Thick arms squeezeme so tight, I feel safer than I have, possibly ever. And so warm. Between the intense body heat I produce and Aiden’s, we’re like an inferno under the covers of his bed.
My toes nest under a calf draped over my thigh. Light snores vibrate in my ear, his breath tickling my hair until I giggle without meaning to.
That’s when I realize…
Our pillow wall has disappeared. A week and a half into my duties, and I’m in his bed. Curled up against him. Like I belong.
I remain still. Not knowing what to do.
The moment is soft, tender. It’s exactly what I’ve always wanted. Just him. Holding me close, so he’ll never let me go. Nofamilies. No orders. Onlyus. Against everyone.
If I breathe wrong, he might move. And this? This would vanish like a good dream I’m not ready to wake from.
But I do.
He startles, body jerking like he fell from a rooftop. “What the—” Bolting upright,he drags a hand over his face, eyes still half-lidded, then scrubs his fingers through his shaggy black hair. “Where’d the pillows go?” he barks, accusingme.
“I think…”
“You tossed them off the bed.” His sneer is automatic.
But they’re clearly on his side.
With a heavy sigh, I throw the blankets off and kneel next to him, fingers digging into the waistband of his briefs to perform myjobfor the morning. Apparently, I don’t get weekends off.
“What are you doing?”
“Myduty, lord.”
His sculpted chest rises and falls faster than usual as he blinks himself awake. Aiden Cardell doesn’tsleep in. Even on Saturdays. He doesn’tcuddle. And he doesn’t know what to do with something so simple. Sohuman. I’m not sure he even knows whether to want more of it…or destroy it before it gets under his skin.
“Nah. I…I don’t need that. I need—” He stops, eyebrows stitched together with worry and irritation. “Go get ready for the day next door. I need to be alone.”
“Great.” The word is clipped. Disguising disappointment.
With a fake little bounce in my step, I head to the adjoining suite that still smells of mint toothpaste and detachment.
My phone buzzes on the dresser—another string of messages from Talon that I don’t bother to open. I tell myself it’s because Aiden would punish me for it, even though part of me might like that.
No. It’s because being atTheta’sManor feels like a vacation from the likely disaster waiting for me outside its walls.
Facing Talon is like putting on that old yoke I can’t break away from. A future I never decided, but was forced onto me anyway.
After a long soak in the clawfoot tub with eucalyptus salts and silence, I take my time getting ready to do nothing today. Everything in the ornate bathroom is dipped in gold. Mirror trims, rug tassels, toilet handle. Veined marble chills my soles. Brocade ruby wallpaper gleams above the glossy black wainscoting.
The same style flows into the bedroom. Crimson velvet and bloated antiques.
Most of my clothes are still locked inhiscloset. Here, I’ve only got a few underthings and pajamas I managed to squirrel away in the mahogany chifforobe. I slide on a pair of practical white cotton panties, a tank top, and some worn gray sweatpants. Fingering my damp strands, I pad toward the adjoining door.
I hesitate with my hand on the knob. Wondering if it’s been long enough for him to have cooled off. IfI’vecooled off…
If we’re still pretending that we don’t need each other this morning.
Carefully, I crack the door open—and stop. Because the sight before me makes my thighs clench and heat coil low in my belly.
Aiden. Half-naked. Moving through a series of precise, controlled martial arts forms like he’s sculpting the air itself.
Every muscle ripples with tension and release. Sweat slicks the divots of his lower back, running down to his waistband in sinful little trails. His face is taut with focus—the same expression he wears when he’s inside me. But there’s serenity, too.