Breathe For Me (For Me 1: Xander)

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Chelsea so didn't want to take the shirt in his outstretched hand. But at the same time she really, really did. She glanced over his shoulder and saw people staring at them. That would be because they were the only ones baring flesh. And up this close to 'superman', she was revealing more than she wanted. So she took the shirt.

"Thank you," she muttered.

"My pleasure." His eyes lit with laughter, like he knew how much it cost her to say it.

Maddening creature. She clamped her mouth shut and slipped the tee over her head. Instantly she was enveloped in his warmth and the soapy scent she'd noticed when in his arms, a tantalizing mix of citrus, lime and man. She clenched on the deep muscles firing up inside and held her breath, stopping herself from inhaling his essence. So inappropriate. So obvious.

The sleeves of the tee came down almost to her elbows, the bottom hem to below her mid-thigh. Hanging loose, it covered her perfectly. Yet now she felt even more like she'd been caught out doing something she shouldn't have. Not so much swimming after hours, but sleeping in someone else's bed. His. And she'd pulled on the nearest shirt quickly in the alarm... and oh yeah, his naked torso right in front of her just added to the whole movie reel playing in her head.

"Who should I return it to?" she asked roughly, trying to retain just a little cool.

"Superman never reveals his true identity." He stepped closer, his voice dropping to that eargasmic murmur. "It's part of the fun."

She stared up at him, the fantasy still whirring in her head. Could he be an anonymous-hot-stuff sensual dream man for her? Could they have some kind of 'late night strangers tryst'? Have mercy. Like that happened in real life? She shook her head clear. It had been too long since she'd done anything with any man-because a thought like that shouldn't turn her on. Except it did. It really, really, did.

"Hey Doc, no injuries here?"

She started at the interruption. One of the uniformed building team stood beside them. She knew him-Terry. He glanced at her with more interest than apology in his eyes.

"No, we're good, Terry." Her 'hero' answered briskly.

Terry quickly turned back at Superman, recognizing superiority when he saw it. "Sorry to interrupt but we need some help, if you're able?"

"Of course." Superman looked at Chelsea, his smile broadened again. "See you."

Chelsea watched him swiftly walk away and drew a sharp breath. He was a doctor? She didn't know why she was so surprised. In an apartment complex, even a medium sized one like hers, there'd doubtless be at least one medical expert who happened to live there. And he was it. So he really did rescue people for a living. Talked them through the fright in whatever way worked. He'd not actually been flirting with her - not meaningfully - it was just play. A way of getting her to smile.

She remembered the paramedics talking to her about the most inane things. Keeping her in the present, away from the darkness. Superman had been doing a job. 

Which was fine. She wasn't disappointed because she didn't want real flirt. She didn't want a date or a fling or anything. She was still off the market. Her time in New York was about establishing independence-her parents had been so over-protective these last couple of years. Not that she could blame them. But now was her time to get her studies back on track and make her life her own again. Alone.

But she couldn't help glancing over to the group of people who'd formed a huddle on the other side of the building entrance. As the doctor stepped up, a number of bystanders stepped back, giving him access. An older woman was on the ground, someone's jacket rolled up as a cushion under her head.