back from brushing her fingertips over the already-darkening skin.
“This part I like,” he said, his warm moist breath bathing her ear and the side of her neck. “What about the key thing?”
“Is this a test?” She gave him an eye roll and kept petting him, careful not to press hard.
“I’m not sure I got it.” His smile told her that was crap, but then he grunted and jerked.
“I’m sorry. I’ll stop.”
“No, don’t. It was just that one spot.”
“You sure?”
“I’ll let you know when I’m uncomfortable.” He skimmed her waist and hip with his free hand.
She let her palm rest over his heart for just a moment, then smiled as she leaned back. “Is there anyplace else that hurts?” She brushed aside the hair falling across his forehead, and checked for more scrapes or bruises.
“None. Quit stalling.”
“Noah gave them the key so they could bring women here. Happy?” She made a face. “Living at the Sundance is like being in the middle of a state fair.” She crouched to drop the NEOSPORIN in the first aid kit and closed it. “Huh. Jesse didn’t say anything about Trace having his own key.” She laughed. “I wouldn’t have given him one either.” She rose, bringing the box with her. “I shouldn’t say that. I like teasing him but it’s not his fault women are stupid around him. And he doesn’t take advantage of—”
Matt took the kit from her and tried to balance it on the edge of the small sink since there was no counter to speak of. The plastic box tilted and partially landed inside the sink. He ignored it and took her hands in his.
“Where’s your ice pack?” she asked, her heart starting to pound when she looked into his darkened eyes. He was hurt. Surely that was pain, not lust. Not so soon after the fight.
“You think that’s why Jesse gave you his key? Because he knew we needed privacy?”
“Jesse knew you were hurt and, therefore, harmless.”
Matt almost smiled at that. “I doubt it,” he said, letting go of her hands.
But before she could draw back, he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her more snugly between his spread legs. “This is crazy,” she murmured. “You’ll do more damage to—” She cut herself off when he pressed his uninjured cheek to her breasts.
“We’ll have to be careful,” he said, sliding a hand over the swell of her backside.
“How can you even think about sex right now?”
“Honey, I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I saw you the first night.” He turned his head and, through her worn college sweatshirt, sought her nipple. “You have to take this off.”
“Matt, you can’t do this.” She picked up the ice pack he’d left on the shelf behind him.
He pushed his hand under the sweatshirt and smiled up at her. “I plan on making you do all the work.”
Rachel’s laugh came out an inelegant snort. She pretended to cough. “Will you please keep this compress on for a while?”
“Sure, for as long as it takes you to turn down the guest- room bed.”
She took in the scrapes on his cheek and chin, the swelling and bruising around his eye. “I don’t believe this.”
“We’ll keep the lights off,” he said grimly.
“That’s not what I meant. God, Matt.” She leaned down to gently brush a kiss to his mouth. Except for the small cut at the corner, his lips weren’t too bad. “Tonight you rest. Tomorrow we’ll renegotiate.”
Sighing, he withdrew his hand from under her sweatshirt and took the ice pack. “You know where the guest room is?”
“We passed it in the hall.” She took his arm to help him up, but he said, “Thanks, I’m good.”
She moved back and let him stand on his own. He didn’t seem to struggle, though he didn’t hurry either. Dammit, she hoped she wasn’t making a mistake by not calling Dr. Heaton. Yet Matt was a grown man, and he should know if he needed medical care.
“You all right?” she asked, unable to help herself.
“To be honest, better than I initially thought. Lead the way.”
“No, you first.”
He smiled. “So you can catch me if I fall?”
“Exactly right.”
“I’m not going to fall, Rachel,” he said, but let her follow.
As soon as they entered the room she got busy pulling down the quilt and sheets. She fluffed the pillows, then hovered as he lowered himself to the edge of the bed.
“I’ll get you some water then cl
ean up the bathroom—” She gasped when he caught her wrist.
“That can wait.” He pulled her down to the bed beside him.
She didn’t resist for fear of injuring him. “Matt, we just agreed that tomorrow—”
“I didn’t agree to a damn thing,” he said and kissed her.
14
“THIS IS SO FOOLISH,” Rachel murmured against his mouth, ashamed of herself because she should be firmer, and not let him pull up her sweatshirt and unclasp her bra. “Matt.”
He took advantage of her open mouth and slipped his tongue inside, then pushed aside her loosened bra cups and palmed her breasts.
She let him kiss her, telling herself that to do otherwise could inflict harm, but she knew better. She didn’t want him to stop.
When Matt finally tore his mouth away from hers, she felt relieved and bereft at the same time. “Help a cowboy out and take off your clothes,” he said, his lips lifting in a slow sexy smile designed to get his way. The coaxing hand he slid up her thigh was either backup or a distraction.
She shifted, angling her legs away from him, because one more inch and she’d be unable to think clearly. Not that she was doing a bang-up job of it now. “I suppose you want help with your jeans and boots, too.”
His smile broadened. “I’d be mighty grateful.”
“Oh, brother, don’t lay it on too thick.” She got to her feet, hoping he didn’t notice the shuddering breath that trembled through her body.
“No,” he said, when she went for his boots. “You strip first.”
“Strip?” She laughed. “What, you want a little dance action, too?”
He shook his head, his eyes locked on her, humor absent from his face. “I want to see you naked again. This afternoon was—I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
“Me, too,” she admitted, need for him swelling in her chest. “I’ll never forget today. Never.”
His brows drew together in a troubled frown. “No regrets?”
“God, no.”
He relaxed. “I wish we were in Kalispell right now. I’d keep you in bed for a week.”
“That would be okay with me.”
“Come on, take your clothes off. I’m not going first. Don’t want you leaving me in my boxers and running out on me.”
“I’m not running out on you, Matt,” she said, and when he flinched, she realized she’d hit a nerve. She hadn’t meant anything, but apologizing seemed pointless.
She unlaced and toed off her running shoes, unzipped and unsnapped her jeans, then shimmied out of them. Her pink bikini panties stayed right where they were while she pulled the sweatshirt over her head and tossed it. The unfastened bra hung uselessly, and moving back her shoulders, she let it fall down her back to the floor.
Matt watched her with an intensity that made her mouth dry. The tip of his tongue slipped out and touched his lower lip. Scrapes, bruises, nothing could detract from the sexy expression of want on his face.
With shaky hands, she crouched before him and managed to pull off his boots and socks. He threaded a hand through her hair, refusing to let go when she pushed to her feet. But when she reached around him to stack the pillows against the headboard, he switched to her breast, plucking at her nipple and then brushing featherlight strokes with his thumb.
She arched into his touch, and giving up any illusion of self-control, she leaned in, her lips parted for him. His tongue slid inside and moved deep into her mouth. She was already damp between her thighs, her breath shallow. Another second and she’d refuse him nothing.
Dragging her mouth away, she straightened and inched back out of his reach. He looked at her as if she’d slapped him. “Can you swing your legs onto the bed, or do you need help?”
“Rachel—”
“Look, I’m just trying to get you comfortable first.”
His gaze fell to her lips, then to her breasts. He slowly brought one leg up, scooted his butt toward the headboard and lifted the other leg onto the bed, already unfastening his jeans. He drew down the zipper and hooked his thumbs in the waistband. “You’ll have to help me pull these off.”
She had to kneel on the bed to do the job smoothly. He lifted his upper back off the mattress, propping himself up with his elbows and watched her. Hard to believe that was the most comfortable position for his bruised ribs. Resisting the impulse to point that out, she used her energy to rid him of the jeans. Leaving him half-hard in his boxers.
Forcing her gaze away, she slid off the bed to stash his jeans. There was no furniture. She dropped them on the floor next to hers. “How are you doing?”
“Better and better.”
She recognized that wicked tone and looked at him. He was checking out her ass. “You have prescription pain pills in your first aid kit.”
“They have to be about two years old.”
“Probably still better than aspirin.”
“I know what I need.” His gaze slid down her body. “Come here.”
“I’m serious, Matt,” she said, one hand on her hip, able to stand her ground as long as he wasn’t touching her.
“Hell, are you gonna make me climb out of bed?”
Rachel sighed. So much for staying firm. “I won’t allow you to keep blackmailing me like this,” she said, even as she crawled onto the mattress. “And it wouldn’t kill you to take a pill. I promise it won’t diminish your macho image.”
He didn’t smile or make a face, or do anything but continue to watch her. “I don’t want anything in my system. Not now.”
She stretched out beside him, lying on her side facing him. Was he worried about his performance? “Oh, Matt...”
He shifted, angling toward her, but not without wincing. Then he briefly brushed his lips across hers. “The panties have to go. But I can probably handle them.”
“Maybe it’s your head we should worry about, not your ribs. You’re completely insane.”
“Honey, that’s not the part of my body I’m concerned with right now.” He leaned over until his mouth rested on the curve between her neck and shoulder. The warmth of his breath made her shiver, but not half as much as the feel of his teeth scraping her skin gently, followed quickly by the wet hot slick of his tongue.
In spite of herself she arched toward him and bent her head to expose more of her neck to whatever wonderful thing he wanted to do. Her eyes drifted to half-mast and her sigh told him far too much about how she wanted him.
When the front of her thighs bumped his hard muscled ones, she lifted her lids, startled that she’d moved closer. She looked down, watched in a stupor, as he nibbled and licked his way down to her collarbone, his breath quickening as he meandered to her nipple.
She let her gaze run across his shoulders and arms, his poor banged-up middle, finally to his boxers. He was ridiculously hard, and she didn’t get that at all because he still had to be in some pain.
“Are you okay?” she asked, gingerly touching his shoulder.
He paused, then flicked his tongue over the sensitive flesh. “You can’t keep asking me that.”
She pressed her lips together. “Promise to tell me if—”
He lifted his head. Their eyes met, briefly, then he glanced around the room. “Let’s cut the overhead and use the hall light.”
She hesitated, gently touching his face where she should’ve insisted he keep the ice. The swelling wasn’t bad yet, but it would be.
He captured her hand and kissed her palm, then started to roll out of bed.
“No, I’ll do it.” She scrambled off her side, and turned off the switch.
“Close the door halfway.”
“Your face isn’t ruining the mood—it’s knowing that you’re hurting that’s—”
He smiled a little.
“Okay, I’ll shut up.” Sighing, she slanted the door to redirect the light away from the bed. “Now lie back.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He eased his shoulders against the pillows, tracking her with his gaze, even in the dimness.
She went back to her side and slowly slid between the sheets.
“No covers,” he said, motioning her closer.
“I’m cold.”
“I’ll take care of that.”
She gave in because she could see he was ready to chase her across the mattress if she didn’t move in beside him. “You know, a few more days until you felt better wouldn’t kill us.”
“I thought you were going to shut up.” He turned, throwing an arm over her, and cutting off her protest with his mouth.
She kissed him back, her body quivering when he slid his hand down her belly and reached inside her panties. He deepened the kiss, a low frustrated moan coming from his throat when he could only jerk her panties partway down one hip. She broke away to finish the job, coming up on her knees to take care of his boxers, as well.
Even in the dim glow of the hall light the sight of his arousal made her breath catch. She touched him, lightly trailing her fingertips along the smooth silky skin of his hard penis and then circling the tip.
Matt shuddered. “Come closer,” he whispered, trying to reach for her.
“Tell me you have another condom.”
“In my wallet. Back pocket of my jeans.”
She really had to start thinking ahead. Again she scrambled off the bed, hastily found his jeans and took the brown leather billfold to him.
“Go ahead,” he said, ignoring the extended wallet and cupping her breast instead.
She located two in a small hidden pocket and left the packets on the bed while she returned to exploring his aroused body. God, how much she wanted him. Inside her, filling her completely, his heat surging into her, the rough pads of his thumbs doing amazing things to her breasts. But not just that, she wanted him to look at her like he had before. She wanted to see his eyes fill with wonder as if she was the most precious gift he’d ever been given.
With a quiet grunt, Matt caught her right shoulder and forced her to lie back, then followed her down. He kissed the tip of her nose, her chin, and then lingered on the tingly skin below her ear. When he drew back, there it was, that wondrous look in his eyes that made her melt and left no doubt that for this moment he was completely hers.
Your'e Still the One Page 15
