Page 31 of Sovereign

I sink down and start eating the buttered toast. My stomach growls, but the hot food goes right to my soul. Soothing my shock. It’s gone by the time the bathroom door opens and he appears in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. His hair is wet and pushed back. A trickle of water moves down past his ear and etches along his neck.

Every ridge of his stomach is visible through the worn, gray t-shirt. It’s tight on him. I’m sure most clothes barely fit that broad body. Maybe he has to order them custom.

He notices me staring and tosses the towel in his hand aside.

“You still hungry, redbird?”

I shake my head, wordless.

There’s something about the way he said that word that sets me alight and soothes me at the same time. His voice is hushed and hoarse. It’s so familiar. Like in another life he said that word to me and it’s still echoing through my memory.

“Say it again,” I whisper.

His pupils dilate.

“Redbird,” he says.

My body wants comfort, and he looks like a sanctuary. It’s been such a long time since I’ve craved sex, perhaps because Clint stopped wanting me and turned elsewhere. Nothing is more humiliating than begging for attention from a man. So I stopped early on and let him come to me when he wanted it. After a while, it was a relief when he didn’t reach for me.

I won’t beg for Gerard Sovereign either.

If he wants me, he’ll take me.

He picks up the tray and sets it aside. Behind him, the bull skull glowers over the fireplace. His body moves close and fills my vision, sitting down on the edge of the bed. My breath hitches and his eyes drop as my breasts heave.

“Do you need to see a doctor?” he asks.

His words feel so out of place in the tense room. I shake my head.

His hand comes up, touching a thick strand of my hair. My eyes flutter closed. He’d called me a redbird, a spark of color against the winter. Has he lived in the cold for so long on Sovereign Mountain that he needs a sign of hope?

That’s what a redbird is—hope.

I crack my lids and study his face, tracing the laughter lines with my eyes. I count a few strands of gray hair by his ears. He’d look better with it cut very short. He’s got one of those hard, bullet heads I find so attractive and I want to see the shape of it.

I want to run my nails down the back of his scalp, and slip my fingertips over his broad, muscled shoulders. He’s so effortlessly powerful and right now, I’m broken.

I’m tired of being strong. I tried for so long and I’m fucking done.

“Fuck me,” I breathe.

His eyes snap up. “What?”

Before I can lose my nerve, I pull the sweatshirt over my head and toss it to the ground. I hear his breath hitch and a flushcreeps up his neck. His gaze falls and stays glued to my naked breasts.

His hand comes up and I tense, my body tingling. But it moves past me and taps the nightstand. The lights flick off and we’re left with nothing but the fireplace. It floods the room in an orange glow that cuts heavy shadows down his face and nose.

He clears his throat. “If that’s what you want, redbird, I won’t tell you to change your mind.”

My body is empty, especially that place between my thighs that hasn’t been filled in so long. When I shift my hips, I can tell I’m soaked just from the thought of sex with him. I want him to break through to me like he broke down my front door.

“I won’t change my mind,” I whisper.

He puts his hand against my back and it’s so big and rough it sends heat down my spine that centers in my sex. Our bodies move together like we’re connected. His other hand slips up the side of my waist and brings me into his embrace, wrapping me in the weight and warmth I’ve craved for so long.

I let my head fall back over his forearm and his mouth comes down on mine. His lips part and when I taste him my body comes alive. I’d thought it was wide awake before, but that was nothing compared to the burst of sensation moving through my veins.

I’ve never been kissed like this. His mouth is hard and soft all at once and he tastes faintly of mint. He probably brushed his teeth after his shower. Or maybe he’s just that perfect.

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