Page 49 of Wilder Heart

Wilder sighed, looking down at the dark blue medical wrap around his right leg. “How am I supposed to put up with this for the next month and a half?”

Cash lowered himself to his knees and heard Wilder’s breath hitch. He gently loosened the velcro straps, unwrapped the brace, and left it on the floor by the crutches. Then he leaned in, pressing a kiss to Wilder’s warm chest, thanking God for the strong pulse that fluttered below his lips, and reached for Wilder’s belt.

Wilder uttered a moan, leaning back on his hands to make room. He was a vision, his lean, muscular body stretched out just for Cash. His fingers fumbled with the belt, button, and zipper as he kissed his way down Wilder’s body, pressing his smile against his skin as Wilder’s stomach quivered at the touch.

One hand gripped Cash’s shoulder hard. “Please…” Wilder whimpered.

“Maybe we shouldn’t,” Cash said, sucking a mark into his hip. “You’re going to hurt so bad tomorrow. I don’t want to contribute in any way.”

“I guarantee I’ll sleep better if we do,” Wilder said breathlessly. “If you leave me like this, I’ll just do it myself.”

Cash chuckled, hooking his fingers in Wilder’s jeans and boxer briefs and pulling both down at once. “So I should stay and help? That’s what you’re saying?”

“Definitely. You’d be making things easier on me. I won’t have to do all the work.”

Cash gently worked his jeans and boxers down his legs and off, tossing them somewhere away. And then Wilder was naked for the first time while Cash was still fully dressed. He sat back on his heels, stroking his hands up and down Wilder’s hairy thighs and looking his fill. A jagged scar darkened one lower rib on his left side, and he reached for it, brushing a thumb across it. Wilder shivered.

“What’s this from?” He couldn’t begin to guess. It looked like a cut of some kind, deeper on one side and shallower on the other.

“I don’t know exactly. A shiv of some kind. I think it was a toothbrush he’d melted down to a sharp point.”

Cash looked up at him in shock. “What?”

“A shiv,” Wilder said again, like that was what stumped him. “A prison shiv. You know, a makeshift?—”

“I know what a shiv is. They—somebody tried to hurt you like that?”

“Tried to,” Wilder said coolly. “I handled it.”

“You shouldn’t have had to.” Rage was burning through Cash, hotter and brighter than he could ever remember feeling.

Wilder’s hands guided his face up until they were sharing breath. “I hate to break it to you, but that’s not the only one.”

Cash growled, and Wilder grinned.

“Don’t tell me that,” Cash said.

“I like that you care so much.” Wilder bit his lip, nodding. “It’s scary—but exhilarating. Nobody else ever has.”

“I do care.” More than he wanted to admit. He cared so much he was pretty sure the full breadth of it would send Wilder running. He was as skittish and wary as Blaze.

With a sigh, he tugged one of Wilder’s hands away—the one with the knuckle tattoos—and kissed each letter. He wanted to ask if the letters really meant what Clyde said they did, but now wasn’t the time. Right now, he just wanted to show Wilder how happy he was that he was okay.

“Lay back, get comfortable, and let me make you feel good.” He helped Wilder pull the blankets back and stretch out. Wilder groaned as he lifted his leg, and once he was flat, Cash clambered over him.

He had no idea where to start. Wilder was laid out like a feast, the suntanned planes of his skin bared just for him.

And then Wilder reached for him. “Cash, come here, please.”

He fell forward, careful to keep his weight from Wilder’s bad side, and sealed their mouths together. Kissing Wilder felt like coming home. It felt like the open road, like springtime sun through open windows, like the first mile toward forever. Wilder kissed like he was starving for something only Cash could give him. It was a heady feeling. He’d been gifted with Wilder’s trust, and that wasn’t given lightly.

He kissed his way down Wilder’s neck and chest, savoring each taste of his skin like new. The smell of the hospital had lingered in his clothing, but here, it was all him. His spicy musk, the salt of the morning. He stopped at the hardened peak of a nipple, flicking it with his tongue and then sucking it into his mouth. He teased the other with his hand, rolling the nub between his thumb and forefinger. Wilder writhed, grabbing Cash by the hips and pulling their groins flush, one of Cash’s thighs squeezed between his own and giving them both something to rut against.

Cash reached down with his free hand, pressing Wilder’s right hip into the bed. “No. Be still.”

“I don’t want to,” Wilder whined. “Want to feel you. Why are you still wearing so many goddamnclothes?”

Cash pulled off his nipple with a pop that made Wilder arch up against him. “Because this isn’t about me. Tonight is about you. When I finally get naked with you, I intend for us both to be healthy and ready for it.”

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