Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,55

leaving his room.

She had just reached the door when a deep, sexy voice rumbled through the darkness, nearly scaring the life out of her. She was certain that he had been asleep. She turned back towards the sound that had been irresistibly roughened by sleep.

“Elise – where are you going? I was just starting to enjoy myself.” The mischief in his voice was blatant and Elise walked back in the direction of the bed, advancing menacingly towards him.

“You bastard! You scared the life out of me. How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough” he replied, as the grin that was spreading across his face became visible in the moonlight. “I especially liked the part when you said you were here for me and that you would keep me safe; I thought maybe I was still dreaming!”

Without thinking, Elise launched herself at the bed and came into contact with six foot of solid muscle. Strong arms banded around her middle as she began to beat her fists on his chest, all the while berating him for letting her believe that he was still asleep.

“You......! I thought you were asleep – talk about taking advantage!”

Vaughn started laughing, a deep rumbling sound that reverberated through his body and before long Elise joined in. The man was incorrigible, and she loved seeing this playful side to him even if it had been a joke at her expense.

“Honestly!” she huffed when she had managed to get her breath back, “That’s one trick I’ve not seen before!”

“Neither have I!” replied Vaughn still laughing, “I’ve never used it before – I swear!” he said holding up his hands in submission when she raised her eyebrows at him.

“I woke up in the middle of a nightmare and then realised that it was you soothing me - it just seemed too good an opportunity to pass up. I did plan on waking up eventually, but you left me before I kinda got around to it.”

“Ha. Ha.” She said dryly, drawing out each of the words. “Whatever turns you on.”

She had meant the statement to be sarcastic, humorous even, but the instant the sentence left her mouth, she registered the ambiguity in her choice of words. Suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed as they sat staring at each other, their breathing becoming heavier and faster, as they both recognised the intimacy of their situation. Neither was laughing now as the desire became palpable in the room, the atmosphere charged with invisible energy. Vaughn blew out a shaky breath.

“That would be you, Elise” he said simply, “You are what turns me on.”

It took just those few words for the intensity to become unbearable and Elise shifted from his lap where she had ended up during their scuffle to move to the other side of the bed, wanting, no, needing to create some distance between them. As she repositioned herself, she tried not to notice how the covers had dropped to his waist, leaving his chest completely and mouth-wateringly bare. He was even more stunning up close and her fingers began to tingle with a desire to reach out and trace his sculpted perfection. Without any conscious thought, her eyes began a lazy journey down his chest to the deep V that led below the quilt and her mouth went dry as she began to contemplate what beauty lay beneath the covers.

“You like?” Vaughn asked and she immediately blushed, having been caught in the act of unashamedly checking him out.

She laughed to cover her embarrassment “Yes, very nice. I’ve seen it all before though of course.” She waved her hand dismissively in his direction, trying to appear nonchalant.

“Of course” he concurred and turned to face her, a devilish smile lighting his face.

“So – here we are. You, me, my bed. What do you suppose we should do now?”

He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she raised hers in return before leaning over and giving him a light punch on his upper arm.

“Ow!” he said “What was that for?”

“You need to get your thoughts out of the gutter, Vaughn Granger. I merely came in here to check on my boss who appeared to be in the throes of some night-time terror. Now that I know that he is absolutely fine...” she deliberately let her eyes run slowly up and down his chest adding meaning to her words, “I’ll be on my way”.

With a wink she vaulted off the bed and headed to the door but Vaughn was quicker and grabbed her upper