“Tatum,” he whispered back.
“You’re awake?” she asked. He didn’t make a move to take his hands off her ass. She was so close, and God, he wanted to kiss her but then he remembered just how their last kiss ended. He decided that having her on top of him wasn’t a bad way of getting what he wanted from her—a conversation.
“You fell,” she said.
“Yeah—I kind of figured that, since I’m laying on the floor and all,” he teased.
“Did you hit your head?” she asked. Her hands roamed his body as if she was checking him over for any new injuries.
“I don’t think so,” he breathed. Her breasts were literally in his face as she leaned over his body, checking out his head for any bumps or bruises. God, she was going to kill him if she didn’t stop searching his body for new injuries. “I’m fine,” he grumbled.
“People who are fine don’t fall to the floor and pass out, Ryder,” she challenged. “How about you let me run you to the emergency room and have you checked out?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “I just got a little dizzy and lost consciousness. I just need my pain pills and then I’ll be fine,” he insisted. Sure, he was lying, and going to the ER was most likely the best plan but he refused to spend the night in one of the uncomfortable beds there while they looked him over.
“Well, you can’t stay here on the floor,” Tatum said. She shimmied back down his body and his cock was all for whatever she had planned. He loved the way she felt in his hands and up against his body. Tatum almost even made him forget his pain. He palmed her ass again, holding her against his erection and she gasped and squirmed even more.
“I don’t know, Honey,” he drawled. “I think I like it down here on the floor.”
Tatum slapped at his bare chest, “You can’t be serious,” she said. “You just fell and you want to have sex?”
He nodded at her, ignoring the pain in his head, “Oh, I’m quite serious, Baby. My cock didn’t get the memo that having you on top of me shouldn’t excite him.” He rubbed his erection on her, feeling her heat through the sexy little panties she wore. He loved the way she filled out her tiny t-shirt but all he wanted to do was strip her out of it and her lacy panties and sink into her body.
“We need to get up. Stop that” she said again, protesting his hands roaming her body. “Ryder,” she shouted. He sighed and pulled his hands free from her body.
“Fine, but you’re going to need to help me up, Honey. Grab one of my crutches and hand it to me, please,” he said. Tatum got up and found his crutches, holding one out to him as if she was afraid to get too close to him and end up on the floor again. He slowly sat up and she was immediately by his side, pulling his arm around her shoulder. He propped the crutch under his other shoulder and put the majority of his weight on it, not wanting to crush her.
“Count of three,” he said. Tatum nodded and when he got to three, she stood, pulling him up with her. She was stronger than he gave her credit for. “Thanks, Honey.”
“Sit on the bed and I’ll get your pain meds,” she said. He did as she ordered, still feeling a bit woozy, but not wanting to admit it. Tatum came back with the pill bottle in one hand and a cup of water in the other. “You know, it says to take this medication with food. You didn’t eat much dinner earlier, did you?” she asked. He hadn’t, but that was because she had run off and he had chased—well, more like hobbled after her, leaving his dinner behind.
“No,” he breathed.
“Yeah—I went downstairs after you went to bed and cleaned up the kitchen. I put the leftovers in the refrigerator. I’ll go warm some up. You sit here and don’t take these until I get back,” she demanded. He gave her a mock salute and she rolled her eyes at him. Honestly, she was worse than any drill sergeant he’d ever had, barking orders at him, and she was a hell of a lot more intimidating.
He propped his pillows behind his body and leaned back against them. He must have hit his head with the way it was hurting, but that wasn’t something he planned on telling Tatum. She was already bossy enough when it came to his care—he didn’t need to give her anything more to stress about. He still wanted answers about why she had run off and hid in her room after their kiss at dinner and if she knew he was hurting, she’d insist that he rest. First, he wanted answers. Then, he’d rest.
“Okay—I brought you up some orange juice too. It will give you some sugar and when my blood sugar is low, it’s what I have to drink,” she admitted. Tatum flicked on the lights and he blinked against the brightness.
“Low blood sugar?” he questioned, squinting up at her.
“Yeah—I have diabetes. It’s manageable but I have to check my blood sugar every so often and if my levels are off, I have to give myself an injection. My medication is in your fridge, sorry,” she said.
“Not a problem,” he said. “Sorry, I had no idea.”
Tatum giggled, “Well, it’s not like I’m wearing a sign or anything. Unless you count this,” she said, holding up her wrist to show him a shiny metal bracelet. “It’s my medical alert bracelet. Jackson bought it for me when we found out about my condition.” Ryder took the tray from her and put it across his lap. God, the food smelled so good, his stomach growled. Not finishing dinner wasn’t his best decision, but he didn’t seem to be making good choices lately. Tatum turned to leave and he reached out and grabbed her wrists.
“Stay with me—you know while I eat,” he said. She seemed torn about what to do and when he added a pathetic, “Please,” to his request, she climbed onto his bed and sat down next to him, covering her bare legs with his blanket. “Thank you.” He spooned a mouthful of chicken and dumplings into his mouth and moaned.
“You like it?” she almost whispered.
“So fucking good,” he agreed.
“You know, you really should follow the directions on the medicine bottle, Ryder,” she chided. He was beginning to like the way she was trying to take care of him. He never really had that in his life—well, besides his mother. He moved away from home when he was just eighteen, when he joined the Air Force, and had been taking care of himself ever since.
“Got it,” he said around a mouthful of food. “Thank you, nurse,” The image of her dressed as a sexy nurse made him hot and he shoveled another bite of food into his mouth to cover up his moan.
“You hit your head, Ryder,” she assessed, checking out the lump on his forehead. Tatum ran her fingers through his hair and Ryder couldn’t help himself, he leaned into her touch. “I thought you said you didn’t hit your head.”
“Honestly, I’m still a little dizzy. I think I did hit my head, but I can’t remember what happened besides feeling woozy and going down. The next memory I have is you on top of me, waking me up.” He flashed her his smile and she giggled.
“Well, you wouldn’t wake up, so I had to get on top of you and be rather persistent,” she said.
“By persistent, you mean that you rubbed yourself all over my body, right?” he teased.
“Did not,” she defended. “You were just tough to rouse.” He looked down at his dick and back at her, cocking his eyebrow at her. “Well, everything except that was hard to get up,” she said. He laughed at her word choice—she seemed to always be sticking her foot in her mouth. “Shit,” she grumbled. “I can’t seem to say the right thing around you.”