I pulled back. “What’s wrong? Leg or head?” No matter how much I wanted him, I’d never want him in pain for me.
“I’ve been standing too long without my cane. My doc would read me the riot act.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t?—”
This time, he put his index finger against my lips. “Oh, we are so doing this. I’m healing. My head isn’t hurting. I don’t have vertigo. And, anyway…” He glanced slyly at the bed. “We have a horizontal option right here.”
“Then let’s get you naked and in whatever position you can be comfortable in. On your side, with pressure off your leg?”
He shook his head. “I want to be able to see your face.” His cheeks reddened. “We can arrange my leg so it doesn’t hurt.”
I had the feeling he would’ve said doesn’t hurt too much if he hadn’t been pretending he was fine to move things along. I’d be careful for him. “Lube?”
He pointed at a full bottle on the bedside stand. “Borrowed a spare from Shane’s stash—because I live on optimism.”
Funny. I’d never seen him that way. Pragmatist? Yes. Realist? Absolutely. Optimist? I considered… Yeah, okay…maybe. The way he plunged into animal rescue that could be full of heartbreak, and still was so warm and hopeful. Around me he’d been both honest and passionate. Those were traits I admired greatly. “Let’s get you undressed and laid down.” I grinned. “As quickly as possible.”
“Yes. That.” He reached for the buttons on his plaid shirt.
“No, let me. You hold onto me for balance. That’ll get my engine revving.” Yeah, like your cock needs any urging—you’re ready to go as soon as you can.
He did as I’d asked, gripping my arms as I undid his shirt and slid it from the waist of his sweats.
I took a moment to admire the pale skin with the heavy pelt of red hair furring his chest and arrowing downward. “Let me slip this off you.”
He nodded.
I slid the shirt down his arms, as he let go one hand at a time, and tossed it over the open suitcase. I wanted to kiss, lick, and nibble, but I was aware he needed to be horizontal first. I snagged his sweatpants and slid them past his hips.
His cock strained against his boxers.
I brushed my knuckle over it lightly as I knelt to ease his pants off. “Hands on my shoulders.”
“Wait!”
I paused with his waistband just under his ass. “What?”
“My thigh. I don’t need the bandages anymore, but it’s not pretty. We could?—”
I cut him off by running my hand over his bulging boxers. “I’m not some prissy twink in a bar. I don’t need pretty, and you don’t have to hide your honorable scars.”
He hummed at my touch, then scoffed. “Honorable. A man shooting to protect his chickens.”
I kissed his thigh through the fleece fabric, the lightest brush of my lips. “A wound taken to protect a scared dog and a teen boy. I said honorable and I meant it.”
“Oh.” He looked down at me, his eyes intense and his fingers tightened on my shoulders. “Okay. Thanks.”
I tented the elastic wide as I eased the band past his right thigh. He was right, it wasn’t pretty, but it also wasn’t that bad. There was a big ring of bruising, purple, green and yellow, and a center hole the size of my fingertip that was thickly scabbed over and healing. The exit wound on the back was bigger, rougher and spread out, but similar. I slid the waistband to his knees, then leaned in and kissed his furry thigh six inches above the wound. “I’m so glad it wasn’t worse.”
“Me too,” he murmured. “Yay for small caliber and bad aim. Although he wasn’t really aiming at me. I don’t think.”
“Is he still in jail?”
“Unless he made bail. Last I heard, he was trying to get the money. They just charged him with misdemeanor negligence and criminal endangerment, and firing a gun within city limits, so it’s not too much.”
“He could’ve killed you.” I suddenly felt dizzy, looking at that wound and imagining what it might have done if he’d hit Arthur in the chest or the head. I forced my eyes away. “Attempted murder. He should be locked up forever.”
Arthur let go of one shoulder to cup my cheek in his wide palm. “I love how fierce you are for me, but it was an accident, mostly.” He added, “I asked the cops if they were feeding his chickens, but they’d dumped the duty on Pam at the rescue. As if she needs more work.”
