Chapter 36 Villain #5
He broke into a full grin, a sexy, fabulous grin while his weight settled on me as he shifted slightly, so I fit into all his planes and angles.
“I really can’t pretend that I want you, Daniela.
It is absolutely impossible for me to pretend something that true.
Of course I want you. Everyone who’s watched Dani Divine perform wants you, and I’ve also seen your tears, and gotten dumped out in the desert by you.
Those things only make me want you more. ”
“But your sister—”
His frown was stern as he cut me off. “You aren’t my sister, and you aren’t the one who hurt her. You are the one I need to save like I couldn’t save her. That’s why I’ll always catch you when you fall, and why I’ll never take advantage of your weakness or desperation.”
I frowned up at him. Was this him saying that he wouldn’t sleep with me because he knew how messed up I was, and having one last big fling would only mess me up worse, or was he lying about wanting me? If only my super power was lie detecting. That would be useful.
“You don’t believe me,” he said, studying me. “But you will.” He shifted, pulling me so I was spooned against him, supporting my arm while he enveloped me, tucking my feet between his calves, warming them up.
The rest of the ride home was cuddling with Chinese, cuddling with Scooby Doo on the flight, and then at home, cuddling on the couch after he put his large socks on my feet.
He murmured against my neck, “Your feet are so hard to get warm. I could probably come up with some genius tech to take care of that.”
“It’s called a water bottle.”
He pulled me closer, nuzzling my hair. “Such an old-fashioned idea. Hot water for heating? Archaic. I love it. I’m tired, you’re tired, should we go to bed or just stay up watching cartoons all night?”
I sat up, turning to study him. “Bed?”
He smiled and kissed me. “I know, it does sound shocking, sleeping in a bed together, but you asked for intimacy.”
“My mistake.” I pouted at him. Had I ever pouted before in my life? I wanted to get my way, but he’d refused me. I should accept it with cold indifference, but I didn’t want to pretend I didn’t care. Pouting felt dangerous, childish, but he made it safe to show my vulnerabilities.
“Oh, come on, Princess Pink, would you pass on the opportunity to find out if your husband snores?”
I got up and held out my hand to him. I only had a few hours before I had to go. I wanted to sleep with him in his bed, even if he wasn’t going to fix sex for me. I shouldn’t have asked for something that selfish, but I was a villain. “I’m going to record you and use it as blackmail.”
“The way I recorded you? I suppose that’s me getting my just desserts, but I doubt my snoring will go viral. To bed.”
We walked to the master suite with our arms around each other, hip to hip, clumsy because we were too close, but close seemed to be the theme for the night.
You’d think that if he didn’t mind being so close to me, he wouldn’t mind sex, but how was I supposed to understand him?
If he’d been partially responsible for Toni’s death, I’d never be able to forgive him, except maybe I would, because he felt so right, so absolutely perfect.
He handed me a pair of pink and white striped pajamas before he took his own pair into a bathroom.
I got dressed and then followed him, taking the toothbrush he offered me then watching him brush his teeth.
I’d never seen a man do that before. I’d had very separate bathrooms from Clint, and the whole thing was fascinating, the tooth brushing, and the shaving, and then him handing me the floss like it was the most natural thing in the world while I stood there in overlarge pajamas feeling utterly out of place, but at the same time, home.
I leaned against him from the back, wrapping my arms around his waist while he flossed. “I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to floss before you brush,” I mumbled against him.
He put a hand over mine, squeezing slightly. “What have I done without a wife to keep me on the straight and narrow?”
“If you sleep with anyone else, just sleeping or sex, while we’re still legally married, I’ll kill her,” I said, sounding like a sleepy koala instead of a villain.
“That’s reasonable.”
I shook my head, rubbing my forehead on his soft pajamas. “No, it’s not. Toni’s my conscience, and she knows perfectly well that the punishment should fit the crime.”
“Ah, so what would be the appropriate punishment for sleeping with someone else, just sleeping, naturally?”
“I’d have to ask Toni.”
“Never mind. No sense bothering her when the odds of me sleeping with someone else are so abysmally small, probably in the negatives. Are you going to stay like this, or are you going to let me go?”
“Stay.”
“You want to spoon me? But I’m a much bigger spoon.”
“I want to see you naked, but you refuse me. This is the appropriate punishment for that.”
“Ah. Good thing you discussed those consequences with Toni so thoroughly beforehand.” He turned around in my arms and brushed my hair away from my face, gazing down at me. “You’ve seen me mostly naked in the ring.”
I leaned against him, our buttons clashing. “And you’ve seen me mostly naked in the snow. Am I not to your taste?” I shouldn’t say that, not like I was trying for seduction while I was wearing those pajamas.
He raised a brow and then pulled up my collar so it covered my neck.
“Prepare to be tasted.” He swept me up in his arms and carried me into his room.
He threw me on the bed, but came with me, covering my body with his.
He kissed me, holding me while he kissed me and tasted me as sweetly and thoroughly as possible.
For hours we kissed while he held me and I felt adored.
It’s true. Fixing sex didn’t matter when he could kiss me like this.
I would never forget the way he kissed me and touched me, like I was the most delicate, precious, perfect person in the world.
He kissed me like there wasn’t anything else in the world, and I drank in every drop, like it was music I was trying to capture in my soul.
A song rose out of that kiss, that embrace, and it was a song like I’d never played before, simple, sweet, but with an undercurrent of happiness that would sweep me away if I let it.
And I did.