Robin des Bois ✓

eleven. Live Fast, Die Young

I covered my face with both hands as bits and pieces of last night flashed on the backs of my closed eyelids. But instead of growing stronger, my revolt at my actions started ebbing away.  It's not like it was my first time doing this, I realized with a start.

I felt Alexei stir behind me and I froze, my breath catching in my throat as I tried to think of something –anything –to say to him. How did this kind of thing work? Was I supposed to brush last night off like it was nothing? How was I supposed to categorize what had happened between us last night? Was it a two-night stand? A no-strings-attached two-night deal?

Alexei's hand left my stomach and moved to push my hair away from the nape of my neck, before he placed a long kiss there that sent a current of electricity down my spine.

"Hey," he muttered, his voice still gravelly with sleep and entirely too enticing.

"H-hey. Hi."

"How are you?" he asked, his fingertips sliding down my arm, the touch as light as a feather and as intimate as a kiss.

"I'm..." I wanted to say that I was fine, but all the conflicting emotions battling inside my head stopped the words before I could utter them. "I'm just confused. I've never done this before, you know? This whole "the morning after" thing." I laughed nervously.

"It's just like any other morning, Isis," his voice was reassuring and so was the kiss he placed on my shoulder. "I don't want you to worry about anything today. Just let me take care of you."

I turned to face him as he pushed himself up on one elbow. His gold-green eyes were boring into me, as intense and unreadable as ever. "I can't cook for shit, but I can deal with frozen waffles. Sounds good?"

"Sounds great," I said feebly, trying –and failing –to resist the gravitational pull his eyes exerted on me. To look into his eyes was a deadly trap; once he held your gaze, it was impossible to look away.

He sat up and kicked the covers off before getting up and stretching in all his naked glory. I gasped and quickly looked away as my face warmed up.

"Oh c'mon, you've seen it all already," Alexei teased.

"That doesn't mean that I-I'm comfortable with... this kind of..." I trailed off, unable to finish that sentence as I realized that he was right. I had seen it all before. Literally all of it.

I risked a quick glance in his direction only to glimpse his fit butt disappearing inside a walk-in closet. A wave of embarrassment made me avert my gaze again. Old habits die hard, as they say. There was a part of me that would probably never get used to seeing anyone naked, no matter how close and personal we've gotten.

He exited the closet wearing a white tee and black boxers with an oversized white t-shirt in one hand. He extended his free hand to me and I gingerly grabbed it, not knowing what to expect. He pulled me up and I yelped, holding the cover to my chest.

"Oh don't be so shy, Miss Greene," he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Lowering his voice, he added "I've seen it all too."

He laughed when I blushed even harder and he wrapped the cover around me, tying it loosely at my back. "I love how easy it is to make you blush."

I rolled my eyes but couldn't keep back a goofy smile. He pulled me closer and pressed a tender kiss to my forehead. "Breakfast will be ready in half an hour. You can get cleaned up in the meantime," he said into my curls as his hands traveled up my arms, my shoulders and my neck until they were cupping my face. He pulled away and his eyes bore into mine for a minute –there was a smoldering heat in his expression that made heat pool at the pit of my belly.