Page 169 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

He chuckles against my hip, his warm breath heating my skin until his teeth nip and the goosebumps chase away the warmth. “I’m sorry I took so long. I swear, I was trying to be a gentleman. It damn near killed me to not tell you how I felt this whole time.”

“We still have two days.” I smile when his hands slide over my ribs. “Two more nights of the same bed.”

“Mmm. We’re definitely sharing a bed; I only just got you.” He allows me to roll back until I’m flat on my back. Crawling along my body, he stops over me and grins. “Then we can stay at the Cherry Drop. That place was… an experience, and you have something to say to that asshole.”

“Ew.” My lips twist into a scowl. “Skeeter was so fucking creepy, and the neighbors were obnoxiously loud.”

“Should we run away?” he suggests. “We have the car keys – they don’t. They know we left together last night, so today’s gonna be brutal.”

“Kane’s gonna tease so hard.”

Nipping at my bottom lip, tiny wrinkles fan out from his eyes when he smiles. “He’s going to tease until one of us hits him.”

“Dibs.” I lean up and press a wet kiss to his lips. “I want to hit him; it’s not like he won’t deserve it, and he won’t hit me back… probably.”

“Probably,” he laughs. “You look too much like Jess; no way will he hit you. I’ll have your back, I promise.” He taps my leg. “Come on, let’s eat. I’m starving.”

“No sleeping?”

“Not today. We traded sleep for sex, now it’s daytime and our vacation is almost over. Once we go home, shit gets real and I have friends to talk to. They’re probably gonna hit me, so I’ve gotta enjoy this while I can.”

Laughing, I allow him to pull me out of bed and set me on my feet. Naked from head to toe and warming under his gaze, my muscles ache like I’ve just started at a new gym. “It was totally worth it, by the way, but can we lie on the beach today and read? You can put sunblock on my back and not end it with drowning yourself in the ocean.”

“Jesus, Laine.” The tip of his nose slides over the bridge of mine. “You knew what you were doing to me. You knew you were hurting me.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you. I was just trying to get your attention.” I stand on my toes and press a kiss to his lips. “Today you get to nap on the sun loungewithme and no one will hit you.”

“Probably.”

“Probably. We can wear sunglasses and pretend to read, and between mojitos and orgasms, we can snooze. Doesn’t that sound perfect?”

---