Page 34 of The Crowned Garza

Wish I knew the answer. My body’s onfirebeing flush against him like this. “Come to bed.”

His eyes, filled with torment, drop to my mouth and linger. “Distraction…”

I lick my lips. I might combust. “What?”

“You leave tomorrow.”

“If you come to bed now, then yes.”

An intensely thick moment passes before he mutters a curse, releases me, and grits out, “Fine.” He grabs my wrist and pulls me along with him. “Buona notte,”he calls out when we’re crossing the bedroom threshold, the lights going out a second later.

Letting go of my hand, he moves to his side of the bed, switches on the night lamp, and gets in, arms crossed behind his head.

Pleased with the sight of him stretched out in bed, I crawl in under the covers, grinning like a loon. He stares up at the ceiling, openly annoyed that he has to give in to me, while I’m just happy to have my way. I want to touch him, trace my fingers over his ink. But I know I’ll get stung with lethal venom if I do.

Baby steps.

“See?” I say, risking a light poke at his side. “I’m not that hard to please.”

Glare still trained at the ceiling, he reaches out to the nightstand and switches off the lamp.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“What did you spill?”

Tillie

A CURSE ON MYlips, I jolt up in bed. “Dammit.”

I wanted to wake up ahead of Saint to see what his morning routine is like, make him breakfast, watch him hate me. But my lazy ass slept in late again. Why didn’t my stupid alarm go off?

“What am I even doing with my life?” I mutter under my breath, stretching my arms over my head.

I’m flipping back the covers when I notice a black shopping bag with a sticky note sitting on the rustic wooden bench at the end of the bed. I crawl to it and read the note.

Be ready to leave at 1:00 p.m.

Like a proper lady, I stick my tongue out at the note before crumpling it up.

Inside the bag is a white floral-print dress, undergarments, and complementing strappy flats. No way he picked these out himself. He must’ve used a shopping concierge because this outfit is crazy cute.

Sunny’s morning call comes in just then, and after showing her the outfit, she blackmails me into another Pilates session.

Indy pads out of her room and lays on her belly to watch me exercise. Either she likes Sunny’s voice, or my grunting and trembling as I struggle to hold positions entertain her. When the session is over and I crawl to her in an attempt to befriend her, she swipes at me then pads back to her room.

Oh, well, I tried.

I take a shower then don the lacy underwear set but leave the dress on the bed and wander off into the closet. Wanting to feel his clothes on my skin, I take one of Saint’s crisp white shirts off its hanger and slip it on. Lift the collar up to my nose and inhale deeply. Imagining this shirt is him hugging me, pulling me close to him.

What are you doing, T?

Is it possible to miss someone you don’t even know? Someone you’ve never created memories with?

Moving to the section with the bow ties, I run my fingers over them all until I find one I like most. Dark gray, with a mildly gritty texture. I brush it over the swells of my breasts, drag it down my cleavage, then circle it over my lace-covered nipples. Down my midriff, down, down, down to between my thighs. Over my panties, gasping when my clit reacts positively.

What. Are. You. Doing, T?

His scent is not as strong in here since his clothes are all washed and steamed, so I return to the bedroom and lie down on his side of the bed, turn my face into his pillow, and take a deep inhale to get the richest possible residual scent of him.