Death is Forever

bent even closer, trying to reach the back of his thigh. The soft resilience of her flesh was a brand against his naked skin. He flinched and swore, wondering why this one woman among all women aroused him to the point of pain.
    “Whatever happened to the strong, silent type?” she muttered unhappily, biting her lower lip.
    “Do you believe in the Easter Bunny too?” He hissed another curse between his teeth.
    By the time Erin was finished, her lip had tooth marks in it, but there was almost no fresh bleeding along the wound. Two square bandage pads appeared at her eye level.
    “Don’t believe the advertising on the wrapper,” she said. “These stick just like the old kind.”
    As she shifted position to put the first bandage in place, she brushed intimately against Cole. He drew in his breath hard. She froze against him, thinking she had somehow hurt him again.
    “You should put the bandages on yourself,” she said unhappily. “I’m too clumsy. I don’t want to hurt you any more.”
    Cole looked down at the woman curled between his legs, her eyes haunted and yet so beautiful it came as a shock of pleasure each time she looked at him.
    “You’re not a bit clumsy.” He dropped the bandages into her lap. “And I like having your hands on me.”
    Her head snapped up.
    “How about you, Erin?” he asked, watching her intently. “Do you like having your hands on me?”
    “I don’t like hurting you.” Tears filled her eyes, magnifying their beauty. “I’m sorry, Cole. I really don’t mean to hurt you.”
    His fingertips brushed the length of her right cheekbone. “Such a tender little thing to be so brave.”
    “I’m not brave. I was so scared I was shaking.”
    “What do you think courage is, honey? It’s being scared and getting the job done anyway. The rest of it is just bells and whistles. Useless.”
    Calloused fingertips caught the tears that trembled on the edge of release. He brought his hand to his lips, tasting the clear, diamond-bright drops.
    “Salty and very, very sweet. Nobody has ever cried for me, Erin. Not one person on earth.”
    She closed her eyes, unable to bear the intensity in his. When she opened them again, it was to concentrate on Cole’s wound. She smoothed the bandages over his leg, trying not to hurt him. It wasn’t easy. Her concentration kept splintering over his words and the fact that she was kneeling between the legs of a man who was nearly naked and fully aroused, yet wasn’t touching her in any way.
    But what really ruined her concentration was that she wasn’t afraid. She should have been terrified by his strength and his arousal. She wasn’t. She was restless, nervous, jumpy, and alert, but she wasn’t afraid.
    “That should do it,” she said in a husky voice.
    Hurriedly she stood and walked into the bedroom. She didn’t hear Cole get up, didn’t hear him follow her, but she sensed that he had. His hands settled on her shoulders and squeezed lightly.
    “Thanks.” His voice changed, becoming harder. “But honey, the next time I tell you to run, you damn well better run. ”
    “I couldn’t have run even if I’d wanted to,” she said, exasperated and angry. “That bastard hit me so hard I couldn’t breathe for—”
    “He hit you?” Big hands spun Erin around, stopping her words. “Where?”
    “Here,” she said, pointing just below her breastbone.
    Without a word he began unbuttoning her blouse.
    “Cole! What do you think you’re doing!” she said, pushing at his hands.
    “Hold still.”
    It was the same flat voice that Cole had used on the attackers. She obeyed instantly, but it was from surprise rather than fear. With a feeling of disbelief she watched her blouse separate beneath his deft fingers. She opened her mouth but no words came.
    “Does this hurt?” he asked impersonally.
    She felt the exquisitely gentle probing of his fingertips along her ribs. Odd shivers of response marched over her skin, leaving a wake of goose bumps.
    “Does it hurt?” he asked again, looking into her shocked eyes.
    Her mouth opened but she couldn’t even take a breath. She shook her head in a negative.
    “This?”
    Warm, slightly rough fingertips moved along her ribs to her breastbone.
    “A little,” she whispered.
    She saw him frown and felt the pressure of his fingertips increase.
    “Now?”
    “That hurts a little more, but still not much.”
    She watched Cole’s face as he touched her. His eyelashes were very thick, very black, making