Page 31 of The Devil's Pawn

“It feels longer than that.”

“I guess it does,” I breathe.

“That kiss…Raquel.” He takes a long inhale.

“You weren’t so bad yourself.” I grin, my eyes closed as I enjoy the intimacy of the moment.

“You’re a hard one to impress.” There’s a smile twined in his words. “I promise to do better next time, wife.”

“There’ll be no next time,” I pretend to argue, no longer sure who I’m trying to convince.

“We’ll see about that.” The edge of certainty in his voice is obvious.

And he’s probably right. After that kiss, I don’t think I could stop him.

I drag in a slow breath. “You should go to bed and sleep. You need to heal.”

“Only if you come with me.” His lips sink to mine in a soft caress, and my insides flip around as though disconnected from my body.

“Okay,” I murmur as he draws back, the corners of his lips climbing with a heartfelt smile.

And I feel it somewhere inside me, like it’s found a permanent space within my very soul. Our eyes stay locked on one another as my body courses with the awareness prickling my skin. When he looks at me like that, I’m grateful to be alive. Grateful I found him. Or that he found me.

His hand grabs hold of mine, and he leads me out of the kitchen and up the stairs to our bedroom. When the door shuts behind us, I hide away the nerves, watching him as he comes toward me, our gazes once again fused into one molten wave.

“Let’s go to bed,” he says softly, the back of his hand coasting down the side of my face, making my cheek tingle from his touch.

I nod, letting him twine his pinky around mine as he brings me to the bed and flips the comforter over to make room.

I climb in first, with him close behind. My body alights with renewed hunger, the passion from before lingering and stamping over any thoughts that tell me this is wrong or that being in bed with him, this near his body, is not right.

But he feels right, and in this moment, that’s all that matters. Life is too short to live in the shadow of regret.

He slides his right arm under my body, shifting me to him, while his left arm rests over my middle.

“Sleep well,” I say.

He sighs contently. “With you, I will. Goodnight, sweetheart.”

My eyelids flow shut, my heart full of happiness. I’m bathed by the serenity of this moment, not wanting to ever be without it.

And yet, I wonder how I can feel this way, knowing I’ve just stitched up a man I barely know.

CHAPTERNINE

DANTE

“How’s the arm?”Enzo asks the following day as he sits across from me in my office at work. “She make your boo-boo feel better?”

He chuckles, leaning back further into the black leather armchair.

“She sure as fuck did.” I push my feet out, crossing my arms.

No woman has ever taken care of me. Not until her. The way she tended to my wound so gently, it made me feel all kinds of shit I don’t want to admit out loud.

“She’s damn good at taking care of me. Jealous? Joelle still hate you?”

He throws up a middle finger. “It hasn’t even been a day. She’ll come around.” He grins smugly. “It takes time to love me.”

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