Rewired (The Progress Series) by Amy Queau Page A

against her. The minutes that followed became tender as the smell of Charlie’s sweet perfume and Jesse’s robust scent circled the room. He became lightheaded at the thought of having her there, forever.
    He slid up her torso and kissed her swollen lips.
    “Are you crying?” he asked, after noticing a glisten in the corner of her eye.
    She sniffed. “No.”
    Holy shit, did I hurt you?
    “Are you—”
    “No, I’m okay.” She offered a hint of a smile. “It’s been a…long night. And we need to get something on that lip of yours. It’s bleeding.”
    Jesse swiped his mouth and brought his fingers up to look at them. He nodded and reluctantly tore himself away from her. He helped her down off the island and she looked around, appearing self-conscious of her exposed body.
    He quickly grabbed a nearby blanket and brought it to her. “Here,” he said, with a flash of a smile and handed her the quilt to cover herself.
    “Thanks.”
    Charlie followed Jesse into the bathroom and he dug out a small soap container from the back of the vanity drawer. Inside, the box held a few cotton swabs, bandages, and sterile wipes.
    She smiled and took the container from him. “Let me do this. Sit down.”
    After taking his seat on the lidded toilet, she took one end of the swab and pressed it against his bottom lip, trying to soak up a small pool of blood on its surface. He parted his lips and closed his eyes.
    “Do you have any peroxide?” she asked.
    “No.”
    She giggled. “Of course you don’t.”
    He smiled, opening the wound again.
    “Stop it. You’re making it worse,” she said with a laugh. “We need to get you some more stuff around here. Like…furniture, for one. Maybe some fresh produce. A plant or two?” she said as she continued tending to his lip.
    He nodded, pretending to hear what she said. Her touch, leaving tingles in its wake, was fluid yet frail.
    “You know, it’s—” he stopped himself.
    “What? It’s what?” she whispered, pausing briefly with her repairs.
    It’s moments like these when you take my breath away.
    “Nothing,” he replied quickly with his eyes shut.
    A silence lapsed and he heard the clack of the soap container closing.
    “Well, I don’t think there’s much more I can do. Just…try not to smile for the next day or two,” she said.
    He inhaled deeply and took in the faint scent of Charlie hovering over him. The corner of his mouth lifted as he opened his eyes.
    Looking up at her, he followed the direction of her stare. Her expression was mournful as she stared at scarring on his chest. Glancing at his face, she tipped her head for approval to touch him.
    His gaze went rigid; he clenched his jaw as if her touch would inflict pain, and looked away.
    “I won’t hurt you,” she said, trying to swallow with a dry throat.
    She knelt in front of him, keeping the blanket wrapped around her torso. The nerve endings on that part of his body hadn’t worked since the day It happened. But he could feel this. Her touch went straight through the damaged layers of skin, and he could feel it in every fiber of his muscle and every blood cell.
    As her fingertips glided across the surface of his skin, she never tore her eyes from his face. Trying to ignore the intensity of the moment, Jess was swept off to another, much darker, place. He fought with it, trying to keep the memories of that day at a distance, but they oozed into his thoughts. They jerked and gnarled, finding their way to the forefront of his mind.
    He cleared his throat. “That was a bad night,” he whispered.
    She nodded as her eyes welled with tears.
    He grabbed her hands and held them for a moment before breaking away to grab the back of his neck. Arching his back, he looked around the room, trying to find something else to think about.
    “Look at me,” she whispered, forcing him back to her stare.
    His nostrils flared and his chin tensed. Shaking his head, he stood. “Come on. Let’s go to bed,” he muttered.