Page 29 of Wicked Bite
The sun had already begun to set, and it was barely late afternoon. Light gray sky began to give way to pink as snowflakes fell from the sky, twisting around each other in a slow, peaceful dance. It wasn’t a turbulent blizzard. This was the kind of snow movie makers prayed for. Yet, I didn’t dare move off the bed for fear of waking Piper. Her long, wild hair drifted over my chest, and her deep even breaths told me she was still asleep. Her warm honey scent lingered on my skin and filled the room. I ran my fingers through the ends of the strands, letting them twirl around my fingers and fall back on my chest.
The bed was a mess, with only a single pillow and a sheet remaining. It was tangled around both our bodies, binding us together with her legs thrown over mine. It was a comfortable, possessive way of lying, and it didn’t bother me in the least. Piper was perfection, with her attitude and completely vivacious nature. Life with the Witch Court had given me a reprieve from the monotony that I’d been living in, with adventures of killing the evil king and reuniting the magic of the witches and warlocks. But now that the strife was handled, it left me in a place of indecision. To go back to a fate that I didn’t feel was my own wasn’t an option. But Piper, she was a choice. A choice to live, to feel, to be.
So, I watched the slow snow fall and listened to her easy breaths, relishing the moment of peace. She thought her picker was broken, but I would do for her what no other had done. I would be there. I’d fucked up the first date, but I wouldn’t after this. There was a beautiful, complicated simplicity in the way Piper thought. It was all taking responsibility for oneself rather than blaming the bastards who treated her that way in the first place. Which made her both strong and delicate at the same time, with a touch of eternally intriguing in a world of predictability.
Her breathing abruptly changed yet she didn’t move. The muscles in her body tensed against my side but I continued to play with the ends of her hair. A normal human wouldn’t notice these little changes, but I noticed everything about her. Her eyelashes fluttered against my skin for the barest second before she slowly began to disentangle herself from me.
“Good morning.”
She jumped and rolled off me, pulling part of the sheet with her. She glanced at me from under her thick eyelashes. “Morning.”
She kicked her legs over the side of the bed and sat there with her back toward me. I curled myself around her and pressed a kiss to her shoulder, tasting the sweet saltiness of she skin. “Would you like some breakfast . . . or should I say lunch?”
“Lunch? What time is it?” She looked to the window like the gray sky would give her any indication of the time.
“It’s about two in the afternoon.”
Her body tensed and she leapt to her feet and pulled the sheet with her, leaving me naked on the bed. “Oh, my God. Dice is going to kill me!”
“Have you committed some kind of offense?” I chuckled and watched her race around the room collecting her clothing, trying not to look at my body.
“Yes.” She spun in a circle. “Well, no.”
She froze with the sheet wrapped around her body like a toga. Her hair was a wild mess all around her face, and her lips were just a touch swollen from my kiss. The only thing missing was my bite mark on her neck. A forbidden thing for the lover of a Shade. Yet, she was so tempting my fangs ached to sink into her.
“Which is it, Little Creature. Yes, or no?” I leaned back on the bed and put one leg up, letting her look her fill. Her body was burned into every inch of my memory. Might as well let mine be burned into some of hers. She stared at me for a long moment, those emerald eyes raking over me. I could almost feel it, like she was touching me herself.
She shook her head. “I have to find my phone.”
I’d heard it vibrating across the room only a few moments before she woke. I pointed by the door. “I believe you dropped your purse there last night.”
She hurried toward the door and grabbed her purse off the floor. When she dove for the phone, it was already ringing. She didn’t hesitate to answer. “Hey! Proof of life!”
I didn’t want to make out like I could hear the other side of the conversation, but it was so easy with my supernatural abilities. Dice groaned on the other line. “This is not how we roll. I get that you’re on some kind of devil dick . . .”
Devil dick? I fought not to laugh and kept my face impassive.
“. . . but proof of life is necessary.”
Piper tilted her head back and blew out a deep breath. “Yeaaaah, I got distracted by the thing you just said.”
So, I do have a devil dick? This was deeply pleasing.
“I was tracking your location with the Find My app. Sexy Brit is lucky you answered. Otherwise, I was going to kick in the door, SWAT-team style, and kick some ass.” The worried tension left her voice though I could tell she was till annoyed for Piper making her worry.
Piper tucked her hair behind her ear and glanced at me, giving me a half smile. “That won’t be necessary.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
She stepped into her underwear and pulled them up under the sheet. Shame, that is. Piper struggled to keep the sheet in place as she stood up straight and pulled her panties the rest of the way up her thighs. She let go of a chuckle. “No, it wouldn’t. Remember that?”
“Oh, I remember.”
A light smile played on Piper’s lips. “He was never the same.”
“May his balls rest in pieces.” She chuckled. “So, are you gonna ride that devil dick to work or what?”
“It’s not that late. I’ll be there.” She spun around and snagged her bra off the corner of the chair where it’d been thrown last night.
