Page 64 of Shattered

I watch his throat work through a swallow, along with the subtle dip of his chin, before he turns the TV on. Unable to resist, I reach over and rub a hand over his rock-solid back to comfort him. With each caress of my hand, I can feel some of the tension he’s been holding there loosen, and it gives me an idea.

“You’re pretty tight. How about you sit on the floor between my legs, and I’ll give you a massage?” Neilix angles his face to look at me, and I’m met with an unreadable expression. I lift my hands and wiggle them. “I’ve been told I have magic fingers. Well, Sarah says I do.” Widening my legs, I indicate to the floor in front of me.

With slight hesitation, he gets off the couch and lowers his big body to the ground. “I’ve never had a massage before.”

“What? You’ve been missing out.”

I don’t waste time and get right into it, pressing my thumbs into the solid lumps he calls shoulders. My heart was already skipping about while butterfly wings were tickling my stomach, but the groan that’s pulled from his throat when I start rubbing has an all-new set of reactions passing through my body, specifically in my lower half.

“Shit. It seems that way.”

He presses play on the movie, and I continue with the massage, pressing and squeezing, rubbing and kneading. Occasionally, I use one hand to stuff some gummies or chips into my mouth, but otherwise, I keep going, even threading my fingers through his hair to rub his scalp. The hums of enjoyment coming from him spurs me on to continue. Plus, I kind of like having my hands on him.

Forty-five minutes into the movie, when my fingers start cramping, I figure it’s time to give them a rest. Only then does it occur to me that he hasn’t made a sound or moved for the past fifteen minutes. I lean forward, trying to see his face, and my suspicion is confirmed: fast asleep.

I huff out a quiet chuckle and then reach for the remote, turning the volume down a fraction. I watch the movie for a little longer, but I’m not actually paying attention to what’s happening on the screen. I’m too in tune to the man in front of me.

Every breath he takes.

Every twitch of a muscle.

Every tiny little thing.

Gosh, I’m already gone for this man, and the realization brings a sigh from my chest. I’m unsure if that’s something he would want or if he’d simply prefer to remain friends.

I’ve always been all too willing to look past all the reasons we shouldn’t be together, whether it be my brother or my age. But I know Neilix is a lot more cautious, or at least, he tries to be.

I run my gaze over his loosened shoulders, watching the steady rise and fall with each breath. I’d be lying if I said there aren’t times when I think about how he went and slept with someone else, had a baby with someone else, and has probably been with several other women since. But I always try to shake away the unwelcome thoughts, focusing on what’s happening now.

When my bladder starts calling to me, I carefully and slowly lift one of my legs up and over his body so I can get up, and thankfully, he doesn’t wake. I didn’t get a tour the last time I was here, but his place isn’t huge, so I only poke my head into one bedroom before finding it, and I smile when I see that it’s Adi’s.

Neilix hasn’t moved by the time I get back. His head is still tilted slightly forward, and his lips are pushed into a pout. I approach him on silent feet, coming to a crouch next to him. I should go and let him sleep, but I can’t leave him like this, and I don’t want to wake him. There’s no way I’m going to be able to lift him onto the couch—he’d wake up if I attempted it, anyway. But maybe I could lower him to his side.

I grab one of the couch cushions and place it where his head will land. Next, I reach up to remove his glasses, but the second I get them off, his head lifts and tired eyes open to look at me. They’re still hooded with sleep, and I can’t tell if he’s even awake or not.

“Now I know how you get Adi to sleep,” he mumbles.

I huff out a short laugh and place his glasses beside the lamp on the side table. “It’s my magic fingers.”

He looks adorably cute in his sleepy state, and it tugs on the constant pull to be close to him. I lift my hands to his cheeks, feeling the roughness of his stubble beneath my fingers, then I lean forward, pressing my lips to his, and linger for a moment before forcing myself to pull back.

“Go back to sleep,” I whisper.

With a final stroke of my thumbs, I let them fall away and start to get up. But the feel of Neilix’s hand taking hold of mine stops me. Brown eyes—much more focused than before—stare at me while the air between us buzzes with electricity. Lifting a hand to my jaw and neck, he pauses only a moment before he pulls my mouth back to his.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Neilix

It’s soft at first.

A taste.

A test.

I’m fucking kissing Sienna.

Sunflower.

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