Page 42 of Restored

“The alcohol wasn’t that bad. I’m ready, dump it on the wound.”

“Say. It.” His demand has me spewing the truth faster than I would spoiled milk.

“Your fingers. I was thinking of how your fingers felt that night when you were distracting me from the dire wolf.”

He stiffens at my confession as he stares at me, my cheeks aflame. The silence in the room is deafening as seconds tick by. Ledger slowly lowers to his knees again in front of me. “I’d like to try something with your permission.”

“What? Try what?! No, I’m fine, really, I’m not that attached to my leg anyways—” I start to push myself back across the bed, away from him.

His strong hands snake around my calves, pulling me to him. My mouth snaps shut. “Just give me two minutes.I need you to trust me for two minutes. Can you give me that?” My body is taut, my back rigid, my hands fisting tighter on my robe.

Ledger exhales, his breath skating over the top of my thighs.

His words ricochet around my brain, making my heart thunder. Trust. The only man I’ve ever trusted is Maddox. Now, my captor of all men, wants me to let down my walls for him. To allow him access to me, and for what? I’m not sure I am even capable of a verbal response.

The second his warm, callused hands ascend on my calves, my resolve begins to melt away. Two minutes. I could allow him two minutes.

“Layla, I need a yes or no.”

“Time’s ticking.” I rasp. His hand pauses before his fingertips slide down one calf. His eyes don’t leave mine as his touch caresses my foot, dragging his fingers up the sensitive arch and skimming over each toe. His touch is feather light as he begins his perusal back up.

I shiver, and I’m sure Ledger notices because it seems to spur him on. His green eyes heat as his fingertips deliciously skate along my skin. My brain narrows in on his touch, the sight of him, and all thoughts of anything else vanish. His fingertips glide around my ankle, and the back of my knee. When his powerful hand works its way up my uninjured thigh and squeezes, I nearly groan.

I watch as his tongue darts out to lick his lips. He lowers his mouth to my inner knee and places a kiss there.Oh hell.He moves leisurely up my thigh, his warm breath scorching my sensitive skin. He places one more tantalizing kiss on my inner thigh, and it is an effort to stop them from spreading for him.

I let out a shaky breath. Heat pools in my belly, and somewhere in all of that, I can feel the slight tingle of my power awakening as if curious.

“I’m going to lay you back now.” His voice is rough, and his scruff grazes my ear as he speaks. He pauses, listening for my answer, and a humiliating squeak of agreement is all I can muster before his corded arm guides me down to the bed.

Ledger knocks my thighs open enough for his knee to slide in between them. I pray he can’t feel the radiating heat coming from me. He leans down, his nose skimming where my robe meets in a V between my breasts. He drags it up my chest, following the fabric to my shoulder, his sultry breath fanning across my skin. He tugs the robe down and places a torturous kiss on my bare shoulder.

On instinct, my eyes fall shut, and my head digs into the mattress. My chin tips up ever so slightly, giving him better access.

One of his hands moves to my waist, his incinerating touch soaking through the thin fabric. His nose drags up my clavicle and coasts agonizingly slow up my neck, making my flesh and nipples pebble. My back arches, chasing more.

He shifts above me, and when he does, his hard length caresses my upper thigh. My hands fist in the blanket on either side of me. The urge to touch him, feel his manhood, is almost enough to drive me insane.

His hand moves languidly up my rib cage, and I nearly whimper in frustration when his fingers tighten around my side, his thumb stopping just below my breast.

His mouth, however, continues. His damp lips dust over my hammering pulse point, and I grind my hips into the mattress to keep them from lifting. Unhurriedly, they skim my jaw, making my breath hitch.

His labored breaths match my own as he stops at my mouth. His lips barely brush mine, and I am so lost in the moment, and the feeling of him, the desire for him to keep going, his words barely register when he chokes out, “You’re glowing.”

I blink, meeting his lush forest-green eyes. I catch a glimpse of his unfiltered desire, a look I’m sure my own face mirrors. We stare at each other for a long moment, catching our breath, the tension almost suffocating.

My eyes drift down our bodies, a faint glow emanating from my pale, buzzing skin. Ledger stays stock still, hovering inches above me. I notice he hasn’t showered or changed yet. That small detail, the fact he is taking care of my needs before his own, gives me a surge of satisfaction.

The skin on my thigh is now unmarred, slightly pink, and smooth. I touch the milky skin of my belly and am met with no pain.

The bed shifts as Ledger’s hand comes up to rest on my thigh, his thumb trailing over the freshly healed skin. “You’re remarkable.” He looks incredulously at me.

All I can do is stare dumbly at him, processing that he just seduced me into healing myself.I actually healed myself.

His fingers tighten on my thigh and his eyes trail up my body. When they land on my face, they linger on my lips. I run my hand over his forearm and up his bicep. When I get to his neck, I pull gently, lifting my head a fraction of an inch, itching to taste him.

Ledger makes a faint throaty groan, abruptly dropping my thigh as he unravels from me and pushes back.

His sudden absence feels like a bucket of ice water being thrown upon me. I jolt up and grab the robe, hugging it to me tightly. Disappointment fills my veins, and it’s a struggle to keep it off my face.

---