As it was, ithad taken every ounce of his willpower not to take her the lasttime she’d snuck into his bed. He realized that all she’d wantedwas to be comforted, and he did his best to keep his desires atbay, but damn it all, a man could only handle so much temptation.Just the memory of her curvy little body pressed against him madehim as hard as a rock.
“And here I thought it was only me who scared you,” Crispinsaid with a vulnerable smile.
“Oh, you don’t scare me, Crispin,” she said, looking up intohis troubled grey eyes. “Well, at first you did, but not anymore.”The winsome Goth smiled all the more.
“He should scare you,” Dorian teased. “He scaresme.”
Chapter 14
The nextmorning at breakfast, the guys had just sat down with their coffeeand flyers when a scream tore through the house.
“What the deuce?” Crispin gasped, nearly spilling hiscoffee.
Another squeal,followed by a dull thud, roused them from their chairs. All threeGoths immediately bolted for the stairs and scrambled up towardsthe source of the scream.
Reaching thebathroom door, they hesitated. “Becky, you okay?” Kell askedfrantically.
They waited.Nothing. Dorian shuffled nervously, Crispin looked about ready tobreak down the door, Kell frowned and knocked again.
“Becky?”
“Ouch... please, I’m… hurt.”
It wasimpossible to judge who made the first move. In the very nextmoment, all three Goths charged into the bathroom only to findBecky in the most unfortunate situation.
She wassitting, naked in the tub, rubbing her upper arm. After a moment’shesitation, the suddenly speechless Goths exchanged uncomfortableglances.
Thankfully,first by her side was Kelley, effectively shielding her nudity fromthe others with his broad shoulders.
If she wasn'tin so much pain, she'd be dreadfully embarrassed, but in thatmoment, all that mattered was getting out of that tub. “Becky,what's happened?” Kell asked, draping the towel which Crispin hadkindly handed him, over her middle.
“I fell.”
“Obviously!” Crispin remarked sarcastically, averting hiseyes.
Ignoring him,Becky winced when Kelley ran his hands over her limbs. Despite thefrown on his face, she was never so happy to see those bright redstreaks of hair.
“Where does it hurt?” he asked with concern.
“Everywhere,” she whimpered.
“Did you hit your head?” Dorian asked nervously from thedoor.
“No... I don’t think so,” she said while Kell inspectedher skull for scrapes and bumps.
“Is anything broken? Should we take her to the hospital, Kell?”Crispin asked, pacing anxiously.
“No, please, that’s not necessary,” she said, wincing as Kellthoroughly inspected her limbs for broken bones.
He gently ranhis hands up and down her limbs, glancing at her to make sure hewasn’t causing her any undue pain. “Well, nothing appears to bebroken. What do you think, love?”
“No hospital, please.”
“Are you sure?” Crispin asked warily.
“I think I just bumped my arm and my…” She stopped short,looking pleadingly at Kell.
Sensing Becky’sdiscomfort originated more from embarrassment than actual pain,Kell looked over his shoulder and with a subtle gesture of hischin, sent his concerned friends from the room.
“Becky, I’m going to get you out of this tub,” he said,slipping an arm around her back, the other under her bare, bruisedbottom.
“Please… Kelley,” she gasped, momentarily forgetting her achesand pains.
“Hold on to me, love,” he said, easily lifting her up andcarrying her into her room.
All too awareof his warm hands on her naked flesh, Becky couldn’t keep fromblushing. Too bashful to look at him directly, she rested her headon his shoulder and hid her face under the dark curtain if his longhair.
“Poor little thing,” he crooned, loving the way she cuddledinto him. He had missed it terribly, the way she needed him. Hewould never tire of it. If he wasn’t so purposeful at the moment,his knees would have buckled from the sheer wave of emotion thatswept through him. “How did this happen?”
“I was trying to hang a towel over the window,” she said,looking up at him with sorrowful eyes as he placed her gently onher bed. Sadly, she felt the loss of his hands on her body when hepulled them away. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before he placed themon her again.
She tensedmomentarily when he attempted to look under the towel that coveredher midsection. “Don’t worry, nothing I haven’t seen before,” hesaid with a crooked smile, wanting to put her at ease. Beckyblushed and nodded, allowing him free rein while wondering if hemeant women in general, or if he was referring to herspecifically.
Turning herslightly onto her side, he ran his hand over her lower back,inspecting her for damage.
Becky couldonly hold her breath while he once again perused her body forinjury, running his warm hands over her sensitive skin.
“Why?” He winced, finding a great big bruise on her right armand another large one on her otherwise flawless bottom. Before hecould help it, he soothed the sore spot with a gentle caress of hishand.
“Well, I wanted to take a shower, and you see, the window isright there,” she explained.
“Oh, I do see,” he said, guilt-ridden. Why hadn’t he thought ofthat? He supposed it was because it hadn’t really mattered to himsince the bathroom faced the backyard. Besides, being a guy, thatsort of thing never crossed his mind. “Sorry, Becky. You shouldhave said something. I would have picked up someblinds.”
“I know, but I didn’t want to trouble you. All I ever seem todo is need your help. You’ve been so good about everything,” shesaid, averting her eyes from him.
“Obviously, I haven’t,” he said with a troubled frown. Herealized that his hot and cold attitude towards her hadn’t exactlyhelped to put her at ease. In fact, it had worked so well that shefelt she couldn’t even ask him for a simple thing as a set ofblinds for the bathroom window. What else had she gone withoutbecause of his self-imposed aloofness?
“Kelley…” She put her hand on his forearm.
“No, Becky, it’s true. I’ve been unnecessarily cruel to you,”he said, patting her hand. “You should feel comfortable inapproaching me with your needs. Whatever they may be.” He paused,giving his head a slight shake at where his mind was taking him.“Ahem…” He cleared his suddenly dry throat. “What else do you needme to do? Please tell
