Part 13 (1/2)

She lifted one hand and touched his cheek, her heart catching when he turned his head to press his lips into her palm. ”I-I thought it was just pa.s.sion,” she whispered.

”You were the only one. Even Hagen knew the instant he saw me looking at you. Lord, Trina, I never stopped loving you. When I found you here, the only thing I could think of was to make sure I wouldn't lose you again. I knew I could make you want me, and it seemed like the only hope I had.”

”I was afraid,” she confessed simply. ”You-there's so much Intensity in you, so much force. And after that first day, I was convinced you were just trying to-to get rid of that demon.”

”I couldn't have said that,” he protested.

”You did.”

He was smiling. ”Maybe. Heaven knows I don't know what I'm saying half the time around you. I knew I was pus.h.i.+ng, but I couldn't stop myself.”

”I noticed,” she said.

His smiled took on a sensual heat and his hand slipped under the tail of her s.h.i.+rt to find the smooth skin of her back. ”Can I help It If I can't keep my hands off you?”

”Apparently not.” She kept her face straight with an effort, catching his hand and removing it firmly. ”You should rest. It's after midnight, and-”

”I don't want to rest.”

Fighting to ignore the hungry glitter in his eyes, she said, ”I won't let you delay your recovery just because-”

”Tell me you love me,” he ordered.

Feeling herself weaken, she evaded his reaching hand and stood up. ”I love you, Skye!” Hastily she bent to prevent him from flinging back the covers. ”Dammit, you're going to start bleeding again!”

”So what?” He was working his left arm out of the sling. Ignoring the protest of his shoulder. ”Just let me get rid of this d.a.m.ned thing-”

”No!” She caught both his hands tightly. ”Skye, be reasonable. You've been hurt.”

”Nothing Important was hurt,” he drawled.

Katrina couldn't help but glance at his lower body, feeling heat rush through her at the clear evidence of his arousal, but she managed a glare at him when he chuckled.

”Climb in here with me,” he invited.

”I'll sleep on the couch.”

An implacable determination flashed in his eyes. Softly he said, ”Try that, sweetheart, and I'll be on the couch with you. From now on you aren't sleeping anywhere except with me.”

Wryly aware that Dane had been right when he'd said she might have to practice a bit before being able to stop Skye once he'd set his mind on doing something reckless, she sighed and tried a compromise. ”If I stay here, will you promise to rest? If you don't, I swear I'll call Dr. Randall and have him give you a shot.”

”Him and what army?”

Katrina glared at him and waited.

Finally Skye said, ”h.e.l.l. All right. I promise.”

Then minutes later, after prudently undressing in the bathroom and changing into an overlarge, b.u.t.ton-up sleep s.h.i.+rt that was gaily striped in yellow and wasn't very s.e.xy, Katrina bent over Skye to remove the pillows propping him up and ease him back flat again.

Her s.h.i.+rt gaped away from her b.r.e.a.s.t.s as she bent over him, and Skye half closed his eyes and groaned softly. ”Let me take back the promise.” His right hand was already reaching for her when she straightened abruptly.

She stared down at him. ”What am I going to do with you?”

He was quite willing to tell her, but he had a feeling she'd sleep on the couch if he did. And, stubborn words aside, he knew d.a.m.ned well he'd fall flat on his face if he tried to get out of the bed. He also knew that he couldn't make love to her yet, no matter how badly he wanted to and no matter how much the throbbing fullness of his loins insisted.

He decided he'd better heal fast.

”Just let me hold you,” he said finally.

Her eyes softened with that warm, steady glow that had baffled him earlier. She turned off the lamp on the nightstand on his side of the bed, then went around and cautiously slipped beneath the covers on his right. The moment she turned off the lamp on that nightstand, he reached out and pulled her firmly against his side.

”I don't want to hurt you,” she whispered.

Skye cradled her close, drawing her head down to rest on his uninjured shoulder and smoothing her wild, silky curls. ”You aren't,” he told her gently, ignoring the pain. He had never felt any pain so strong that it would have kept him from holding her, and he doubted he ever would.

Within minutes she was asleep, curled up beside him boneless as a cat. She was exhausted, he knew, worn out from watching over him all those hours. Skye held her close and stared into the darkness for a long time, remembering how everything inside him had splintered when she had told him she loved him. He still felt that way, shaken and stunned, hardly daring to believe that he wouldn't lose her again.

For six years she had never been out of his mind, and no matter how may times he had told himself savagely to forget her, just a glimpse of wild, curling red hair had had the power to stop his heart. He hadn't told her, but he had returned to Germany three times during the last years, ignoring Daniel Stuart's warnings that it could be dangerous. He had gone back and searched for her, returning always to the apartment where someone else lived and tearing himself to pieces because he couldn't find her.

His arm tightened around her as he remembered that pain, but the last echoes faded away as she mumbled in her sleep and cuddled close.

He had found her now, and he'd never let her go.

Skye woke early in the morning, feeling much stronger than he had the night before. Katrina was still deeply asleep, missing the dawn for the first time since they'd been together again. He s.h.i.+fted experimentally and winced when both his shoulder and his ribs protested. But he was determined that Katrina wouldn't have to wait on him hand and foot for the next few days and, besides, there were some things a man preferred to do for himself.

So he clamped his teeth together hard and carefully moved his arm from around Katrina so he could sit up. His head swam dizzily for a few moments, and his ribs gave him merry h.e.l.l, especially when he swung his legs off the bed. He felt her stir behind him, but then she sighed and went still again.

When the room stopped spinning, he used his good arm to lever himself up and onto his feet. And if he hadn't taken a hasty step and grabbed the back of the high-backed visitor's chair, he would have fallen flat on his face. d.a.m.n! He was as weak as a sick cat, and every muscle was so sore. It felt as If someone had been beating him with a stick. A cold sweat popped out all over him, and he had to use the support of the chair for long minutes with his eyes closed.

He was finally able to move, then worked his way cautiously along the wall to the bathroom door. Making it, he eased inside and pushed the door softly closed. There were plenty of things to hold on to in there, and he was grateful. But he had a h.e.l.l of a time shaving because he needed his good hand and couldn't use the other to brace himself.

Idly he decided that Katrina was going to be mad as h.e.l.l. But that was all right. Now that he knew she loved him, he wouldn't mind when she got mad at him. And she was bound to from time to time. He thought there would probably be some glorious fights between them because he had a thoughtless temper and that red hair of hers wasn't at all as deceptive as he'd once believed.

She was just stirring awake as he braced himself in the doorway of the bathroom, and her lovely eyes blinked at him sleepily when she sat up. Then, suddenly, she was fully awake. Amber fire lit her eyes, and she flung back the covers.

Her sleep s.h.i.+rt had ridden up to the tops of her thighs, and he felt his weakened body harden with an Instant surge of desire. A primal sound he was unaware of making rumbled up from the depths of his chest as she reached him, and he forgot to brace himself because his good hand was sliding down her side to shape firm, rounded flesh.

”What are you doing?” she gasped, slipping her shoulder under his good arm for support.

”Lord, you feel good,” he muttered.

Muttering herself, Katrina removed his hand from her bottom and placed it firmly on her shoulder. ”You have to get back into bed,” she told him, her arms around him as she tried to brace him without hurting him.

Skye knew he'd been on his feet too long, and cursed his trembling muscles as he let her help him. He told himself he still lacked the strength to be a lover, but the reminder did nothing to reduce his aching need for her. He loved her, and he wanted to hear her say she loved him while she was writhing In his arms, while pa.s.sion exploded in them both. . . .

”You shaved!” she accused him.