Jordyn didn't know how to respond, not that Lucian gave her the chance to. Wordlessly, he crossed the room and sat on the bed before untangling the fabric around her legs. Then, he was lifting the soft sheets and lying under them with her. Lucian propped his head in his palm while he was situated on his side, watching Jordyn with that piercing stare of his.
Lucian, while clear in his interest of her, had been very proper in all aspects. He never crossed any boundaries, was always polite when she needed help changing her bandages, and didn't give even the slightest hint he expected something from Jordyn unless she was willing to give it. He also respected her choices on other things, which helped for her to trust him. Like stopping the dose of morphine the very next day after she woke up, even after Paulie suggested she keep taking it for another day or so to help her sleep.
Morphine was a narcotic-addiction ran rampant in her family history. Besides that, Jordyn wanted her mind to be clear around these people, especially Lucian. She trusted him without even knowing him. What she didn't trust, however, was her thoughts and choices when she was too high to think everything through properly. Her pain was severe for the first couple of days, but she gritted her teeth and handled it with over the counter pain meds that didn't make her feel like she was swimming through clouds.
"Will this help?" Jordyn asked, waving between them.
"It might," Lucian answered with a grin. "I'm here, so now you can sleep without fears ruining those dreams of yours."
The faintest smile crossed Jordyn's lips. It was almost funny how his words didn't seem like an excuse to get into bed with her. The previous panic had all but ebbed away, and Jordyn couldn't help but feel the exhaustion creeping back in. She rested back into the bed on her side, still facing Lucian. Comfort seeped into her veins.
The gentlest touch of a hot palm pressing to her naked hip and fingers curling tightly to hold her had Jordyn's eyes flying wide.
"Shhh," Lucian soothed. "Sleep."
Jordyn almost laughed. Sleep would be impossible with his hand on her body. Every nerve had suddenly sizzled to life and zoned in on that one place. She was far too aware of her reactions to this man and the bubbling waves of desire pooling in her middle.
"That's not going to be possible," Jordyn replied faintly.
Lucian rubbed his hand back and forth on her hip, up the line of the cotton briefs she wore and then almost down to her knee before going back up again. "Better?"
Sure. Now, the heat was traveling all over her damn legs and straight between her thighs instead of just staying in one spot. That didn't mean she didn't like it because she sure as shit did.
"Jordyn?" Lucian prodded.
"It's … good," she managed to say.
Lucian's hand wandered higher, edging under the hem of the too big T-shirt of his she wore. His touch was soft, but insistent, his fingers barely grazing while his palm was flat down. "Can I?"
"Do what, exactly?"
"Touch you," he replied in that same frank way. "Nothing more, I promise."
She trusted his words, as far as that went. He was always so careful with her when helping her take care of her injuries and getting her comfortable if she was particularly sore. Most of the bandages and gauze were gone, though a few on the bad spots remained. Still, Jordyn was curious. "Tell me why."
"I want to explore you. The expanse of your skin All of the curves and dips. The places where you're the softest, or the most sensitive. What will make your heart race, your toes curl, or your body tremble. What you'll do when I touch you here," Lucian said huskily, a finger slipping under the hem of her shirt to sweep her stomach with a teasing graze. "Or the sounds you'll make when I kiss you while I learn you. Will they be loud and shaking, or mewled and quiet?"
Jordyn's breath audibly hitched. "Lucian … "
"Like that right there," he murmured. "My name in your mouth. Sweet and low with a little bit of air behind it. Wanting me. As if I'm the only man you need. I want to learn those sounds and what makes them … all of them."
"You think you can learn those things just by touching, hmm?"
Lucian cocked a brow challengingly. "I know I can. Let me."
Jordyn couldn't find it in herself to deny him, especially when she was already a pool of longing hunger at just his words alone, so she didn't.
Needing no further prompting, Lucian's hand skipped under her shirt. A shiver crawled over her skin as he traced a path along the contour of her flat stomach. His touch was gentle but seeking. Faint taps of his fingers danced up her side, along the curve in her waist, and against the swell of her breast. As the tips of those exploring fingers swept over her breast a second time, his thumb rolling over her peaking nipple, Jordyn's skin pebbled all over.
She hadn't quite realized it, but her breaths were stuttering again.
"Mmm, there," Lucian whispered. "I like that."
Jesus, so did Jordyn.
"How would you sound if that was my mouth and not my fingers, sweetheart?"
Jordyn's eyes fluttered closed as a soft moan tumbled from her chest. Then, without warning, Lucian was moving much closer. Close enough that his warm breath washed over her cheeks and his nose was grazing hers. His hand left the confines of her shirt long enough to grasp the back of her knee and pull her leg up to hook around his hip.
The new position allowed Jordyn to know exactly how Lucian's body was reacting to his study of her. The hard ridge of his erection pressed to Jordyn's stomach, a pulse in his shaft resounding straight through to her own heartbeat. Silently, Lucian went back to discovering her body. She was thoroughly entranced with his hot hands and teasing fingers.
Up to her face, his fingers traced the landscape of her cheeks and jaw, ghosting over lax lips and fanned eyelashes. Along her back, his fingers pressed a little harder to her spine, down to the line of cotton briefs where he briefly dipped below the fabric to roll the tips of his digits to her swell of her backside.
The noises crawling out from the back of her throat and climbing out of her lungs couldn't be stopped. Not when he tickled the creases of her elbows, or when his mouth brushed to hers with the same innocent kiss like he gave her the first time. The almost soothing touches lulled her into a comforting daze she wasn't expecting. At the same time, she was still hyperaware of his thick cock and the obvious desire he must have felt, never mind her own. Jordyn was so turned on she was burning hot with an ache deep in her blood and bones.
"Sleep," she heard Lucian order. Jordyn's eyes finally opened again, confusion settling in her heart. She met bright hazel eyes watching her intently. While Jordyn was still sore and healing from the attack, that didn't mean her body didn't want this man entirely. "Just touching, I promised. I'm here, so no more nightmares. You can dream of something beautiful instead."
Oh, she didn't doubt that for a moment.
• • •
"Hey, Skip."
Jordyn poked her head out around the enclave that led to the tiny kitchen. Her spot kept her well enough hidden from Lucian's guest seeing her. He seemed to have a lot of these guests lately.
"Morning," Lucian replied, setting his gun to the table in plain sight.
Turned away from her, Jordyn had a great view of the eagle wings tattooed on his upper back. He'd been quick to jump out of the shower with no questions asked when she told him someone was buzzing the apartment and had been for fifteen minutes.
A white envelope was passed between the men, and like his gun, Lucian simply tossed it to the coffee table without giving it a second glance. Jordyn suspected there was money in that envelope. She watched a lot of cash travel through this apartment in the last couple of days.
"Why the early payments this month? I'm not used to this, but I could get that way fast."
The young man grinned, shrugging. "Word got around you were in the neighborhood. Probably got some of the guys thinking you were checking up on us."
"Everything good, then?"
"Fine, Skip. I'm going to need another twenty kilos by the end of the month."
"Talk to my brother. You've got his contacts. I'm not dealing with managing the product for a while."
"Something got you busy, Skip?" the young man asked.
Lucian turned his cheek, giving Jordyn a view of his profile and smirk. "Something like that. Just communicate with my brother, like I said. He'll point you to the contacts for the month from there."
"Anything else?" Lucian asked.
"Nope."
"See you next month."
When the apartment door was shut and the two deadbolts were locked, Jordyn stepped out of her hiding place. "Why Skip?"
Lucian crossed the space to grab up the envelope on the coffee table. Jordyn was right in her assumption that it held cash. He answered her while he flipped through the bills, counting how much was there. It was a lot.