And tonight, as I lie in bed, back pressed to the wall I know she sleeps beyond… I feel it.
Her.
And I fall asleep with a smile.
***
She’s here.
I wake and beside me, asleep, is Jasmine.
Not only did I leave the apartment door unlocked, but open. I didn’t want a single barrier in her way. And now… she’s here.
Curled on her side, bare legs tucked to her chest, flames of crimson hair spread around her like a fiery halo. Divine.Mine.
My phone’s already buzzing with messages from the group. One of them must have stepped away from the Pit. But I ignore them, grabbing it and opening the camera.
I take a picture. Then another. And a few more.
When I finally flick to the chat, I find Sai’s reaction to thesafe wordmessage and smile. Then I open our private chat:Fifty Shades of Desperation, and send a photo.
My phone rings immediately. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Sai whisper-snarls.
I glance down at the goddess sleeping beside me. “I woke… and there she was.”
“Fuckoff. You fucking—” He cuts himself off with a strangled groan, some incoherent muttering, curses, a deep exhale—“Look, they’re still going. Zeek’s in the fucker’s mind right now, trying to break through the compulsion—they’re close.”
“How close, Sai?” I ask, picturing his strained expression. “Because I’m not waiting.”
He growls down the line. “Youevil,nastyfucker!”
I smile again.
He lets out another long breath. “Are you touching her? Right now? Let me see. Please, mate.”
I haven’t, because I daren’t. The moment is so… fragile. Precarious.
I’m terrified the second she wakes, she’ll be flooded with fear. With regret. She’ll speak her safe word, and this delicate, impossible thing between us will shatter before it even begins.
“No.” My fingers hover over her cheek. “She may not—”
“Hey, hey, hey!”Sai’s tone sharpens, suddenly serious. “You listen to me now. Ease her into it, yeah? Soft touches.Gentle. Nice and slow.”
My beast does not agree with those words.
“Take control,” Sai continues, “but don’t go too hard. Don’t go allyou’re minejust yet. And praise, for the love of everything, praise her.”
There’s a shift in his breathing as it deepens, becoming more of a pant as the heated image forms in his mind.
“Delay her,” he whispers in a rasp. “I need her out of her mind, delirious,desperatefor us.”
I practically feel his desperation pour through the speaker, feeding my carnal needs, tempting my beast.
I have to touch her.
I let my fingers brush along the bare skin of her throat, the lightest caress—but it’s as though I’ve been struck by lightning. Delicious, heavenly lightning that ignites every nerve.
She releases the faintest moan, and I nearly crush the phone.
