“But...”
“Let me put something on these.” He reaches up and touches my bare shoulder. The bruising is sore, and there’s a few scratches that I know I should tend to.
“I can...”
He grabs on to my hand. “Let me.”
When all I can do is nod, he pulls me through the house toward his bedroom. His hand is large, rough, and wrapped tightly around mine. I try to commit the feeling to memory because in his hold, I feel safe. Safer than I have in a long time.
He stops in his bedroom and points to a chair. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.”
He walks into the bathroom, and within seconds he’s right back, pulling up a chair in front of me.
He’s caring for my scratches and my bruises. It shouldn’t be intimate, but I can’t understand why my heart is racing in my chest. Or the way my body comes to life under his touch. My nipples are pebbled under his shirt, and I’m hoping he doesn’t notice, but I don’t know how he couldn’t.
It’s so confusing, and I can’t help wanting to explore the way he makes me feel. It’s the first time since I dated in high school that I’ve even wanted to explore any sort of romantic or sexual relationship with anyone.
But maybe it’s the fear that has me confused. It’s been a long and trying few days. I’ve definitely had a huge shock. Can I trust the way I’m feeling about Knox?
Knox
She wants me. I can tell the way her breath is coming out in little pants. The way her body flexes as I put the ointment on her skin. The way she can’t look me in the eyes. Her nipples are pebbled, poking against the soft material of my shirt she has on. She looks good wearing my shirt, almost too good. I want to take it off her and cover her naked body with my own. But I can’t.
“Karina...” I start softly, about to tell her that she needs to go back to her room and lock her door when my phone starts to ring.
I pull it out of my pocket and see Dylan’s name on the caller ID.
“Yeah,” I say into the phone, staring at Karina.
“We’re here.”
“Got it. Give me two minutes to disarm everything. Use your code for the gate.” I turn back to Karina as I hang up. “The guys are here.”
She nods and takes the first aid kit from me. “I’ll put this away.”
I reluctantly walk out of the room and go disarm the alarms. I no sooner do that than Dylan, Bear, Logan, Aiden, and John are all walking in. I take in the guys and know that Karina is probably going to be scared of them. She seems skittish, and I don’t want to do anything to upset her even more. “Try not to look so intimidating, guys.”
They all stop and stare at me, surprised. It’s then I realize how dumb that sounded. “I mean, come on, she’s had a rough few days. Just don’t be so intense.”
“Got it,” Dylan says.
Bear merely gives me a grunt and walks into the living room and sits down. His height and build alone is enough to probably spook her, but at least sitting down he won’t be towering over her.
I shake my head and follow the rest of the guys.
“I got what you asked for,” Aiden says as he hands me a bag. I open it up, and it looks like he got everything on the list. I hate the idea of Aiden buying Karina things she needs, but I didn’t want to leave her.
The room goes from loud to almost completely silent, and I lift my head from the bag and look in the direction all the guys are looking at. No doubt they know that Karina is walking out of my bedroom. She’s in my T-shirt, and even though it’s longer than any dress and comes to her knees, she still looks sexy as fuck.
I walk over to her and hand her the bag. “Here you go. I had the guys bring you some clothes. Why don’t you get dressed and then I’ll introduce you to them.”
I’m walking her across the room, using my own body to shield my friends from seeing hers. I know I’m acting crazy. I know I can trust them, but I don’t like them seeing her like this.
She takes the bag, and her face is flushed. “I’ll pay you back for this.”
I don’t respond. I merely close the bedroom door once she’s inside it. I take a deep breath and turn around to face the guys.
They’re all staring at me open-mouthed, and I know they will be able to see through any bullshit I try to tell them.
“Wait. That’s Hollywood’s sister-in-law, right? Isn’t that what you said, Dylan?” Logan asks.