In Flight (Up in the Air #1)(44)

He came on my chest, not even trying to contain the warm seed that coated my br**sts in spurts. As he finished, he moved down lower to straddle my hips. He studied my wet br**sts, then began to rub, coating my chest and ribs.

“Mmm,” he murmured, still rubbing. “Mine.”

It didn’t take long for the unfamiliar liquid to start to turn sticky.

“Don’t move. Time to clean you up.” He left and returned quickly with warm, wet washcloths, cleaning me thoroughly.

He must have found the small towels under my bathroom sink, I noted in a disconnected kind of way. He was making himself right at home, digging through my things without asking. I didn’t have the energy to care, and besides, his efficiency was too convenient not to appreciate in the moment.

I closed my eyes, ready to pass out.

He lay down beside me, pulling my back to his chest and throwing his arm over me.

“Mine,” he whispered in my ear. I floated into a pleasurably deep sleep.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Mr. Relentless

It was fully light out when I awoke. I stretched, feeling sore but good. I was alone in bed, but I could smell coffee.

I threw on the first thing I saw in my closet. It was the thin cotton shift of a nightgown I’d worn in the hotel the first night I’d spent with James.

I made my way slowly into the kitchen. It was empty, so I passed through into the small adjoining dining room. I leaned in the doorway to soak in the sight that greeted me there.

James wore only a pair of snug dark gray boxer-briefs.

Even his underwear looks expensive, I thought.

He held a coffee mug in one hand, his other arm running restlessly through his sandy hair. He was studying the paintings I’d arranged on the walls. I studied his flawless back. It was tan, of course. And it bulged with well-defined muscles. But it was also elegant, somehow, like the rest of him. His ass looked carved from stone. Unaccountably, I wanted to bite it, but I stifled the strange urge.

I licked a finger as I approached him, then rubbed it hard on the skin of his shoulder.

I knew a lot of girls that did spray tans. If his coloring was sprayed on, a little vigorous rubbing would reveal his secret. The lovely golden shade didn’t rub off.

James shot me a baffled look over his shoulder. “You having fun back there?” he asked.

I lowered my hand, smiling sheepishly at him. “Sorry. Don’t mind me.”

He took my strange actions in stride, turning back to study the wall again.

He turned to look at me. His eyes were intense.

“Do you sell these?” He waved a hand at the wall of art.

I shook my head. “No. It’s just a hobby.”

He just raised a brow at me, raising his cup of coffee. “I made coffee.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

I moved into the kitchen to make myself a cup.

He crowded behind me, kissing the side of my neck.

“How are you feeling?” he murmured against my skin.

“Good,” I answered, taking a long draw of the dark liquid.

“It was torture, pulling myself out of bed with you lying there. I wanted you to wake up with me inside of you. But that will have to wait. You’re still too raw.”

I rubbed my back against his chest.

“How do you know?” I asked him.

He stilled. “I suppose I don’t.”

He sighed, a heavy sound, then stepped away. “Are you going to give me the tour? I want to see your house.”

I shrugged, the thought making me self-conscious. I loved my house, and it was relatively new, and in good shape, but compared to what he was used to, it had to seem pretty shabby. Still, I showed him around.

The dinning room and kitchen connected, and the living room doubled as an entryway, so it was a very quick tour. I had my paintings hanging everywhere, and he stopped for long pauses to study all of them.

“I’m not sure I like how many pictures you have of another man hanging all over your house,” he told me with a raised brow.

I blushed, but only because I had remembered the picture I had begun of James on an easel in my backyard. I had forgotten to bring it inside, and I worried briefly that the weather had ruined it in the day I’d been away. I didn’t want him to see it even more than I didn’t want it to be ruined, though.

I’d check on it later, I decided quickly.

As for his comment about the handful of pictures I had of Stephan hanging around, I just ignored it. I wouldn’t deign to respond to comments about Stephan and I. Either he was teasing, or he was jealous. Neither would matter. If he had an issue with Stephan, I would be showing him the door.

“Are you two somehow related?” James prompted, fishing in a way that made me tense up.

“Not by blood. He’s my family, though. My only family.” I was strung tight as I watched his face for a reaction. This was a deal or no-deal moment for us.

He just nodded, looking thoughtful, but making me relax instantly.

“I like him. It seems like he protects you,” he finally said.

I felt so relieved that it scared me. I hadn’t wanted to show him the door in the worst way. That thought made me panicky.

“You have no idea,” I told him.

His eyes sharpened, and he tensed up. “What do you mean? I would like to have an idea, please.”

I just shook my head, mentally kicking myself for saying something so untactful. The idea of having no idea would drive a man like him crazy, so I came up with a palatable answer.