Chapter 14
Kim ended up liking Unforgiven, as Raze had known she would. He couldn’t explain how he knew; it was just there. It was as if she had a rhythm, a unique tempo that resonated perfectly inside him. And he’d liked Gabriel, as she’d suspected he would.
Synergy, he thought, tightening his arms around her.
He lay stretched out on her sofa, barefoot and comfortable.
She was sprawled between his legs, her back to his chest, her arms crossed over his.
Every breath he took smelled of her, that unique fragrance that was partly a soft floral perfume and mostly her natural essence.
He’d never experienced anything even remotely similar to this casual intimacy.
Associations for him had always been necessities—he worked with his teams, fucked the willing, and relaxed alone.
All of the Fallen had lost their souls when they’d lost their wings; one couldn’t exist without the other.
But the rest of the Fallen had loved before they fell, and he’d wondered if perhaps the ability to know love was something he could’ve only learned when he’d been whole. Maybe he’d missed his chance.
Clearly, he’d been wrong to think that way. He’d never understood the saying My heart’s not in it. Why did your heart need to be in anything? Do what you need to do. But now he knew. He’d enjoyed his work, sex, and solitude, but his heart had never been in any of it—until, perhaps, now.
Raze pressed a kiss to her temple, marveling at how drastically his life and outlook had changed in a mere day. “You know,” he murmured, “now we can say we’ve known each other days, as in plural.”
Her head moved on his chest as her gaze slid from the television to the digital clock on her cable box. “It feels like so much longer than that.”
She sat up despite his protests and shifted, moving to straddle him.
He watched her, riveted by her elegant sensuality.
She was way out of his league, but somehow, he was making her happy.
She caught the pull of her zipper, which ran from cleavage to waist on the simple but pretty strappy emerald dress she wore.
“Ready for your surprise?” she asked with sparkling eyes.
“Hmm… A surprise.” He gripped her thighs beneath the hem and squeezed. “You’re all I need.”
“And I’m what you’ll get.” The dress parted, and she drew it over her head.
Jesus. He went hard all over. Her delicate breasts were cupped by scraps of green satin framed by black lace.
The wisp covering the sweet flesh between her thighs was nothing more than a tease.
The whole sparkled with crystals and contrasted beautifully with her creamy skin, dark hair, and peridot eyes.
He lost his breath for a moment, along with his brain.
“A surprise,” he murmured. “And a gift. God, Kim. You shred me.”
Her greedy hands slid beneath his shirt, and her mouth sealed over his. She took him. And fisting her hair, he gave.