London Falling (Falling #2)(74)
She took a deep breath and visibly swallowed. Her hand pulled a thick lock of hair, then twirled it around her finger. Nervous, even with me. Such a sweet woman. God I loved her. “He said he wanted to give me back life. That he owed me for helping him all these years. He didn’t want me to lose you.”
“But, he could have died…“
“You would have died, Collier. I can’t bear the thought that I’d lose you, too.”
“Come here.” I held out my arm and she laid her head in the crook of my neck. She smelled of cinnamon and sadness. “Baby, I’m not going anywhere. But it looks like I’m going to have to do some serious groveling to your best mate.”
She chuckled and sighed. “I love you, Collier. I’m sorry I was scared to admit it before.”
“Oh Beauty, I love you so much. Forever more my dear. Forever more. Now get that sweet arse up here and let me hold you. I’m so bloody tired. Having you near will help me sleep.”
“Won’t it hurt?”
“It hurts me not having you closer. Besides, you’re tiny. There’s plenty of room.”
And there was. She fit right along the length of my body. Her cast over my waist did hurt so I moved it between us.
“How bad were you hurt, love?”
“Not bad. Just the arm. Sore ribs. Bruises and bumps mostly.”
“When we get out of here, I want to kiss every last one of them. And then you can kiss mine. We’ll make each other better, yeah?”
“I’m already better. You’re alive, here with me. That’s all I’ll ever need.” Her eyes closed as she snuggled into my chest. I played with her hair until we both fell blissfully asleep lying next to one another.
Epilogue
Two months later…
During those moments when you’re faced with death, we humans are compelled to make promises to ourselves, to God, to whomever will hear our pleas. I did that when presented with the possibility that I’d lose the first man I’d loved since losing James.
Then again, when confronted with losing my best friend in the entire world. No woman should have to deal with those things. So yeah, I made promises to God, to Collier, to Tripp, but mostly to myself. I think I’ve stuck to them. But I deserve a f*cking medal of honor for spending the last two months playing nursemaid to two very opinionated and outspoken men in pain.
Between Tripp’s incessant whining about pain because he only allowed himself a half a pain pill every eight hours instead of the requisite two every four to six hours, he’s been a regular thorn in my side.
Then there’s Collier, who spent more time than not fighting with me about helping him. Finally, the cavalry showed up.
Aspen sent a sexy assed nurse in to take care of Tripp while I took care of my man. Honestly, I’d almost rather take care of Tripp. At least with him, I didn’t want to kiss him as much as I wanted to throttle him.
And Collier’s been the handsiest patient in the entire world. Every time I try to re-tape his ribs, he grabs a handful of ass, bites at a nipple while I’m leaned over him or skims those sexy full lips along my neckline. It’s maddening.
Not being able to act on this newfound love has been complete and utter torture of the worst kind. At week four, I couldn’t take the sexual tension anymore and held him down while I sucked him off then let him reciprocate by leaning on his side and kissing me while fingering me into oblivion. It barely took the edge off. It’s not the same as having your man fully joined with you. Today, eight weeks into his recovery, I’m taking my man and riding him into the sunset.
Enough is enough. His ribs have mostly healed, just a bit sensitive. My cast was removed two weeks ago. His casts were removed last week. He’s been living with me and Tripp for two solid months. It was easier than going back and forth between his apartment and ours. Even with the professional nursemaid for Tripp, I still needed to see my guys through this. It’s been a hard two months, but now I feel things have turned around.
Aspen has visited every three or so days. It’s been wonderful watching her belly bump get bigger, Hank’s protectiveness get stronger. Her sonogram showed that she’s going to have a sweet baby girl. That has made recovery a lot easier knowing we had something to look forward to.
Tomorrow, I’m bringing Collier back to his apartment.
Emma’s apartment opened and she’s decided to move to it and stay in the US a while. The guys are working on her business green card. According to Tripp, she’s finally committed to filing for divorce. She’s actually been a regular visitor, visiting her brother every couple days and becoming pretty close friends with Tripp. I suspect she has a bit of a crush on him, which I’d be thrilled to see. Both seem to be cautious of showing anything more in front of Collier but I see the looks they’ve been giving one another and can feel the sexual tension flying off them the second they’re in the same room. I’ve kept that bit of information to myself.
Tripp is aware but has made it a point to not discuss it with me. He only says some sparks did fly at the wedding. I’d like to see him with a good woman…or man for that matter. I want to see him happy and content with his station in life and the place he has in everyone else’s life, including mine.
It’s taken a lot of talking and natural progression with the guys being cooped up with one another but they’ve almost become better friends with each other than Tripp and I have been over the years. Maybe once you leave the physical side out of a relationship you end up with a deeper bond. Aspen and Ollie are like that and those two are barely separated.