Page 54 of Make Me Yours
Then I rise, wrapping an arm around him. “Come on, big guy. Let’s get you to bed.”
With a snort, he leans into me as I guide him into the other room. His steps are heavy, sluggish, but he doesn’t fight me. I pull back the covers and help him slide between the sheets, then tuck the blanket around him.
Waffles hops onto the bed and settles against his side.
I run my fingers gently through his damp hair. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I whisper. “You scared the hell out of me.”
His eyes stay locked on mine. “I’m sorry, Lilah. That’s the last thing I’d ever want to do.”
I lean down and brush a kiss across his forehead. The caress lingers before I finally pull away. His fingers find mine, tightening around them, making it impossible to retreat.
“Stay,” he murmurs.
I freeze.
His request is quiet and laced with exhaustion.
I’m torn. With the way I’m feeling, staying feels dangerous.
“Please?” he adds.
And just like that, leaving doesn’t feel like an option.
“I need pajamas,” I say, weak with the fight I’ve already lost.
“Just grab my robe.”
After a moment’s pause, I nod and walk away. In the bathroom, I drop the towel, peel off my damp underwear and bra, and reach for the oversized plaid robe hanging on the back of the door. It smells like him. Clean soap, mint shampoo, and something undeniably Steele. I wrap it around me and tighten the belt at my waist.
When I return to the bedroom, the only light illuminating the space spills in from the hallway. I flick it off, crawl into bed beside him, and settle against the pillow.
Steele shifts toward me until we’re only inches apart. The weight of him beside me settles something deep inside my chest.
“You know I love you, right?” he whispers into the darkness.
My heart skips a beat. “Steele?—”
“I always have.”
I shudder as every wall inside me crumbles. I want to tell him it’s the concussion talking, and that he won’t remember this in the morning.
But I don’t.
Because I know he means it.
“I love you too,” I whisper.
A quiet, contented sigh escapes him, and within seconds, he’s out.
I lie there in the dark and watch him before reaching out and brushing a stray curl from his forehead.
I’ve never cared for anyone the way I do this man.
And I don’t think I ever will again.
16
STEELE
