Taking the stairs two at a time, Gavin stopped outside the open doorway to her room. Leaning against the bright cream-colored pillows wearing a black silk bonnet, Ebony looked at him with a sleepy smile.
"I wondered how long it would take you to realize," she murmured, watching him as he strode over to her bed.
He crawled into the bed with her and set the bag in her lap.
Ebony smiled and pulled out the white baker's box containing four red velvet cupcakes. "Ooh thank you," she smiled while taking a bite.
He watched as her maple brown eyes widened with pleasure as she tasted the sugar. For the briefest second, a slight slip in his control, he imagined the white icing melting on her pink tongue. Gavin inhaled sharply, his eyes dropping to her throat as it worked to swallow.
Ebony beamed happily at him and the innocence of it shot through him like an arrow through the chest. He quickly rebuilt the wall of control and resumed his post firmly behind it, returning a nice, safe brotherly smirk.
Ebony pushed the half-eaten cupcake towards his lips and he caught her wrist instinctively in a gentle yet firm hold. The contact of her smooth skin sent a jolt of electricity through him—which he ignored.
"No," he began, leaning his head back, away from the sugar-infused treat.
An evil spark lit her eyes and she demanded, "Eat it."
He halfheartedly fought her off as she got the cupcake within inches of his mouth. "My body is a temple, you know that," he groaned, turning his head sideways even as the sweet scent invaded his senses.
Ebony stilled and narrowed her eyes at him. Gavin froze. Her free hand wrapped into his t-shirt and tugged him closer. He allowed her to pull him in.
She gave him a flat look. "My flow is heavy, I swear I have anemia, my cramps feel like someone is taking a knife to my stomach, and I'm tired even though I slept all morning. If you don't take a bite of this damn cupcake, I'll scream."
Gavin couldn't argue with that. He leaned in and took a huge bite that took some of her finger with it. His teeth grazed the skin.
"Gavin!" she squealed, snatching her hand back.
He gave her an unapologetic wink and threw an arm around her while reaching for her remote. With a few clicks the automatic blinds began to lower, sinking the room into pitch black while a screen descended from the ceiling. Somewhere on the wall above them a projector flickered to life.
"Horror, romance, anime, or a boring ass documentary?" he listed her favorites, already knowing which one she wanted.
Ebony snuggled deeper into the crook of his arm and stared up at him with round pleading eyes. "But this one won’t be boring. It's about a man who lives in a small town and grew up thinking he had a twin his whole life but in reality, he just has multiple personality disorder. The people in town even played along with him, enabling his delusions."
Gavin groaned and handed her the remote.
She didn’t even make it thirty minutes. Curled onto her side facing him, Ebony breathed softly, sound asleep. Somehow a few curls had slipped from her bonnet and lay across her face. Gavin stared at them. Their soft wavy pattern lay against her smooth skin.
Gently he smoothed the hair back. Ebony didn’t stir, trusting and unaware. That was the dangerous part of it all, how fucking unaware she was. How her presence burned through the darkness of his mind like a great flame, a beacon in the night always guiding him to her. Or how he had been sitting here for an hour, doing nothing but watching her sleep like a man possessed. Every twitch of her curling lashes. Every part of her lips or shift in her body, he watched it all.
You have no idea what you do to me, do you?
On the screen the scene changed to a man standing outside in the rain and the sky flashed. Gavin swore and grabbed at the remote trying to mute the inevitable but he wasn't fast enough. The boom of thunder reverberated through the speakers in the ceiling and Ebony jumped beside him.
Looking down he caught her wide-eyed look of fear. It was like a punch to the gut. Sinking deeper into the sheets next to her Gavin wrapped an arm around her scooping her closer to him. Big fucking mistake. The scent of dark vanilla, her signature scent, surrounded him.
He stifled a groan even as he tried to reassure her. "It was just the TV," he said thickly.
A slight shiver ran through her body even as she tried to pull away, her face settling back into her usual expression of serene control. "I knew that."
Bullshit, he thought with a smirk.
"Mmmm well then I guess I'll just go," he halfheartedly made to pull away and her hand shot out and gripped his shirt.
"No," her voice was small but it had the power of a titan over him. "Don’t leave yet."
Inside he cursed. He couldn’t stay here, not like this. Not lying down next to her. The warmth from her soft body felt like reaching tendrils wrapping around him, luring him closer and closer to dangerous territory.
She blinked sleepily at him. "I like it when you're here with me."
