Page 45 of Exile

He huffed, seemingly disgusted with my statement. “Then those are not men. A woman is to be taken care of. To be cherished.” He said those words with such pride and determination that it made my heart clench.

While he appreciated women, it seemed that not many had ever appreciated him or given him the same amount of respect that he deserved.

Women must’ve used him. As famous as he was, it couldn’t have been easy for him.

I smiled gently. “Still…thank you. You made me feel amazing, and I hope I could make you feel the same.”

He pushed himself up and slid out of me to stand. His gaze lingered on my body before it met mine again. “No, baby,” he started, running a hand through his hair. “You made me feel a thousand times better.”

Chapter 13

CASPIAN

I had never seen someone sleep as deeply as Darwynn.

It had gotten late last night after two more rounds of fucking, and since falling asleep in my arms, she hadn’t moved even an inch. Her breathing was shallow, and I had to check if she was still alive by holding a finger under her nose. She was breathing, but she did it so damn quietly. Almost as if she didn’t want to bother me by making even the smallest sound.

Something about that made my heart squeeze.

She either learned to be quiet because of others telling her she was being too loud—which should never be the damn case—or that was simply how she breathed, and I was looking too much into it.

It was probably the latter, but I liked to believe that Darwynn was very aware of other people and what could bother or annoy them.

She was selfless. I learned that about her quickly.

That was one of many things I adored about her.

Adored.

Shit.

That woman crawled under my skin, planted herself there, and made herself comfortable. And I let her.

Even when I got up from bed one hour ago, she hadn’t moved a muscle. I slid out from under the covers and walked out of the bedroom as quietly as possible. Though, I was sure that not even a damn marching band would’ve woken her.

I made myself a coffee and grabbed the latest newspaper from the table before heading outside. I sat on the porch, sipped on my coffee, and read half of the damn newspaper, and when I started to miss her body pressed against mine, I headed inside to slide back into bed with her.

“Incredible,” I murmured with amusement, looking down at Darwynn as she kept sleeping, as if that’s all she’s ever done. She looked so damn content. So damn happy.

I put my arms around her and pulled her body flush against mine, needing to feel her warm skin on my own. Wrapping her arm around my waist, I held her hand on my chest while resting the other on her back. I caressed her, moving my fingers up and down her spine and along the curves of her waist and hips.

More time passed, and while my mornings usually consisted of sitting on the couch or casually strolling around the village, I liked this type of morning more. I wanted tomorrow to be the same, the next day, and the next.

Fuck, I wanted to watch her sleep every morning.

I closed my eyes and let the minutes pass, not caring about any other thing I could’ve been doing instead. This was good. We were good.

She finally stirred, making the sweetest noises as she looked up at me with sleepy eyes. “Hi,” she croaked out, giving me a tired smile. “Have you been up for long?”

I snorted, unable to hold back my amusement. “You could say that. You sleep a lot,” I said.

She scrunched up her nose and hid her face with both hands. “I’m sorry. You should’ve woken me.”

“You looked way too peaceful to be woken up.” I reached for her wrist and pulled her hand away from her face, needing to see it. “Have you not been sleeping well lately?”

Her eyes met mine. “No, I’ve slept well. I just like to sleep.”

I smirked, finding it damn adorable. “Fair enough. How are you feeling?”

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