Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 125213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
We stayed like that until the water turned lukewarm, not a word to be said, just gentle touches and soft, sated sighs.
I memorized each smile she gave me as I toweled her off and watched her slip into one of my t-shirts. We crawled into bed together. I wrapped her up tight. She fell asleep in my arms.
And then the morning came.
Along with a blow that sent our fragile house of cards crashing down.
Under the Dirt and Grime
Mia
“Can’t breathe.”
I muttered the words into Aleks’s chest, his arms and legs wrapped around me and crushing me to him like I might disappear if he were to give me so much as an inch of space. We’d kicked the covers off, but he kept me warm, and I chuckled when he released me only enough to make sure I had breathing room but not enough for me to move otherwise.
“Better?” he asked, kissing my hair on a smile.
“Well, at least I’m not nose-deep in your armpit now.”
“Don’t act like my scent doesn’t make you feral.”
“Ew. Don’t say scent like that.”
“You love my scent,” he said again, rolling until he was on top of me. I laughed and shoved at his chest when he started sniffing under my arms and all around my neck like a hound dog. “And yours is like catnip to me.”
“I smell like you right now.”
“No,” he argued. “You smell like you. Jasmine. Honey. Du schmöcksch wie sAlpeglüe.”
“You’re doing that thing where you speak another language.”
Aleks leaned up on his elbows, still heavy on me in the most delicious way as he swept my hair back, his eyes searching mine. “I said you smell like an Alpine sunset.”
My neck flushed with heat, and I tickled the nape of his neck with my fingertips as a smile found my lips. “Why is that so corny it’s romantic?”
“They tend to go hand in hand.”
I sighed happily as he rested his forehead against mine, both of us touching one another in long, unhurried strokes.
“Was last night a dream?” I asked quietly.
“It was real, Strings.” He kissed me, his lips firm and sure. “All of it was real.”
We stayed that way for a while, the sun rising over the city outside his windows. I knew there were so many people we’d have to answer to today, so many things we’d have to figure out, but I didn’t want to move. I wanted to live right there in that bed with Aleks until the day blended back into night, until I had no choice but to eat, or shower, or use the bathroom.
Too soon, my stomach growled loud and angry, and Aleks chuckled before planting a trail of kisses all along my neck up to my mouth.
“Breakfast?” he asked.
I sighed. “I guess.”
Another smile. Another kiss. Another flip of my heart. “I’m on it,” he announced, and then he reluctantly rolled off me, giving me a glorious view of his backside as he did.
I watched him shrug on briefs and joggers, biting my lip on a smile when he decided to forego his shirt. With a wink and a promise to feed me, he disappeared down the hall.
I flopped back into the sheets, smiling ear to ear as I let my eyes close. I was exhausted, body and mind and soul, but sated in a way I’d never been before.
I debated staying there until he brought a plate of eggs to bed for me, but selfishly, I didn’t want to miss the view of him cooking shirtless. So, I peeled myself out of bed, stopped in the bathroom long enough to pee and use my finger as a toothbrush, and then I ran my nails through my crazy hair to tame it as much as I could.
The kitchen already smelled amazing, potatoes frying in one skillet while bacon sizzled in another. He was just putting a cast iron loaded with eggs, cheese, and vegetables into the oven when I slid onto one of the barstools at the island to watch.
“Came for the show, I see,” he teased me, rounding the island long enough to reward my arrival with a long, toe-curling kiss before he was back to handling the stovetop.
“Couldn’t resist.”
I’d also brought my phone, though I’d set it facedown on the counter in front of me. I stared at it now, knowing I couldn’t hide from the people we owed answers to for long.
“Thinking about Isabella?” Aleks asked as he flipped the bacon.
“Among many others.”
“Call her,” he encouraged. “Let her yell at me. That always makes her feel better.”
I smirked, flipping the phone in my hand. I’d turned on my do not disturb last night so the thing wouldn’t buzz all night long. As soon as I turned it back to normal, the flurry of notifications I’d missed sprung onto the screen.
All of them faded to the background when I saw a recent text from Austin.