Chapter 4
The light cuts through the blinds in thin, gold stripes, hitting the bed, the wall, and her skin, illuminating it in an impossible shade of golden bronze.
Freya slaps one hand over her eyes. “God, tell me I’m not dead.”
“You’re not dead.” My voice comes out rough from no sleep.
Every time she stirred, I worried she’d be headed for the bathroom again.
“But you were close,” I joke.
She laughs weakly, instantly regretting it. “Ow. Don’t make me do that.” She groans. “I’m mortified.”
“Nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” Her tone softens. “You didn’t spend the night throwing up in front of someone you,” she pauses, perhaps figuring out how to describe what’s going on here— “work with.”
“I don’t remember any of that part.”
Last night did nothing to make me think less of her or see her as anything other than gorgeous.
Her eyes narrow. “Liar.”
There’s a sweating bottle of Gatorade I got from the vending machine last night sitting on the nightstand. I grab it and sit on the edge of the bed. Her mascara has smudged and her hair is all over the place…and she’s still managing to look like sin.
I hand her the much-needed electrolytes. “Drink this.”
She squeezes her eyes as if she’s trying to muster up the courage to pull herself upright. “Thanks for staying.”
“Someone had to make sure you didn’t stop breathing.”
Her eyes narrow again but this time with humor. “You’re a saint.”
I smooth some of her thick hair off her forehead without even thinking. “Don’t start rumors like that.”
The smile she returns is way too sweet and gracious for a guy who hasn’t stopped thinking about what could have happened last night.
She sighs. “Guess I owe you one.”
“You owe your body a drink.” I tilt the bottle toward her again.
She pushes herself up against the headboard. The sheet falls away and she’s suddenly all bare skin, laid out for me, with nothing but her bra between my mouth and what I want. Heat slams through me but I clamp down on it out of habit.
Her lips twitch when she catches me looking. “Guess I got hot last night.”
She pushes herself up even farther against the backboard, allowing the blanket to fall to her hips. I should look away.
I don’t.
She knows she put more skin out there for me to see. And somehow, the morning humility in her eyes has been replaced by something more daring. I didn’t stay for…this. But there’s no mistaking the invitation is still in that sultry gaze.
Silence stretches. She sips the drink, twists the cap back on, and when she leans over to put it back on the nightstand, the blanket dips lower, revealing a pair of black lace panties.
“You know…” She tilts her head, frizzy curls reminding me I’ve been here all night next to this goddess and did nothing.
Maybe I am a saint.
She crosses her arms, and her tits push up. “I’m disappointed.”
Me fucking, too.
“Yeah?” I scratch my eyebrow, anything to stop staring. “Why?”
“I have to leave today. It feels like everything important happens when I’m packing my bags.”
I watch the light crawl over her shoulder, the hollow of her throat.
She bites the inside of her cheek while staring at me.
She lets out a big sigh. “You look cold.” She flips the covers off her completely, now revealing those long legs of hers and the V between her thighs.
She pats the bed next to her. “Come here.” Her lips curve. “You carried me upstairs, held my hair, and babysat me all night. I think you’ve earned half the covers.”
I guess just one night turned into just one morning.
“I don’t get into bed with my clothes on.” My gaze darkens. “It’s the only dirty thing I don’t do.”
Her lips part.
Somehow, despite my cock pressing painfully against my jeans, the part of me that stayed up all night to make sure she was okay tightens its grip. “We didn’t do this for a reason.”
I was staying here. I didn’t want to hold her back.
But that version of us is already gone.
She gathers my fingers in hers and plays with them. “It could complicate things.”
I can’t take my eyes off how good our hands look together.
“Or”—her words are careful— “it might make them simpler.”
I glance up, and her eyebrow is arched.
I run the back of my finger down her bare arm and test the idea. I know what she’s thinking. Maybe giving in would crush the fantasy a little.
But nothing about the way her skin feels under my touch suggests we’re simple.
She watches my hand, then looks back up at me. Her words are nearly breathless. “See? Very practical.”
The laugh that comes out is rough and feral. “You’re trouble.”
“We get it out of our systems.” She threads her fingers through mine. “Then, we can be friends.”
“Mm.” I’m not convinced.
She hooks her pinky around mine. “We’ll pinky promise. This won’t get in the way of our friendship.”
When our eyes meet again, she’s watching me, waiting for the moment when I stop fighting it.
My gaze drops to her body—
That moment is now.
Fuck it.
I pull my shirt over my head and step out of my jeans and boxers, knowing I’m crossing something I won’t be able to uncross. I’m already hard, already committed, and the thought that this will change things barely has time to surface before I stop caring.
The mattress dips under my weight when I crawl under the covers she still holds open for me. The scent of her—sweet, feminine, faint vanilla—wraps around me.
She rolls toward me; we’re perfectly aligned.
My rock-hard dick presses into the soft, hot flesh of her stomach.
“That didn’t take long.” Her hand slides over my length. “Wow.”
I run the back of my finger over her breast. “That’s me restrained, honey.”
My fingers slip under her bra strap and slide it slowly downward.
Her gaze dips to my mouth. “You were such a gentleman last night…”
I brush her lip with my thumb. “I’m no gentleman, Freya….”
Our lips press together and immediately a wildfire bursts through my chest. She sighs into my mouth, and the sound nearly kills me.
I dive my tongue into her mouth, devouring her, as I thread my hands through her luscious curls.
As she kisses me, she takes one hand and wiggles down her panties, over her hips. I cup my hand over her hot core. Shit, I want this. I want inside her. I want to feel her…
I drag my mouth from hers just long enough to ask. “You sure about this?”
Her eyes are closed, and she reaches down for my dick. “I was sure last night.”
I’m taking her. She might never come back, for all I know, or she might get a fucking man down in LA. The thought of it guts me. But I have her now… I have her body in my hands, my fingers on her insane curves…
Though I try to slow it all down and take my time, before I know it, I’m sunk so deep inside, I let the moment claim me.
And every instinct I have tells me this won’t be as simple as we promised.