Page 91 of Guarded Love

“What’s wrong?” she asks with a sleepy smile.

Part of me wants to tell her how beautiful I find her in the morning, but I’m not sure if that’s too weird. Instead I say, “Nothing. Why do you ask?”

"You look like you're having some kind of internal crisis." Her fingers trace lazy patterns on my chest. "Very dramatic because it’s too early for this shit o’clock."

Her response makes me chuckle. "I'm not—" I start, but she cuts me off with a knowing look.

"Please. I can practically hear the gears turning in your head." She props herself up on one elbow, the sheet slipping down to reveal the curve of her breast. "Let me guess. You'respiraling about Knox, about what this means, about how we crossed some imaginary line."

The fact that she's read me so completely should be unsettling. Instead, it's oddly comforting. "Maybe."

She shifts so she's looking down at me fully and I wish I could make out every detail of her face. "Blaise, whatever this is between us...we don't have to figure it all out right now. We don't have to tell anyone anything yet."

I lean over and turn on one of the lamps because we can’t have this conversation in the dark. "You want to keep this quiet?" I ask, studying her face for any hint of regret.

"For now, yeah. This is all very new. Hell, I hated you just a few weeks ago.”

"Hated me?" I raise an eyebrow. "That's a strong word."

She rolls her eyes. "Fine. Strongly disliked. You made me want to scream into a pillow every time you spoke."

"I mean as long as I'm the reason you're screaming, that's a win."

A blush starts creeping up her cheeks. “You’re such a dick.”

“And yet, you love mine.”

Her mouth falls open. "You did not just?—"

I cut her off with a kiss, swallowing the rest of her sentence. When I pull back, she's glaring at me, but there’s no anger in her stare.

"You're impossible."

"And you're beautiful, especially when you're trying to pretend you're not affected by me."

"I'm not pretending anything. I'm just saying we should be smart about this. Keep it between us until we figure out what it is."

"Agreed." I lean up to press a soft kiss to her collarbone. "Our secret."

"Our secret," she confirms, then smirks. She lays back down on her side. "Besides, I kind of like having something that's just ours."

"Just ours," I repeat as I wrap a strand of her hair around my finger.

"We should probably get ready for the day," she says, but even though the words fell out of her mouth, she's not moving away from me.

"Probably," I agree. "What time do we have to meet the group?"

"Not for another couple of hours. I do have to head back to my room though. I’m sure Madison is probably wondering what in the ever loving fuck happened to me."

My hand drifts down and finds her waist beneath the sheet. When I start dragging my finger up and down her skin, she shivers slightly as goosebumps form. Excellent. "That's plenty of time."

She tilts her head and looks at me. "Time for what?"

Instead of answering, I roll her onto her back and she quickly accommodates me so I can rest between her thighs. The sheet falls away, and I take a moment to drink in the sight of her in the lamplight. Last night feels like a fever dream, but here she is, real and warm and mine for whatever time we have left.

"Blaise." My name on her lips is half warning, half invitation.

"What? You said we have time." I press a kiss to her throat. "I want to make the most of it."