It felt perfect. She felt perfect.
He hugged her close, kissing the top of her head, her long sandy brown hair a mess, yet still somehow smelling fresh, like apple and vanilla shampoo. It calmed him to have her safe in his arms, and he felt tension leaving his body that he hadn't even recognized he had still been carrying.
The little minx in his arms should have fallen into an exhausted sleep, yet he could feel her slowly humping against him, the sexual tension growing. As tempted as he was, he knew in his heart what they both needed most—and it wasn't sex.
"Goodnight, Hannah."
Her frustrated sigh was adorable. "Goodnight, Dylan."
Despite her attempts to keep them awake, he felt her fall into an almost immediate slumber. The tension seeped out of her body as she relaxed into his arms, her soft breathing even and steady. This was heaven. He fell into his own deep sleep, finally allowing himself to believe that the nightmare was over at last.
Chapter Sixteen
Hannah
Hannah awoke to the best sound in the world. The sun was just peeking in through the small slit of the drawn curtains in the guest bedroom she'd been holed up in for the last thirty-six hours. The soft snores of a sleeping Dylan comforted her. She snuggled in his arms, wanting to be closer to the man who'd saved her in more ways than one.
He'd barely left her side since rescuing her from Jake's house of horrors. For that, she was grateful.
She'd spent the entire previous day in bed. Sleeping. Waking to eat, drink and shower, only to sleep and do it all over again. She'd taken at least a half-dozen showers since leaving California, yet she still felt dirty. She hoped the feeling would go away once the bruising her captor had left as a souvenir faded.
Through it all, Dylan had been her rock. Steady. Protective in a way she'd never known a man to be. Truth be told, he scared her, but in a totally different way than Jake had. For the first time in her life, she felt like she cared about someone enough that he had the power to break her heart.
For all the time they'd spent together, Dylan hadn't crossed the line. He'd never been anything but the perfect gentleman. In the beginning, she had treasured him all the more for it, yet she'd begun to worry that she'd imagined the sexual attraction between them.
He was just being a gentleman helping you. You need to stop lusting after him before you make a fool of yourself.
Even she was surprised that she could feel physically attracted to someone so soon after being sexually assaulted. She'd had plenty of quiet time to think about it, and had come to the conclusion that what Jake had done to her had much less to do with sex, and more to do with violence. Dominance. Humiliation.
The feelings she had towards Dylan as she snuggled closer into the cocoon of his arms had nothing to do with any of those descriptors. In fact, he represented the opposite. Safety. Respect. And, dare she hope, love?
"Penny for your thoughts?"
She'd missed him waking up, and spoke without her normal filter. "I was just thinking about how lucky I am that you came into my life. Who knows where I'd be right now if it weren't for you?"
Dylan tried to make light of his part in keeping her safe. "Yeah, well, Lukus and Derek would have protected you with or without me."
"That's bullshit and you know it. The only reason they even knew about me was through you. I'd have just blended into the rest of Jake's hell if you hadn't protected me."
She was glad he didn't disagree. They lay silent, gently stroking each other wherever their fingers connected with skin.
As the minutes passed, Hannah grew bolder, moving her touch lower with each swathe across his hard chest, getting closer to the sexy trail of masculine hair that started under his bellybutton and pointed the way lower, disappearing into his boxer briefs.
"Hannah."
"Dylan."
"What are you doing, honey?"
She loved the terms of endearment he used with her, although they confused her. If he had to ask what she was doing, she was obviously doing it wrong.
She yanked her hand back, feeling foolish at her failed attempt at seduction. He wasn't interested in her that way. He couldn't be. She'd practically thrown herself at him the night before, and he'd maintained their chastity.
She had just started to roll away from him to try to escape to the bathroom to hide her embarrassment when he rolled her onto her back in the middle of the bed. The weight of his body blanketed her, making her feel warm and protected. He pushed his upper body up, resting on his elbows near her shoulders.
His face was just inches away. She recognized the heat in his dark grey eyes at the exact moment she felt the length of his hard cock pressing into her body. Her sex physically clenched with anticipation as she realized he'd been reading her intentions right all along.
"Now, young lady, you are making it impossible for me to be the gentleman I'm trying to be during your recovery. What exactly is it you're trying to do to me?"
The grin on his face was playful, and this time it was her heart that fluttered. She played back. "I don't know what you mean."
Dylan laughed. It was the rich, genuine laugh of a man who was having fun. It filled her with a hope for something she hadn't even known was possible. The hope for love. For the kind of closeness she had seen and coveted in others, like Derek and Rachel.
He gently swished the few stray strands of hair from her face, growing suddenly serious. The playful grin was gone. In its place was an intensity
