Page 43 of Manhattan Heart

“They’re angels.”

He scoffs and I’m too tired to twist his nipple. “How many stairs do we have to climb to get to bed?”

He answers. “About a million. Want me to carry you, baby-girl?”

Any other time… before the heart thing… I would have fallen into his arms and whined for him to carry me.

He gets a kick out of doing that, like a prince or something.

But now it’s different.

Now he’s delicate and fragile and I can’t hurt my hubby.

“No, I can walk.”

A giant sigh puffs my hair. “India…”

“What?”

“I’m fine. You have to stop treating me like I’m less than I was. I like carrying you.”

“I have two good legs. Come on, let’s head up, you need your rest.”

He sighs again but doesn’t say anything.

He does palm my butt on the ascent up the stairs though, while he chastises the boys for barking excitedly all the way up with us.

“No, I refuse. They have their own fucking room, India. This is ours.”

We’re in a semi fight a bit later.

Gray is lounged on top of the bed with his back to the light silver padded headboard. I come out of the bathroom, his eyes flair seeing my booty shorts and skintight vest I like to sleep in and my belly curls around.

We are two sexual creatures, abstaining is not in our nature, not with each other. This healing shit is for the birds. But he’s here, he’s healing and it could have been so much worse, so I will never complain even if we can’t be intimate ever again. And the way my anxiety is making up stories of how rough sex will send him into cardiac arrest, I’m thinking a permanent sex ban sounds just fine.

“But it’s the first night in a strange house. They’ll be scared.”

“No,” he says firmly. “They have each other.”

“Gray…” I try my persuasive voice whichusuallyworks. He’s usually a pushover when I whine for things, like it’s his only job in life to make sure I’m happy. Seriously, I’m spoiled worse than an only child.

And then the gorgeous ass plays his trump cards which stops my pulse. “I’m aching a little, baby-girl. Just want to sleep with you.”

“Oh, so now you want to play that do you?”

He knows he’s won.

He smirks. The monster knows what he’s doing.

Fine, the boys stay in the other room.

I climb in next to him and Gray pulls me along the bed until I’m flush up against him. I’m careful where I touch him because of his wounds. “You are a devil.”

“Kiss your devil.”

“No funny business, Gray.”

“Then kiss me but don’t tell jokes.”

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