Never Too Hot (Hot Shots: Men of Fire #3)(15)
Author: Bella Andre

A voice in the back of her mind told her to leave him. That she should let him fight his battles alone. That he would probably break her in two if she got involved and he didn’t wake up.

But she couldn’t do that.

Not after he’d rushed in to save her from the falling limb tonight. Not after he’d taken the full force of the hit on his own back.

Not after he’d been so gentle, so protective of her out on the beach just hours before.

She ran over to Connor, any thoughts of fear gone. She put her hand on his arm and as soon as he felt her touch, he grabbed her forearm in a vice grip and pulled her against him, her robe opening and falling off her shoulders.

Oh God, he was squeezing her so tight, she cried out with whatever breath she could find.

“Connor! It’s me. Ginger. You’re having a bad dream. It’s just a dream. Please wake up.”

His eyes opened but she could tell he didn’t see her, that he was still trapped in his own personal hell. And then, in a flash, his eyes cleared and he came back to her, to his bedroom, to Poplar Cove.

His chest was rising and falling hard against hers and as their bare skin rubbed together, in the back of her mind it registered that he was naked and she nearly was. But it didn’t matter. Not when she’d just seen him go through something so horrible, not when she was so worried about him.

“What are you doing in here?” His words were as gruff and hard as he’d been when she’d first met him on the porch.

“I had to come, when I heard the-” She cut herself off as she realized just how much he was going to hate her having seen him like this. “I had to help you.”

His hands that had been so tightly gripping her shoulders moved, slightly at first, down over her shoulder blades, then farther down her spine, to her hips. His next words were so low she almost couldn’t make them out.

“And you thought this was how you could help me?”

She could hardly breathe, certainly couldn’t move, not when he was still holding her so tightly. Not when leaving his arms was the very last thing her body wanted. And then one of his hands curled into her hair and her head was tilting back and he was kissing her. Every part of her that was woman wanted to take this moment and give in to it. Give in to him.

Connor needed healing more than anyone she’d ever met, and imprisoned in his arms, with his mouth ravaging hers, while his hands cupped her ass as if he owned her, she wanted to be the woman to heal him.

All the while knowing that it wasn’t just giving, it was taking, that she was seeking her own pleasure too.

And then his hands were moving up from her hips to cup her br**sts and she didn’t recognize herself anymore, this woman who was moaning as his fingertips brushed against her ni**les. His skin felt deliciously rough and jagged against her, and her sound of pleasure came straight from the center of her.

Oh yes, please, more. She hadn’t been this close to coming apart in a man’s arms in years and she wanted it so badly that when he abruptly cursed and pushed away from her, it came as a total shock.

She sat down hard on his bed. What had just happened? One minute his hands were everywhere, the next he didn’t want to touch her.

It was so tempting to go to the place where her feelings were hurt, where she could tell herself that he didn’t like big girls like her. Every last one of her instincts tried to take her there, but she fought hard against them all.

It just didn’t make sense. He’d wanted her, she knew he did. What had been about to happen was elemental.

Completely out of control for both of them.

He couldn’t have just up and changed his mind. Not without a damn good reason. So, for once, instead of running off with her tail between her legs, she wrapped her robe around her and stayed where she was.

“What happened? What’s wrong?”

It was like looking at a rock, he was so devoid of emotion as he stood against the window. Almost as if he refused to let himself feel anything at all.

“I told myself I wasn’t going to touch you. Jesus, I was completely out of control. I could have hurt you.”

It was scary, but she had to say it, had to tell him the truth. “I wanted it just as much as you did.” She’d been just as out of control as he had.

Giving in to her desire for Connor was the most reckless and impulsive thing she’d ever done. She knew she should be relieved that he’d stopped her, that they hadn’t made any bigger of a mistake than this.

But she wasn’t. She wasn’t relieved at all.

He still wasn’t looking at her. He continued staring at the wall behind her head as he said, “I couldn’t feel you.”

He couldn’t feel her?

“Of course you could. It was-” The word incredible was on the tip of her tongue, but before she could say anything more, his eyes locked onto hers.

“My hands. They went numb.”

There was so much darkness in his blue depths it took her breath away.

“I couldn’t feel you.”

Chapter Six

CONNOR COULDN’T believe he’d just told her that. No one knew about his hands going numb except for the doctors he’d secretly visited. He’d gotten so good at faking it these past couple of years, made sure not to grab anything if he wasn’t absolutely certain he’d hang on to it, but just now, when he couldn’t resist touching her bare skin, he’d lost all sensation.

Fuck.

He wanted to be left alone. To get the hell out of here. To find some alternate reality where this shit would stop happening. Where he’d be normal — hell, where he’d be sane — again.

“What were you dreaming about? When I came in?”

Shit. How could he have forgotten? That’s why she was in his room in the first place. Because he’d been stuck in a flashback.

His pride pricked at his insides, made his words rough and mean. “You don’t know me. I don’t know you.”

He let his eyes move across her thighs peeking out from her robe, made damn sure she could see that he was still completely naked — and that his body still wanted her despite everything.

“Don’t confuse wanting sex with something more.”

Okay. Any moment now she’d get off his bed and run back to her room. But as the seconds ticked down she stayed right where she was. Frustration ate away at him, even as sensation came back into his hands, the worst case of pins and needles he’d had yet.

“You need to leave. Now.”

But she didn’t so much as flinch. Instead, her gaze was steady.

“If you’re done with your whole big bad wolf thing, I really think you’ll feel better if we talk about what just happened.”

She licked her lips. Her beautiful, full lips that had tasted like heaven.

“No one knows about your nightmares, do they?”