fingertips over one of her hips. She sighed happily and squirmed even closer, tossing one of her legs over both of mine until she was lying half on top of me.
“Sleep,” I said, kissing the top of her head.
“’Kay,” she murmured, and I felt her lips touching the skin of my chest. “Love you.”
“I love you, baby.”
Soon she was lightly snoring again, and I let the sound lure me to sleep as well.
The next time I opened my eyes, sunlight was pouring through the window, and my home phone was ringing. The cordless extension in my bedroom had never sounded more annoying than it did right then. Groaning, I reached out to grab the noisy thing, but Arella grumbled unhappily and tried to cling to me.
“Let it ring,” she slurred sleepily. “It will stop eventually.” As if on cue, the phone stopped, and I felt her smile against my skin. “See? Told you.”
“Mm,” I agreed, closing my eyes again. Sleep tried to take me under again…
And then the phone started ringing again. Arella whined, her smile turning into a pout. “Who even has a landline these days? I changed my mind. Make it stop.”
“Motherfuck,” I growled, wishing whoever was on the other end of that call to the deepest bowels of hell. “When we buy a house, we won’t get a landline, I swear.” Picking up the cordless, I turned it to silent and then threw it across the room.
The clang of it shattering as it hit the wall made Arella giggle, and I rolled her onto her back. After kissing her, I pillowed my head on her chest and closed my eyes again. Sleep was fading quickly, my cock forcing me to wake up fast, but I needed to talk to her before I put my dick in her again.
She combed her fingers through my hair, scratching my scalp with her nails. Nothing outside of sex with her had ever felt so good.
The doorbell ringing echoed through the entire apartment, causing her to pause her coma-inducing scratches.
“Maybe it’s whoever was trying to call earlier?” she suggested.
Muttering curses under my breath, I pushed up onto all fours over her. Fuck, she was so beautiful with her hair all tousled and her eye makeup smeared under her eyes. I could have stayed like that all day, just staring down at her and soaking up the sight of her relaxing in our bed.
But then the doorbell rang again, reminding me that the outside world was trying its damnedest to intrude. Lowering my head, I kissed her quickly before jumping out of bed. Grabbing a pair of basketball shorts out of my dresser, I pulled them on and stomped unhappily to the front door.
When I jerked the door open, Mia squeaked in surprise. “Gods, warn a person!” she scolded. “I swear, I thought you might have been dead when you didn’t answer your cell or the landline.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face, grunting at the feel of the stubble on my jaw. I needed to shave before I chafed Arella’s skin, but all I wanted was to crawl back into bed with her and continue just lying on top of her while she scratched my head.
“What do you want, Mia?” I groused.
“Excuse you, Moreitti,” she snipped and pushed something against my chest
I dropped my hand in time to catch the small box wrapped in metallic red gift paper. Seeing the unopened present, I remembered the favor I’d asked of my best friend the night before.
“No one was home when I stopped by Uncle Drake’s house last night, so I had to wait and get it this morning.” Her green eyes skimmed over me dispassionately. “By the looks of you, I doubt you minded the delay. You’re welcome, by the way.” She hmphed and turned away.
“Thank you,” I called after her belatedly. “I owe you one, Mia.”
“You’re damn right, you do.” The elevator doors opened, and she flipped me off as she stepped into it. “By the way, you look like you got into a fight with a wildcat. Apparently, the cat won.”
Confused, I glanced down at myself, wondering what she was talking about, only to find scratches and a few bite marks on my chest, arms, and shoulders. The sight of how passionate Arella was only made my cock harden, tenting my shorts. Closing the door, I turned to go back to the bedroom.
Arella was sitting up in the center of the bed when I walked in. The covers were pulled to