Page 25 of Sleeping Redemption
Lightly, I dragged my nails over his chest which still bore the red marks from my scratches moments ago. “Hmm, what is it?”
Rook smirked. “You let me make you one of my special peanut butter and jelly sandwiches after.”
My mouth drew the edge of his thumb into my mouth where I sucked on it slowly for a few seconds before releasing it.
“Deal.”
What on earthwas that ungodly sound this early in the morning? I groaned and rolled over in my bed, yanking my pillow over my head. When the doorbell’s dings didn’t cease, I grew even more agitated while lying there on my stomach amongst the mass amount of pure white blankets and variously sized pillows.
Finally tossing the one pillow off my head to the floor, I pushed myself onto my elbows and shouted, “Christina! Christina! For the love of Lucifer, make that fucking noise stop!”
I glanced over at the space next to me in the king-sized bed, and finding it empty, I figured Rook saw himself out. In his stead, there was a small plate with another one of his specially made peanut butter and blackberry jelly sandwiches. The crust had been trimmed off, and it was cut into the rough shape of a star.
Feeling the rumbling in my stomach, it would be a lie if I said that another sweet and salty sammy didn’t elevate my mood slightly to see it left waiting there for me. The one he had made for me last night after we spent a couple of hours fucking had hit all the right spots. I suspected this one would do the same.
The doorbell stopped its incessant rings.Finally. Either whoever was at the door left or dropped dead, or my human helper finally did her damn job. Secretly, I hoped there was a corpse on my front stoop. However, Christina’s lack of screaming wasn’t promising.
Grabbing one of the many other pillows in bed with me, I curled up with it and got comfortable. “Mmm,” I let out a contented moan. Not even two minutes after I was prepared to doze off again, there was a timid knock at my door.
The bedroom door creaked open, and Christina’s delicate voice quietly spoke, the fear of being on the wrong end of my mood very clear.
“Miss Ward? I’m so sorry to disturb you.” Her words were rushed, perhaps in fear of my reaction to her interruption of my beauty sleep.
Not bothering to open my eyes, I cut her off. “Then, why did you?” My tone was flat with the slumber I tried to embrace.
She cleared her throat, trying to sound sure of the words she was about to speak. “Um, you have a guest. Miss Zorah is waiting for you downstairs. She said she knows what you did last night and wants answers.”
Since when did Z know about my late-night activities—or even care for that matter? Rolling onto my back with a sigh, I opened my eyes and looked over to see Christina, barely hovering in the small gap between the door and its frame. A dark blue turtleneck sweater covered her throat, a shift from the typical scoop-neck tees she usually wore.
“It’s too fucking early for this,” I grumbled to myself while rubbing my eyes. “Tell her I will be right down.”
My little helper quickly nodded and pulled the door closed as she left.
I dragged myself out of bed, wishing Z would have given it a few more hours before showing up here. Instead of sauntering downstairs completely nude, I wrapped a scarlet silk robe around me. Several minutes later, with my blonde and raven locks piled high on top of my head, I came downstairs, munching on Rook’s parting gift.
Zorah paced at the bottom of the stairs, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Before my bare foot hit the last step, she rushed over to me. Her unlaced combat boots thudded against the floor, and her black and gray plaid skirt swayed around her hips as she approached. “Lee-Lee!”
Her inky black hair was cut short, only reaching the bottom of her chin, and styled in loose beach waves that swayed with her approach. Z’s brown eyes were wider than they should have been for this time of morning.
Sucking the last smudge of peanut butter from my fingertip, I looked at my best friend, not hiding the exhaustion from my face.
“You couldn’t have let me sleep in longer before coming over here?” I asked, wondering what was going through her mind.
She shook her head before linking her arm through mine and walking me to the kitchen, hopefully to acquire some caffeine. “I waited as long as I could. I’ve been up for hours. What the hell happened with your date last night? I just got all these bizarre feelings. Super intense ones like anxiousness and fear, then calm, rage, and…” She giggled with a smile.
Her deathly pale cheeks turned a rosy pink. “So. Much. Sex. I had to booty call ten different girls on my list to see who could come over quickest.”
Raising a brow, this was all new to me. Never before had Z been able to sense my emotions, not like this anyway. She could tell when I was in a bad mood and needed cheering up while talking to me, just like any other friend. This reached far beyond that intuition.
Before I could even explain how she managed to peg each of my emotions from last night, we were greeted by a hell of a sight in the middle of the kitchen.
With his back to us and bare-assed, an apron hung from Rook’s neck, loosely tied around his waist. Seeing each flex of the muscles of his ass move as he listened to music playing in the kitchen proved to be a welcomed distraction.
Leaning toward Zorah, I whispered, “So. Much. Fucking. Sex.”
Rook turned with a spatula in one hand and a plate of chocolate pancakes in the other. Roguishly he grinned at me, but it fell immediately as his eyes shifted to Z.
“Z, this is Ro—” I began my introduction.
