Chapter 27

CHAPTER27

“I’m fine,” the stubborn man that just took ten years off her life said as he paused on the stairs so that he could bend over and-

“Fuck.”

-groaned.

“Maybe we should go to the hospital?” Morgan said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she watched the stubborn man level a glare on her before turning around and muttering, “Stupid kitten,” as he made his way upstairs while she was forced to bite her lip to stop from doing something that he really wouldn’t appreciate at the moment.

It would be wrong to smile right now, Morgan reminded herself as she watched the poor man that barely survived being attacked by the cutest kitten that she’d ever seen slowly make his way up the stairs and-

“I can feel you smiling,” Eric said, making her wince.

“If it helps, I think you broke the kitten’s fall?” she said with a hopeful smile that quickly disappeared when he started grumbling again, even as she couldn’t help but wonder where the kitten ran off to.

Maybe she should go look, Morgan thought, only to decide that would probably be a bad idea as she followed him down the hallway to the bathroom. When she moved to follow him inside, Eric bit out, “I’m fine.”

“Umm, you just fell out of a tree,” Morgan felt obligated to point out.

“I was thrown off,” he muttered angrily.

“By a kitten?” she asked, blinking up at him.

“That kitten was vicious!”

“That’s exactly what I thought when it curled up on top of you and fell asleep,” she said, nodding solemnly.

“It was waiting for the right moment to finish the job,” Eric bit out with a glare that dared her to argue.

“Clearly,” Morgan muttered as she pushed her way past him and headed for the bathtub, grabbing the bag of Epsom salt that she picked up earlier, deciding to make herself useful.

She’d learned a long time ago to make sure that she kept plenty of Epsom salt on hand, especially when they were renovating an old house like this one. It was back-breaking work and she knew the big baby currently pouting was going to need it.

When he only stood there, glaring at her, Morgan said, “I’m not going anywhere until I get a better look at your back.”

That was followed by a grumble, the sounds of him biting back a pained groan as he toed off his boots, and after a slight hesitation, he shoved his pants off while she made quick work of starting a bath, making sure to throw in an extra handful of Epsom salt for him. When she was done, Morgan grabbed a facecloth and a bar of soap as she listened to him step into the bathtub, and a few seconds later, she heard his relieved groan.

“I’m going to turn around now,” Morgan said, not really sure how she was supposed to act after what just happened on the balcony. When he didn’t say anything, she cleared her throat, shifted nervously, and after realizing that she was being an idiot, she slowly turned around.

With a pained groan, Eric leaned forward while she ran her eyes over him, noting the golden muscles flexing as he grabbed hold of the sides of the tub, the Celtic tattoo on his shoulder that she’d always loved, the shallow kitten scratches, and the large scrape most likely from the tree when he fell.

“How’s it look?” Eric asked, shifting to get comfortable.

“Not that bad,” Morgan said, clearing her throat with a nod as she moved closer, and after a slight hesitation, she dipped the facecloth in the tub.

“Not that bad? I was attacked by a vicious-fucking animal, woman!” Eric said, gasping in outrage as she lathered the facecloth with soap.

“It was terrifying,” Morgan said dryly as she carefully placed the bar of soap on the side of the tub and set to work.

“It really was,” Eric murmured in agreement, only to wince when she moved the facecloth over the scrape on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Morgan said softly as she leaned over and pressed a kiss against his shoulder. “Is that better?”

“My other shoulder hurts now,” Eric grumbled, making her smile as she leaned over and kissed his other shoulder.

“Where else?” Morgan asked as she ran the facecloth over his back.

“Here,” he said, pointing to the back of his neck.

“Better?” Morgan asked as she pressed her lips against the back of his neck.

“Mmmhmmm,” Eric moaned.

“Where else?” she asked, running the facecloth back over his shoulders and down his arms.

“Here,” he said softly as he pointed to his jaw.

Moving around the tub, Morgan leaned over and pressed her lips against his jaw. “Better?”

His answer was a moan.

“Where else does it hurt, Eric?” Morgan asked, the facecloth in her hand forgotten.

“Here,” he said, pointing to his throat as he dropped his head back.

Turning her head, she pressed her lips against his throat. “Better?”

“God, yes,” Eric groaned as he pointed to his chin.

“Anywhere else?” Morgan whispered as she kissed his chin.

Groaning, Eric dropped his head forward and took her lips in one of those achingly sweet kisses that she loved as she felt his hand wrap around hers and brought it to his chest and-

“Here.”

* * *

“Is this okay?”Morgan whispered as she moved her lips slowly against his.

“More than okay,” Eric said, feeling like he was going to lose his fucking mind as Morgan took her time running the facecloth over his chest, his shoulders, down his arms, and back again. He would never be able to get enough of her touch, Eric thought, releasing a groan as he broke off the kiss and leaned back as he closed his eyes.

So fucking good…

For several minutes, he sat there, enjoying the feel of Morgan running the facecloth over him, the sounds of water dripping back into the bathtub every time she stopped so that she could add more soap before she went back to driving him out of his fucking mind. She-

“So,” Morgan said conversationally as she ran the facecloth over his chest, “you were telling me about all the ways that you adore me?”

“I wasn’t exactly telling you that,” Eric said as he opened his eyes to find Morgan watching her hand as it moved over his chest.

“Are you sure? Because I seem to remember you sharing all of those things that you adore about me before we were interrupted,” Morgan assured him with a heartfelt sigh that had his lips twitching.

“Is that how you remember it?” Eric murmured as he watched her.

“Vividly,” Morgan said, nodding solemnly as she gestured with her other hand for him to continue.

“Do you happen to remember where I left off?” Eric asked as he debated his next move.

“You were telling me that you adore the very air that I breathe,” Morgan said with a teasing smile as she stopped running the facecloth over his chest so that she could add more soap.

“It does make sense to start at the top,” Eric murmured in agreement.

“It really does,” Morgan said, placing the soap back down and moved to go back to running it over his chest when his next words stopped her.

“Then, perhaps we should go over all of the things that I hate about you.”