Page 104 of Property of Rattler

He grimaces again. I go to ask what I can do for his pain, when he places his one good arm beneath him and slowly pushes himself up to a sitting position. I rush in and prop pillows behind him.

“Fuck, but I’m useless. Right now, I can barely sit up by myself, and I can’t do any of the things I want to do.”

“What is it you want to do?” I’m ready to help.

His eyes find mine. “Kiss me, Ames.”

My hands flutter. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

He sounds so sure that I sit on the bed, and lean my head toward him. Bracing myself by placing my hand on the headboard, I lean down and let my mouth touch his. His working arm comes out to hold my head to him. His lips open, I slide mine over them. In that moment I realise that this is what I’ve been missing. And when he frees his other arm from the sling to have more control, I haven’t got it in me to protest. Instead, as our tongues meet and dance, I lose myself.

This,thisis what he’s never given to anyone else. Or, at least not the club whores. This part of him is all mine. I love the way he’s fisting his hands in my hair, how he sucks my tongue into his mouth and then releases it, and I feel his chuckle as I try to mimic his action. It makes me smile and lean further into him. It’s as if we share breath.

My breasts start to feel heavy, my inner core clenches. It’s so fucking unfair, I want more, but he’s in no position to give it to me.

Feeling me tense, his lips more a fraction of an inch away from mine. “What’s wrong?”

Mulishly, I complain, “I hate that you’re so badly injured.”

“Darlin’.” I can hear the smile in his voice. “Am I having the same effect on you that you’re having on me?” For an answer, I hide my face in his unharmed shoulder. It’s one thing to think it, quite another to admit. And truthfully, I’ve no words to describe how I’m feeling. Again he chuckles softly, the sound vibrating through me. “Babe, I worried that my cock might be dead, but if he was, you’ve revived him. Which is a fuckin’ miracle given the way I’m feeling.”

He removes one of his hands from my head, and takes hold of one of mine. Then he moves our joined hands down his body. I feel the muscular ridges of his stomach, but still he sinks lower. And then, something very erect and hard gets in my way. I blush like the inexperienced woman I am.

“You can touch me,” he rasps.

Nervous, through the sheet, I shape my fingers around him. I’ve seen plenty of bulges in pants before, and pictures that suggested what was under them. But I’ve never held a man’s dick. It’s harder than I expected, more like steel than flesh. And the sharp intact of his breath tells me I’m either doing something wrong or something very right. Hoping it’s the latter, I tighten my fingers and move them up and down.

Suddenly he snarls. “This isn’t working.”

I pull my hand away, and bite my lip. Well, what did he expect? I’m a novice.

“Lay down beside me Ames, if you’re touching me, I want to touch you too.”

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

RATTLER

Iwhisk away the pillow that she’d propped up behind me, and, biting my tongue to prevent myself groaning in pain, I shuffle my hips so I can lay back down, careful not to telegraph that I’m hurting, or she’ll get concerned all over again. Not that I don’t enjoy and appreciate her caring for me, it’s just now I’ve got other things on my mind.

Even in the state I’m in, just kissing her has me harder than any ministrations by the club girls. Her untutored touch was arousing me so much I knew precum was oozing into my boxers. I could have talked her through the best way to get me off, but that wasn’t what I wanted. For perhaps the first time in my life, I wanted her to have her own release more than I wanted my own.

To see Ames’s head thrown back in ecstasy, best fucking thing I could imagine. Maybe that vision was what I’d see in my dreams replacing that nightmare of Stone.

She hesitates as I ask her to lie down beside me. And to be honest, I’m not quite sure how this is going to work. I can’t turn on my side like a normal human being, as that would mean my arm, which I’d emancipated from its sling, would be the onedoing all the work. My brain attacks it like the sort of puzzle I failed when asked to solve in the school I rarely attended. But I’m determine to pass it now.

Careful not to jostle me, she manages to lie down on her back next to me. That’s not going to help. “On your side,” I correct her. But even when she complies, I know that’s not enough. “Ames, you’re going to have to lie over me. Hoist your thigh and place it over my body.”

“You’re going to touch methere?” she whispers.

Fuck, she’s so cute.“Sure am, unless you’ve got any objections.” Awkwardly, she gets into position. I move my hand down and slide it into the waistband of her shorts,thank fuck it’s elasticated.Then I feel her tense. Leaving my hand barely touching her lower stomach, I rasp, “Need your mouth, darlin’.”

She shifts herself so she can reach my lips, which actually brings her higher, making my access easier. My shoulder pulls, but I ignore it, using that hand to anchor our mouths together by twisting my fingers in her hair, the action that makes her moan. As our tongues start to slide together, I take charge, invading her mouth, pulsing into the warm cavern. She starts to squirm, pushing herself against me, and unconsciously wriggling as if her pussy has a mind of its own and is trying to draw me in.

Distracting her by deepening the kiss, I slip my fingers inside her panties, pause for a moment as I feel her natural pubic hair — trimmed, but not waxed bare. An unusual sensation, but one which I find that I like, so different from the whores. But I don’t waste time lingering, I move down. I’m not deaf, I’ve overheard the whores talking when they weren’t aware I was there. I’ve heard the jokes about supplying me with a map. It’s not that I’m ignorant of a woman’s anatomy, with them I just couldn’t find it within me to care. But Ames? When I feel that bundle of nerves, satisfaction runs through me, bolstered by the shocked squeal that I swallow with my lips.

She tries to move back, but I hold her to me as my fingers start to explore. Then, suddenly wondering if I’m moving too fast without her consent, I allow her to lift her mouth.