Page 30 of Shielding Instinct

Cooper’s nose was on the ground as he tracked back to their door.

They slid into the room and set the breakfast plates on the table before moving closer to wake Petra.

Cooper went in first with his nose chuffing and doing his checks. Then, he jumped over the top of her and moved to his spot from last night, where he circled and plopped, giving Hawkeye the all-clear. Cooper thought Petra was safe.

“How are you feeling?” Hawkeye crouched by her bedside.

“Good.” She stretched her arms over her head, straining her muscles as she inhaled deeply, then released. “More like myself. Less medicated.”

Cooper lifted his foot to scratch behind his ear, shaking the whole bed.

“Hey buddy,” she reached out to pat his butt. “Did you have a good run?”

Cooper looped his tongue up to lick her hand before moving to the end of the bed to lie down where it was cooler.

As she turned back to him, Hawkeye reached out and caught Petra’s chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Smile for me?” And this time, she gave him a sweet smile that came naturally to her lips. “Beautiful.”

“I got up earlier to check my eye. There’s a little more iris and a bit of reactivity.”

He lifted his thumb and painted it over her lower lip to feel the petal softness. “Both good things.”

Petra leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss onto his lips. She tasted like honey and mint.

Lowering his knees to the carpeted floor, Hawkeye slid his fingers around the back of her head into her silken hair. He tipped her so his mouth could find hers, and he could kiss her long and slow.

He kissed her breathless.

And when they stopped, panting, they rested foreheads together.

His heart pounding in his chest, it occurred to Hawkeye that this might well be thelastfirst kiss of his lifetime. It might be a kiss that launched an odyssey rather than a weekend adventure.

Petra tipped back again, her lips on his, opening her mouth to his tongue. She wrapped her hand around his bicep and tugged as she turned to lay flat on the bed.

His blood racing as he knelt in front of Petra, it took ultimate control for him to slow his movements, his breath, and the forward trajectory of the now.

He had sensations running through him that he’d never experienced before, and Hawkeye had to makeabsolutely damned surehe did nothing that could negatively affect Petra.

She looked confused that he had stopped, had not accepted her invitation to come onto the bed with her and lie between her thighs.

Heaven on Earth.

But in pulling back, Hawkeye could remember the truth of their situation.

“Beautiful, I’m worried about your safety.” Strands of her blond hair had caught in her eyelashes, and he brushed them aside, tucking them back behind her ear. “We don’t know what’s going on with you yet. You have to see the eye doctor this morning to see if he can figure it out. Changes in blood pressure…I think it’s a bad idea until you’ve gotten an all-clear.”

She offered up the sweetest pout.

“Yeah,” he sighed. A cold shower was in order. “Me too.” That pout might just be his kryptonite. “We have a few minutes. How would it be if I held you for a bit? I could honestly use some support right about now.”

“Why, what’s going on?” The pout fell away, and she lifted onto her elbow with concern.

That tickled a smile across his lips. “I got a crush on the lady sitting next to me on the plane, and then I think she’s stroking out.” He rested a hand on his chest. “It’s been a hell of a strain on my heart.”

“Crush?” She mouthed the word like it was a new word for her, and she was trying to give it meaning.

“Not crush, that’s too childish,” Hawkeye corrected. “I’m not sure I have the right word. The one I’m considering isthat you’ve endeared yourself to me. ‘Endeared,’ is that too old-fashioned a word? I’m thinking about the moments that have gathered since I met you.”

“Like Grandma’s china cabinet with curios on the shelves. Fragile but interesting to consider?”

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