Page 34 of Sanctuary

I expect him to go back to his own bed then, but he doesn’t. He’s breathing slow and thick beside me. I wonder if he’s already gone to sleep.

And it’s the oddest thing. What I’m suddenly aware of as I lie there wrapped up in his big, warm body.

I’ve always known he was a good-looking man. It’s been one of the annoyances of who he is—that he’s as handsome as any man I’ve ever met. But I’ve never been attracted to him. Not physically. Not sexually.

My body has never responded to anything about his.

Until right now.

Because he doesn’t feel any longer like a selfish, arrogant stranger. Like a rival or an enemy or just another cold-hearted man.

He feels like a person. I know him now. I understand him. He’s felt some of the same things that I have. He’s struggled to get through life just like me.

And now I’m acutely aware of his body. The long lines and firm muscles and coarse hair and tapered fingers. The heat of him. The breath of him.

The life of him.

And my body responds to it, wants to match it somehow.

My heartbeat is faster than it should be. A hot excitement pulses at my throat, in my ears, between my legs.

My bottom is pressed back against his groin, and it feels like it wouldn’t take much for us to be fucking.

And for some reason I want it.

I want it right now.

I’m not used to feeling anything like it—arousal that hasn’t been purposefully manufactured.

It’s doubtlessly inappropriate, and I don’t know what to do with it anyway. So I leave it alone. I let it linger.

Ifeelit.

Until the warmth of the fire and Aidan’s body finally lull me back to sleep.

6

I sleep all night.

The one time I wake up is when Aidan gets up to keep the fire going. I watch him groggily, smiling as he gets back under the covers with me afterwards.

It’s still comfortably warm, but he settles himself at my back again, spooning me from behind with one of his arms draped over me.

Maybe he’s colder than I am. Or maybe he’s too sleepy to think through whether the cuddling is necessary. Either way, I’m far too cozy to complain about his closeness.

I mumble out a thank-you and close my eyes again, falling back to sleep within a few minutes.

The next time I wake it’s morning.

I know it’s morning because the room is filled with light. When they built this church, they must have positioned it intentionally to get the morning sun. Bright beams stream through the narrow windows, breaking through the deep shadows of the sanctuary.

I’m lying right in the path of one of the sunbeams. I squint and roll over onto my other side so I’m not hit with the full force of it.

“Wha’s happ’ning?”

The groggy grumble surprises me. For some reason, I wasn’t expecting Aidan to still be under the covers with me.

“Sun’s out,” I explain, burrowing against his chest. “Way too bright.”

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