Page 26 of The Wages of Sin

But, as I knew far too well, nothing good could last forever.

When we finally collapsed onto the mattress beneath us, my gaze swept down his magnificent body…stopping on the bandage I’d placed not long ago.

“Shit,” I muttered to myself. “Your stitches.”

Dorian laughed, the first truly lighthearted sound I’d ever heard from him. “It’s okay, Kiera. I’m fine.”

“You said the same thing when you were bleeding out all over your living room.”

I lifted myself up on my knees and quickly pulled back the edges of the bandage to check that we hadn’t aggravated the wound. I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn’t see any fresh blood. All the stitches were still intact.

“You’re lucky I’m such a good doctor,” I joked before remembering that good doctors don’t sleep with their patients.

Neither did any of the poor souls working for Jane…not if they wanted to keep their jobs and avoid the cops.

And just like that, fantasy retreated, and brutal reality came crashing in to take its place.

“I should go,” I said, already sliding over to the side of the bed to stand.

Dorian grabbed my wrist before my feet could hit the floor. “Stay.”

I shook my head, already feeling guilt starting to gnaw at conscience. “You should rest. That was a bad cut, and it’s going to take time to heal.”

“None of that explains why you can’t stay with me.”

“Because…uh…” I fumbled for a reason better than because I already messed everything up by screwing you.

He tugged on my arm, gently bringing me back to his side. “When was the last time you took a day off and rested?”

Not since my sister was killed. It had been eighteen months since I’d even had a decent night’s sleep.

But apparently, he’d already sensed that because he tucked me against him, spooning his body behind mine as he pulled the blankets over us.

“It’s okay, Kiera,” he assured me in a whisper against my ear as I looked out his window over his towering multi-million dollar view of Manhattan. “You can relax. You’re safe with me. You always will be.”

And God help me, for a moment I actually believed him.

Chapter Nine

DORIAN

Until that morning, I’d never slept with a woman.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d lost track of how many I’d screwed.

I’d banged them up against walls, fucked them senseless on couches, plowed them good and hard in the back of cars. But once that was done, I never felt the urge to wrap my arms around them, pull them close, and hold them tight as we both drifted off to sleep.

I sure as hell had never felt the need to declare any of them mine while I was buried deep inside them. And when we were done and it was time for them to walk away, I never felt the slightest twinge of loss.

Why would I? After all, we’d both received what we wanted out of the transaction—my physical release and their erotic brush with danger.

But with Kiera, everything was different.

I wasn’t surprised. I’d known from the first moment it would be. Everything about her was different—her stare, her touch, her voice. Every word and action made it clear she didn’t see me like other women did. To her, I wasn’t just an opportunity for a thrilling quickie with a notorious criminal.

To her, I was a man.

The concern in her eyes when she’d seen me bleeding cemented that in my mind. She’d swatted my threats and resistance to the side, putting herself in a vulnerable situation to patch me up.

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