Alissa
After Nate left, I went into the bathroom and ripped off the black dress, then took a long, hot shower, trying to wash away the memories of the past few hours. I had to mostly hop on my good leg, as my thigh was still tender, and it hurt if I put weight on it for too long. Whatever supernatural talent Nate had, it was pretty amazing. He’d soothed my pain long enough to remove the bullet. I’d never heard of anyone being able to do anything like that before. The man was amazing.
If I’d thought he was sexy before, now I was completely smitten. My memories of him hadn’t done him justice, not even coming close to the reality of him in the flesh. Tall, muscular, so handsome my eyes couldn’t stop feasting on him. And God, he had the most incredible green eyes. Serious. Intense. When he looked at me, he gave me his complete attention, and I felt like he could see deep into my soul. It was a bit disconcerting, but at the same time, comforting. It would be difficult to hide from a man like Nate. He had an intuitiveness about him that made me suspect he was aware of a lot more than he let on. Possessed with a rare masculine beauty that went far beyond the surface, Nate was all kinds of perfection and goodness.
He was a true gentleman. Kind. Generous.
A healer.
A hero.
An intense surge of heat swept through me as I recalled him tending to my thigh wound. My face burned hotly in remembrance. Dear God, his hand on my thigh, his breath tickling my skin, his face right there so close to my throbbing core. It had been both intoxicating and embarrassing. I’d been wearing nothing more than a black thong underneath the short dress, the thin scrap of fabric barely covering me. I was pretty sure he’d noticed that. I’d found myself aching for him to touch me, to slide his fingers up my thigh…
But he’d been a perfect gentleman. I swallowed hard now, thinking back on it. God, he made me hot, even when he wasn’t here. Just thinking about him made me all twisty and squirmy with longing.
Nate and the other dregs had risked their lives to save me tonight. The dregs were nothing like the rumors implied. Not even close. They’d gotten a bad rap. And I intended to do what I could to help clear up the lies that had been spread about them. They weren’t bad, dangerous men. They were heroes.
I’d been dead inside for three long years. But after only a few hours around Nate, I was starting to feel alive again. My heart beat once again, this time with purpose. My skin heated whenever he was near. Sexual awareness snaked through me whenever he looked at me with those intense green eyes. I’d hidden myself away for three years, not wanting any man to notice me. But now, I wanted Nate to notice me. I wanted him to be attracted to me. I wanted to feel like a woman again.
Did he view me as a woman, or just as a victim?
I was still a far cry from the girl I’d once been. I was still broken inside. But Nate was making me feel again. I wanted to be strong and independent again. I wanted to be the kind of woman a man like Nate would desire.
With a sigh, I opened his dresser drawers and found one of his T-shirts. I pressed it against my face and inhaled, then I pulled it over my head, loving the feel of something of his against my skin. It made me feel closer to him like this, wearing one of his shirts. It was an intimate thing, wearing a man’s shirt, and usually reserved for lovers. Nate and I were a far cry from lovers, but a girl could dream, right?
I snuggled under the covers of his bed, enveloped by his scent and loving how the sheets smelled like him. Strong. Sexy. Masculine. I snuggled deeper into the sheets and sighed.
How long would he let me stay here? How long did I want to stay?
I closed my eyes and sighed. Exhaustion finally claimed me.
And for the first time in three years, I didn’t have the recurring nightmare of the past.
Because this time, I dreamt of a sexy healer named Nate.