Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,157
felt that you could come to me and I only hope that you can sort things out and finally get that bastard out of your life. You are worth a million Dale’s, Elise, you know that.” Suddenly her friend’s eyes began to twinkle mischievously. “Besides which, I get the added bonus of two hot hunks twenty four hours a day. I would have been majorly pissed off if you’d gone anywhere else!”
Oh yes, Sean and Stan, the security men. Or Bill and Ben as she was thinking of calling them. Bill and Ben the security men. She giggled at her own joke and then as the laughter began to give way to hysteria, she clued Celeste in on what she had found so funny. Soon they were both laughing; laughing so hard it felt like it would never end and Elise feared another one of her ribs was going to pop.
It was a release. A release of tension and anxiety and fear and worry and when they had finally finished their seemingly endless, pointless laughter, they huddled on the sofa together and watched terrible reality TV until Vaughn arrived for his ‘shift’.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The following morning Elise woke relatively early and stretched out gently, testing all her muscles and sore limbs to gauge how much they hurt today. Having completed a full body stretch with minimal pain she was finally pleased to realise that she did in fact feel a lot better. Her ribs were the main thing that still hurt but that was bearable now and she felt much more like her old self, ready to get up and take on the world.
Turning carefully to her side so as not to aggravate her injuries, she looked across at Vaughn who was still sleeping soundly behind her. She loved that she got to see him like this. When he was awake, he was the epitome of alpha male; full of testosterone and always in control. She had a feeling that few people got to witness the gentle man behind the ‘mask’ and she loved these unguarded moments that she got to share with him.
He was lying on his back with one arm flung above his head and the other to his side, reaching across to where he had been anchored to her. His hair was a little longer now than when she had first met him and it suited him, the length of it curling just below his neckline and brushing the top of his shoulders. His fringe was flopped adorably over his eyes and she resisted the urge to push it back like he did during the day. In sleep, he was completely relaxed and there was an air of serene calmness about him. She felt totally safe here lying beside him and it was at times like this, in the peace and tranquillity of the morning when it was just the two of them that she realised that she never, ever wanted to be anywhere else.
His eyes were closed so she couldn’t see the beauty of their dark depths but she loved the sleepiness in them when he had just woken up. She was tempted to wake him now, just so that she could get lost in their heat but he had been very restless last night and she wanted him to get as much rest as he could.
As she continued to study his face, she noticed the small dimple on his chin, which was covered with a light dust of shadow. Most days Vaughn was clean-shaven but on occasions she had seen him with a day’s worth of growth, especially now, and she actually found that sexy as hell. She hadn’t told him that yet but she figured there would be plenty of time for that in the future.
Vaughn wasn’t a big fan of pyjamas and had told her the first night that he had stayed with her that he usually just wore boxer shorts if anything. She was so out of it that she hadn’t really cared what he wore but now she found she was exceedingly grateful that he always left his chest bare as it gave her opportunity to study the hard lines and planes as he slept, her eyes following the predictable route down over his pecs and abs to the arrow which disappeared below the quilt.
There were signs that certain parts of his body were awake as she continued her visual journey and she sucked in a sharp breath as she saw the