Shameless - Sybil Bartel Page 0,47
like she spent a single second on the charity circuit, but she was beautiful. Beautiful and put together, and he didn’t have to pick her ass up from rehab.
“Fuck my life,” I whispered.
“Hell of a thing to say, princess.” His deep voice rumbled from the open doorway.
Jumping out of my skin, I started. My hand flew to my chest, and my breath caught, but the real shock came when I looked up.
Pulling his shirt over his head, he pushed off the doorway and walked into the bedroom. “What’s wrong with your life?”
My mouth suddenly dry, I watched him toss his shirt at a chair without looking. It landed perfectly as he stepped out of one boot, then the other.
If I thought he was striking dressed, he was a fucking masterpiece shirtless.
Covered in ink, ripped, abs for days, shoulders that were a mile wide, he wasn’t beautiful, he was unreal.
My hand went to my throat. “What are you doing?”
He smirked as he set his gun and phone on the nightstand before reaching for his belt. “What does it look like?”
“I’m not asking to get fucked,” I blurted, my mind confused by his flip in attitude but my traitorous body giving a standing ovation.
He didn’t laugh. “I’m not offering.” He dropped his pants and tossed them on the same chair. “Move over.”
Holy shit, his thighs, his fitted black boxers, oh my fucking God, he was huge everywhere. “You’re going to… sleep here?” Heat hitting my cheeks, I forced myself to keep my eyes on his face even though he didn’t seem the least bit self-conscious—and why would he? He was fricking Greek mythology come to life.
As if knowing my thoughts, he lifted one sexy eyebrow in challenge. “You change your mind, princess?”
“No.” Yes. Definitely yes. “What changed your mind?”
“Only bed in the house.” He reached for the light but then he paused. His eyes on mine, he studied me for a second. Then he did the last thing I expected. Mr. Dominance gave me a choice. “Last chance. You sure?” Deep and commanding, but also laced with something I couldn’t read, his voice sank into every crack and crevice of doubt I had.
My breath short, my core pulsing, I bit my bottom lip and took one more look at his ink and the sheer size of him. Then I did what I’d probably regret.
I moved over.
Holding my gaze, he kept still. “I need words, babe.”
“I’m sure.” I wasn’t.
He turned off the light.
The instant darkness was so complete, air got caught in my lungs. My nerves spiked, and stupid insecurity flew out of my mouth. “Did you check outside?”
“Relax, sweetheart.” He pulled the covers back. “You’re safe.”
Moving to the very edge of the bed, my unfaithful nerves turned on me and my thoughts bled out. “You know, it’s better to find someone you want to wake up next to than someone you want to sleep with.”
The mattress dipped, and the room filled with his laugh. Short, but deep and rich like his voice when he was being suggestive, it made goose bumps race across my skin.
Reaching for me like it was the most natural thing in the world, he slid one arm under my head and another around my waist, and as sure as if I were his, he pulled me toward him. “Sweetheart, the only kind of woman who says bullshit like that is one who’s never had a decent orgasm.”
All at once, my entire world became him. Shade without a last name. Bodyguard. Protector. Muscled. Inked. Shooter. Sandwich maker. Fire starter. Everything about him scared me, and my body stiffened. But at the same time, something down deep took a breath and inhaled his scent like this was exactly the place I’d been yearning to be my whole life. And that was one thousand percent scarier than the events that led me to rehab.
Forcing myself to concentrate on his last brazen statement instead of his rock-hard arm under my head or his warm, rough hand resting on my hip, I gave him a piece of my vulnerability. “Not everything is about sex.”
Not that I knew the first thing about relationships, or orgasms for that matter. I’d never had a boyfriend. Hookups with a few asshole guys my age and some one-night stands with older men—none of the encounters when I was straight. My experience with men wasn’t exactly legendary. But that didn’t mean I hadn’t thought about everything I never had and yearned for something better.
His breath hot on my shoulder,