Page 25 of Crimson Bond

Not tonight though. Not after what she’d been through at the gas station. Unlike that drunk idiot, I’d be keeping my hands and all other appendages firmly on my side of the bed. No matter what she had on under that t-shirt.

It promised to be more challenging than the most grueling of the Bloodbound recruit trials. Abbi emerged from the steamy bathroom, her hair and face shiny clean and the rest of her smelling so sweet and alluring I almost excused myself to go swim some laps in the hotel’s indoor pool.

Now her mid-section was covered, and it was her legs that were exposed to my hungry eyes. Long and curvy and silky smooth, they would feel incredible tangled with mine under the sheets.

“Your turn,” she said sweetly.

“Right. Thanks.”

My shower was ice cold. On purpose. And I made it extra-long. Maybe by the time I finished and was frozen solid, she’d be asleep.

When I got out, I realized I’d neglected to bring anything that could reasonably be considered sleepwear. I wasn’t used to sleeping in co-ed company, and I always went to bed in just my boxers.

Well, I’d make sure to slip into bed quietly and avoid waking her. Then I’d wake early and get dressed before she woke up.

Abbi looked so small in the large bed. She was still and quiet, and I slid under the sheets, grateful my desperate prayers had been answered.

But after a minute of lying there drinking in the scent of her skin and listening to her soft breaths, I realized she was still awake.

13

With a Whisper

Reece

She rolled over to face me in the dark. “Reece?”

My brain and body jolted into full alert mode. “Yeah?”

“I’ve never slept in the same bed with a guy before.”

And now my brain and body were high-fiving each other. That answered the question about Shane. He may have kissed her, but he hadn’t gotten any further. Maybe I’d let him live.

“I mean, I slept with Shane in the back of a big rig...”

Nope. He was a dead man.

“... but Kelly and Heather were there too, and we just... slept. And he was in handcuffs.”

And once again, Shane had a future.

This girl was giving me whiplash. I’d never experienced higher highs and lower lows than I felt when I was with her.

“Are you saying you’d like me to wear handcuffs?” I joked.

She giggled, a lovely sound that sent waves of joy rolling through my chest and then downward.

“No silly. I trust you,” she said. “I was just wondering... have you slept with many girls?”

At my extended silence, she quickly added, “I mean, I know you don’t sleep with anyone but Imogen now, but...”

After another long hesitation, I corrected her wrong assumption. “I haven’t slept with Imogen.”

Abruptly she pushed up to one elbow. Her long hair hung down, nearly covering half her face. The eye I could see was wide with shock.

“You haven’t?”

“No. She’s never summoned me to her chambers for that reason.”

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