Page 39 of Magnus
He never brought the women he slept with to his apartment here or in New York. When he did have sex, he either took those women to a hotel, or they went back to her apartment. Both ways allowed Magnus to leave when he wanted to, rather than having some random woman in his apartment who he really wished was no longer there.
That rule didn’t apply to Sapphie, whom he never, ever wanted to leave.
Magnus’s mouth went dry just looking at Sapphie in those pink panties. Her purple sweater only reached down to her navel, revealing several inches of bare flesh above the waistband of those lacy pink briefs.
“What now?”
Magnus’s gaze moved up to her face. He easily recognized the challenge in her eyes and slightly raised chin.
Daring him?
Or because she was embarrassed at being half-naked as she stood in front of him?
He wasn’t happy if it was the latter. “I need to ask you a question before we go any further.”
She eyed him warily. “What question?”
He drew a deep breath into his lungs, and then immediately wished that he hadn’t. Because by doing so, he had breathed in the floral-and-musk scent that he knew was Sapphie’s arousal. The same arousal he had gorged himself on the previous evening.
Damn it, he was sure if he touched between her thighs right now, her panties would be wet with those delicious juices.
“What’s the question, Magnus?” she prompted again.
He could see her tension now, in the set of her jaw and the clenched fists at her sides. As if preparing herself for some sort of blow. “Did Carlucci ever hit you?” Magnus grated.
She took a step back. Her surprised expression implied it was more from shock than bad memories. “No.” She finally found her voice. “Marco never hit me. He never hit either of us.” She snorted. “I don’t think we were a significant enough presence in his life for him to ever feel the need to trouble himself to do so,” she added dryly.
Magnus breathed out the air he’d been holding in his lungs. “That’s disgraceful. But I also wouldn’t want anything I did to spark an unpleasant memory for you.”
Her tension eased before she gave a soft laugh. “I only have good memories of being with you.”
“That’s a relief?—”
“Especially when I remember the look of horror on your face when Angel ran through from the bedroom earlier bringing Henry with her in his case.” She was chuckling in earnest now.
“You just added two more spanks to the five I had already decided to give you.”
She gave another splutter of laughter. “I would really have loved to have been there to see you in our old bathroom trying to entice Henry to step inside that case. ‘Here, spidey, spidey,’” she taunted.
“And another three, which makes a total of ten,” he bit out. “Get your arse down here now.” He pointed at his denim-covered thighs. “But I’d like you to remove your panties too before you do that,” he added huskily.
Sapphie stilled.Not because she was averse to removing her panties, because she really wasn’t.
Last night, when Magnus made love to her, had been the first time she had truly felt worshipped, possibly adored, maybe even loved. The thought of having that again now, with the possibility of the two of them going further than they had the previous evening, made her feel hot all over and caused the juices to gush between her thighs.
Her hesitation was from shyness. She had thought she was being daring when she removed her jeans, but removing her panties as well would leave her bare from the waist down. It was one thing to become lost in the heat of the moment, as she had last night, but something else entirely for her to deliberately leave herself naked and vulnerable.
Even if she knew with absolute certainty that Magnus would never hurt her.
Sapphie didn’t even hesitate in that belief. She just knew it to be the truth. Magnus had shown her, beyond question, that he was a man who would never use violence against a woman.
He was also hot as hell. Too sexy for any woman’s peace of mind. With a muscular body that?—
That she hadn’t yet had the pleasure of seeing completely naked, despite her having been half-bared to him twice, if she included tonight.
And she did. “Do you think we could we go to your bedroom and do this?”
He shrugged. “If you would be more comfortable there.”
