Page 55 of Creep

“How tall are you, Mael?” I asked with a breathless quality in my voice.

His eyes danced, showcasing his amusement. “Six-foot-four of pure muscles, baby.”

Hell.

I could just imagine his big, beautiful body on top of me while he…

I shook away the thought. I should have better control of myself. I should…

It didn’t feel like I did. It felt like I was…

Horny.

I was horny just looking at him, and the last thing I wanted to be was lose my head at this moment.

He had a good amount of tattoos on his body, from the black tribal lines on his neck that I could see clearly now to a crying woman kneeling in front of a cross on the left side of his rib to a blackbird that seemed to fade away in the shadow on his pec. There was the creepy face of a smiling clown that looked more evil than it did funny below his pecs, and a small monarch butterfly settling delicately near his abs. I quickly moved on to the next tattoo.

I narrowed my eyes at a small row of numbers hidden just at the top of his right ribs—wondering what they could mean—to the other side…

A row of white roses?

My favorite flower.

Was it a mere coincidence that he had those flowers tattooed on his body? It had to be, considering the tattoo didn’t look new, and I had only just told him about my favorite flowers. It didn’t look old either.

Was it really fate that brought him to me, then?

I quite liked that idea, even if I didn’t allow myself to delve into it. Not when I still wasn’t done with my exploration of him.

My eyes took in those broad shoulders, to his arms—talk about arm porn,yum—to his prominent pecs, down to his six-pack, and the small patch of hair that led inside his briefs?—

My eyes startled up to his when I realized he was hard.

He shot me a devilish smile. “That’s what happens when you look at me like that.”

I shook my head. “But that’sallI did.”

He chuckled and climbed into bed with me. The spacious king-size bed that had felt huge when it had been just me now felt like it had shrunk down to a twin bed.

I tried to move away to give him some room when he snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me in close to his warm body. His lips pressed up against the side of my face. “That’s all you need to do.”

I smiled shyly at him. He made it sound like I had such a hold on him. He made me sound powerful.

I was about to say something when a small yawn escaped.

He pressed another tender kiss on my face. “Let’s go to sleep.”

I nodded and buried my face in his neck, letting my lips trail over it. My body hummed with pleasure from the simple contact.

His arm tightened around me. “Baby, I’m trying to be good.”

His voice was gruff, and there was something shaky about it that had me smiling against his skin.

I pulled back. “Let’s go to sleep.”

We lay down on the bed close to each other. I couldn’t have put any space between us even if I wanted to. Not with the way Mael was holding onto me as if he was afraid something might happen to me if he didn’t hold on tight enough.

He reached over for the lamp and clicked it off, and suddenly, we were lying there in the dark.

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