Page 58 of Secrets in Love
“Are you hot or cold? Want some water?” I asked.
“I am a little cold. Why do they always have the air conditioning on so high?”
“That’s my fault. I run a little hot when I’m in bed.”
“Tell me about it,” she whispered. I think it was meant to be to herself. My ego wanted to scream joyfully, but I decided to leave it alone.
“Let me get you a blanket. Or hop under the sheets with me if you like.”
“Okay, then.” I wasn’t sure what she meant for a second. Presuming she wanted a blanket, I began to move, but then she lifted her body and slipped beneath the sheets. There was no edge-dwelling this time. The ass dreams are made of, pressed right against my thighs. I almost died. Unsurprisingly, my cock didn’t.Go down, go down.
“That’s not the inhaler this time, is it?”
“Nope,” I said with a pop. “It’s just instinctive, Eves. I’m sorry. I swear—”
“It’s okay. I get it.”
“You do?”
“Of course I do. Despite the attitude, I’m not made of ice. Besides, I think…I want…” she trailed off.
“What do you want, Evie? Tell me what you want.” She was silent, and her breathing changed.Dammit, she’s asleep already.
“I want you too.” Her voice was soft, heavy with sleep. But I heard it. Her hand gripped mine as I wrapped it around her waist, pulling her right against me. I smelled her hair and pressed a kiss into her curls. Despite every hormonal, masculine, depraved urge in my body, I relaxed. The comfort of finally holding her, the rightness of it, was soothing. We both sighed deeply and drifted off.
As per usual, images of Evie Austen followed me into my sleep. However, it was the first time I woke from such a dream to find her in my arms. I watched the rise and fall of her body and heard her cute little sighs and mumbles. She was so still, hardly moving in the almost twenty minutes before her breathing changed. Gasping, she looked down at my hand spread across her toned stomach, my little finger tickling her little outie bellybutton.
“Oh, my God.” The cutest giggle I’ve ever heard escaped her lips before she gently slipped from my grip.
My first instinct was to grab and pull her back into me, but I wanted to see what she’d do. I was pleasantly surprised when she stayed in bed, hovering over me, her lips ghosting mine, her breath tickling my nose. I don’t know why I kept pretending to sleep but being so close and lying with her so innocently yet intimately meant something. I loved her so much right then I felt it in my bones.
Again, I could smell her hair and the mint of the gum she’d eaten earlier that day. As hard as it was, I waited again. Perhaps I was scared of what would happen.I’d never been this close to her lips. I wanted to taste them, to taste her and claim her, but I held my breath and waited to feel the connection.
It never came.
Her messy curls brushed my chest as she pulled away. I heard her rustling and grumbling to herself as she slipped on her shoes and jacket, then listened as the door opened and closed. She was gone again.
“Fuck it, Aoife.”
“Hey, Mum, how’s it going on the farm?”
“Bugger off, Nathaniel. Who cares about the bloody farm? Tell me what’s happening with Evie? Am I a step closer to grandchildren? And make it quick. I asked your dad to vacuum for me, and I can’t leave him alone for too long. He’ll break the thing somehow “
“Sorry, Mum. No babies on the way…yet.”
She snickered. “What’s wrong, Natey? Lose a bit of the old magic on the flight over, did you? I would have thought you’d have her tagged and bagged by now.”
“Mum!”
“What? Isn’t that what you boys all say?”
“Maybe some guys do, but I don’t…especially about someone like Evie.”
“Good. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Your father keeps telling me this infatuation with her will pass once you’ve slept with her, but I disagree. I think it’s true love. Just like your dad and me. I made him wait three months before I gave him my flower.”
“Your flower! Oh, for fuck’s sake. I think I’m gonna puke. Is there anything else you wanted to know? You neglected to ask about my well-being, I noticed.”
The woman wasn’t listening to a word I said, but I could hear her sighing wistfully. “He was quite the stud back in the day, your old man. He used to do this thing with his tongue—”
