I wasn’t sure how long we stayed in that position, but when I opened my eyes, I realised Elliot’s face was now buried in my neck and my body was shaking in the aftermath of what we’d just shared. My heart was pounding, and the weight, and heat, of Elliot on top of me was solid and comforting.
I never wanted the moment to end.
“Oh. My. Sweet. Baby. Jesus.”
Elliot’s muffled, tired laughter reached my ears and made me laugh too.
“Noah.” He lifted his head. “You’re mine.”
“Always,” I answered. “You’re mine too.”
He covered my mouth with his as he gently slid out of my body. I was surprised when I winced a little, because the act of coming together hadn’t hurt other than a slight bit of discomfort. Elliot broke our kiss and frowned at me.
“I hurt ye.”
“You didn’t,” I assured him as he looked down and spotted a tinge of blood on his length and between my thighs, and a little on the bed sheets. I had been so wet that it looked like there was more blood than there actually was. “This is normal. This was perfect.”
He looked into my eyes, and when he relaxed I knew he believed me. He quickly discarded the used condom as I closed my eyes and came to terms with the fact that I was no longer a virgin. I had given my virginity to Elliot, my boyfriend who loved me, and he had given his to me. I was positively giddy. I jumped when I felt something warm and wet between my thighs, and I opened my eyes to find Elliot using a washcloth to tend to me. My heart swelled with even more love for him.
When he finished, he joined me in sliding under the duvet and we wrapped our limbs around each other and sighed in satisfaction, contentment and joy.
“Elliot?”
He kissed my neck and hummed in response.
“When I say I love you, I mean that I love you so much that it scares me.”
He was silent for a moment, then he moved his head and kissed my cheek.
“Me too, but isn’t that a beautiful thing?”
“What?”
“Being part of a love that terrifies us,” he answered as his finger drew lazy circles around my now-hardening nipple. “I don’t want a love like everyone else has, I want what me parents have. A love that’s so deep, pieces of you become part of the other person. I want us to love each other so much that it’ll always scare us . . . that’s how we’ll know we’ve got somethin’ truly special. Somethin’ that’s always worth fightin’ for.”
His words touched me in a way that I could never describe, but I spent the next hour loving his body and showing him exactly how much they – he – meant to me, and how much he always would.
CHAPTER THREE
NOAH
Present day . . .
I awoke to gentle humming and soft singing in a language that I did not recognise. I was pulled away from the delicious memory of my boyfriend claiming my body and heart as his for the first time. With a reluctant sigh, I opened my eyes. An off-white ceiling came into view, and it made me groan as memories assaulted me so rapidly that it made my head spin. It wasn’t a night terror after all, then. I was in some sort of accident that put me in the hospital, and I’d just woke up from a fifteen-day coma.
It sounded too far-fetched to be believable, but my gut told me that it was the dreaded truth.
“Noah?”
I stared at the face that was hovering over me. I remembered the man. He’d said he was a doctor, but I couldn’t remember what his name was.
“Hello there, Noah.” He smiled, his eyes searching mine. “Can you tell me where you are?”
“The hospital.”
“Which hospital?”
“King’s College Hospital.” I grunted. “What happened?”
“Do you remember me, Noah?”
I frowned. “Yes, we were talking then it’s just blank.”
He flashed his penlight in my eyes then said, “You passed out. Just for twenty minutes or so, you’re okay.”
Only twenty bloody minutes? It felt like I was out for a lot longer than that; my head was filled with a foggy tiredness that I couldn’t seem to shake off.
“I remember you mentioned something about a coma before it was lights out.” I swallowed as I grimaced in pain. “Am I really okay?”
“You’re really okay,” the doctor assured me. “It was a lot to take in, I probably would have fainted too.”
His attempt at humour, and his grin, did wonders for me. It actually relaxed me a little even though my brain was screaming that I most definitely was not okay. I couldn’t explain why, but I trusted this man. He had a warm smile and welcoming manner. He said I was okay, so I put my faith in him and believed him. I just hoped I wouldn’t come to regret it.
“My family,” I suddenly gasped, thinking of my parents and boyfriend. “My partner. Do they know what happen—”
“They know exactly where you are,” the doctor interrupted in his calm, soothing voice. “They’ve been with you around the clock since you were brought into the hospital. When I came on shift earlier, I convinced them to go home and get some rest, take a shower, get some decent food into them and recharge before coming here again tomorrow to spend the day with you.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling my muscles go lax with relief as his words hit home. “Are they all okay? They weren’t in whatever accident I was in, right?”
“Your parents and partner are all perfectly perfect,” he assured me. “They’re just tired.”
I nodded, slowly. “What was your name again? Doctor . . .”
“Abara,” he finished.
He gave me some more water to drink and the liquid felt like Heaven as it slid down my dry, sore throat.
“Right.” I shifted in the bed, wincing. “Doctor Abara. You aren’t going to tell me about the accident I was in, are you?”
When he mentioned it, there was reluctance
