How to Knit a Love Song (21 page)

“What the hell? Are you okay? What the
hell?
”

Clara scuttled out behind him, her tail between her legs.

“Turn around!” Abigail shouted.

But he didn’t, he just stood there looking frightened and angry, staring down at her.

Abigail dragged the towel off the rack next to her and pulled it into the water. She used it to cover herself as best she could, but she knew it was too late. There wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen.

“Do you mind?” Abigail yelled. The edge of the towel floated near her neck. She used her hands to push it back down in the water.

“Yes, I do! Can you please tell me why you just screamed bloody murder and scared the shit out of me? And why you’re bleeding in my tub? And why—oh hell, just start with those two.”

“Your cat scratched me.”

Cade raked his hands through his hair. He was wearing only plaid boxer shorts, and Abigail had a hard time not staring at him. “You took a bath with my cat?”

“Duncan pushed his way in, and then Clara followed, and the room wasn’t big enough for the both of them. He jumped on my stomach and then launched off it.” Dang, it hurt quite a bit. She wanted to look at it, but he needed to leave first.

But Cade knelt at the side of the tub. “Let me see.”

“Are you completely insane?” Abigail didn’t care if she sounded rude. “I’m naked in here, you know.”

“You think I don’t know that? You think I also don’t know that your foot is in the water, and it shouldn’t be, and you won’t have any way to stand up?”

“I have another leg, you know.”

“You woke me up and scared the crap out of me. Let me see the damage. Now.” He pulled at the towel and Abigail pulled it back.

“You don’t even like me. Remember, I’m supposed to stay out of your way.”

“I’m still mad about the store. But for God’s sake, I can control myself around you. I’m not an animal.”

He tugged the towel up just enough to move it so that Abigail’s stomach was exposed under the water. Abigail kept a tight grip on the towel to prevent further exposure.

“Nice,” he said.

Abigail peered down at herself. Seven or eight puncture wounds were visible, as were four red stripes. The water was beginning to turn light pink around the area.

“We have to get you out of there.”

“We? I can do it myself. Turn around.”

Cade rolled his eyes but faced the door.

Abigail used one arm to hold the side of the tub and her other arm to keep the towel around her. She pulled her legs up, trying to ignore the pain from her foot. She used her good leg to stand and steadied herself on the towel rail. The towel, now out of the water, felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. She’d have to drop it so she could use her other hand.

“I need you to leave.”

“You don’t need help? Fine.” Cade pushed his way out of the small room and shut the door behind him, but Abigail didn’t hear him walking away. The floorboards creaked only once.

Abigail dropped the towel back into the water. Using both hands, she pulled herself out of the water and swung her good foot up and out. But the floor below the tub was lower than she expected and she slipped. She knocked her bad foot against the side of the tub as she tried to correct her balance.

She hissed in pain.

Cade must have been standing just outside the door, listening. “I heard that. I’m coming in. Ready? Three…two…”

Abigail grabbed her robe and wrapped it around herself, still trying to breathe around the pain.

“…one.” Cade pushed open the door.

“Careful.” Abigail held up a hand to prevent the door from hitting her. “I can’t move. Not just yet. Give me a sec.” She gripped the sink so hard her knuckles turned white.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” But Cade’s voice was softer than normal. He navigated around her, careful not to jostle her. He moved the stool that had been in the corner of the room so that it was next to her. He put his hands under her arms.

“You’re green. Sit.”

With his hands supporting her, Abigail sank to the stool. “Well, at least the chunks Duncan took out of me don’t hurt anymore.”

Cade kept one hand on her shoulder while he half turned and rummaged in the medicine cabinet. He pulled objects out as he spoke. “Band-Aids, Neosporin, hydrogen peroxide…” He looked down at her. “Ace bandage, two of them…”

“Well-stocked bathroom.”

“You never know. Now. First the foot.”

“Don’t touch. Hurts.”

Cade knelt in front of her. “You’ll be fine.” He put one hand on her calf.

“Hurts!”

“You’re a big baby.”

“I am not.”

“Then suck it up.” But again, his tone didn’t match his words. “Just breathe through it. I’ll be done quick.”

He removed the soaked bandage, then picked up a hand towel to dry her foot. He used almost no pressure as he eased the cloth over it. Then he wrapped her foot, starting at her arch, rolling the Ace bandage around and around, using his hands to smooth out the fabric as he went.

Abigail breathed. It didn’t hurt as much as it should, actually. If she’d done it, she would have made it too tight, she was sure. But his bandaging felt perfect, just like the doctor’s had. The snugness of it eased the pain. And the way his hands looked, moving from her instep to her calf, was a distraction all of its own.

“Now for the blood.”

What? Oh, that. Abigail loosened the tie on her robe and peeked at her stomach. She’d almost forgotten about the scratches. “They’re fine. Almost stopped bleeding.”

He held up the tube of antiseptic. “You’re getting some of this anyway.”

Was he enjoying this? Abigail scanned his face. Yes, he was. It was some kind of game to him.

Was she enjoying it? Abigail was stunned to find she wanted to play along. She’d worry about the why of it later.

“How do you plan on putting that on me?” She tried to flutter her lashes like Janet did. It just felt silly.

Cade said, “The doctor recommends you open your robe just a bit more. Let me take a look at the damage.” He was better at this than she was. He had more practice, she reminded herself.

Heat flushed Abigail’s face.

She parted the robe at her stomach a bit more making sure her breasts and lap were still covered. “Would you mind?”

Cade’s voice was hoarse. “Not at all.”

He smoothed the antiseptic cream against the scratched and punctured skin. The cream was cool, his fingers warm.

“I’m sorry about what I said in the hospital. The whole store thing shocked the hell out of me. I was confused. I was rude.”

“You were. I accept your apology, but…” Abigail’s voice trailed off and she shut her eyes.

What should have hurt Abigail didn’t. Her brain felt fuzzy. She wanted more scratches, more places for him to touch. She was having a hard time catching her breath.

Cade, still kneeling, looked up at her. In his eyes was a question that Abigail couldn’t answer in words.

His hand stilled on her skin. It moved to her waist. Then he placed his other hand on the other side of her waist. He stood, slowly, bringing her with him. He touched the skin just below her breast.

He said, “What is it with you and me and this bathroom?”

All she needed was a kiss. Abigail looked at him but no words came. And his eyes answered her.

Cade’s mouth moved to cover hers. His hands held her lightly, but his mouth plundered. Abigail moaned. Arched her back. She moved his hand so that it cupped her breast. He gasped and pulled back, looking at her.

“Wait,” he said. “You should go to bed and rest. Yeah, that’s a good idea. I should carry you there. And then I should leave you there. Right?” He tripped over the words so that they all ran together.

“You shouldn’t leave me there.”

“What?”

Abigail wanted this. Suddenly, she needed this more than she needed air. She moved his left hand so that it cupped her other breast under the robe. “You should carry me there. And you shouldn’t leave.”

Cade kissed her again, hard and hot. Then he made sure the door was fully open before he moved to lift her.

“I’ll go slowly. Hold on.”

“Hurry,” she whispered in his ear as he lifted her.

In her room, he shooed Clara off the bed and set Abigail down.

She tried to have a clear thought, just one. But she wanted this.

“We need…” he said.

She finished the sentence. “A condom. Do you…?”

He nodded and disappeared out of the room. Abigail breathed. This was the guy who wanted her gone. Who didn’t want yarn anywhere near him. Who hated the idea of a yarn store, who’d fought with her twice today already. This was the guy who snapped and snarled.

This was the man who’d held her when she got scared that night. Who’d made her breakfast. Who’d rescued her on horseback. Who’d bandaged her foot so that it didn’t hurt.

This was the man who looked at her like no one else ever had.

She untied the belt of her robe and dropped it to the floor. When Cade entered, she smiled at him. She felt a wave of happiness.

She also felt her hands shaking.

Cade laughed, a low sound. “I was going to ask if you’re still sure, but I think you just answered that.”

“Please?” She held out her hands, and he came to her. His mouth covered hers again. They moved up the bed, carefully, so that her foot wasn’t jarred. Abigail used her hands to push down his boxer shorts. He helped, kicking them away.

Abigail smiled against his mouth. “We seem to be suddenly naked.”

“Baby, let me show you how naked we are.”

Cade nibbled the side of Abigail’s neck, his tongue lightly stroking the sensitive skin around her ear. She half giggled, half gasped as he bit her earlobe. He breathed in her ear, and delicious chills ran over her body.

She wanted more. She wanted him.

“Please,” she said again, and drew his head to her breast.

He obeyed her wishes; his mouth, hot and demanding, lapped her nipple, his tongue dancing around its sensitivity, then grasping the peak, tugging slightly. He pulled harder with his teeth. His hand was on her other breast, mimicking the motions of his mouth.

She tested the thought of Samuel lightly in her mind.

No. She wasn’t scared. She could only think of Cade, what he was doing to her, could only feel her delight in him.

With his mouth still sucking her nipple, teasing it, licking and biting, his hand started drifting down, toward the center of her heat, where she throbbed.

She laughed out loud and then gasped again. “I’m giddy. More, more.”

He laughed and whispered, “You sure?”

“Hell, yes,” she said. “Please, you have to…”

She took his hand and led it down her body, gasping as he touched her. In no uncertain terms, she placed his hand where she wanted it to be.

Cade followed, and moved his fingers slowly, exploring. She writhed, moaning under his touch. When he found the center of her cries, he focused there, making slow circles, using her wetness to his advantage.

Her breathing sharpened, quickened, and she knew she was close. “Don’t stop,” she begged.

“I won’t,” he whispered, his mouth still against hers. “I’m right here.”

His fingers touched, circled, teased, and did exactly what she wanted them to.

She shuddered, and groaned, and shook. Only a second away, only a breath away, and she needed more, now.

“I want you. Now. Please, please, Cade, please,
now
.”

He followed her, moving swiftly so that he was on top of her, parting her legs with his hips, and with one thrust that took her breath from her body, he was in her, still pressing that perfect spot that let her, brought her—oh, God, that was perfect. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, could only feel, as he filled her and kept moving.

She came in undulating waves that spiraled around her, around the thickness of him.

He moaned, and cursed, kissed and bit her neck as he moved in her. “I can feel you coming,” he managed to say, which made her clench even more tightly.

She moved against him, drawing from him what he had just drawn from her. His breathing grew faster and he gasped, clutching her tightly. In the last moment, when their movements were hard, and slick, and urgent, his hands went to the sides of her face.

She opened her eyes to find him staring at her, and she watched him hit his zenith, his eyes darkening and widening, until she felt herself moving up into him. That moment, those few seconds of falling into his eyes, as he came—those were as intimate as everything that had gone on before. Her heart fluttered—she felt her breath quicken again, in a different way.

“Abigail,” he breathed, and then his weight was against her, all of him.

She put her arms around him.

They didn’t speak. Abigail felt Cade’s limbs go limp, and he grew heavier on top of her. She shifted, easing her hip from under his. He slid to the side.

She faced him, gazing at him in light filtering in from the hall. She felt her own eyes growing heavy, but she stared at his face a little bit more.

The moment of passion. It could hide or show anything, couldn’t it?

She yawned. He was so comfortable to lean against, his leg thrown over hers, her back against a pillow, supported by his chest.

Just before she closed her eyes, he opened his.

He looked at her, and it echoed the last moment of passion—his eyes were still so dark, and the look was the same. She felt like she was drifting forward, into his gaze. He leaned forward, caught her mouth, and kissed her, the sweetest kiss that went on and on.

She remembered nothing more.

Chapter Twenty-three

When it comes to deciding what kind of shaping to use, consider the recipient before you choose raglan, saddle-shoulder, or set-in. If he has very wide shoulders, just consider yourself lucky. Then use whatever technique you love best.

—
E.C
.

C
ade’s first thought, after he woke, was about blueberry muffins. He knew for a fact Abigail liked blueberry muffins. She’d asked for one at the diner last week and had gobbled his when it was offered to her.