Page 49 of Goodnight, Sinners

Shaun had gaped at him.

Christmas? She’d forgotten about Christmas?

He’d laughingly told her it was a few days earlier, and, yes, they’d missed it. Shaun had wanted to immediately call her mother and apologize and wish her a belated Merry Christmas, but Jozef had pulled her down onto the blanket, kissed her soundly and assured her they’d sent her mother an extravagant gift. Apparently, he’d seen her mother the day before while he was the Guard Dogs Securities offices and Fatima had reassured him that she wasn’t hurt at all by the missed holiday, that she understood they were mourning Krystoff.

When Shaun was satisfied that she didn’t need to rush off to call her mother, Jozef had pressed the envelope back into her hands. It was an extremely generous donation to Doctors Without Borders. The letter explained that Shaun was to be the one to decide where the funds were distributed.

She’d flung her arms around his neck and kissed him like she’d never kissed him before. He hadn’t done it out of a sense of generosity, he’d done it for her. Maybe she wasn’t changing who he was fundamentally, but he was becoming the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She would take his precious gift and hold it close to her heart. It was better than diamonds.

They made love on the floor of their suite, taking time to explore each other, to laugh and to simply be. There was no mafia, no bodyguards, no outside world. Just them.

Jozef lingered over her body, worshipping her with his hands and mouth, playing with her erogenous zones. He nearly made her come when he took her nipple into his mouth and laved it with attention. He refused to let go, driving her higher and higher until finally slipping a finger into her wetness and carrying her home on the wings of a beautiful orgasm.

As she’d drifted back, he found other parts of her body to tease and torture. He spent several minutes on each ear until all she could hear, all she could feel was the rushing of her blood through her veins, the sound of his harsh breathing as he denied himself in his quest to give her as many orgasms as he could before he took his own. He slid his rough fingers over her clitoris, forcing her over the edge with a keening cry.

Finally, after more orgasms than she could count, he took his own. He gripped her face and held her, watching her, as he drove himself home, filling her completely. He kissed her, using his tongue to simulate what his cock was doing. Before she could catch her breath, she was once more thrown headlong over the edge. This time he followed her, pumping into her, filling her with his seed.

They’d spent most of the night on that blanket on the floor, making love, eating, talking to each other in their silent language. The delicious ache Shaun felt in her limbs this morning was testament to the perfection of Jozef’s date night planning.

Shaun had never imagined feeling so content with a partner. She’d always thought of herself as too career-driven to satisfy another person in the long term. She hadn’t wanted to divide her attention between the hospital and a man.

But now, with Jozef, he made it easy. He slipped into her life, laying anything she could want at her feet. Even the opportunity for this upcoming surgery was because he’d brought her to Prague.

The bittersweet feeling she was experiencing was because the time they had together was few and far between. The more Jozef seemed to settle into his new role as head of the Koba organization, the more demands on his time there were.

Shaun didn’t want to distract him, so she bit her tongue and took whatever precious time he could spare. She’s seen what could happen when a mobster became distracted. Jozef had been distracted by Shaun and as a result his entire life had blown up. Krystoff had been distracted by Dasha, and now he was dead. One mistake could bring down an entire organization.

Her gaze strayed across the lawn, landing on a building just out of the corner of her periphery.

“What is that?” she whispered, standing.

She moved to the edge of the balcony and leaned over, squinting at the building in the distance. A stone path led from the garden toward a cottage. She wondered if it had been Leeza’s home.

A pang hit Shaun as a wave of sadness crashed over her. She hadn’t known Leeza well, but the other woman had always been kind to her, if somewhat cool. Perhaps if the family had stayed together, the two women might have become friends. Now, Leeza was on the run for her life, fighting to protect herself and her child. Though none of it was Shaun’s fault, she felt responsible.

Setting down her finished coffee mug, Shaun made her way back inside. She picked up her purse and left the suite.

“Morning.” Cooper was standing across the hall from her door, leaning negligently between two gaudy paintings and looking down at his phone. When she turned to lock the door, he straightened and slid his phone into his pocket.

“Where are we headed this beautiful morning?”

Cooper was more of a morning person than Shaun. Sometimes his tendency toward chipperness drove her insane, while other times it allowed her to have her morning grumps without the pressure of having to speak.

“We’re inspecting the premises.”

“That sounds like… fun?”

She laughed when he ended his sentence on a question. “This is my home now; I think it’s time I reconcile myself to the situation.”

“The renovations to your old apartment should be done in the next few days.” Cooper strode down the hall next to Shaun. “Why don’t you tell Jozef you want to move back in?”

Shaun stopped and looked at her companion. “I don’t think Jozef can move back to the apartment. Appearances are important right now.”

“Shame, he had it fixed up exactly the way you wanted.” He tilted his head to the side. “If you don’t move back in, he’ll have to install a mistress in there, and then things will just get messy when you visit your mom.”

Laughter burst from Shaun before she could recall it. It felt good to laugh, though. Things had been too serious for too long. She needed to see the lighter side of things or she’d become the nervous wreck she’d been in Montreal.

“Could you imagine that poor man trying to maintain a mistress while he’s under all this pressure? Not a chance. He’d have a coronary.”

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