Soul Possession(26)

Jessie on the other hand…

He glanced back to where Jessie still lay against the glass and then drove toward Truitt’s place. When he pulled into the drive, Truitt got out and carefully opened the door so Jessie wouldn’t flop sideways.

Truitt unbuckled her and lifted her out. He held her close as he walked toward the house, and Rick felt keen disappointment that she wasn’t snuggled in his arms. He wanted to touch her so badly he ached.

The last days had been torture for him and Truitt both. First the thought that she’d used them and then the fear that no matter what she’d done that she’d be arrested and jailed. And finally the realization of just how wrong they’d been about her and the dread of losing her when they’d only just managed to finally get with her.

“Should I put her straight to bed or attempt to sober her up?” Truitt asked when they were inside.

“Put her on the bed. I’ll make some coffee and we’ll see if we can wake her up.”

Truitt shouldered his way down the hall carrying Jessie, and Rick went to put on a pot of coffee.

Ten minutes later, he carried a steaming mug to the bedroom and found Jessie curled up against Truitt. Truitt met Rick’s gaze as Rick set the cup down on the nightstand and then leaned down close to Jessie’s ear.

“Jessie, Jessie, baby, wake up, okay?”

Truitt trailed a finger over her cheek and suddenly Rick couldn’t stand it another moment. He crawled on the bed and levered himself down so he was close to her. He didn’t want her to wake up and be freaked out. He wanted her…comfortable. Secure.

“Jessie,” he murmured, adding his voice to Truitt’s. “Wake up, honey. Open those gorgeous brown eyes and look at me. I’ve got some coffee you need to drink.”

At that her eyelids fluttered and her unfocused stare met Rick’s. Then her nose wrinkled.

“Don’t want coffee,” she muttered.

Rick chuckled and his heart softened. Hell, he wanted to pull her onto his body and let her sleep there like a warm blanket.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Just then Truitt nibbled at her shoulder and she jerked her head back, her eyes flaring in surprise as her gaze settled on him.

“We live here,” Truitt said.

“Then what am I doing here?” she grumbled. “You were jerks. I don’t want to talk to you right now. I was celebrating and having fun. Now I’m not having fun.”

“If you weren’t such a cute drunk kitten we’d show you how much fun you could be having,” Rick said.

She gave him a disgruntled look but she didn’t argue further.

“The room is spinning and I don’t feel so good,” she said.

Sure enough she’d gone awfully pale and sweat beaded her forehead.

“You need to puke?”

“Dunno. Maybe I should just go take a shower.”

Truitt raised a brow from behind her shoulder. Yeah, Rick wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t about to let her go take a nosedive in the shower and crack her skull.

“You get a shower only if one of us goes in with you,” Rick said.

She frowned again but then swallowed and licked her lips. “I don’t care. I just need to get up. My stomach’s queasy.”

Rick scrambled up and reached down to pluck her off the bed. When he got to the bathroom he parked her by the toilet and after making sure she wasn’t going to fall face-first into the bowl, he reached over to turn the shower on.

When he turned back, she was asleep again, her cheek pressed against the toilet seat. His chest shook with laughter and he reached down to hoist her up so he could get her clothes off.

Quickly deciding this was a two man job, he called for Truitt who popped in a second later. Truitt lifted a brow and amusement twinkled in his eyes.

“Having trouble?” Truitt asked with a grin.

“You could say that. Help me get her clothes off.”

Between the two of them, they managed to hold Jessie upright and get her clothes off.

“I’ll take her while you get undressed and in the shower. Then I’ll hand her in to you,” Truitt said.

Truitt lifted her to sit on the towel that covered a portion of the counter by the sink and he leaned her forward so her head rested against his neck and the rest of her body was pressed against his.

Rick stripped down, reached a hand in to test the water temp, and grimaced at the lukewarm feel. Bracing himself, he ducked in and then motioned for Truitt to bring Jessie over.

As soon as the water hit Jessie’s back, she let out a yelp and her eyes flew open.

Rick pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to her forehead as she trembled against him. After a moment she relaxed and went limp. At first he thought she’d passed out again but when he pulled her away he saw that she was very much awake.

“I’m thinking maybe I should have choked down the coffee,” she said, her mouth quivering. “It was warm at least.”

“We’ll warm you up in just a minute,” Rick promised.

She leaned in against him again, resting her forehead just underneath his chin as the water poured down over them both.

“I haven’t forgiven you yet,” she said.

He smiled. “But you will.”

He could positively feel her frowning over the arrogance in that statement but she didn’t refute it.