But he couldn’t even lift his head.
Uni’s ass. He needed… He needed…
“Duke! Don’t fall asleep. Not yet. Just let me get Kyle.”
“What if I don’t want you to leave?”
He forced his head back far enough that his eyes could connect with hers and saw her complete shock at his too-truthful statement.
Idiot. I’m such a fucking idiot.
But, oh, sweet Blessed Mother Uni, she was beautiful. He wanted to kiss that rounded mouth, put his hands around her tiny waist and lower her down onto his lap.
Onto his fast-fading erection.
He turned his head to the side, resting his cheek against the cool tile. “Make it fast, babe. I’m gonna be out cold in less than a minute.”
Tira didn’t want to leave Duke on the floor of the shower.
She actually worried that if she left him, he wouldn’t be breathing when she returned. Logically, she knew that wasn’t going to happen but her brain wasn’t exactly up to speed.
And she wanted him to explain what he meant by his question. What if he didn’t want her to leave? What did that mean?
As she stared into his dark eyes, pulled in way too many directions to think straight, she put her hands on his cheeks and bent to kiss him on the forehead.
Except for washing his body just now, she hadn’t touched him like this in eight years. For so long, they’d been at each other’s throats, since she’d forced herself to give them up. To push them away.
Nic had seemed to understand why she’d done it. Why she had to keep her distance from them or lose her mind. Nic never made her feel guilty about her withdrawal.
But Duke… He’d taken her actions as a slap to the face. As if they’d become prize fighters in a ring, he’d backed into the opposite corner, his defenses up at all times.
And his tongue could wound at twenty paces.
Whenever he made a smart-ass comment, she couldn’t help herself. She had to fight back, even though she loved him just as much as she loved Nic. She wouldn’t be able to bear it if anything ever happened to either of them. It might just push her over the edge into the abyss her mom was in.
She didn’t linger, but she didn’t just give him a peck and pull away. She pressed her lips against his skin, tried to let him know how she felt without saying the words he didn’t want to hear. At least, not from her.
Blessed Goddess, she couldn’t lose them.
“Don’t move.” She forced the words out of her mouth as she rose and turned away to leave the stall. Avoiding Duke’s gaze, she wrapped a towel around her wet body and hurried back to the bedroom to get Kyle.
Fear made her freeze with her hand on the doorknob. What if something had happened to Nic? What if he’d died while she was in the shower with Duke?
How would they—
No. She couldn’t do anything about Nic. But Duke still needed help.
After a deep breath, she opened the door and looked for Kyle. He was standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed over his chest as he watched Dr. Marone and Tam hover over Nic.
Blessed Goddess, he looked…
She swayed on her feet. He looked dead.
Choking in a breath, she wanted to run to the bed but couldn’t move.
“Tira, hey, it’s okay. He’s gonna be okay.”
Kyle stepped into her field of vision and she looked up at him, expecting to see confirmation of her fears on his face. Then his words finally sank in.
She wanted to drop into a puddle on the floor as relief made her woozy but she forced herself to remember why she was here.
“I need you to help Duke out of the shower. I can’t move him on my own.”
Kyle closed his golden eyes for a brief second before he shook his head as he moved past her. He headed to the bathroom, muttering under his breath the entire way. “That stupid, fucking— Why the hell didn’t he just— Shit, Duke. You’re a stubborn ass.”
“Yeah, and fuck you, too, decurio. Just help me up. I doubt Tam wants me as a permanent fixture in your bathroom.”
Tira’s heart stuttered. The language and the sentiment were all Duke. He made Kyle’s higher rank as decurio sound like a swear word even though his voice had all the strength of a newborn infant.
Kyle’s mouth pulled into a flat line, as if he too recognized how weak Duke sounded. He reached down to pull Duke off the floor, and his expression got grimmer as he practically had to carry Duke back to the living room. Before she left the bathroom, she grabbed several towels from the cabinet then hurried after the men.
Kyle had already gotten Duke onto the couch, where he lay with his head resting against the back cushion. His eyes were closed and he was so beautifully naked that it took her a minute to realize his skin was covered with goose bumps.
As Kyle stepped back, she moved in. The oversized towels still weren’t big enough to cover his entire body. Starting at his shoulders, she pushed him forward just far enough to get one around his back then draped another over his chest. The next she lay across his stomach and lap then she knelt down to wrap another one around his lower legs.
“Can’t stand the sight of me naked, huh?”
She bit back a sharp retort to his taunt and stepped behind the couch to wrap his hair in one of the towels. “You’re cold. I don’t want you to get sick.”
“Not gonna get sick.” Slurring more words now, his eyes closed, he was almost asleep.
Kyle stepped into her line of vision to get her attention, knowing she wouldn’t have heard or comprehended anything he said. All of her attention was focused on Duke. “I’ll go get a blanket for him and a pair of Tam’s sweats for you.”
As Kyle left, she looked down, realizing all she had on was a towel and her undies. She’d completely forgotten but now her own flesh broke out in goose bumps.
She shivered but Duke didn’t notice. She was pretty sure he’d fallen asleep or passed out.
Standing above him, she watched his rugged features soften as she gently squeezed the moisture from his longer-than-normal hair.
Now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off, she’d started to shake. Her hands trembled. She needed to ask Kyle for a comb. Duke’s hair would be a tangled mess if she didn’t get it combed out before it dried completely.
Not that he’d care. And not that she should.
They’d survived.
She hadn’t lost them.
And yet, nothing had changed.
“Tira.”
Tam’s voice cut through the growing haze in her head. She sniffled as she looked up, realizing her face was wet with tears.
“Nic’s asleep.” Tam’s voice was so soft, Tira had to concentrate to hear it. “Gio believes he’ll be fine but we’re going to have Nica come take a look at him if he starts to run a fever or has complications.”
Her best friend, Nica, had recently taken over her mother’s position as healer in the boschetta. As streghe, witches of Etruscan descent, she and Nica had been reared together in New Tarquin. “She, Tanner and Jensen took a…a trip to the shore for the weekend.”
The brothers and Nica were on a belated honeymoon and Tira would hate for them to have to cut it short but Nica would be here in a heartbeat if she knew Nic and Duke needed her help. Nica’s Goddess Gift of healing was a true gift.
Hers…
“Tira, maybe you want to sit down before you fall over.”
She forced a smile and shook her head. “I need to get him dried off so he doesn’t catch a cold. He shouldn’t catch a chill. Do you have a comb I can borrow?”
Tam nodded her head, her expression in nurse mode. Compassionate and calm. “Of course.”
“Tira, here’s the blanket and the sweats.” Kyle spoke from behind her and she jumped. “Hey, why don’t you let me take the towels and get him spread out on the couch? And why don’t you have a seat before you fall over.”