Page 54 of Locked
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Zelle
I woke the next morning with a feeling of absolute contentment.
Kinden's arm was heavy on my waist and his breath was steady. It ruffled my hair as he lay there, still fast asleep in my big bed.
The memory of what we'd done together the day before was fresh in my mind. The soreness in my thighs, the warmth in the bed behind me.
We hadn't spent theentireday in bed like I'd wanted, but we'd spent a major chunk of it there.
We'd eventually gone out to the kitchen to eat the sushi he'd brought with him, we watched some TV with Baz, I took Kinden out into the sunroom to meet my plants.
He'd spent a large portion of the day trying to undo the self-destruct curse on the tower. Or to at least allow us to trick it. But it was pretty airtight. There was nothing he could see to do that would make any difference.
I hadn't really expected him to be able to undo it, but Kinden really took it hard. He looked so disappointed with himself, shaking his head and trying everything he could think of
"I really don't want to leave you here tomorrow, Zelle…"
"Kinden… Mother is ancient. Her magic is super powerful. Did you really think we were going to break the curse in one day? In less than one day?"
"No… but a guy can dream, can't he?"
And I'd folded him up in my arms and convinced him to take me back to bed for a 'nap' (wink wink).
All in all, the day had gone by alotquicker than I'd wanted it to. And there were still the odd moments during it where my heart seized up and my stomach rolled and I felt like I was going to throw up because of how upset Mother was with me.
Even after all she'd done, even after all the bullshit, I still couldn't shake the need to make her happy… she still had a hold on me. I still felt guilty.
Kinden, for his part, hadn't asked for explanations for my mood shifts, he'd just slip his arm around me for a quick hug. That was usually all I needed to perk back up again.
We'd gone to 'bed' early, but to sleep much later, and now… now it was morning and I needed to wake him up.
He'd told me to wake him the second I woke up, so that he wouldn't miss a minute of me.
He had to leave later that morning for work and before that, he had to drop Basil off at his apartment.
Tears welled in my eyes as I thought about having to live without my best friend. Without my Basil. I hadn't been without him in nearly seventeen years.
I took a deep breath, resolving to save the crying for when they'd gone. I was going to put on a brave face for Basil and Kinden before they left.
I pressed my fists against my eyes, taking several deep breaths to calm down. Once I'd composed myself, I pushed up in bed, stretching my arms and yawning, making a big show of it so Kinden would possibly hear me and wake up.
It didn't work. He was apparently a pretty heavy sleeper. Emphasis on 'pretty'. If there wasn't a schedule he had to keep to, I probably could have laid there all day admiring him. But therewasa schedule, so I had to keep my admiring to a minimum. Or at the very least, multitask.
I lay back down beside him, so close that our noses touched. "Kinden…" I murmured, grinning when his eyes twitched. "Kinden… wake up…"
He eventually did, his eyes fluttering open and crinkling as he smiled at me. "Good morning, sweetheart."
"Good morning…" I replied. "Did you sleep well?"
"Your bed isverycomfortable," he said, leaning forward to kiss me softly on the lips. "And you areveryaccommodating."
"So are you," I countered, kissing him soundly on the lips.
He pulled me close, his arm firmly around my waist as his other hand drifted down between my thighs.
"Kinden…" I whispered, yanking him closer as he found my sex.
