Midnight's Captive(98)
She turned and looked out the window to see the sky was beginning to lighten, but this far north in the summer, that could be deceiving. A quick check on her phone told her it was just after two in the morning.
Laura rose from the chair and smiled when she saw the steam rolling out of the bathroom. Charon had pushed the door to, but hadn’t closed it.
While he finished with his shower, Laura filled two glasses of red wine and snagged a cube of cheese to pop into her mouth.
Next, she removed her jeans, shirt, bra, and panties. She folded them neatly in a pile to set atop the dresser before she grabbed Charon’s discarded button-down.
She lifted it to her nose and inhaled the scent that was all his—sandalwood. When she heard the water cut off, she hastily slid her arms into the sleeves of the shirt and buttoned two of the buttons below her breasts. Leaving just enough of a gap to show cleavage.
Laura looked at herself in the mirror hanging on the back of the door and smiled. She couldn’t have imagined being so bold a week ago, but then she hadn’t tasted Charon’s kisses or known the exquisite pleasure being in his arms could give her.
It wasn’t her magic that gave her the courage to be so daring. It was the all-consuming, overwhelming desire for Charon that did it.
He had turned her into the woman she had only dreamed she could be.
She’d always known she would do a lot for Charon, but she hadn’t realized to what extremes she would go to until recently. Instead of frightening her, it felt amazing. Freeing.
Laura leaned back against the wall next to the window and watched as Charon came out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped precariously low around his hips.
Droplets of water dripped from the ends of his long, dark hair to his shoulders, where the beads traveled either down his back or over the muscled planes of his chest.
God, he was a gorgeous man. She didn’t understand why he wanted her, but it was enough that he did.
He stopped short when he glanced at the chair she had been in and found it empty. In the next instant, his gaze swiveled to her. The dark chocolate depths of his eyes heated as they landed on her.
“How did it go?” she asked.
With a wicked twinkle in his eye, he reached for a glass of wine. “Thanks to your interference, perfectly.”
“You’re not angry with me for barging in?”
“I’m glad you did. I needed to calm down. You helped with that.”
Laura crossed an ankle over the other and hid a smile when she saw Charon’s gaze lower to her legs. “Is everything in place?”
“Aye. Fallon is probably still here talking to Con, but I wanted to see you.”
“See me?” she asked coyly.
Charon lifted the glass to his lips and drank deeply of the burgundy wine. “Oh, aye.”
“So do you believe I’m not working with Jason?”
His forehead creased as he set aside his wine. “Laura, please understand I—”
“I do,” she interrupted him. “I understand everything. I just want to be sure that you trust me.”
“Aye,” he said softly.
She wasn’t sure if he meant it or not. In time, she would prove her loyalty to him. For now, he said he trusted her. That was enough.
“Good,” she said and pushed off the wall to walk to him. “I think we’ve wasted enough of our time talking.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Laura put her hand against his chest and gave him a push. She knew he allowed her to do it, just as he allowed himself to fall back into the chair she had occupied a few moments earlier.
“Is there something you want with me?” Charon asked with one side of his mouth lifted in a devilish grin.
“Me? Not at all.” She moved to stand between his legs. “I just figured with all the kisses you’ve given me, you might be in some … need.”
“Need?” he repeated, choking on the word. “You could say that, lass.”
She ran her fingers through his wet hair. “I wouldn’t be doing my duty as your personal assistant if I didn’t help you out.”
“I do pay you rather handsomely to take care of all my needs.”
“Exactly,” she said, and let her hand trail down the side of his face to the hard line of his jaw.
He snagged her hand in one of his and brought it to his mouth. There, he spread her fingers and placed a kiss on her palm. “What need are you going to take care of tonight?”
“The one that burns you. The one I can see when you look at me.”
“Is it that obvious?” he asked, still holding on to her hand.
She nodded. “To me it is, but then I’m looking for it.”
“Are you?”
The lighthearted mood had somehow altered, grown more serious. Laura knew that sometime very soon, she would have to face the feelings churning within her. She feared they went far deeper than she knew.