The water spraying from the shower head grows cold, but I don’t care. My skin has never felt so alive, like a million tiny wings are tickling my cells to break free of their cage.  

Sam’s staring at me, and I can’t look away. There’s this intensity forming in the angles of his face that draws me in. His look is studious. Curious. Maybe even a bit nervous, too, and so fixated that I can’t seem to move from his hands, and I don’t want to. He pulls me even closer, blocking me from the frigid onslaught of angry old pipes. The boxers covering his hips are far too rough as they brush against the most sensitive parts of me, and I find myself wishing for them to disappear. 

“I’m almost completely healed.” His words float into my head softer than the spray hitting my cheeks. “You’ll probably start to feel it immediately. Like last time.” His brown eyes darken as his brows dip inward to form a frown mere inches from the lip I’m biting to keep myself standing.

I don’t care.

Sam slides a hand to my wrist as he turns to shut off the water, and I watch shamelessly as his body bends, all bone and muscle and tanned skin. Damn. I don't quite remember how to move when he gently wraps a towel around my shoulders, so I merely watch him clumsily dry himself while his fingers stay connected to me. 

It doesn’t happen like last time.

The first pain cuts swiftly across my chest, and then it’s gone. Before I even realize what’s happening, I’m in the air over thundering feet and Sam’s carrying me to my bedroom. I can feel his short, hot breaths sweeping into my face as he reaches panic, and I don’t have the chance to tell him it’s okay before it gets much, much worse.

The next pain rips across my abdomen, and I cry out as it spreads to my sides. My voice is like an echo over the water, a ghost of a sound I don't mean to make. Sam’s twisted face appears above mine when I open my eyes, his worry so evident I’d do anything for him not to witness this.

“It’s...don’t-” I’m pointing towards my door, desperate for him to get the hell away from what’s happening. “Go.”

“No...Will, I’m not leaving you, I-” He stops speaking when my back arches to greet the burning sensation spreading through my body.

“It’s okay if you…you can-” I grit my teeth as another pain comes, and all function of speech temporarily leaves me. It’s indescribable, digging so deep I feel like I’ll be two halves of a body once it’s through. The sound I make brings all of Sam against me. I can’t see him, but I can feel his unbearably smooth skin on mine as he pulls me into his hold.

“I’m so sorry.” His mouth is pressed to my forehead when his hoarse whisper reaches my ears.

I shake my head slightly and focus on how I can sense him everywhere instead of giving in to the pain. His body inches closer with each inhalation. His toes press against my shin as our thighs stick together, and when the damp boxers covering his hips tickle my crotch, a shiver shoots up my spine.

“Are you okay?” His deep voice seeps into my brain. “Am I making you cold? Is it worse because I’m touching you?”

I tilt my face up to meet his eyes, and he snaps his mouth shut to take a quick breath. “I’m so sorry.” His jaw tightens and I instinctively plant my fingers on his chin.

“Stop apologizing.” I sigh through my nose, trying not to wince as the intensity of the burn grows. “Just...distract me.”

“Mmm.” He shifts his hips slightly, causing me to tighten my grip on his arms. “Oh! Shit-did that hurt?” The sudden high pitch of his words makes me giggle.

“No.” I give him a small smile. “Just...your undies are wet.” I watch with great amusement as his cheeks are darkened by a pinkish tint. He turns his face into the pillow and I can’t help but release a chuckle. “Maybe you should just take them off-”

“Shut up,” he mumbles, still trying to hide from me.

“You’ve got a nice bottom half, so-” I close my eyes and laugh when his snarl interrupts my teasing. “It could help distract me.” I finish with a genuine smirk right in his face, unable and unwilling not to be an asshole right now. 

Sam ducks his head out of sight and blows hot air right into my chest. Is he a bit mad...or just embarrassed? I bite my tongue when I feel him start moving around again, and suddenly his lips are on my chin. My jaw. My neck. And for a few precious moments, they’re all I can feel. Each gentle nibble teases a trickle of pleasure all over my skin, and I’m thinking maybe this’ll be okay.  

But when a fresh wave of pain hits, I have to muffle my sound. It’s fucking agony, and Sam rolls on top of me with a low growl in response. “Please.” I plead while I clutch him against me like I can’t survive with space between us. “Distract me.” My voice trembles as my hand slides to the wet fabric in my way. I can hardly tell what I’m doing, but I don’t have it in me to care anymore. 

Sam rips the boxers off, and the toss he gives them shakes the entire mattress until he’s right back on me kissing everything in reach. When he starts sucking over my clavicle and pulsing into my hips so unabashedly aroused, I let my self control drift out the open window. Oh fuck, he’s...bigger than I thought. I find myself gasping while a new surge of heat climbs up my body, and my skin grows slick on every part of me he’s touching.

Sam’s fingertips brush down my chest as he moves his lips to meet mine, his presence so tauntingly gentle like the tickle of a whitecap forming. But I want the entire wave. To feel him crashing into me and washing everything else away completely until it’s just him and me. So I latch on, twirling my tongue around his as a fear grips me too tightly to bear. I’m afraid to even breathe in case he disappears. But he doesn’t fade away. He becomes more. More of all of my senses. His spit is sweet as it coats my mouth, and his lips are so fucking thick, that I can’t keep myself from biting them. The rough sound he makes when I do sends electricity down my spine, and I taste him again and again while everywhere he touches melts away the pain. 

His freshly bare hips and everything they house are tangled up in mine while his weight pushes us together in rhythm. He presses closer and closer, and it’s warm down there. So warm. The more I become aware of his body, the more the searing in mine recedes, until it’s nothing but a slow simmer. I clutch his hair tightly as he moves into me. Each nuzzle of his nose by my ear and raw breath that coats my skin leaves me wide open with a tenderness I’ve never felt before, and I know I won’t be able to live without this. Without Sam.

I’ve lain naked with strangers more times than I care to count, and I never thought twice about it until now. He feels different, like everyone who dared to touch me before was just a fucking whisper. A haze in the distance that was gone before I even opened my eyes. But Sam...his body brings a familiarity to mine that I can’t fathom, and I don’t need to. Because somehow, this man I just met isn’t a stranger to me, and all that matters is that he stays here holding my skin and kissing me like it’s all he’ll ever need.