It wasn't his threat or the fact that she really had nowhere else to go that convinced her to get into the Mercedes and let James drive them home to the condo. In the end...it was the exhausted, wild, frantic look in his eyes while he made the demand that swayed her.
Honestly, he looked like he hadn't slept in days, his five o'clock shadow dark, his handsome face marked heavily with stress and weariness.
He's scared. Worried about me.
Her chest aching with tenderness, unable to let him go on freaking out about her, she caved in and let him take her home.
She'd worry about her additional pain later, when it came time to leave again. For now, she wanted Simon to relax, sleep and eat.
Screw her fears of hurting later. The look of despair on Simon's face hurt more than any pain she would suffer in the future.
I'll just have to suck it up!
Really, what other option did she have? She could watch Simon suffer, or she could worry about the pain later.
She chose the second option, the relieved look on his face worth every bit of hurt she would suffer in the future.
Chapter 2
A few nights later found Simon tossing and turning in his massive bed, unable to sleep. Rolling onto his back, frustrated and pissed-off, he stared up at the ceiling, his eyes wide open when they should be closed, catching up on lost sleep. Shit! He hadn't slept more than a few hours every night since the evening that Kara had left him. Now that she was back, he was still restless.
I love you.
Her whispered confession in the Emergency Room haunted him every fucking minute of every day. Had she meant it? Had she even been talking to him? She had been confused, disoriented, barely aware of her surroundings. There was no evidence that she even remembered speaking those words, so how did he know who she meant them for? Maybe it was just mindless babble, brought on by her injuries. He didn't even know if he wanted those words to be intended for him.
Oh, hell yeah, I do.
Groaning softly, he shoved another pillow under his head, trying to ignore his swollen cock as it pulsated beneath the sheets, creating a large tent underneath the coverings. Christ, could he ever think about Kara without his balls turning blue?
Actually, yeah, he knew he could. Scared shitless after the attack, his cock hadn't been his primary concern. Seeing her appear so fragile, pale and helpless in a hospital bed, had nearly destroyed him, making him ache in other areas above his waist. For several days, his driving need to protect her, to keep her safe, had been his primary motivation.
His lips turned up in a small smile as he remembered her outrage over the fact that he had contacted the college, explaining the situation and getting her absence for the rest of the week approved. He had thought he was being helpful, smoothing things over so she had time to recover. His crazy woman had actually thought she was going to return to classes the day after she was discharged from the hospital, and she had raked him over the coals for interfering in her life. She had gotten right up in his face and ripped him a new asshole. Kara had no problem challenging him, and her intelligent mind was provocative. Maybe...just maybe...part of him enjoyed it. Had a woman ever opposed him, questioned him, called him out for a behavior she didn't like? The women in his life used him, let him use their bodies. None of them had ever cared enough to get in his face about anything.
She's getting to me. Bad.
He could feel his internal walls beginning to crumble and it wasn't a comfortable sensation.
Fuck. Pay. Move on.
It was the way he had interacted with women his entire adult life, but Kara was changing all that, tempting him to trust her. And fuck, he was tempted. It might be excruciatingly painful when her eyes bored into him as though she were peering into his soul, but knowing that she cared enough to do it? That was intoxicating, bewitching.
She didn't give a shit about his scars, his money or elevated social status.
And she thinks I'm hot enough to melt glaciers in Antarctica.
Sam had told him about his conversation with Kara, how she had declared Simon the hottest Hudson. He and his brother had never been competitive. They had always been too busy working together to survive and then to thrive. Although they liked to verbally spar, Simon loved his brother. Fiercely. Yeah, Sam was fucked-up when it came to women, but he could hardly chastise his brother for that when he was just as bad. Probably worse. However, he had gotten perverse satisfaction from knowing that Kara had verbally slapped Sam down during her conversation with him at the fast food place before the attack.
I love you.
Gritting his teeth, he rolled to his side, punching his pillow and trying to get comfortable. He had to forget, get a grip on his emotions, stop wishing for more than her presence. He had the comfort of knowing she was safe. Wasn't that enough? At least he wasn't going insane from not knowing where she was, if she was okay.