Page 83 of The King's Maiden

“Goodnight!” I said far too brightly, spinning away from him and faltering between going straight for the chaise or hiding in the bathroom. But at the sound of him chuckling under his breath, I whirled back around. “What?”

“Nothing.” He dropped his eyes and scratched behind his ear, that hint of a smile still playing at his lips. “We’ve just got a lot of work to do. That’s all.”

Pushing to his feet, he forced mine back a step on instinct. Instead of leaving it at that and going to bed, I opened my big mouth again. “What’sthatsupposed to mean?” I demanded as he walked past me.

“You’ll see.” He winked at me before climbing into the bed. “We’ve got a busy day tomorrow. Better get some sleep.”

He lay back on the pillows without pulling up the comforter—fully clothed like some kind of psychopath—and he gave me one last lazy glance. Tucking an arm under his head, he closed his eyes.

“Get some sleep,” he said again, his voice firmer this time. He patted my empty spot on the bed. “That’s an order, Maiden.”

I huffed, wound up with frustration that I wished I could blame on his vagueness. Glancing at the bathroom door, I considered going in there to take the edge off so I could sleep.

Of course, he knew that, too.

“If you can relax enough to nod off,” he muttered under his breath. Loud enough that he knew I heard him.

So, I marched my ass straight to the chaise and laid down.

I woke up again just as the first hints of morning peeked through the open curtain. It was still mostly dark outside, but the skylightened as dawn approached. Stretching my arms over my head, it took me a second to realize I wasn’t where I should be.

Landon had moved me onto the bed after I’d fallen asleep on the chaise. He’d covered me with the blanket, and I’d curled onto my side, facing the window and the spot where he’d been the night before. But this time, it wasn’t empty. This time, he slept beside me, his body curved toward mine the same way mine had gravitated towards him.

The frown I’d seen on his face earlier had also changed.

Curled up beside me, he looked peaceful. The lines on his face smoothed, his features relaxed. For the first time, he looked like the twenty-one-year-old kid he was supposed to be, rather than the serious adult role he always assumed.

His hand rested on the bed between us, so close to my body I wondered when it had landed there. Had it been natural as he dozed off and got comfortable in bed?

Or had he reached for me in his sleep?

I couldn’t shut out the part of my brain wanting it to be the latter, or the way my body ached to touch him. The need to close the distance between us hit me suddenly. Something about the momentary glimpse of him so relaxed made me wonder what it would be like if he let go—ifhecame undone—like I had under his touch.

Maybe it was the haze of sleep, the orgasms and endorphins—I had no idea.

But before I could overthink what I was doing or why I shouldn’t, I found the waistband of his pants.

As I slipped my hands beneath it, tracing the line between his hips, his breathing grew tighter. Each muscle tensed beneath my fingers. His lips parted and his breath came out in soft puffs.

But he didn’t wake up.

Sitting up, I eased him onto his back with my other hand.

Every move I made—climbing over his side to lay between his legs, pushing his shirt up, running my fingers over the defined cut of muscle tapering his waist—I waited for him to wake up.

He must’ve been exhausted, because it wasn’t until I bent to brush my lips over his abs that his eyes shot open. With my head down, I couldn’t see his face when he realized what I was doing, but his sharp intake of breath resonated in the silence.

And his cock hardened beneath my breasts.

“Quinn…” He gripped my shoulders, but I sank down before he reacted, rubbing the length of his erection with my curves and pulling a groan from his lips. “You don’t have to?—”

“I want to.”

Bringing my eyes to his, I tried to show him how much I wanted to. With a silent plea, I waited for his nod of approval before continuing my descent.

Then, I kissed a path down his tightly sculpted abs while I grabbed the fabric at his hips. As I tugged down the barrier between us, he lifted his lower body to help me free him.

His eyes never left my face.

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