Kissing him quickly, she told him, “I would love to sleep with you, but maybe not this time. I have no intention of sneaking around, but I would rather Diego and the others found out about us in a different way.”
He frowned, and she could tell he didn’t like her refusal, but he didn’t disagree. “Very well,” he said. “I will let you go this time. But not next time.”
She smiled. “It’s a deal.”
Moving around the room, he collected her clothes. He was completely nude and entirely confident, and she couldn’t stop staring at him. His back, arms and legs were corded with lean muscle, and watching him was a pure pleasure. As he neared a large walnut wardrobe, he pulled out a black silk robe and offered it to her.
With a quick smile of thanks, she slipped it on. It was too large for her frame, but not unpleasantly so. The hem brushed the top of her bare feet, and the sleeves fell to the tips of her fingers. At his urging, she held out first one arm then the other. He rolled the sleeves up to her wrists while she watched, then handed the bundle of her clothes and shoes to her.
Awkwardness and doubt tried to worm their way into her mind. She shoved them out again.
Slipping his fingers underneath her chin, he coaxed her face up. As usual, his gaze was all too keen. “I will only feel good about letting you leave, if you tell me you are fine with what just happened.”
She took a deep breath. She would not be typical. They had made love, and she had wanted to, and it had been a rare, wonderful experience.
“I’m not sure that ‘fine’ is quite the right word for how I feel,” she told him honestly. “While I’m so . . . glad, I also feel pretty shaken. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not dealing with it, or that I’ll go against my word and leave.” She gave him a small smile. “Will that do?”
The muscle in his jaw ticked, another small tell. “It goes against my instincts to let you out of here, even if you are only going to another room. But I also agree with you—letting Diego stumble upon us together is not the right way to break the news to the others.” He kissed her swiftly. “You’d better leave before I change my mind.”
She nodded, and before she could change her mind too, she kissed him again and walked rapidly to the door. Funny, now that she was actually leaving—even though she needed to—she had to fight the impulse to turn around and stay.
She walked to the short hallway and looked back. He had left his bedroom door halfway open. As she paused, he said telepathically, In case you change your mind.
Warmed, she replied, I won’t, but thank you.
Sweet dreams.
You too.
There were four doors down the short hallway. Two were propped open, one led to the bathroom with an antique claw-foot bathtub and the fourth led to an empty bedroom. Inside that room, her bag sat at the foot of the double bed, and as promised, on the nightstand Diego had left a snack of crackers, fruit and a variety of cheeses wrapped in plastic.
As she readied for bed, exhaustion weighed down her limbs. The day had felt a week long, and she hadn’t yet adjusted to a more nocturnal schedule.
Slipping into the bathroom, she brushed her teeth. Much as she wanted to take a full bath or shower, she could barely stand upright, so she washed quickly at the sink. Back in the bedroom, she closed her door and crawled between the covers.
She didn’t make it to turning out the bedside light. The world went dark as soon as her head hit the pillow.
An undefined amount of time later, she didn’t wake gently or slowly, but all at once in a clench. It took a few moments for her to realize where she was, as she stared around the strange, windowless room.
Memory flooded in. The confrontation with Malphas, and what had come after.
The things she and Xavier had said to each other, the things he had done to her, his mouth moving so knowledgeably as he tongued her until an inescapable fire had flared hot and bright. How he moved on top of her, moved inside of her, the feral changes in his face, and the gentleness of his hands and lips.
It had been at least a year since she had last taken a lover, and she felt the soreness in her muscles as she shifted her legs restlessly. Even with the soreness, an edge of that fiery hunger pulsed. Slipping a hand between her legs to cup herself, she realized she hadn’t even taken off the robe. The soft material twisted around her body.
Without visual cues from looking outside, it was impossible to know the time without a clock or device of some sort, and she was still very tired. What had woken her? She hadn’t dreamed of Malphas, thank God. Perhaps she had noticed the strangeness of the bed.
Faintly, the sound of male voices came through the closed door. Even though she could just barely hear them, not what was actually being said, they sounded tense, even angry.
Oh Lord, what now?
Throwing back the covers, she adjusted the robe and slipped out of the room.