“Where’s your chair, sweetheart?” Sawyer asked gently.
“Back seat,” I managed to get out. It shouldn’t have surprised me that the man had picked up on my discomfort.
Sawyer kept his arm around me and helped me sit in the front passenger seat. He crouched down in front of me and settled his hands on my thighs. His eyes pinned mine. “Since I can’t imagine your therapist was okay with you pushing yourself so hard on the first day, I have to assume you did this to surprise me.”
I knew he was referring to the fact that I’d kept the prosthetics on after my fitting and brief therapy session so I responded with, “Figured the sooner you saw me like this, the sooner you’d start thinking about the day when I can press you against the wall or bend you over our bed and slide into you from behind—”
Sawyer reached up to slap his hand over my mouth. His cheeks were pink as he shook his head. A chuckle escaped his beautiful lips. “Point taken,” he said. He straightened and leaned into me, settling his lips just inches from mine. He dropped his hand and said, “What am I going to do with you?”
His sweet smile had my stomach doing flip-flops. “Don’t ever stop, Sawyer. Whatever it is, just promise me you’ll never stop.”
I hadn’t meant for the moment to turn heavy or to force him into committing to something he might not be ready for, but before I could apologize, his mouth was on mine. This time the kiss was anything but gentle and sweet. It was all-consuming, demanding. A promise that was spoken with more meaning than the words alone could have done.
When Sawyer tore his lips from mine, I was panting and my body hummed with something that had nothing to do with pain.
“I’m not going anywhere, Jett. You’re stuck with me now. I know that this journey you’re on is going to hurt like hell and there’s going to be days you want to give up and there’s going to be days where you’re going to feel like you’re on top of the world. I’ll be by your side for all of them, but you have nothing to prove to me, do you understand me? This is us, this moment right now. We take care of each other first and foremost, no matter what.”
His fierceness made me love him even more, which I hadn’t thought possible. He’d asked me to trust him once again the night before, but I was only realizing now how much trust he’d already given me in return. If anyone had a right to shy away from committing himself to another relationship, it was Sawyer. But like me, he was all in, now and forever.
I brushed my mouth over his. “No matter what,” I repeated. We held there a moment before I asked, “Can you get my chair for me?” As much as I would have loved to walk into the house with him to signify our new beginning together, it would have been doing exactly what he’d asked me not to.
Pushing myself beyond my limits.
Making him watch me hurt when it wasn’t necessary.
Sawyer helped me into the chair and got my new legs situated on the footpads. He maneuvered the chair so he could close the truck door and then he was pushing me along the walkway that led to the house. He leaned over my shoulder and kissed my neck. “So, as your doctor, I’m going to recommend a few things to help in your recovery.”
My entire body shuddered when Sawyer nuzzled my neck. I had a few of my own ideas on how the man could help me feel better. “Do any of them include sponge baths?” I asked. “Because if so, I’m completely in, Dr. Brower.”
Sawyer stopped our forward movement. “Baby, sponge baths are definitely included.” He let his hand slide slowly down my chest. “I’m very thorough,” he added as his hand came to a stop just above my hardening dick that was threatening to tent my sweatpants. “Ask any of my patients. Even Jerry is a fan.”
I grabbed Sawyer’s wrist as he began to pull his hand away. I tipped my head back. “A zebra? You’re using a zebra to seduce me?”
Sawyer smiled and dropped a kiss to my lips. “Is it working?” he asked knowingly.
I paused before urging his hand farther south. When he began to laugh, I muttered, “Shut up” and kissed him again. We were both breathing heavy by the time we came up for air. Since there was no way I was going to be able to hide my predicament, I said, “If you can get us to our room without anyone seeing the position you’ve put me in, I’ll pay your swear jar bill for a whole year.”