Page 88 of Gilded Saint

His fingers systematically unbutton his shirt. It’s dark in the room, making his eyes the color of midnight.

“Was Nick pissed?” he asks.

“At Lina?” He shrugs out of his shirt and rises, headed into the bathroom. “No. Maybe. Lina couldn’t stop laughing. Nick didn’t say much. They went off to the kitchen together, and I came back to our room.”

“You didn’t eat with them?”

“Nick gave me a mobile he said I could use to check in with my family. And Scarlet.”

He pauses, both hands resting on the bathroom counter. “How are they?”

The sink water flows, and he splashes water on his face.

“Good. My mother says they’re good.”

“Did you speak to your father?”

“He’s away on business.”

“Still?”

“Should I be concerned?”

He puts a toothbrush in his mouth. I push off the bed and come to stand in the doorway of the bathroom. He’s barefoot. He must’ve shed his socks when he removed his shoes. His skin along his back is smooth, although the bathroom light reflects on a thin white scar along his side, and a raised, jagged scar on his shoulder.

I come up behind him and press my lips to his shoulder and wrap my arms around his waist. He finishes brushing his teeth, and I ask, “How was your trip?”

He turns in my arms. “Hell.”

I push back, wondering what could’ve happened. Is there more bad news?

“You weren’t there.”

When I look into the depths of those warm brown eyes, all I see is sincerity, and I melt.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I ached for you.”

His fingers brush my hair away from my face.

“But you never called.” I missed him too. His not calling left a shitty feeling.

His shoulders rise and fall. “Had a job to do. But I’ve never been so… It’s like…” His eyes close and his lips press together in a firm line. “You’re always right there. I close my eyes, and I see you. I’m with you always, even when I’m away. Don’t ever doubt it.”

His lips fall to mine. The kiss is slow. Tender. Loving.

Might I hope this kiss promises a future?

He walks me backward until the backs of my thighs hit the mattress. He left the bathroom light on, and a golden glow crosses the mattress.

He moves slowly and with intention. Each touch lights within, inciting a burning need.

He lifts my nightgown and lets it fall to the floor. A buzz goes through my body, a low hum that has my lower belly clenching. He sets me back on the bed, over the comforter, and I feel his gaze, covetous and hot, as he undoes his belt and his clothes fall to the floor.

When he climbs over me, his lips and fingers explore, worshipping every inch of my skin, his tongue yielding teases and pleasure. A brief, suckling kiss on my exposed nipples makes my entire body twitch. His movements are slow, as if we have forever, as if dawn won’t break, and we have this night for eternity.

The hard heavy weight of his cock against my hip, and my thigh, assures me he needs me, he desires me, and as his tongue and fingers slay me, he has every intention of bringing us together. An incendiary need rachets up within me and I tremble, coming undone.

Those dark eyes watch, taking me in with an intensity that reaches my marrow.

---