Page 39 of Cast in Shadow
Closing his eyes, he created an intricate, fine-lined design in his mind that would fit her curves perfectly. He fantasized about running the needle over her pristine skin and then covering her body with his, branding her inside as thoroughly as he had outside.
The fantasy would have to remain just that—a fantasy. He’d already crossed a line by sleeping with her. But he could walk away from that, difficult though that would be. If she wore his art, that would be a permanent connection between them, and that, he couldn’t allow.
They’d spent most of the day naked and finding new ways to pleasure each other. They’d started in the kitchen and worked their way around the luxurious chalet, taking a detour to fuck on the open-air balcony before eventually winding up in the master bedroom.
She was exquisite and desperate, as eager to give as to receive. He guessed it had been a long time for her too. Living the kind of lives they did, finding someone to share intimate moments with was a challenge.
Correction: finding someone worthy to share intimate moments with was a challenge.
“Are you hungry?” he asked lazily.
She hummed and peered up at him with contented eyes. “I’m guessing you are, or you wouldn’t have brought it up.”
He was. Famished in fact. A man couldn’t exert that much energy and not be.
She laughed, stretched up his body, and planted a kiss on his lips. “Go on then. I’m going to get a shower.”
The thought of her naked and soapy and wet was enough to make him reconsider his immediate plans. Then, his stomach growled loudly, overriding his semi. He liked to think he was a virile man, but she’d pushed him to his limits, and he needed sustenance.
“Go,” she urged.
She pushed off the bed and padded into the en suite. He watched, appreciating the view, then sighed and went into the kitchen.
He raided the fridge, pleased to find some prime steaks among the items she’d had delivered. He selected two, then turned the flame on the built-in grill to preheat it. He wasn’t a material guy by nature, but if he ever had a place of his own someday, he would definitely have one of those.
Zeke found some potatoes and cut them into thick slices as well, and then he dumped them into a cast iron pan with more of the onion and pepper stash he’d raided that morning. As the vegetables sizzled, he cracked open a beer and took a moment to appreciate the situation.
He was warm and clean and not in immediate danger, about to fill his belly after indulging in a marathon of great sex. Days like this didn’t come along often. It was important to appreciate them when they did.
A soft ding sounded from nearby. Her laptop was still on the coffee table, where she’d left it earlier. Curious, he opened the lid, surprised when the screen lit up without requiring a password.
He clicked around, feeling a sense of panic when the screen went black and a skull and crossbones appeared with the message, Self-destruct sequence initiated.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he murmured, slamming the lid closed.
He heard her soft laughter and found her grinning at him from the archway. Her hair was wet. Her skin was dewy. Her eyes glittered with mischief and amusement. She was, in that moment, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
And she didn’t seem concerned in the least.
“It’s not going to self-destruct, is it?” he asked.
“No. There’s no reason for it to. It’s a conduit, nothing more.”
“A conduit to what?”
“Information. You don’t actually think I’m stupid enough to keep anything on my laptop, do you? That smells fabulous. Did you make enough for me?”
The abrupt change in topic wasn’t lost on him, but he was in too good of a mood to spoil it.
“Maybe. You do eat meat, right?”
She smirked. “After today, how can you even ask me that?”
A memory of her on her knees just hours earlier sent a wave of heated arousal crashing over him in a red haze. The woman would be the death of him.
Triumph flared in her eyes, and she turned to peer into the frying pan, nodding her approval. “Smart man. Anything I can help with?”
“No, I got this.”
