Page 40 of Liar & Champion
I got busy giving myself a tour. I looked into the bedrooms, well, two bedrooms and one office, with detailed maps of the desert on all the walls, dirt roads it looked like, as well as geographical features. His desk itself was empty except for a laptop. No papers, no books, just a laptop, and maps. He didn’t work here. He didn’t live here.
His bedroom had a very big bed, but other than that was as personal as the rest of the place. His closet was the most interesting thing there with a wide variety of clothing that I’d almost call costume, from more western type gear to fancy tuxedos. It must be for his seasonal job when he did security and helped out with backstage stuff. Other than that, there was exercise gear, different martial arts outfits, and that’s it.
“Kitten, I’ve got your stuff. Do you want it in here or in the other room?”
“The other room,” I said absently, fingering a pair of very expensive designer jeans that hung neatly on a hanger. What kind of man hung up his jeans? Did his mother buy them for him? Oh, he must have the hotel housekeepers clean. They probably hung up his clothes, although his little house had been remarkably tidy too.
I turned and followed him out of his bedroom to the other one, also a black bed, but smaller, as was the closet, although it was still plenty large for me. I could fit all of my paintings in it, no problem. Not that I had any with me.
“Are you tired, hungry, or do you just want to take a shower? The other bedroom has a nicer bath. If you want separate rooms, I’m fine taking this one,” Nix said after he’d put my medical kit neatly on a shelf and turned to face me with an easy smile that didn’t go with the tension in his eyes.
I stared at him, still wearing the wedding dress, while he still wore the suit. We were married, but what kind of marriage would it be? What kind of marriage could it be? I didn’t know what to do if things stopped feeling good and were instead more pain than I could handle. I could handle a lot of pain, and so far he hadn’t given me a drop.
I smiled brightly. “Nix, could you help me get the zipper on my dress?” I spun around so I didn’t have to look at him. I was so flustered about all of this. I wanted to be all bold and tell him that I wanted, but I didn’t have the slightest idea. I should have bought a kama sutra book at the gas station. Not that they had those at gas stations. Maybe I could find a book store.
He stood right behind me, hands on my waist for a moment while he bent down over me and nosed my hair. “You even smell like sunshine.”
“And tamales.”
He rumbled a laugh while his hands slid around my waist, pulling me into the curve of his embrace. He kissed my neck,right where it emerged from the dress, and then slightly higher, working his way lazily over my skin while his hands slid over my stomach and ribs, always pulling me into him.
“This is necking, not unzipping,” I mumbled before I realized words were going to come out of my mouth.
“Mm,” he murmured against my skin, and then his teeth scraped just so, sending a shock of electric awareness through me. Not pain. So much not pain that I was kind of hyperventilating. He felt good. So good. So delicious. I closed my eyes and relaxed against him while he kissed me all slow and melted butter.
I was kind of aware of him tugging me closer, but I didn’t realize that meant we eventually ended up somewhere, and it was in the enormous bathroom, with two showers, and a tub the size of a large hot tub. Maybe it was a hot tub. What was the difference? The thing had jets.
He stepped back slightly, lips still on my neck while he unzipped my dress, and then his hands were on my bare skin, slipping the sleeves off my shoulders so it fell, pooling on the marble tile around my feet like an unblemished lily.
I looked down at that dress while he stepped back into me, and this time his bare chest was against my back, warm, silky, and so firm, without an ounce of cuddleable flab. But his muscles could be soft when he wasn’t flexing. Right. Because we’d cuddled plenty by the fire, so this was just him in seduction mode.
My lashes fluttered open at the thought of my Nix seducing other women. He had one hand around my waist, the other reaching out to turn on the tub, because he could do all that while his mouth was occupied with my neck. Were my underwear okay? They were kind of cute, right? My panties had a small smiley print, and my bra was white, basic, nothing to write home about, more practical than pretty, but it’s not like I’dhad a wedding shower with lingerie from my besties. Beastie was my only real bestie, but he’d never give me lingerie. No, he’d give me a can of mace with a smoldering look and tell me to practice safe sex.
I tugged down Nix’s hand and took a small step away from him while I struggled to breathe. I turned to face him, but his eyes weren’t focused on my face, no, he was gazing very fixedly on my smiley print panties. His expression was kind of puzzled, but intense.
“Sorry, I don’t have fancy lingerie with me. I’ve never really had fancy lingerie, except the stuff Michael gave me but for some reason, I never really…” I rose up on my tiptoes and kissed his lips, sliding my hands up around his neck and pressing against him.
His mouth was already soft and wet, and he took my panicked kissing in stride, his strong hands steady on my back, my sides, stroking me like he was trying to calm a skittish horse. Also, he took two steps forward until I came up against the high sides of the tub. He kissed me and I kissed him, melting in him, clinging to him, feeling desperate and uncertain, but also just wanting so much for him to pick me up and carry me away.
He turned his head, breathing hard against my neck, which sent a shiver down my spine. “Kitten, it’s so hard to take it so slow when you’re so sweet. I want you more than I’ve wanted anything. Tell me that you want me. I need to be certain of what you want, what you need.”
I slid my hands down, over the planes of his chest, and he inhaled sharply as I trailed over his skin.
“Tell me,” he growled, teeth and tongue doing something to my neck that made my knees weak and all of my fluttery and aching.
“I want you,” I said simply, the bare raw truth in all its untarnished glory.
He pulled away, and stared into my eyes for a long burning moment before he caressed my face, brushing my hair back.
He dropped to his knees, gazing up at me. He looked like a sculpture come alive, so strong, so noble, like a fairytale knight ready to be knighted, but they didn’t cover this part in the fairy tales. Too bad. What was I supposed to do?
I held very still while we stared at each other, a storm of desire in his eyes that he kept perfectly contained. He wouldn’t hurt me, not matter how much he wanted me, and if I was reading him correctly, he wanted me more than I could possibly survive, because he’d devour me and leave absolutely nothing left.
“Sushine, you okay? You kind of froze up there.”
I blinked at him and then I gulped a breath. I’d forgotten to breathe. “I’m good.”
He gave me a half smile with his beautiful mouth. I was going to paint that mouth a million different times, all the ways he held those lips. And this, this moment right here, that angle, the intensity and power in his eyes that he held so carefully in check, I was painting that first thing. This moment would haunt me forever.
