Chapter 3
3
Three more rounds of lovemaking and several orgasms later, Saint was awakened when Angel eased from his arms. He figured she was leaving but already regretted she would be doing so. Opening his eyes, he watched her naked body leave the bed. Instead of getting dressed, she went over to the table and grabbed the bottle of wine and the glasses she’d brought with her.
Pulling himself up in bed, he asked, “What are you doing?”
She turned around and beamed at him. “Pouring our wine.”
When given such a cheerful reaction like that, she could be pouring cyanide and he would gladly drink down whatever she gave him. Damn. He was definitely under the spell of an angel right now. He had made love to her all through the night. Correction. They had made love to each other. The only time their bodies had separated was when one of them needed to use the bathroom. Of course, for him, it was the frequent changing of the condoms. He was glad he had stopped by the hotel’s gift shop to pick up a pack since the only one he’d had was that one kept in his wallet. Already they’d gone through a half dozen.
“Here you are.”
She handed him his glass of wine, and to keep her from spilling any, he took hers as she slipped back in bed beside him. “Thanks,” she said, settling against the pillow to sit up next to him before taking her wineglass from him. “I propose a toast.”
“What’s the occasion?”
“A pathway forward. Until tonight I wasn’t sure it was possible for me,” she said.
“And now you think it is?”
“Thanks to you, yes. You’re an awesome guy, Saint.”
“And I believe you’re an awesome woman. With you, I was able to channel my feelings into something else. Namely, someone else. You’re the first woman I’ve been attracted to since my breakup. You gave me the strength to do something I’ve never done before. In the past I put everyone else before myself. Tonight I focused on self-love and the sharing of pleasure with you.”
The wide grin she gave him at that moment pulled at his insides. “Sounds like you’ve found a pathway forward as well.”
He thought about what she’d said. “Yes, I think that I have.”
“Then let’s toast to our awesomeness.”
They tapped their glasses and took sips. He stared at her over the rim of his glass. Lowering it, he said, “About our real names...”
She reached up and pressed a finger to his lips. “Real names don’t matter to us. You’re Saint and I’m Angel. Please, let’s leave it at that.”
Although a part of him preferred not doing what she requested, he would abide by her wishes. The last thing he needed or wanted was to get back into a serious involvement of any kind with a woman. However, after a night spent with Angel he could believe when the time was right that he would be able to. He still had a lot of healing to do, and it might be a process that would take years. He was okay with that and believed that one day someone would come into his life, and she would be the one meant for him. He could now accept that woman had not been Mia.
“I should leave now and go to my room,” she said, cutting into his thoughts.
Looking at the clock, he saw it was four in the morning. “You’re welcome to stay here with me for as long as you want. Checkout is at eleven, but my flight won’t leave until one. That is, if the airport reopens. It’s still storming pretty bad outside.”
After taking another sip of his wine, he asked, “What about you? What time does your flight take off?”
It was imperative to Zara that Saint didn’t know any more about her than he already did...which wasn’t much. That was why she’d dismissed his suggestion of revealing their real names. The fake identities they were using were good enough, especially when their paths would never cross again. At least she hoped not. Last night, not only had she acted footloose and fancy-free, but she had also been his for the taking and in positions she’d never known existed. She had behaved in a way with him that she’d never done with any man, and a part of her knew she would never play out the role of Angel in her lifetime with anyone else.
“What time does your flight take off?” he asked again.
He obviously assumed she hadn’t heard his question. She didn’t want to outright lie so she said, “Not sure.” Their glasses were empty, and after taking his wineglass she placed both on the nightstand.
“Is there any reason you can’t stay with me for the rest of the night, Angel?”
She could think of a number of reasons, but at the moment none of them mattered. Tonight she wasn’t being her logical self and she didn’t want to be. “No reason at all, Saint.”
When his features displayed his delight, she immediately felt a crackle of sexual energy pass between them. She still wasn’t sure what it was about Saint that could arouse her so effortlessly. All she knew was there was this carnal attraction that had desire clawing inside her that didn’t want to be denied.
“I’m glad to hear that,” he whispered, before pulling her into his arms.