Page 72 of With This Kiss
We should have taken care of that before we did anything else. I pulled away from Reign’s hand. He stood where I left him as I picked them up and put them in the dirty laundry basket.
“Shut up,” I said when I came back to him and noticed him smiling.
“I didn’t say anything.”
He didn’t have to say anything. His face was loud enough.
I went to the closet to grab something to wear. Surprisingly, there was an overnight bag on my floor for Reign. He had someone deliver it to him before we even arrived home. I had been too shocked by his audacity to say anything at the time, but now that I put some thought into it, I really shouldn’t have been surprised at all.
I watched him rifle through the bag and pull out a pair of boxer briefs.
My eyes moved down to his cock briefly before I looked away. I had been doing that all evening, curious for a closer look, but too shy to stare at it for more than a few seconds at a time.
He caught me looking. His smile was all devil when he said, “You can look if you want, baby. After all, I am thoroughly enjoying the view myself.”
I threw the closest thing I had—my hairbrush—at him.
He caught it with one hand, winking at me.
I quickly pulled on some clothes, an old T-shirt, and some sleep shorts. He was frowning at me a little when I emerged from the walk-in closet. “What?” I asked.
“Baby, whose shirt is that?”
I looked down, pulling the gray shirt up with two hands. “This?”
He nodded, his look darkening. I rolled my eyes at him. “My brother’s.”
“Your brother’s?”
“Yes, you little maniac. There’s no reason to be jealous.”
He walked closer to me. I held my ground, staying where I was. He cupped the back of my head and pulled me toward him, pressing a hard, quick kiss against my lips. It was over before I could react, and by the time he pulled away, my lips were tingling. It wasn’t… all that bad.
“I am jealous. So please try to stay away from any fucker who isn’t your family.”
“Seriously? And what would you do when you’re jealous?” I asked lightly, though I was anything but. I needed to know how he handled jealousy because the last thing I needed was to be in a relationship with a man who couldn’t control or handle his anger.
“I might die of heartbreak,” he answered seriously.
I shot him a deadpan look. “Sure.”
Shaking my head at his antics, I climbed onto the bed. He followed me, positioning himself behind me so he could help dry my hair and brush out the tangles.
I sat there for a moment. I couldn’t even remember someone I loved doing this for me as a child.
For the first eight years of my life, I had lived with my mom. Dad was busy rebuilding a broken empire he had just inherited from his dad.
And Mom had been neglectful and abusive.
“What are you thinking about?” Reign asked.
“My mom,” I said. I felt his hand pause.
“Why are you thinking about your mom right now?”
“I was just thinking that I couldn’t remember someone I loved brushing my hair. It had always just been people Dad had hired to help around the house and help with my care…” I trailed off when I realized what I just said. “I’m not saying that you love me or that I love you. It’s just…”
“I know what you mean,” he said softly, moving my hair off to the side and kissing the back of my neck. I shivered. “Did your mom not brush your hair?”
