Devoured - Cathryn Fox Page 0,23
relationship. Second, what I do with my body and who I sleep with is not his business,” she says, and my shoulders relax.
I’m an honest guy. Shit, I pride myself on it, and I’m a complete and utter asshole for A, sleeping with Peyton, and B, keeping it from Cason. I guess in the end, the fact that neither of us wants more, that we will go back to a clean slate when we’re done here, means Cason never really has to know. Never has to know the guy he trusted with his sister, the guy he could always count on, betrayed the hell out of him.
Shit.
“You ready for this?” I ask, and her smile is a bit shaky when she lifts her head to me. A small shiver goes through her despite the warmth in the air.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“You’re cold.”
“Probably just from nerves.”
I frown down at her. “You always seem a little bit cold, Peyton.”
She shrugs and I put my arm around her and draw her body close.
“Look at that, you didn’t even flinch,” I tease, wanting to ease her tension. This job is important to her. Being there for young minds, making them all feel important, loved and cherished—all the things she’d never felt, from anyone but Cason, growing up—is her life’s goal.
She chuckles. “I guess it’s a good thing we had that little experiment, then.”
“That’s what we’re calling it, is it?” My gaze goes to her lush mouth. She opened that mouth for me this morning, the sweet sight more welcoming than a hard rain after a summer’s drought. Christ, she took me so deep into her throat. Deeper than I would’ve ever expected her to take me, and how is it that oral sex with a woman who’d never given it before completely eclipsed every experience from my past? I wanted to come down her throat, fill her mouth with every last drop, but I needed to be inside her. Needed her snug sex muscles to milk my release more than I needed my next breath.
Dark lashes fall slowly over emerald eyes, and her look is demure, coy. “Yes. That’s what we’re calling it.”
Shit, I love this teasing side of her. But two can play that game. “Fine, but I’d prefer if you didn’t use the word little when you’re referring to sex with me.”
Her jaw drops open and her gorgeous green eyes go wide. “Did the humorless Roman Bianchi just crack a joke?” She reaches up and puts her hand on my forehead. “Are you sick, running a fever...delirious?”
I shove her hand away. “All right, smart-ass.”
She grins at me, but her nervousness about her first day seems to have ebbed, and for that I’m grateful. We cross the street when the light turns and both go silent. After a long while she speaks.
“Roman,” she says quietly, so quietly I almost miss it.
“Yes.”
She shades the sun from her eyes and glances down the street. I follow the direction and spot the school in the near distance. “Thanks for this,” she says.
“My pleasure,” I say, and mean every word of it. This girl needs a break, and I’m happy to give it to her. “Like I said, it’s a nice reprieve from reality.” With my arm still around her, I give a comforting squeeze. “We got this.”
“Yeah, I think we do.”
“Cason told me a bit about the job. He said you were in competition for the full-time position. How is that all working?” She breaks from my arm and sneezes into the crook of her elbow. I frown when she turns back to me, take in the red in her eyes. “Are you getting sick?” Maybe that’s why she always seems to be shivering.
“I think it’s actually allergies.”
“Allergic to Malta?”
“Probably the different foliage they have here.”
“Do you have any meds for that?”
“I’m sure it will pass,” she says, and offers me a smile. “Back to your question. The full-time teacher left for maternity and made the decision not to come back. I’m one of two candidates hired for the month of June. I’m not sure who the other person is. We both work in the classroom until the end of the school year, and whoever ‘fits’ the best will be offered the full-time position in September.”
“Why Malta?”
“The opportunity presented itself. I want to offer something to the children, expand their horizons. I feel like I can give back more in a place like this.”
“Does it have to be Malta?”
“No, but these jobs aren’t easy to come