Kate woke cocooned between two warm bodies.
She lay on her left side with Rusty curled tight against her stomach, and she was spooned back against a very warm and very tall man, if her first impressions were correct.
Every facet of last night came back to her in a steady stream of memories. A large smile lifted the edges of her lips. She felt so light and free that she thought she might float away, except for the heavy arm draped over her hip.
She remembered asking Dex to stay last night, and him answering that he would see if he could still walk when he was done with her. Kate would be surprised if either of them could walk without a noticeable wince in their gait today. But damn, had it been worth it.
She was glad he’d stayed. And glad that she now knew how wonderful it felt to fall asleep in Dex’s arms.
Many of her muscles ached from the workout they’d received last night. Several places on her body were tender from whisker burn, and there was a delicious ache between her thighs.
As for the rest of her, she felt amazing.
After the past few days, and especially last night, she should be exhausted, but anticipation and energy perked inside her.
She glanced at her nightstand, and the glowing green numbers on her digital clock read 4:44 a.m.
Crap!
She needed to finish one of the Merestone pages before seven a.m. her time. She still had time to finish, but never liked to leave work until the last minute, in case technical difficulties arose on either side.
The light in her bedroom was still murky. She hadn’t closed any of her blinds last night like she normally did when she went to bed, so the windows let in the weak glow that was constantly generated by life and business in L.A.
Loath to give up her very comfortable position, she reminded herself that her reputation for always exceeding expectations, including deadlines, drove her word-of-mouth business. That was one price of being self-employed.
After a deep breath, she gently stroked Rusty until he woke and stretched, fixing her with an accusing golden glare before he hopped down off the bed. Then she slowly slid out from under Dex’s hand, stepping out of bed onto the cold hardwood floor.
She glanced back at Dex’s sleeping form to make sure she hadn’t woken him.
His breathing remained deep and even, the sheet pulled up over one hip, showcasing his muscular bare chest and arms. She had to silently scold herself to keep from reaching out to trace the winding rose tattoo on his upper arm. She hoped one day she would get to do it, but right now, she needed to finish her work. Then she could come back to bed to enjoy the last few hours of being curled up next to Dex.
Once again she was tempted to put off her trip to visit Phoenix next week, but she knew that was leftover hormones talking. While Dex was amazing both as a Dom and as a man, they shared a love of great sex and kink. Not to mention that she hadn’t known him long enough to even consider putting her plans or her life on hold for him.
She’d made the decision that Los Angeles was no longer a good place for her, and she had decided on the next steps to move forward. The logical thing to do was to continue on as planned and see what happened.
She grabbed her silky robe from her closet and slipped it on.
A large smile curved her lips as happiness burst through her. If she completed her work quickly, she might still be able to slip back in bed under that warm hand, as if she had never left.
Inside her office she turned on her laptop and waited as it hummed to life. She was tempted to grab a Diet Pepsi from the kitchen, but since she wanted to go back to bed after this, she didn’t need the caffeine.
The job Merestone wanted done early didn’t seem too difficult since the Houston site had a cluttered logo anyway. Most likely because there had been several other changes to that site over the last year, and they never wanted her to remove the past versions.
Kate sighed as she contemplated where to insert nine well-hidden turtles into the logo in front of her.
She worked a few minutes in silence, expecting Rusty to jump up on the desk and interrupt her at any moment, since that was their usual routine.
“Good morning.” Dex’s gravelly voice behind her startled her, and she turned to see him wonderfully relaxed in only his boxer briefs and a sleepy smile. “Are you always up working this early?”
“God, no.” She laughed as she met his gaze. “I just had to get these site changes done before seven a.m., and I was a bit distracted last night.”
A knowing smile curved his lips. “As the person who distracted you, I’m not the least bit sorry. But I hope there aren’t too many changes.”
She shook her head. “I’m nearly done.” She finished smoothing in the last image and then hit save. She would give it a final once-over before she published the results, but she was fairly confident everything was in order.