Always Only You by Chloe Liese (z-lib.org).epub

His gaze holds mine, like he’s trying to puzzle me out. I only hope he can’t.
Scrunching his eyes shut, he tugs the ice pack over them. “Sorry. Light
hurts.”
His free hand fists by his side. I watch his jaw tic. He’s hurting. And as
weird or maybe even wrong as it sounds, I feel relieved that I’m not the only
one. That Ren might seem like his life is a breeze, but he’s as much a slave to the
fallible human body as I am. He knows what it is to hurt, to be debilitated by
pain.
Slowly, carefully, I set my hand on top of his fist. “Relax,” I say quietly.
“Tensing up makes pain worse.”
He sucks in a breath when I slide my hand over his knuckles, gently prying
open his grip. I pick up his hand, and start a firm massage, running my thumb
along his Mound of Venus, up through the webbings between each finger.
Ren groans. “God, that feels good.”
“Good.”
I tell myself to breathe, even as heat simmers beneath my skin and every hair
on my arms stands up. It’s probably reading Sense and Sensibility for book club
this month, but what is it that’s so sensual about the simple touching of hands?
How can sharing the barest contact feel so intimate?
After a few minutes, I gently set his hand on the bed. Before I can pull it
away, he slides his palm against mine, how our mouths and bodies move in my
daydreams. Soft, slow. Hot. Close.
Our fingers lock, and I don’t know who did it first, only that it happened.
“‘If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine,’” he whispers, eyes
still shut, “‘the gentle sin is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to
smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.’”
I swallow nervously. “Romeo and Juliet.”
“Ten points for Slytherin. Ten more if you can tell me what Romeo’s
saying.”
I grin at him. Ren would know what House of Hogwarts I’m in, not that I’m
terribly hard to peg. “That Juliet’s hand is a place Romeo feels unworthy of, too
pure for him to touch. Which is clearly just a pick-up line, considering he admits
he shouldn’t hold her hand and offers to make it up to her by kissing her.”
Ren’s hand squeezes mine. “And how does Juliet feel about that?”
Breath leaves me, short and fast. My heart’s pounding, emotion knotting in
my throat. “I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. You have an incredible memory. It’s like you see something
once and you can recall it.”
I don’t exactly have a photographic memory, but I do have a damn good one.