Page 79 of Stone Temptation
You have to see this through.
You have to…
…hold him.
I climbed onto my bed, filing away a note to pay Seth back. And he would pay. Someday, somehow. In the meantime, he could kiss chess and blowjobs with Luke goodbye.
I rolled onto my side to face Luke’s back and reveled in his closeness, his scent, everything.
“Whoever you are, I’ll keep you safe,” I whispered. “I really do promise you that.”
Home…
He is home…
I lay my head down on the other pillow, watching him intently until the first light of dawn broke and sleep dragged me away.
NINETEEN
Luke
Swaddled in silk, I opened my eyes from a dreamless sleep.
Sunlight spilled through the balcony doors, the gray stone floor glittering with flecks of silver. I languished in the first comfortable moments of waking from a refreshing sleep. For the first night in ages, a happy weightlessness welcomed me to the day.
Hot breath tickled the back of my neck.
“Asher?” I asked.
Safe…
I rolled over, meeting Asher’s closed eyes and sleeping face. He seemed so peaceful, my sleeping bodyguard of muscle and stony powers.
Safe…
The silk duvet covered his lower half, the top part of his crimson leather outfit still clinging to his magnificent body.
Morning wood twitched in my boxers.
I let myself be in the moment, riding this safety train, becoming a different version of me. A man who woke up with a good-looking gargoyle and didn’t flinch. No conflict, no embarrassment.
He’d kissed me. I touched my lips, the connection having yanked me from the icy place.
“Thank you.” I slid closer to him, my insides like that pretty sunlight on the floor.
Was this because of the mark on my neck? Because of his aesthetics and me being an exposed nerve? Because sometimes we were nothing more than our base desires?
All of the above. And because I sought comfort, recognized it when it was dangled in my face like a golden carrot.
Hmmm…
“You’re safety.”
As soon as I said it, memories of last night slapped me upside the head, serving up a hefty reality check and eclipsed my sunny insides.
Dammit.
I shuffled closer to Asher, wanting more of this comforting morning in his silky bed, unable to peel my eyes away from him.