Spellbound, Boundless Series, Book 4

Ch. 35

Tucked within her folds, I sat up with her in my arms. I looked into her eyes, they appeared foggy and unfocused. She was in a zone, dangling between pleasure and restraint.

To push her over the edge again, I foraged between our bodies to press my thumb against her clit. "No," she cried.

"Magic?" I asked breathlessly.

"Is there a word," she panted, "to make you come?"

I laughed and lay her on her back with her head at the foot of the bed, her arms dangling over the edge. She was completely submissive. A million ways to claim her as mine flashed in my mind.

How long could this continue? Not the act itself, but our conduct. Fucking her in my room or at a hotel would come to an end. And I wondered if it would after this encounter. After several fast and hard thrusts, I fell on her, weak from my release. Her walls milked me.

My gelatinous forearms couldn't hold my weight off her little frame, but she rubbed my back as if I didn't weigh any more than a feather.

I was content to lie on her. To feel her heartbeat regulate after our feverish lovemaking. Lovemaking? Ignoring the thought, I confirmed that I missed having a woman. I missed her—her warm body nurturing my cold one. It didn't have to be love, but this... swelled heart and a burning desire was incomparable.

Spent but hungry, I lifted her body against me, and she wrapped her legs around my waist as I walked us to the bathroom. When she lowered her legs to the floor, I planted a kiss on her forehead. "Clean yourself up. I'll warm our food."

"Brady?"

"Yes?" I captured her gaze.

She didn't respond right away, standing with her arms covering her breasts.

"My clothes are everywhere," she finally said. "Can you bring them to me?"

I didn't believe that was what she'd wanted to say, but I told her, "I'll put a robe on my bed for you to wear."

She nodded, her cheeks reddened under her curt smile.

I closed the door behind me. As much as I wanted to bathe her and put her to bed as I did at the hotel, I restrained myself. Any loving gesture was risky, scaring her away for good. As it was, she wanted to quit Pentagram. I had to accept that she wasn't looking for a commitment.

The shuffle of footsteps gliding over hardwood signaled her return. She walked in with the hem of the blue silk robe bunched in her small hands.

"You look good," I said. She smiled shyly.

We ate in silence. The euphoria of amazing sex lingered over me, but I wasn't quite sure how she felt. "Tell me about your family," I prompted. She hesitated. "Unless it's too personal."

"Umm, it's...kind of." She took a sip of Malbec I'd paired with the takeout Italian food.

"I feel at a disadvantage," I told her. "You rattled off my life history, but I know nothing about you."

Her nose wrinkled and her brow furrowed in confusion. "You haven't read my human resources file or looked me up online?" I shook my head. "At the very least, I thought you would have done a criminal background check on me."

It was my usual method of operation. I felt sick, thinking of all I'd done in the past. "No. It's why I'm asking you. I'm respecting your right to tell me. Do you want me to investigate you so you don't have to tell me yourself?"

She blanched and bit her lips, shaking her head. "I'm one of seven kids."

"Seven?"

"It's as you think. Seven kids? How can anybody raise seven kids? Well, they can't. Not without those kids roaming the streets and getting into trouble." She lowered her fork to her plate and took a gulp of her drink. I remained quiet, hoping she would say more. "I'm in the middle. My siblings were scattered around Massachusetts. Some lived in foster care. Others were in group homes. I was one of the kids who went into foster care. I had a series of bad foster parents. Then I got a great one. But I rebelled and fucked it all up." She shrugged, picking up her fork again.