Page 110 of Reset

His compassionate woman. He wondered if she was even slightly aware that her feelings were written over her face for everyone to see. She probably thought she was keeping everything hidden, so she wouldn’t get hurt. But she was failing miserably because he could read the truth in her eyes. His woman was hopelessly in love with him, and getting in deeper every minute.

He drew an invisible line from her hip to her cute little belly button. Her belly was soft and round, not the muscled plane of a fellow warrior, nor the skin and bones of some of the models he’d dated. He loved it.

“Do me a favor,” he said as he made circles around her belly button.

“What?”

He looked into those bronze eyes of hers. “Never do any sit-ups or anything else to make this flat and muscled.” He spread his palm over her belly. “If I wanted to feel something hard, I’d touch myself.” He stilled. “That didn’t come out right.”

Sarah’s whole body shook as she laughed at him.

Yeah, he probably deserved that.

“Ouch,” she groaned, clasping the area where he’d pressed to revive her. “Still a bit sore. I shouldn’t laugh so hard.”

He frowned at the spot below her breasts. “Here, I can help.” He rolled her onto her back.

“How?” Her hand caressed his shoulder.

“I’m going to kiss it better.”

“Is this like a military medical thing?” she teased as he shuffled down the bed.

“Absolutely. I kissed all of the men’s boo-boos if they were injured in the field.”

Her laughter turned to a gentle gasp as he kissed the spot he’d had to hurt in order to save her. Her fingers softly combed through his hair, and he knew that even if the scar disappeared entirely, he’d always keep it longer for her.

“You know,” he said against her skin, “I ought to be thorough. There is more than one area on your body that needs my medical attention.”

“Far be it from me to get in the way of the medical profession.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Lie still. This won’t hurt a bit.”

She giggled again as he kissed the scrape on her hip before moving down to a series of bruises that ran down her thigh. He knew she’d gotten some of them when he’d been dragging her through the water. Others must have occurred during the cave-in. She’d been hit by far more rocks than she’d let on.

He nipped her outer thigh with his teeth, making her yelp.

“What’s that for?”

“Shoving me out from under the tunnel collapse, only to get injured yourself.”

“Other people would thank me for saving their life.”

“Other people are dumb.” He kissed his way down her leg to her poor, abused feet. “Are they sore?”

“Not right now,” she said.

He lifted a foot and pressed a kiss to the instep, making her gasp.

“Problem?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“That shouldn’t feel that good,” she said, disarming him with her openness.

“Oh, I think we can make you feel a whole lot better than that.” He kissed and stroked his way up the inside of her leg, taking his time with the sensitive area at the back of her knee.

As he moved back up the bed, he widened her legs to make space for himself. Her scent drew him, like a bee to nectar. He trailed kisses up her inner thigh, homing in on his destination with a gentle kiss to her bronze curls.

Hands tightened in his hair. “Hey,” she said breathlessly, “I don’t think I’m injured there.”