Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

when he wasn’t looking at her. He wasn’t a bodybuilder like his brother Grayson, and Daphne rather liked that. Instead he was broad of shoulder, lean of hip, and . . .
    Holy God . She sucked in a small gasp as her gaze froze on his lap, which left no doubt as to what he was thinking about right now. Wow . Just  . . .  wow .
    The sound she’d made had him turning to look at her, the expression on his face making her hot. And wet. Her mouth opened and not a blessed word emerged.
    His grin was wicked. ‘Well?’ It was a purr and she shivered.
    ‘Mercy,’ she whispered.
    He looked back at the road. ‘I don’t think so.’
    Her brows crunched, her mind too addled to follow. ‘Don’t think so, what?’ A notion intruded, altogether unpleasant. ‘You changed your mind?’
    ‘Do I look like I changed my mind, Daphne?’ he asked, his voice pitched low. It was like he’d petted her and he hadn’t laid a finger on her. Yet.
    ‘No. I’d have to say the evidence is pretty definitive that you haven’t.’
    His chuckle was rich and deep and she thought if he’d been holding her at the moment, she would feel the vibration of his body. The thought of climbing over the console and straddling him suddenly didn’t seem all that crazy.
    ‘I’ve just been thinking,’ he said.
    She smiled at him. ‘That I can see.’
    ‘You want to know about what?’ he teased.
    ‘I think I can guess.’
    ‘Maybe. Maybe not.’ He reached for her hand, pressing her palm to his thigh. His leg was solid. Thick. And her eyes were once again drawn lower to where his body visibly strained against the zipper of his trousers, trying to get free. And her fingertips tingled, wanting to touch.
    No mercy . ‘Oh.’ She got it now. ‘What were you thinking about?’
    ‘That I’ll have to be inventive, think outside the box.’ He looked over, brows lifted. ‘Your breasts. I assume they’re not as sensitive as they were before.’
    Her mouth fell open again, this time in shock. ‘What?’
    ‘True?’
    She shook her head, no words emerging again.
    ‘True or false?’
    ‘True,’ she said, her voice rising a few notes.
    ‘I told you I was done with wasting time. I’m going to be blunt because I need to know. Now, can I also assume you have full . . . feeling everywhere else?’
    The rush of heat returned. ‘Yes.’ She shifted her hips, unable to resist the urge to squeeze her thighs together. A movement he noticed.
    ‘Good.’ He drew a breath, his nostrils flaring. ‘That’s what I’ve been thinking about. All the ways I can make you feel good, without ever leaving . . . well, you get the idea.’
    The image of his dark head between her thighs slammed into her mind, front and center, and she bit back what would have been a moan. ‘Um, yeah. I do. Get the idea.’
    ‘Good.’ He released her hand to turn the heater down and tug at the knot in his tie. Then he surprised her by pressing his palm against the hard ridge in his trousers, adjusting himself with a grimace.
    She wanted to do that for him. She wanted to see what he looked like, what he felt like in her hand. Inside her body. Sooner versus later. Which meant she’d need to be prepared. Protection. The doctors weren’t sure if she’d ever conceive again, but she had no intention of finding out the hard way.
    Hard way . Damn. Her fingers itched again, this time to give herself some relief. Instead she squeezed her thighs tighter. There’ll be plenty of drugstores in Morgantown . It was a college town, so they’d have no shortage of condoms.
    ‘If you keep looking at me that way, we might never get to Wheeling.’
    She lifted her eyes to his face. Saw no hint of a smile. Just raw need. He’d laid himself bare to her, letting her see what he felt. What he wanted.
    Me . He wants me . This big, beautiful man wants me .
    Then the word Wheeling sank in and she frowned. ‘Morgantown,’ she said. ‘We’re going to Morgantown.’
    His brows knit. ‘No, we’re going to the hospital in Wheeling. That’s where Ford is.’
    Her breath was hitching up in her lungs, the warmth she’d felt cooling to ice. ‘You said we were going to Morgantown. You said . . .’ She looked away, aware he was looking at her in consternation. What had he said? ‘You said . . . that Ford was in a hospital in West Virginia just across from Pennsylvania.’
    ‘That’s Wheeling. Daphne, what’s wrong? What’s in Wheeling?’
    Dark rooms . Screaming . Always