He pulls back the covers to let me crawl in. He wraps his arm around my stomach and draws me to him. His chest expands as he blows out a long breath. I know he’s worried about what I witnessed tonight, so I lift his hand off my stomach and kiss his battered knuckles. He leans in, giving me a kiss on my neck.
“Who told you about ‘Blackstone’?” he asks.
“Dell.”
I hear him mutter something as he pushes a button on his side table, turning off the light.
“Thank you for protecting me,” I say into the darkness.
“I always will.” His words make my heart thump louder. I’m falling fast for this man, and it’s more than a little scary.
I wake to a steel cage around me—we didn’t move an inch last night. I wiggle, trying to stretch, and his grip loosens, so I slip off the bed and head to the bathroom.
“Holy…!” I exclaim with a smile when I walk into the world’s biggest bathroom. Deep red and gray run throughout the whole room, right down to the tile in the four-person shower. It has eight jets and three showerheads. A large oval tub sits in the corner with a view of the mountains. It’s gorgeous. I stop gawking long enough to use the restroom and steal Cole’s toothbrush.
“Ew!” I hiss when I notice dried blood on my pants and on the hem of my shirt. It’s probably Cole’s, but the idea of it being York’s has me tearing my clothes off and throwing them in his hamper. I spot double doors and decide I need something to wear.
Rows of t-shirts, uniform shirts, heavy knit sweaters, and pants line the walls. Clearly, this is his military closet. Everything is so perfectly placed I’m almost intimidated to touch anything. I realize I’m taking too long, so I grab the closest t-shirt and shrug it on. It’s dark green and has ARMY written across the front and LOGAN on the back. It’s huge and comes down to my knees. I roll one side up and tuck the knot under the shirt, keeping it in place so it isn’t like a tent on me.
I open the door to find him propped up in bed, reading on his phone. He looks sexy with his messy hair and the sheet covering one leg. He glances up and does a double take. A lazy smile runs over his lips.
“Morning,” he says, his voice raspy.
“Didn’t mean to take so long. I took a wrong turn in there,” I joke.
He chuckles as his eyes rake over me.
“Sorry.” I look down at his shirt. “There was blood on my clothes.”
“Don’t be. I never thought that shirt could look sexy until now.”
I smile, not sure what to do now. Last night was intense, and our emotions were high.
“Come here, baby.” He holds out his hand. He pulls me onto his stomach, guiding me to straddle his waist. His fingers run through my hair as he watches my face. “What are you thinking?”
“Honestly?”
“Always.”
“I’m nervous what happened yesterday might affect us.”
“How so?”
“You’re losing a man who’s been with you for…how long? You guys have a great thing here. I don’t want to be the reason something bad happens.” I fumble with the hem of my shirt. “I begged Mark to erase that tape.” I feel him flinch. “He told me he couldn’t, that he could lose his job.”
“Smart man,” he mutters.
“I saw the look on his face when he watched it.” I look up. “I didn’t want to see that on yours.”
He twirls a piece of my hair around his finger, thinking. “I’ll be honest with you. It took me to a dark place I haven’t been before. Mark walked in with York right as I finished watching it. I don’t remember how I got my hands wrapped around his neck or how I got him against the wall.” I swallow, remembering it. “I could tell York didn’t give a damn about the consequences for doing what he did—it happens to some of us. We see things in our business that harden us. Some deal with it differently than others. The signs were there, though—all his comments to you, his lack of respect for rank. I’m just sorry I didn’t see it until it was too late.”
“Honestly, I’m fine.”
“You weren’t fine, Savi. You were being threatened in a place that’s supposed to be safe. You had a man who you were supposed to be able to trust force himself on you, hurt you.” He closes his eyes, struggling with his words. “Christ, he was going to?”
“Please,” I place my hands on his bare concrete slab of a stomach, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Other than being a little sore and frightened, I’m fine, and he’s gone.” I lean over, feeling like I need some more contact with him, and kiss his chest. “This is where I feel safe, whose hands I want on me, whose lips I want to taste…” He shivers at my distraction.
“Savannah,” he moans.