Page 57 of Pride: Kneel Before None

“Hmm.” I tapped my finger against my chin while I scanned the racks of clothing before me. Briefly, I considered wearing one of his dress shirts.

Too cliché.

Next, I picked up a pair of navy joggers.

Beneath my style.

Then I spotted it. In the back right corner, there were two hangers tucked away, apart from everything else. One remained empty, and the other suspended the only logical outfit choice.

I approached, my eyes lit up with intrigue. When I reached out, my fingertips were greeted with the softest material belonging to a bathrobe I’d ever felt. It was as black as the deepest desert night and had embroidery on the upper left that was a shade of silver that seemed to glow brighter than the moon itself. The threading curved and curled into an abstract spade with the letter “A” in the center of it.

Cozy and luxurious—perfect.

Pulling it from where it hung, I slid my arms into its excessively long sleeves and proceeded to wrap myself up in it like it were a fur coat. Curling my fingers around the edge of the collar, I rubbed the material up against my cheeks while inhaling deeply. It faintly smelled of lightning, bourbon, and the sharp edge of a winning hand. All things that I associated with Ace.

Even after securing the belt around my waist, the robe swallowed my body whole. One shoulder remained exposed; I didn’t bother to correct it as I ventured out to seek where my Knight of Hell was brooding.

My Knight. Mine.

Was that what Ace was to me now? Something stirred inside me, whispering in my mind that he belonged to my desires. That voice was one I had heard once before, the familiarity ringing deep into my subconscious like something I knew only in dreams.

Descending the penthouse’s stairs to the first level, the back of the robe trailed behind me. Ace was nowhere to be seen, but the draft of morning air coming from the open balcony door beckoned my approach.

Standing in the opening, I leaned against the frame. My arms were drawn behind me in a way that pushed my chest forward, and one leg peeked past the divide of the robe in a shameless taunt.

It seemed that sex gave me a confidence I didn’t have before. Okay, well, it gave me a new level of confidence.

I stood there staring at Ace’s bare back, the way his muscles remained taut beneath his tanned skin, broad shoulders that tapered down to a narrow waist, the line of his spine to those lower back dimples right above his ass, and the faint lines of his runes currently dim in his relaxed state.

If he registered my presence, he didn’t show it. Instead, his focus seemed locked on the distant horizon beyond Superbia’s skyline with his hands tucked inside his pockets.

Too impatient for him to acknowledge me, I pushed off the frame and came up behind him. His height dwarfed my own. The top of my head barely came to the curve of his shoulder.

The tip of my nail traced the patterns of his runes that seemed to follow nonsensical patterns.

He didn’t flinch at the contact. Instead, a low hum escaped him.

“Expected you to sleep longer,” he admitted before glancing over his shoulder at me.

A flicker of need lit up the depths of his green eyes, striking quick but hot.

Ace reached behind him, firmly wrapping his hand around my wrist. He guided me around him until we were face to face, my back to the picturesque view of the city.

“Found something of mine, I see.” Amusement colored his tone.

I flashed a smirk. “Found several things of yours.”

The rumble from his chest, a suppressed chuckle, was a sound that I could play on repeat. Something in its commanding baritone sent prickling sensations across my skin into parts of me that recalled other sounds he had made last night.

His hands found my waist, locking his hold onto me before lifting me to sit on the edge of the balcony’s balustrade. Not once did he loosen his hold.

Being up so far from the ground, my strawberry blonde hair whipped around my face with each gust of wind that owned the atmosphere around us.

“Tell me about them,” Ace commanded, his eyes scanning over my body. “Else I’ll be forced to hunt for where you’re hiding them beneath my robe.”

It landed as both a threat and a vow, sealed with his lips dragging down the column of my throat.

Tipping my head back, I allowed more access to the vulnerable line of my neck.