Wholehearted by Cate Ashwood Page B

turn on the bedside lamp.
    “Can you sit up for a second? I just want to check your bandages and make sure you didn’t split any stitches.”
    Lucas’s eyes were still closed against the bright light, but he managed to prop himself up with his good arm.
    There was no blood coloring the white gauze, but Declan carefully peeled back the corner of the bandage. Lucas’s stomach muscles jumped at the contact of Declan’s warm hands.
    Declan peeked underneath and was happy to see that everything looked as good as could be expected.
    He let his eyes trail over the rest of Lucas’s body, up over his smooth chest to his face where the five o’clock shadow had become full stubble since the evening before. Lucas’s eyes were open now, looking at him with trust and sadness.
    Declan let his hands fall to his sides, afraid that if he kept touching Lucas they were going to end up naked together. Lucas needed rest and support, not a horny, demanding man in his bed.
    “Are you hurting?”
    “Nothing that didn’t hurt before.”
    “Do you need something?” Declan asked, gesturing toward the untouched pill bottle on the bedside table.
    Lucas nodded and pulled his plump lower lip into his mouth, worrying it with his teeth. It wasn’t the pills he seemed to need. He reached out and grasped the edge of Declan’s T-shirt, pulling Declan toward him and the shirt up over his head the best he could with only one hand.
    Declan was uncertain for a moment, but couldn’t deny how badly he wanted this with Lucas. A man only had so much willpower, and Lucas was testing his to the breaking point. He gave in and leaned forward, pressing their lips together, running his tongue gently over the spot Lucas had bitten. He moaned softly and shifted to try to press their bodies together.
    “You’re overdressed,” Lucas hinted with a small smile. Using one hand to try to take Declan’s shirt off hadn’t worked well, so Declan helped shed the clothing, reminding himself to let Lucas set the pace. If all he wanted to do was kiss, that’s what they would do.
    Declan turned the light off once more, climbing into bed with Lucas without breaking their kiss. He held Lucas’s back, supporting him as they lay down together in the darkness.
    The kisses were slow and gentle. There was nothing urgent or insistent about the way their bodies moved together, bare skin rubbing on bare skin, hands roaming everywhere. Declan was gentle, careful not to hurt Lucas, and careful not to push too far. He didn’t want the same thing that had happened before to happen again.
    They kissed for a long time, content to just be together. Declan stroked Lucas’s hair as they parted, and dropped tender kisses along his cheekbones and his forehead.
    Lucas burrowed deep under the covers, pulling Declan in tight and burying his head into the little hollow between Declan’s shoulder and throat. Declan continued to pet and stroke him, just happy to be touching him.
    It felt good to be intertwined like that, snug under the covers together. The rest of the shit of the day melted away until it was just the two of them cocooned in there, breathing in and out together.
    “You feel good,” Lucas whispered against Declan’s chest, his lips tickling the smattering of dark hair that grew between his nipples.
    “You too,” Declan whispered back, wanting Lucas to know how much he was wanted.
    He had become so wrapped up in the other man in just a few short days—if he was honest with himself, it had been from the moment he laid eyes on him—that he didn’t know how to extricate himself emotionally any more than he did physically. And he didn’t want to.
    The man in his arms felt right, like he fit there. It felt how it should feel, and no one was going to be able to convince him any differently.
    He’d been insane the last few days, on an emotional roller coaster that began with blood and ended with gentle nuzzling and butterfly kisses. He had gone from scared to panicked, then