to help him.
He came awake as she opened the door and got
out on his own, but Jessica fussed and continued to help him walk.
It was just like a man to try and be macho about serious injuries.
She didn’t know about his, but she wasn’t about to take any more
chances than he was already forcing her to take.
The front door was unlocked, which she found
oddly trusting considering the state of this day and age, but she
pushed it open and went through. A long, wide hallway shot straight
through, past the narrow staircase, to the back door, and large
rooms parted off from each side.
“There’s da livin’ room,” Gabriel said,
pointing to the right tiredly.
Jessica shuffled to it, feeling on the wall
for the light switch. She found it easily enough, flipped the
lights on, and guided him onto a worn, leather couch facing an out
of date TV. He collapsed on it, closing his eyes and throwing an
arm above his head. He was wearing the same basic outfit she’d seen
him in before: Jeans and no shoes or a shirt. Blood smeared his
chest and throat, and she knew she had to clean him off to properly
to assess the situation.
Jessica left, in search of a bathroom or a
kitchen. She found the kitchen in the back of the house on the
left. A small cupboard above the sink revealed clean dish rags, and
she pulled several out and wet them before returning to
Gabriel.
She stopped in the doorway, watching him a
breathless moment as she waited to see the rise and fall of his
chest. Breathing a silent thanks, she went in and dropped onto the
hardwood floor on her knees, leaning over his chest as she slowly
wiped the blood away.
There were no wounds anywhere, not even the
beginnings of bruises. She kept wiping at him until she’d cleaned
his chest, then moved up to his throat and face.
Gabriel slept through her ministrations.
Still, she found nothing, no wounds to explain his weariness. She
changed rags and cleaned his arms and hands. His knuckles were only
slightly reddened, when she’d expected to at least find them split
open. She frowned down at him, wondering how he could be unscathed
after a fight like that.
Some residual blood clung to a patch of skin
bared by a rip in his jeans, and Jessica wiped it away, flushing as
she realized how close she was to his groin. She looked back at his
face to see if he’d woken up, and nearly choked when she saw him
watching her with a hungry look to his eyes.
He looked at her with such heated interest,
she could almost swear she knelt before him naked. Instant,
unbidden arousal swamped her body, making her ache in untouched
places.
“Gabriel, are you okay?” she asked with a
breathless little whisper.
He said nothing as his hand snaked out and
grasped the hand still holding the towel, lingering near his groin.
She dropped it and it rolled down his hip into the cushion of the
couch. Jessica gasped as he pulled her toward him, closer, until
she was lying splayed atop his bare chest, her mouth inches from
his own.
His faint, warm breath made her insides
quiver with anticipation. If felt good to lay on top of him, with
her breasts squashed into the hard planes of his chest, her belly
melded to his rippled, washboard abs. She felt as malleable as
molten metal.
His mouth curled into a satisfied smile.
Jessica was caught between the urge to strangle him for making her
worry, and the urge to kiss him breathless and wipe the grin from
his face.
“You weren’t even hurt, were you?” she asked
with an exasperated, accusing breath.
“I was wounded more than you
know, chere , ta think you
could be harmed.”
The reminder of what had almost happened made
her shudder, and his eyes darkened until they appeared almost
black. A primal look flickered in them, strengthening as he pulled
her head down to greet his lips.
Jessica gave in to him, her concern weakening
her defenses. Her lips throbbed under the insistent pressure of
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