Into the Storm (Signal Bend #3)(61)

Isaac pushed a chair behind her, and she sat, smiling her thanks. She’d almost forgotten him.

“Hey, Show. Merry Christmas.” She bent down and kissed his hand.

He took a deep breath, then groaned and opened his eyes a little. Shannon stood so she could lean over near his face. He blinked again, and she could see him trying to focus. The room was not very bright, just a light behind the bed, but she was close, and he smiled a little, wincing. “Hey. Sorry.” His voice was thick and rough.

“Hi. Sorry for what?”

“Broke my promise. Didn’t get home.” He closed his eyes.

“You didn’t break your promise. It’s Christmas. We’re together.” She felt sick and shaky, and she didn’t understand what was going on in her head. She wanted to run. And she wanted to crawl into bed with him and never leave his side. She’d felt like this a few times in the past weeks, but never before so strongly.

His eyes closed, he squeezed her hand. “Don’t leave.”

Sensing the strength he’d mustered to hold her hand like that, she understood what it was she was feeling, and why it scared her so. She’d been right, all these years. She’d never felt it before. It was so foreign to her that it had taken her weeks to recognize it for what it was. Bending over the bed to kiss him lightly on the lips, she said. “I won’t. Don’t you, either. Merry Christmas, Show. I love you.”

He struggled to get his eyes open at that, but he was going under fast. He squeezed her hand even harder, and then he was out.

Still holding his hand, she sat back in the chair. She’d never spoken those words to anyone who wasn’t related to her by blood. She’d never felt love before. Not this kind.

Isaac’s hand came down gently on her shoulder. Again, she’d forgotten he was in the room. “I’m going down to find some coffee, maybe a sandwich or something. You want me to bring you up anything?”

She shook her head, then reconsidered. “Hot cocoa? If they have it?”

He grinned. “You bet.” He kissed her on the top of her head, and then he left the room. She stayed where she was. She’d told him she wouldn’t leave, and she wouldn’t.

oOo

Shannon knocked on Show’s dorm room door.

“What! Jesus Christ! Leave me the f*ck alone!” He’d been out of the hospital just more than a week, and his mood was only going downhill.

Grinning, she opened the door. “Okay—I’ll go, if that’s what you really want.”

Show, sitting up in bed, relaxed his scowl into a smile. “No. Not you. You get your ass in here.”

She came in and dropped her coat and bag on the chest of drawers, then kicked off her shoes and got onto the bed next to him. “You know, people used to talk all the time about how nice you were. They’re not saying that so much anymore. A lifetime of good reputation undone in a little over a week.”

He was still a frightful mess, though most of the sutures had been removed. His left arm was still bound up to his chest in a brace. He had several days to go yet before the staples in his belly and shoulder would come out. He now had a steel plate and several screws attached to his collarbone. The doctors had been unhappy with his decision to go all the way back to Signal Bend after he was discharged—they’d wanted him closer, at least until his sutures and staples were all out—but he would hear of nothing else.

“Well, people are morons and *s, and I’d be nicer if they’d stay the f*ck away. You got no idea what it’s like having a f*ckin’ Prospect asking if you need help to the john. And then standing outside the goddamn door while I try to take a shit. No idea.”

She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “You could be at the inn, in a much more comfortable bed, getting my much more comfortable help.”

He put his arm around her, moving slowly, and pulled her close. “Not happening, hon. Last thing I want is you having to deal with this bullshit. Besides, you have work to do. I am Omen’s work, these days.” He gave her a squeeze. “But I like you coming to see me.”

She tipped her head up, and he came down to meet her. Their kiss was soft and slow for several long moments. Then Show moved his hand to the back of her head, pushing his tongue into her mouth. He hadn’t kissed her like this since the accident. She hadn’t, either. He was so beaten up, she was afraid to hurt him.

Suddenly, he jerked away and looked down at his crotch. She followed his eyes and saw the swell under the blankets.

“Huh,” he said. “Was starting to worry that bastard was dead.”

“That’s the first time…”

“Since. Yeah.”

He’d never yet allowed her to touch him. But this felt like a momentous occasion. Without thinking more, and without asking, she pushed her hand under the covers. He sucked in a breath, but didn’t stop her.

He was wearing sweatpants, and she went under the waistband, and wrapped her hand, at last, around his hot, thick, hard cock.

“Wow. You’re like a rock.”

“Shannon…” He said her name like a warning, but his only free arm was around her shoulders, so he could do little to stop her. She pushed his waistband down and freed him, then explored all of him, his full length, his balls, the satiny skin of his tip.

“I love the way you feel in my hand. It makes me so happy to finally touch you. I’m not a Horde whore, Show. I love you.”