Page 62 of Beauty and the Beard

“I wouldn’t mind it if you showed me again how special I am. I mean… only if you want to. I know you’re not like the others, Leaf. I feel it every time you touch me. I’d like to leave here with that feeling.”

He stares at me for so long I think he’ll change his mind. Perhaps it’s all too much for him now that it’s out there and he thinks I’m not worth the effort. But he doesn’t change his mind.

Instead, he stands, pulling me up to him.

“I want you to leave here and never forget me. Because no matter what happens, I won’t forget you.”

Chapter 18

Leaf

This has the potential to kill me. But I can’t let Sasha leave here without setting his mind at ease that he’s so much more than a pretty face and a willing body.

He’s pure and smart and he spreads light everywhere he goes.

And I’ve likely fallen in love with him.

I wasn’t expecting that. Not with the memories of Connor still so close. Seven years hasn’t lessened my love for him, but it’s tiring being alone, pining for someone who died. I filled my recent sleepless night with more than wishing on stars. For the first time since I lost the love of my life, I forced myself to face the stirrings in my soul. To listen to my heart when it said I may be lucky enough to find another love.

Sasha hasn’t been here long, but I don’t need more time to know how I feel. Just like there’s no time limit on grief, there’s none for love. It’s a shock when you realize that elusive emotion, that soul binding love you should only have once, has appeared again when you weren’t even looking.

But he’s not ready.

If he wants me to make him never forget this connection we’ve forged, then I will. Because I want the same thing, even if it means I’ll never see him again.

Once in my bedroom, he waits as I light a candle. I read it was romantic to have candles during sex. Since he likes romance, I planned ahead, hoping we’d end up here. But not in this manner. Something a little less sad because he can’t wait to come back would be my preference. But if a promise of him trying and a request to make him remember is all I get, then it’s time to pull out all the stops.

Sasha doesn’t let me get much farther than lighting a candle before he’s pulling at my clothes, unbuttoning my shirt and laying soft kisses on my chest.

“Why do you always wear long sleeves? It’s July.”

Grinning as I pull off his shirt, I answer with a small laugh.

“It’s sun protection. It’s light. I’m never hot.”

“You’re always hot.”

He raises a saucy eyebrow, and I laugh again. God, he makes me laugh so easily.

“I’m glad you think so.”

Sasha smiles, the earlier melancholy gone, and takes my face in his hands. His lips whisper across mine before he kisses me. Deep and so tender, I’m left breathless.

“I think so much of you, Leaf.” He rests his forehead on my shoulder, placing a kiss there. “I’m afraid to admit you’re maybe the perfect man for me.”

My fingers flex on his hips.

“Nobody’s perfect,” I kiss his temple, “but we could be damn close to it together.”

His lips take mine again and we say nothing more. He doesn’t have to, because I feel it in every touch and every kiss. And it breaks my heart that he thinks he doesn’t deserve to have thiswith me. That he can’t trust me all the way to help him through his dark times.

Hot and naked, both of us tumble onto the bed. Sasha slithers down my body, kissing me on every exposed inch of my body, leaving a trail of gooseflesh in his wake. Every cell of my body sings for him and cries out to stay connected for as long as possible.

His tongue licks and swirls around my cock and I push up on my elbows to watch. He puts on a show for me, never breaking eye contact as he sucks me down. Those eyes… fuck, they say so much and again I wish desperately for him to see in himself what I see.

“Come up, here. I want to taste you, too.”

Sasha slides up my body, his hard cock pressing against mine. Something changed. He feathers a kiss on the corner of my mouth.

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