Chapter Fourteen #2
He began to work his magic, and she couldn’t help but whimper as that delicious knot of pleasure began to build again.
“That’s it,” he said, adjusting their bodies. “That’s what I like to hear.”
Faith leaned over him, and when their mouths touched, she sank onto him fully, eating the groan at the back of her throat because he felt so fucking good.
Gus filled all the spaces up inside Faith, and with his hands on her hips to guide her, they began to move in a dance older than time.
It was the joining of two bodies on a level she’d never felt before.
Hell, she’d never dreamed it could feel this good.
They moved faster and faster, their need to connect so intense neither one spoke another word.
Hands held. Eyes connected, and when they finally came in a rage of desire that left both of them winded, she held him inside of her for as long as she could.
“That was . . .” she rolled off him finally and into his arms, where she buried her head against his chest. “I can’t . . .”
“It was and you will,” he murmured in her ear. “Just give me ten minutes.”
* * *
Faith woke slowly. She felt heavy and light at the same time.
Her body tingled and ached in places she’d never ached before — at least not in recent memory.
She groaned softly very aware of the warm body beside her, then opened her eyes.
She blinked away sleep and took a moment to adjust her gaze — the room was bright, the window still open from the night before. And when things came into focus — wow.
Gus David was beautiful.
He lay on his back, one arm flung above his head, the other across his chest. The covers were dangerously low, revealing the tribal tattoo on his lower abdomen.
A tattoo she’d explored thoroughly the night before.
His expression while asleep was soft, almost boyish and she reached over to gingerly move hair from his forehead.
Fresh stubble covered his jaw and chin, and his lashes were sinfully long.
He was so damn handsome it should be illegal.
Faith could have stayed in bed all day, spending hours watching him sleep.
Which, she thought to herself with a giggle, is kind of creepy.
But she had work, and while she didn’t have a clock in her bedroom, Faith could tell by the amount of sunshine that it was later than she’d like.
She was supposed to be at The Dock to open for breakfast.
“What do I do about you?” she murmured as she slid from bed. She liked the look of him in her sheets and, feeling like a schoolgirl, backed away, watching him as long as she could before she turned reluctantly and hopped in the shower.
Twenty minutes later, she was dressed in shorts and a work T-shirt, her hair a wet tumble of waves, face makeup-free.
Gus was still asleep, so she quietly closed her bedroom door and made a cup of coffee.
She had maybe thirty minutes before she needed to leave for work and sipped her coffee leisurely before eating the last yogurt cup in her fridge.
Once her mug was rinsed, she padded back to the bedroom and poked her head inside for one last look. Gus was still sleeping like a baby.
She decided not to wake him. It was Sunday, after all, and she had kept him up most of the night; she grinned wryly at the thought.
Quietly, she grabbed her work shoes from the small closet and then tugged down the blinds.
She closed the bedroom door, then rummaged through the drawers in the kitchen until she found a piece of paper big enough for a note.
With pen in hand, she stared at the blank space for nearly two minutes. What to say? Thank you? She blushed at the thought. That was dumb. See you later? Her blush deepened. That was being presumptuous.
In the end, she scribbled something simple.
Hey, I had to leave for work. Lock up when you leave. I have the spare key so you can shoot this one under the door.
Faith
She stared at the note so long the words blurred and irritated with herself, pushed it away. “God, don’t overthink,” she muttered before leaving a key with the note.
She took the stairs lightly and was nearly out the back door when Candy poked her nose out of her apartment door.
“Is that you, Faith?”
She turned around and spied the older woman. “Hey, yes, I’m just heading to work.”
“I didn’t hear you come home last night.”
Surprised, she didn’t answer at first. “It was late.”
“I figured as much.” Candy’s voice softened. “I don’t like to pry in the business of others, but . . .”
Great.
She didn’t want to do this, but Faith figured she was better off letting Candy say whatever it was she wanted to say so she could get on with her day.
“Is something bothering you?” Faith asked, knowing she was probably going to regret it.
Candy smoothed back her sleep-tangled silver curls. “I’m sure things are fine, but I would be careful with him, Gus. He’s a good man but he’s not the staying kind.”
“Oh, I don’t . . . we . . .” She stopped talking before she made a fool out of herself.
How could she answer the woman, though? She supposed she should be insulted that Candy thought she had the right to say anything about her and Gus, but the look in the woman’s eyes was full of caring, and Faith knew her heart was in the right place.
“It’s nice to know you’ve got my back, but things are fine. Truly. We’re just . . . friends.”
Candy’s eyes softened. “Don’t mind me then. I have a habit of sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“All good.” Faith took a step back. “I’ll see you later.”
She walked out to the shed and grabbed her bicycle, and as she began to pedal down the road, Faith tried not to be annoyed with her landlord. But the simple truth was that Candy’s warning effectively popped the bubble she’d existed in since waking up.
The woman was right. She would have to be careful with Gus for many reasons — most of them to do with her. The things she was hiding. The lies and half-truths she’d told since being in Fire Lake. Her family and all the darkness they could bring.
But mostly because he was the kind of man she could get used to. The kind of man she could become addicted to. And that was a problem because he would be leaving Fire Lake when he was done working on the cottage restorations.
As the warm sun hit her face, Faith decided not to dwell on the negative. For the first time in months, she had something good in her life. She would enjoy Gus for as long as she could. But she’d be smart about it.
Because if she wasn’t . . .
He’d be leaving Fire Lake with her heart in his pocket.