Page 56 of Yours to Keep

“I’m looking,” I said when he caught me red-handed, ogling his muscular thighs. “Just so we’re clear.”

He smirked. “I’d be offended if you weren’t.”

I grabbed one of the robes and slipped it on, tying it loosely while he pulled on sweatpants and a T-shirt from his overnight bag. Sighing once he was all covered up again, I sat back down on the bed and tipped my head, just watching him for a moment.

“What?” he asked, coming back to the bed and sitting down on the very edge. I followed the movement with my eyes as he ran a hand through that thick, sandy hair, then laughed. “Seriously, what?”

“Nothing much.” I shrugged, picking at the robe before finally shaking my head and looking up at him past my loose hair. “You just surprise me, is all.”

A slow grin spread on his lips and he nodded. “Yeah, I know the feeling. You’re not really what I was expecting either.”

Our gazes remained locked for a long, drawn-out beat, but then the knock came and we both jumped. Sullivan took the cart, tipped generously, and wheeled it in, the room filling almost immediately with the scent of fries, garlic, and something rich and cheesy that made my stomach growl.

“Okay,” I said as he stopped the cart at the foot of the bed. “That smells awesome. I forgive you for a great many things right now. This was the perfect idea.”

“More progress,” he said cheerfully, handing me a plate.

We ate sprawled against the headboard, trading bites without asking and our knees bumping every once in a while. Fries went missing. Sauce ended up on my finger and he grabbed my hand, licking it off while intently holding my gaze, like he was testing me.

“Behave,” I warned, already a little breathless again.

“I am behaving,” he said. “I haven’t done anything.”

“That’s the problem.”

He smiled and my pulse kicked up, but he didn’t let go of my hand, drawing these little patterns on my skin with his fingertips. By the time the plates were half empty, my skin felt electrified by his touches, my nipples hardening more with every pass.

Finally, when he leaned over and pressed a hot, open-mouthed kiss to my shoulder, I set my fork down slowly, moving my plate to the nightstand. “We’re not going to sleep yet, are we?”

“Not if you keep looking at me like that,” he said quietly, eyes on mine as he moved his plate to the cart and then crawled up the mattress.

“Sullivan. No.” I laughed, but the sound came out husky and my cheeks were probably the same color as the ketchup that had been on my finger. “We just ate.”

“Intermission,” he said, reaching for me.

I didn’t even try to fight it, wiggling down on the bed until he had me pinned beneath his body, his lips devouring mine. Deftly undoing the loose knot I’d tied in the robe’s belt, he kissed a path down my neck, nipping and licking my stomach before spreading my thighs apart and making me see stars all over again.

We didn’t talk much as he sank into me after, just hands, and mouths, and that familiar pull between us, like gravity had opinions about where we belonged. I didn’t think I’d really understood the word insatiable fully until now, but Sullivan was so good at this that I strongly suspected I would never be able to get enough.

With him on top of me, moving inside me, and my fingers gripping his hair, it also didn’t feel like I would have to. He hadn’t rushed me out of the room earlier and he was taking his time again now, making me shiver and tremble, and really drawing out my pleasure.

When my limbs had gone pleasantly useless after, we collapsed back into the pillows with our bodies pressed together like they’d decided this was the correct arrangement. I curled into him without thinking, my cheek against his chest and his arm heavy around my shoulders. He kissed the top of my head almost absentmindedly, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“This is nice,” I murmured.

“Yeah,” he said. “It is.”

Tucked safely into his arms, I suddenly didn’t feel like this would be over after tonight, but I also didn’t want to question it right now. Instead, I just let my eyelids grow heavy, the day finally catching up to me. Just before sleep pulled me under, I felt him tighten his hold on me like he was anchoring us both in place.

I didn’t fight that either, not really sure why I was so comfortable with him all of a sudden, but it seemed Sullivan Crowne had a way of drawing me in. I just wasn’t sure what would be waiting for us on the other side of all this.

Somehow, I already knew that in the harsh light of the morning, things just wouldn’t look quite the same. I simply didn’t want to think about any of that right now.

CHAPTER 22

SULLIVAN

Iwoke to early morning light slipping through a crack in the curtains, a thin blade of day creeping across the room. Bree was asleep against me, her head tucked under my chin and one arm draped over my chest.