Karen Rose - I’m Watching You

He watched her lips tremble, then she firmly controlled them, pursing them hard. Without answering she turned back to the wall, raised her hammer and the pounding began again. For a minute he watched her, then shrugged out of his overcoat, his suit jacket. He let them fall to the floor since they were destined to be covered in white plaster dust wherever he put them. He took off his tie, then his shirt. A crowbar lay on the table and he picked it up and began pulling the drywall from the hole she’d already started.

For ten minutes they worked together without speaking.

She pounded and he cleared away the debris. Then she stopped and once again there was silence.

„Vincent’s in ICU,“ she whispered, and the hammer slid out of her hand to the floor. „Conti’s men beat him up.“

Abe blindly put the crowbar on the table behind him and reached for her. She came willingly, clenching her fists against his chest. He closed his arms around her and laid his cheek against the top of her head. „I know, honey. I’m so sorry.“

She pounded her fist against him, once. A restrained blow. „He had a stroke on the operating table. Aidan had just brought me home and Owen called me. The doctors say he probably won’t make it. Dammit to hell, Abe. Conti hurt him because of me.“ Her shoulders heaved, but she didn’t cry. „Vincent’s a good man. Gentle. He never hurt anyone.“

He rocked her gently and her fists opened and closed against his chest. „This isn’t your fault, Kristen. You know this.“

Again she pounded, harder this time. „And then I came inside and Aidan closed the door…“ Her tears were flowing now and he had no idea what to do, so he just held her. „And somebody knocked on the front door and I was afraid. Afraid to open my own damn door.“ She swallowed a sob, a horrible choking sound. „But it was just the man who does the neighborhood association. They signed a petition. All of them. They say I’m bad for the neighborhood. They want me to move. They want to throw me out of my own house.“

Her shoulders heaved again and Abe wanted to find the neighbors and throttle them all. „They can’t make you move, honey,“ he soothed. „We’ll take care of that later.“

„So I ripped up the petition and threw it in his face,“ she said, as if he hadn’t even spoken. „Then I told him to go to hell and take his association with him.“

He smiled against her plaster-covered hair. „Good for you,“ he murmured.

She pulled back, her face wet but her eyes clear. „Then I changed my clothes. I’ll wear whatever the hell I want to wear in my own damn house. And I got a hammer and put that hole in the wall.“ She looked around with a frown. „And then the cats ran and hid.“

He wiped her face with his thumb. „They’ll come out when they get hungry.“

„I know. Your brother asked me what I wanted him to do and I told him to get rid of the cabinets. And the appliances. They’re old and ugly.“

„They are.“ He felt for the pins in her hair and pulled them out one by one, freeing her curls. „But you’re beautiful.“

Her agitation seemed to dissipate before his eyes. „You really think so, don’t you?“

„I know so.“

She swallowed hard and his heart stuttered. „You make me feel beautiful.“ It was a husky whisper, as if she was afraid for anyone to hear. „And…“

He brushed her lips with his. „And desirable?“

Her eyes heated. „No one ever has before.“

„Their loss, my gain,“ he muttered, pulling her back against him and taking possession of her mouth the way he’d been thinking about since sending her to bed last night alone. Her hands flattened against his chest, her fingers raking through his hair, then moving back and forth, pleasuring him as he’d taught her to do. His hands moved down her back, itching to catch her from behind and pull her into him. To thrust against her. To feel her writhe against him. But his mind regained control at the last moment and his hands detoured to anchor at her hips. He groaned against her lips and pulled away. „I don’t want to push you.“

She was breathing as hard as he was. „You’re not.“ She stood on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck, pressing her breasts against him. „You came to my room last night,“ she breathed into his mouth, then kissed him softly. „Why?“

His mouth went dry as dust. „I was checking on you.“

She shook her head, every movement grazing his lips with hers. „Try again.“

He closed his eyes and his fingers stretched, half-touching her round rear end. The tight biker shorts showed off every curve. „I was hoping you’d ask me to stay.“

„For what purpose?“ It was practically a purr and a shudder racked him from head to toe. Once again she’d taken the reins, and once again he’d be damned before he stole one inch of her advantage. If this was a tease, he’d bear it. It might kill him, but he’d bear it. He could tell she wanted him. Her nipples were pebbled hard against his chest, but until she was ready, until she asked him, he would control himself.

Even if it killed him. And it just might.

She nipped at his lips. „What would you have done if I’d asked you to stay?“

He swallowed again. „Kristen, I don’t think…“

„I dreamed about you all night,“ she murmured.

He opened his eyes and found himself drowning once again. „What did you dream?“

„I dreamed you put your hands on me and made me cry out.“

His hands covered her buttocks and kneaded gently. „Like this?“

„Exactly like that. Then you made love to me.“ Then she hesitated, looking away.

He caught her chin with one hand, leaving the other firmly grasping her butt. „Look at me. Please.“ He waited until she lifted her lashes, shy uncertainty in her eyes. „You dreamed I made love to you. And then?“

She took several rapid breaths. „And I pleased you.“

He felt as if he’d taken a physical blow. „Kristen… It’s not about whether you please me. Haven’t you figured that out by now? It’s how we please each other.“ He kissed her, a rich melding of mouths and hearts. „Did you like that?“

She nodded, so slightly. „Yes.“

He let go of her chin and covered her breast, heard her inhale sharply, felt her nipple grow rigid against his palm. „And you like this?“

She licked her lips, catching her lower lip between her teeth. „Yes.“

He brushed his knuckles against the juncture of her thighs and felt her shiver. „And the other night, you liked that?“

„You know I did.“

He took one of her hands from his neck and kissed her palm. „Then I promise you I’ll like the same things.“ He brought her hand lower until her fingertips trailed the length of his erection and he tensed. „See? I like it, too.“

Indecision clouded her eyes and once again he cursed whoever had hurt her in the past. Whoever had damaged her magnificent spirit. „But you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,“ he murmured and her mouth set in a determined line. It was as if he’d thrown down the gauntlet. „Kristen, I’m not daring you. We can stop right n – “

She pulled his head down for a kiss so hard he saw stars. „Don’t,“ she whispered fiercely. „Don’t treat me like spun glass. When you came into my room last night, what did you want from me? Be honest with me.“

As if he could lie. „I wanted to be inside you. I wanted to feel you come around me. I wanted to hear you cry out and beg me for more. I wanted all that more than I wanted to breathe. Is that honest enough for you?“

Her eyes filled with tears and she defiantly blinked them away. „Yes. Now tell me this. If things were normal… If I were normal – “