Page 26 of Crazy In Love (Love & War #2)

FOX

What have I done?

What epic lines have I crossed?

And hell, do I regret it?

Oddly, while I lie in the center of the bed Chris made up for me before I ever stepped foot in this apartment, the soft finish of expensive sheets tickling my skin, I look down my nose at his single pointer finger, tracing the ink that sneaks around my ribs and onto my back, and though I search for it, I can’t find a single shred of remorse for what we’ve just done.

I’m still stuck on the mind-numbing effects of being fucked most of the way to death.

“This one?”

Lazily, I lift just my head and peek down at the cherry blossom hidden amongst my plethora of floral reminders.

“Japan.” I flop back to my pillow and melt into the silky softness, running my fingers over the smooth finish while Chris runs his over my flesh. “I have chrysanthemums in there, too, to commemorate my trip.”

“And the lotus?”

I exhale a contented sigh and hum in the back of my throat. “India. I already said: I’ve been everywhere.”

He’s so handsome in the afternoon light, his dark hair just long enough to dangle over his forehead and catch in his eyelashes.

His lips are thick, plumper now because I bit them a time or two.

But his eyes, the beautiful hazel I’ve seen in no one who doesn’t possess the Watkins blood… those are my favorite.

“The iris?”

“France.” I reach across and stroke his strong jawbone with my thumb. And like a kitten, he leans into my touch. “I’ve traveled a lot for work,” I mumble. “Figured I’d get some ink to commemorate it.”

“There are a lot of flowers here.”

I breathe out a long, soft, satisfied exhale. “The world is a large place, and everywhere has something pretty to remember it by.”

“I wouldn’t know.” He turns his face and nips at the heel of my palm. “Before I was eighteen, I hadn’t gone further than the town I picked you up from the other day.”

“And now?”

He grunts. “Now, I fly out only when I have to, depending on where we’re fighting.”

“Vegas only?”

He shakes his head and trails his lips along my wrist. Biting, then kissing. Pain, and then pleasure. “Montreal year before last. Thailand, the year before that. I prefer to stay here, though.”

“You don’t like to travel?” I can’t relate, so I sink deeper into the mattress and enjoy the sensation of his teeth working along my hipbone. “It’s one of my favorite things to do.”

“I don’t like planes. They’re cramped and smelly and almost always come with nasty germs.” He brings his eyes up, darker than usual, and grins. “Even first class: same plane, same germs. Just larger seats.”

“Maybe you should buy a private jet,” I tease, goosebumps sprinting along my skin because of his feather-soft touch. “Tommy makes enough, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah. But we don’t waste.” He peppers his lips over my pubic bone and down to my thighs. “You done traveling yet? Since you got ‘em all.”

I tilt my head to the side and glance out the window at the far end of the room, the sun glaring right through now that afternoon winds toward evening.

“I fly a couple of times a year for work, since GGH has offices in Paris, London, and Rome. It’s especially fun when I get to travel on someone else’s dime.

” Smug, I bring my eyes back to his. “Those business class seats are lush.”

My stomach rumbles, loud enough to prompt him to turn and get up, but I grab his wrist and pull him back down again, drawing him closer until his lips naturally fall to mine.

“You’re hungry. ”

“I’ll get it in a second.” Once we leave this bed and go back to the real world, I’m not sure either of us will know how to be who we are right now. Oddly, I’m shocked at how scared I am that we’ll return to the Fox and Chris from earlier.

And then, of course, there’s the part of me that wants us to return to that version of us.

It’s safer. It’s normal.

“I need to pee,” I murmur, “then I’ll grab a quick snack before we have to go back to the hospital.

” I press one last kiss to his lips, then I twist from beneath his weight and set my feet on the shag rug someone cared enough to put under my bed, so the first thing I touch each morning won’t be buffed concrete floors.

Thoughtful.

Pushing up to stand, I wander toward the end of the bed, while behind me, Chris flops into my spot and turns to his back, his cock lying limp and thick against his hip.

“You pick those sheets out yourself?” I walk naked, since he’s not done looking, and I’m not especially excited with the idea of fabric touching my sensitive skin anyway.

Heading to the fridge, I tug it open and find a pre-made salad in an air-wrapped container with a use-by date ending tomorrow.

I grab it and a bottle of dressing from the door.

“It’s not that I’m complaining about the sheets at Tommy’s house, but these…

” I set my things on the counter, peel the plastic off the salad, and crack open the bottle of dressing to pour on top. “These sheets are far superior.”

“Tommy doesn’t seem to mind what he’s sleeping on, so long as Alana’s in the bed with him. He wouldn’t care if their mattress was made of broken glass and an itchy bale of hay.”

“You, on the other hand?”

He sets his hands under his head and crosses his feet at the ankles.

“I don’t spend my money on much else but expensive fabrics…

” Lazy and pleased with it, his lips curl up into a handsome grin.

“That’s where I draw the line. Cheap sheets would make it impossible for me to sleep.

Cheap shirts would send me nuts by the end of the day.

I buy quality for the important things.”

“You use your world-travel budget for fancy linen instead.” I drench the lettuce and croutons and robotically open drawers until I find the one with silverware.

Whatdoyaknow . I get to use the forks with little diamond designs here, too.

Snorting, I grab one and stab it into my meal, then picking the container up, I turn and shovel lettuce into my mouth.

“I guess you supplied the silverware too, huh?” I chew like a cow out to pasture, noisily and with my mouth open, and while I saunter back toward the bed, I stack and stab more onto the fork.

I set one knee on the mattress when I arrive, extending my offering with a smile. “You haven’t eaten either.”

Pleasantly surprised, he pushes up to his elbows and accepts his lunch with a seductive roll of his lips circling the fork. “Lettuce is not a meal,” he murmurs. “You need meat.”

“There’s more than lettuce in this.” I stab some more and shove it into my mouth, and while he chews his, I stand again and turn toward the bathroom. “I see carrot, sprouts, croutons. Bell peppers, too, and some weird seed-looking thing.”

He reaches into his mouth and takes out whatever the seed is. “Nasty.”

“Says the guy who eats ass without complaints.” I come to the bathroom door, fully prepared to sit on the toilet and eat while I pee, but I stop at the threshold as a thousand glittering shards of glass bring me up short, the old silver hardware resting on top of the ruins.

“What the hell happened to the shower door?”

“Broke it.”

Stunned, I lean back and spy him lazily stretched across my bed, his hands behind his head and his ankles crossed once more.

“How?” I exclaim. “I was with you the whole damn time!”

Smirking, he shrugs and sends his powerful chest rippling. “I guess I slammed my knee against the door near the end. You were focused on me, so I suppose you didn’t notice.”

“How does someone not notice something like that? And oh my god!” I gasp, slamming my hand to my mouth. “What the hell do I tell Alana? We destroyed her bathroom!”

Snickering, he digs lettuce from his teeth with the tip of his tongue. “We’ll come up with something. It’ll be fine.”

“Christian!”

“She had a baby today. She won’t step foot in this place for weeks, and she’ll be too sleep-deprived to care even when she does. Now come back over here and sit on my face so I can eat.”

I roll my eyes and dig into my salad for more. “You need real food. Not pussy. And I need a shower—like, a proper shower—so I can get dressed and head back to the hospital.”

“Put something on, and I’ll take you to my house. You can shower there, and in the meantime, I’ll have someone come out and clean up this bathroom, so it’s safe again. ”

“How do I tell Alana I tore the rail off the wall and broke her door, without telling her I was having wild sex with her brother-in-law in there?”

His eyes glitter with taunting menace.

“I’m not telling her I was having wild sex with her brother-in-law in there!” Frustrated, and hungrier now than I was when I started eating, I scoop lettuce into my mouth and stalk to my suitcases laid out on the floor. “Also, I need meat. This salad isn’t helping anything.”

Chuckling, he sits up on the bed and looks me up and down with an appreciative gleam in his eyes. “Get dressed, and grab another outfit to change into. I’ll take you to my place, you shower, I’ll make you a meal with protein in it. Then we’ll head back to the hospital.”

“And pretend none of this ever happened.” How does one bend over her suitcase, naked , without appearing ridiculously crass? “I made a promise,” I admit. “Something about six weeks of banging whenever we’re both in the mood.”

“I don’t recall mentioning moods. I specifically said you would become my fuck doll whenever I wanted you.”

“However,” I push on, dancing right over his words.

“I don’t want to tell Alana or Tommy about this.

Alana, especially, is about to go through some shit with postpartum recovery and chronic sleep deprivation.

The last thing she needs to worry about is her first baby— you ,” I add, peeking over my shoulder to confirm he’s listening.

“If she knows we’re hooking up, she’ll stress out about breakups and hurt feelings and all that jazz. ”

“We’re gonna break up?”