Page 60 of Reaper Unhinged
I gave him anare you kidding melook. “I promise not to compromise your virtue, okay.”
He looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it.
I gave him a stern look. “I’ll sleep better knowing that you’re comfortable.”
He nodded and approached the bed, kicked off his boots, and then stretched out beside me, making sure to leave a gap between us. I was tempted to shift closer and throw an arm across his torso, but I held back. We were friends, that was all. My deepening feelings for him didn’t mean he reciprocated, and the last thing I wanted to do was make shit awkward. Besides, I was knackered.
I closed my eyes and exhaled, falling into slumber.
I awoke what seemed like minutes later to predawn light and the steady thud of a heartbeat against my ear. Uri lay on his side, his arms around me, his chin resting on my head while I remained tucked snugly against him, my arm around his waist and my head on his chest. I didn’t want to move. Didn’t want to risk waking him because his deep, steady breaths told me he was asleep, but my body was buzzing from being this close, from the intoxicating effect of his aura. I wanted to rub myself against him like a cat, to lick his naked chest and take his nipples in my mouth. Oh, fuck. He was there, right there, exposed for me to have.
Nope.
Not doing it.
I wriggled, trying to slip out from his embrace.
He moaned softly, and then my pulse skipped as his hands slipped into my hair. He nuzzled my temple, then trailed the tip of his nose down my cheek, and I stopped breathing. His exhalation was warm, and his moan heavy with sleep, but I was awake, aware, and totally turned on.
I needed to put distance between us. He didn’t know what he was doing, and it was wrong of me to take advantage, but instead, I lifted my chin so that my lips grazed his jaw. He smelled divine, like magnolia and honeysuckle, like sunshine and rainbows, and now I needed to back off.
I pulled away, and his grip on me tightened.
“Seraphina…” One of his hands slipped down my spine to cup my ass and haul me against him, and what met me there gave me no doubt as to whether he was awake or not.
“Uri?” I looked up and was snared in his amber eyes filled with heat, longing, and need. “Uri…”
He cupped my jaw with his hand, tipped my chin up with his thumb, and kissed me deeply. His lips were pillowy soft, molding to mine perfectly as he claimed my mouth. He tasted of marshmallows and sunshine. My mouth was alive with sensation, tingling and throbbing as I kissed him back, hands raking up through his hair to grasp him to me, leg sliding over his hips so our bodies were flush against each other. He breathed me in, devouring my mouth. His hands left a trail of heat in their wake as they roved down my back and slipped under the hem of the T-shirt I was wearing. I gasped as his palm met my bare flesh.
He tensed and then pulled away, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I—” He climbed off the bed and stood with his broad back to me, hands on his slender hips as he composed himself.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I crossed a line. It won’t happen again.”
Thing was, I wanted it to. Mal and Az had called it before I had. But Grayson was clueless.
I wanted Uriel, but there was no way I could take that step without talking to my Loup mate about it.
Chapter Twenty
The time change from day to night when going from the Underealm to Necro didn’t bother me anymore, but there were times, like today, when it was jarring to leave one place in the morning and arrive at another as the sun was about to set.
But Cora’s embrace dispelled the surreal sensation and grounded me. She gave the best hugs, and tonight was no different.
“Hey, Uri.” She beamed at him, then looked past him. “Where are Az and Mal?” she asked.
“They had to go back to the Underealm.”
“Shit went down, huh?” She nodded.
“Yeah, I’ll tell you all about it later.” I glanced about, and she grinned.
“He’s not here.”
“Who?” I affected innocence.
“Grayson. He’s on a Hunter hunt.”
“You’ll need to tell him about the sleepwalking,” Uri said. “So he can watch over you at night.”
