Page 43 of Refuge for Cherilyn

“Me either. I want to be here with you. You’re the first man who’s ever seemed to give a damn about me.” She let her forehead rest on his chest and curled against him, safe in his arms. “I…” Was it too soon? “I can love you. I know I can.”

“And I can love you. All we have to do is spend time together, be honest with each other, hold onto each other, and support each other. I can do that for you.”

“And I can do that for you. I want to. You’re all I’ve ever wanted, Shaw.”

“You’re more than I ever hoped for. Right now, we need to get some sleep. And I have a confession to make.” She couldn’t imagine what it could be. “I hadn’t intended for this to happen. I wanted to take you on a couple of dates, woo you… You know, all that old-fashioned stuff that nobody does anymore. But you’re such a siren, girl. I couldn’t wait, and I’m glad I didn’t. What’s happening here between us… It’s supposed to happen. I know that in my heart.”

I know that in my heart. Cherilyn could feel tears welling in her eyes. “I know it in my heart too.”

“Good. Now, sleep. At some point when this is all behind us, maybe we can take a weekend away, be by ourselves and be free to do whatever we want. But for now, we’ve got two girls across the hall and we need to be careful.”

“You’re right. We do. But a weekend away with you? That would be heaven.” She sighed against his skin. “I’d love that.”

“It would be heaven for me too.” His lips feathered a kiss on her forehead and she thought she’d die of happiness. “Sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, and we’ve got a new relationship to work on. And that hardly seems fair to say, because it won’t be work. With you, it’ll be a pleasure. Goodnight, beautiful.”

A tear trickled down her cheek and she smiled. “Goodnight, baby.” She’d never been able to call a man a pet name, but with Shaw, it seemed natural. She was so happy she could barely stand it. And she couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

* * *

He layawake in the darkness until he was sure she was asleep. It took a bit of wrangling, but he managed to get his arm from under her without waking her and slipped silently out of bed. In the bathroom, he rolled the condom off, wrapped it in tissue, and tossed it in the trash. Then he looked at himself in the mirror again.

Same man. He looked just like he had a bit earlier, but on the inside, he felt different. Somewhere deep within, something had awakened, and he hadn’t felt it in a long, long time. Morgan had coaxed it out of him years earlier when they were first together, but then it slipped away. Cherilyn had brought it back. Or maybe she hadn’t. Maybe it had never really existed until he held her in his arms. Shaw wanted to believe that what they had was unique, and then he realized that, at least for him, it was. Even with Morgan, he’d never felt that way, powerful and strong and, yeah, sexy. That made him grin. Sexy. ShawHarrison was sexy. Eh, maybe; maybe not. Didn’t matter. Cherilyn had seemed to enjoy herself, and that was what mattered most to him.

He splashed some water on his face, wet a cloth, and wiped himself up a bit. It took a second for his eyes to adjust after he snapped the bathroom light off, and when they had, he opened the door. Cherilyn was on her side, her back to him, so he slipped back into bed. As soon as his weight forced the mattress down, she rolled to face him, and without even thinking about it, he drew her into his arms.

Her hands came up, fisted, and curled up under her chin as her face rested against his chest. Shaw was sure he’d never seen anything so beautiful, so sweet and pure and tender, in his life. She was like a fine carving, something of marble or alabaster, and she belonged in a museum, admired and beloved by millions. But she was with him, and he hoped what he’d said would come true. He wanted to fall in love with her, and the seed was already planted. Based on what she’d said, maybe it had been planted in both of them. That was the best he could pray for.

It took him a few seconds to get comfortable?it had been years since he’d shared his bed with anyone?and then he found himself fading. It was the wee hours of the morning, and he’d worked a full shift the night before. He had to get some sleep, but for those few quiet moments, it was just him and her, a man and a woman, warm and safe and comfortable in the house he’d never quite been able to turn into a home. He had a feeling that it was about to become just that.

The next thing he knew, light was poking through the edges of the window blinds, and he blinked against the pain it sent shooting through his eyes. Coffee was usually the first thing on his mind, but that morning, it was the woman beside him in bed, and as he listened to her soft breathing, he was struck by how lucky he was to have her there. Sure, she’d come because of some horrible circumstances, but they’d iron all of that out and things would be good for all of them.

For the first time in longer than he cared to admit, he wasn’t alone in that big bed, and he leaned in to kiss her forehead lightly. She stretched a little, huffed, and her eyes opened gently. “Hey, sleepyhead.”

“Hey. I… Oh, shit. Oh, shit, shit, shit. Are the girls up?”

“No. It’s like seven o’clock and they’re still asleep.”

“I’ve got to get back to my room so they won’t know…”

“Cherilyn.” As soon as he called her name, she stopped. “Listen to me. They’re going to figure it out anyway, at least Maya will. Might as well get used to that idea. That girl doesn’t miss a thing, and I’m pretty sure she’s already caught some of the things we’ve said to each other or the ways we’ve looked at each other.”

“Oh, you mean the way you look at me like you could eat me up?” she asked and grinned as she traced from the tip of his nose to his chin with her fingertip.

Shaw chuckled. “Or the way you look at me like you could tear my clothes off and ride me like a bull.”

“Oh, lord. You’re so full of yourself,” she said with a pretend huff and sat up, the sheet falling to her lap and those beautiful breasts right in his face.

“No. You’re so full of me.” He gave her a wink. “Or at least you were last night.”

“Yeah, and I’m looking forward to that again.” Before he could say anything, she whispered, “Nobody’s ever done that for me before.”

“What?”

“The, you know, making me… Nobody’s ever done that for me. I had to do it myself.”

Shaw curled a finger under her chin and lifted her face until she was looking into his. “Nobody’s ever made you come?”

Her cheeks reddened instantly. “Yeah.”

---