A gust of warm air tickles my cheek. I sigh, brow furrowing as I bury my face in the pillow to escape it. When it gently brushes over my hair, I flap an annoyed hand in its direction, squeaking as my fingers meet a stubbled jaw.
My head jolts up when he grunts underneath my palm. His head is so close to mine that his long austere strands mingle with mine across the pillow, one of his arms thrown over my back and the side of his body flush with mine. His very naked body.
He blinks drowsily at me.
"Oh." I remove my hand from his cheek, trying not to look at his goods. "You were breathing on me."
His eyes flicker shut again, his arm tightening over my waist. I can't manage to do anything other than stare disbelievingly at him. Sinclair Black, notorious hitman-crimelord-incubus alike is curled up at my side like a cat.
I rub the dried spit off my face, eyeing enviously how perfect he manages to look in his sleep. His full lips are parted, the deep breaths passing between them telling me he's already managed to dose off again. The scruff on his face is a tad longer, dark hair tangled over the pillow and spilling over his forehead.
I sigh. Only Sinclair would make something like bedhead sexy.
For a moment, I allow myself to snuggle against him. He's warm and solid and being wrapped in his delicious scent sends a pang of contentment into my chest. But as his sleepy fingers shift over the curve of my hip and send a small trill of desire through my core, a realization dawns in my mind. One that causes me to jolt upwards and grip his forearm like I've stuck my finger in a light socket.
He groans a little, cracking open an eye. It would be cute if I wasn't in a panic.
"Sin. Did you come inside of me?"
"Hm?" His fingers tighten over my waist, his eyes slowly closing again.
"Sin." I shake his shoulder. "Wake up, I'm serious."
"Probably," he mutters drowsily, his arm trying to tug me back down to the bed.
A flash of horror dawns in my chest. "Oh god." I move to get off the mattress, yelping as his arm tightens and tugs me back down to his chest. He blinks at me, looking painfully unconcerned.
"I don't want a baby. I'd make a terrible mother," I murmur, clutching a hand to my stomach in terror as if I can already feel it growing inside of me.
"I'll get you a contraception if that's what you want," he says.
"Isn't that what you want too?" When he doesn't respond, I sigh in exasperation. "You're a crime lord. I doubt you'd have time to balance a tot on your hip."
Sin says nothing as he pulls his phone from the table at the side of the bed and scrolls through his contacts with one hand.
"Do you want a baby?" The curiosity grows as he ignores me, texting Oliver to run to a pharmacy. I huff, poking his stubbled cheek. "Sin."
His eyes flicker over to mine at that but he doesn't push away my finger. "Are you always this annoying in the morning?"
A small smile flits over my lips. "Yes."
"Hm." His eyes flicker back to his phone before he tucks it back on the table. "Oliver will be back with something for you. Just lay down for now."
I frown, tucking my head into the crook of his shoulder and staring up at him. "Are you usually this grumpy in the morning?"
He draws the blankets further up our bodies and closes his eyes. "Yes."
Silence envelopes us. I shut my eyes but my heart shudders in my chest at the feeling of his bare skin against me. I sigh, trying to wiggle into a more comfortable spot before giving up and fixating on his drowsy face. "Sin."
A muscle in his jaw twitches. "Yes?"
"I'm not tired."
He sighs. "Of course you aren't."
"Tell me about yourself." I don't know what we are, but if there's one thing for sure it's that I don't know nearly as much about Sinclair as he knows about me.
He squints at me, forehead crinkling. "Like what?"
"Your favorite animal, favorite food, what circle of hell you crawled out of." I snort at the disgruntled look on his face. "The basics."
He hesitates before speaking. "Cats, whiskey, and Chicago."
I stare at him. At some point, the idea of him emerging from hell had faded with the illusion of his uncrackable armor but the idea of him living somewhere so mortal remains strange. "Chicago? Are you mixed blood?"
"Both parents are full-blooded, as far as I'm aware." He rolls his eyes at the surprised expression on my face. "Unfortunately, I'm not part of the generation who crawled out of hell. Sorry to disappoint."
"I am a little bit," I mutter, grinning when he scowls at me. "What are your parents like?"
"Dad's a deadbeat and mom's a drug addict."
"Oh," I blink. "Damn. Sorry."
"Don't be." He sighs into my hair but doesn't bother looking torn up at the fact. "I got over it a long time ago. Left that life behind when I settled down here."
I hum, studying the way he keeps his face carefully neutral. I know what it's like to have mommy and daddy issues (well, lack thereof, but still), and can recognize the uncomfortable shrug-off that comes with curious and sympathetic questions from a mile away.
"So," I say, reaching up to brush the stray piece of dark hair that falls over his forehead, "cats, huh?"
"They're cute and angry," he says, pausing thoughtfully. "Maybe that's why I like you too."
"You finally admit to liking me, huh?" I poke his cheek again, enjoying the flash of annoyance that flits over his face. "Does that mean I get special privileges?"
He raises a dark brow. "Such as?"
"Clothes, for starters? Maybe something to do around here instead of laying around and being bored out of my mind?"
His head tilts as he gazes curiously at me. "I'll see what I can do."
My chest swells so intensely that I have to resist the urge to wiggle with excitement. "Really?"
"Really." His lips twitch at the unadulterated delight that fills my face. "On one condition."
I still. "What?"
"In a few days I'll be having a few business partners over. Some that are very curious about your presence." His fingers brush over my lips as they pull into a firm line. "I need you to be willing for me. Quiet for a little—just enough for them to satisfy their curiosity."
"I don't like being your show dog."
"I'll let you have a job at the bar." Any complaints die on my tongue as I blink in astonishment. "No Theo or Oliver watching you. Just someone to teach you the ropes and help out if you need it."
I grab his wandering figures and they cut down my chin, looking for any teasing traces across his face. "Are you serious?"
"Yes." He tugs his hand from mine and pushes the hair back from my face. "You can have one drink a night. And for fuck's sake, stop drinking all my ten thousand dollar vodka."
I frown. I know it's only pocket change for Sin and annoying him by drinking his expensive liquor is far more amusing than it should be. "It's only ten thousand?"
"Only?" He flicks my nose. "Stop being a brat."
I slap his hand away. "Only when you stop being an entitled asshole."
We fall into a comfortable silence after that. I curl closer to Sin's body, nearly drifting off again until the door to the downstairs swings open forcefully. I startle, clutching the blankets to my chest even though Sin's oversized shirt still drapes around me.
Theo's head peeks from the corner, eying us suspiciously from around the wall. "How naked are you from one to ten?"
Sinclair groans, turning his head away and shutting his eyes again. "I thought I sent Oliver."
"You did," he says, deciding that we're not nearly bare enough to deter his presence and strides over to the bed. He tosses a box in my lap. "'I don't want to walk into him cramming his ugly into every available hole. You do it.'" Theo shrugs as Sin scrubs an exasperated hand over his face. "He said it, not me."
"Does she have it?" Sin says, cracking an eye to scowl at him.
He smiles pertly. "Yes."
"Okay. Now you can leave."
He frowns. "But I haven't had the chance to ask Calli—"
"You can ask her later, Theodore. Leave."
I smile as Theo huffs. "Why?"
"Because I'm assuming you don't want to watch me cram my ugly into every available hole." He pauses as Theo stares blankly at him. "Right?"
Both of us know that he'd be hardly fazed by such a sight but the dangerous look growing on Sin's face makes him wince. "Uh, right." He glances at me as he heads for the door. "Please wear a condom this time. If Oliver bitches this much about you two fucking I can only imagine what I'll have to listen to when he has to babysit your hellspawn."