Her answer was barely more than a whisper. “I can try.”

He wanted to roar.

To sit back on his heels and shout out his triumph.

Instead, he sealed his lips to hers. A simple yet powerful kiss worthy of her willingness. Of the vulnerability she’d shown in trusting him. When he lifted his head, her features had softened, an easy acceptance settling into her expression.

“Beautiful.” He kissed the tip of her nose, then rolled toward his side of the bed and stood. Carefully, he pulled the comforter and bedding out from beneath her and drew the covers over her beautiful body. “You will stay here, and I will see to you.”

“See to me?”

“Yes.” He padded to the kitchen and living room and turned off the lights.

Her voice carried down the hallway on his trek to the bathroom. “See to me how?”

He turned on the faucet and found a washcloth. “Stop worrying, Cassie. Part of trying means trusting me to handle things now and then.”

When the water was warm enough, he wetted the cloth, wrung it out and returned to her.

She spied the washrag in an instant and threw back the covers. “Oh, I can get it. I’m—”

“No, you will not.” He motioned her back to the bed. “Lie back.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. Seriously.”

It took her a solid fifteen seconds before she moved, every one of them making him wonder if he’d have another debate on his hands. Finally, she stretched out on her back, one knee slightly cocked over her other leg. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

He settled beside her and smoothed his hand from her ankle to her knee. “You gave me your body. A gift. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t care for what I’d been given?”

Not giving her more opportunity to overthink it, he pushed her knee to one side and tenderly cleaned her still sensitive folds. By the time he straightened and met her gaze, her features were slack with wonder.

“I told you. Nothing between us.” He squeezed her hip, leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Now, do you need anything before we sleep?”

“You’re sleeping over?”

So sweet. How she could be so intensely sexual one moment and adorably innocent in the next, he couldn’t fathom. “I think I’ve spent enough nights without you, vozlyublennaya. Tonight, we begin making up for lost time.” He set the cloth aside and switched off the lamp. Stretching out beside her, he pulled the comforter over them both then tucked her close, guiding her head so it rested on his chest.

For long moments, tension riddled her body, every muscle poised as though uncertain how to proceed.

He caressed her spine. Her shoulder and arm. The nape of her neck. Waiting. Comforting her the only way he knew how.

Slowly, she uncurled her fist resting high on his belly and hesitantly drew an indecipherable pattern against his skin. “I’m not making this up, am I? You really want this.”