Bedded Bliss (Found in Oblivion #1) - Cari Quinn Page 0,103
the coffee table along with the hopefully not stale cookies, he returned to the bedroom. And found Chloe curled up in the center of the bed, mostly asleep.
He set down her clothes and their snack, then leaned over to kiss her shoulder. She stirred immediately. “Michael?”
“Yeah. Go ahead and rest.”
“Can’t.” Her voice was fuzzy enough to let him know for certain that she already had been. Damn, she’d gone out quickly. Probably exhausted. “Gotta tell you. Lost—lost my job. And my…my place. I lost it all.”
Swallowing hard—and more than a little certain she’d regret being so forthright once she awakened—he crawled into the sheets behind her and drew her into his arms. “Don’t worry about any of that now.” He pressed a kiss to her silky, cinnamon-scented hair. “Sleep, Red.”
“Gotta…gotta call Axl soon. Before bed.”
“I’ll wake you up soon, I promise. Just a little nap.”
“’Kay.” Her softly slurred voice made him close his eyes too.
She filled his arms so perfectly. Just the night they’d gotten married.
The memory of the last time he’d gone to sleep like this with with her tried to tickle the back of his brain, but he couldn’t quite grasp it. Too tired. His body was too warm and relaxed. She’d worn him out in the very best way.
He tightened his arms and smiled against her hair. She was back in his arms, right where she belonged. And he wasn’t letting go.
Chapter 24
Chloe woke to a furnace behind her and a hand on her boob.
Again.
The recall was swift and immediate enough that she almost kicked out just as she had done that fateful morning. Instead she only moved suddenly enough to clip his jaw.
Michael groaned and cupped the side of his mouth. “Oh, fuck. Is this going to be a thing? Mortal Kombat at dawn?”
She snorted and turned in his arms. The tickle of chest hair against her nipples dissolved the giggle on her tongue.
He leaned down to her, nudging his face away just before he kissed her. “I’m not going to get bit or something, right?”
“Depends on your level of dragon breath.”
He rolled his tongue over his teeth. “Not bad.” He pursed his lips. “Maybe. Guess you’ll have to give it a try.”
She couldn’t stop the laugh this time. The kiss was soft and sweet, not the engulfing pyrotechnics of last night. She wasn’t sure she could take that so early in the… “Oh, shit,”
He licked his lips. “It’s not that bad.”
She pushed him back. “No. Oh, crap. I didn’t call Axl last night.” She motioned to the window. “It’s already…I don’t even know what time it is.” She scrambled off the bed. “And where are my clothes?”
He sat up in the middle of the lake-sized bed. “On the chair.”
“No, clean clothes. My bag.”
“Oh, uh…” He looked around, then hopped off the bed. All six glorious feet of naked male.
She shook her head. Axl was the focus, not all of…him. God, she was a terrible mother. How could she have blinked out like that? She turned a full circle and finally spotted her jeans on a chair near the window.
Without curtains, because why would this man-child have curtains? He probably didn’t even have matching dishes. What the hell was she thinking?
She spotted a folded T-shirt on top of a pile of laundry and quickly put it on. She did not need some crazy high powered lens taking pictures of her mom body. She’d been lucky enough that her good genes had helped her bounce back after having Axl. That and walking everywhere kept her body trim and strong. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time in her day to do things like pilates and yoga like all the women with their tight little bodies these days.
Finally, she found her jeans and got her phone out of her pocket. Two missed calls. She curled her fingers around the phone and tapped against her forehead. Bad mom. She blew out a breathy groan as she noticed the time. Seven.
She quickly dialed Lori who picked up on the second ring. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. He and Shelby passed out watching Finding Nemo. Everything’s just fine.”
Chloe collapsed onto the edge of the bed. “It was the worst day ever yesterday.”
“I can’t believe that rat bastard evicted you.”
She flopped back on the bed lengthwise and let her head hang off the side. It was rather nice to have so much room to stretch out. Her twin bed definitely didn’t rate against this bit of indulgence. “I can.”