He took a deep breath, turning from her, putting his hands on his head as he walked around the kitchen.

“I’m gonna go,” she muttered as she jumped off the counter, heading for the door. She didn’t make it far before Shea grabbed her.

“No, don’t go. I just got home. I’ve missed you,” he said in her hair, kissing the back of her neck, “Please don’t leave.”

How could she say no?

“Ok.”

“Good,” he said with a grin as he pulled her closer to him, “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

Shea laid on his back with Elli across his chest. Her hair fell across his neck, and he had never felt so damn good in his life. That mouth of hers was going to be the death of him. His mind was still buzzing after the love she gave him. He moved his hands through her hair, down her back, to the short little shorts she wore to bed. His hand grazed her ass before going back up and repeating the process all over again.

Shea didn’t know what possessed her to get frisky with him, and he would not be questioning it either. He would just enjoy the ride that was Elli. She blew his mind with surprises. He just wished she would have let him please her. She was a sexy little thing and God knew he wanted more. Shea wasn’t even in pain anymore; the cut along his collarbone was forgotten after the show she had put on for him in the living room. He might need to rethink hating that couch, since obviously magic could happen there.

“I need to ask you something.”

Shea looked down at her as she turned her head to look up at him; he smiled, moving her hair out of eyes. Even in the dark, with only the moon as their source of light, her eyes were as bright as ever.

“Sure.”

Elli smiled nervously, before taking a deep breath.

“Can you come to dinner with my family the Friday before you leave? I’m gonna warn you, it’s gonna be hell.”

Shea laughed, and nodded his head. He would basically walk through fire for her right now.

“Of course I can.”

“It's Friday night, like I said. You don’t have a game, and you don’t leave town until that Monday. That’s when you leave for the month.”

“Sounds good, babe.”

“Its gonna be hell,” she repeated.

“It’ll be fine, how bad can it be?”

“You’ll see when you don’t want anything to do with me afterwards.”

He outright laughed at that one, bringing her hand to his mouth, kissing her wrist.

“Your family can’t scare me away, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

She smiled sweetly, running her hand down his jaw.

“So this means you’ll meet my mom and dad the next time they’re in town?”

“If it is after you meet my family and you actually still wanna be with me, sure.”

He smiled, turning to bite her hand softly. He loved biting her, she always had the sexiest intake of breath, and it set him on fire.

“Shut up with all that. It’s nonsense. I think my parents are coming in for one of the November home games, so I’ll set up a dinner if they do.”

“Maybe I could cook.”

“That would be awesome. My parents are big seafood people; I doubt they’ve eaten very much southern cooking.”

“Sounds good,” she said with a smile as she drew circles around his pecs. He noticed that when she looked at his chest, she didn’t see his scars, she just saw him, which made him feel so good inside. It just bothered him that she couldn’t understand that it was going to be like that for him when he would finally be allowed to see her naked. God, how he wanted that, so bad.

“Can I ask you something, and you answer me honestly?” Elli asked.

He looked down at her and smiled.

“Of course, you know I don’t lie to you.”

She nodded, looking back down at his chest.

“Was it good? I haven’t done it in years and I was nervous.”

Her nervous babble always made him smile, but when they were talking about something serious, he didn’t dare smile. He had never been with someone that needed so much reassurance. He just didn’t understand how she didn’t realize how amazing she was.

“Elli, baby, it was spectacular. I’ll probably be hard for days just thinking about it. Really baby, amazing.”

She smiled sweetly, and leaned up to kiss him.

He returned the kissed before she laid down beside him, snuggling into his chest.

“I’m so tired,” she whispered into the space below his armpit.

“Me, too.”

That was the last thing said before they both contently fell asleep.

Chapter 13

It was pitch black when Shea opened his eyes. All he could hear was Elli’s soft breathing and the only light in the room was the alarm clock, which read 2:00 AM. He slid out of bed, trying not to wake her as he went into the bathroom to do his business. He should have never finished that bottle of water before bed. Shea was having such naughty, sexy dreams about his Elli, which were interrupted by his need to relieve himself.

After washing his hands, he went back into the bedroom and climbed into bed quietly, stretching out next to Elli. She scooted closer to him, nuzzling her nose into his neck with a sigh. God, she was sweet. Her hands came up on his chest, moving softly as she nuzzled. He closed his eyes, loving the feeling of her soft hands on his chest, and her sweet little nose at the base of his throat. He moved his hands up and down the back of her thighs, before hooking her leg over his hip. Her chest pressed against his and he couldn’t suppress the sigh that escaped his lips. The tank top she wore slid down a little, showing more of her milky white skin. He looked down at her cle**age, then back up to her sleeping face.