"Saige," I groan, reaching around her and squeezing her tit. "Turn it off."
She shrugs me off before reaching for her phone on the nightstand and disabling the alarm, then lies on the far side of the bed, facing the wall.
"Hey," I say, combing my fingers through her long golden-brown hair. "Come here."
She ignores me, curling into herself.
"There's no need to be dramatic," I tell her, closing the space between us and wrapping my arms around her body. "We fucked, and you liked it. It's not a big deal."
"I need to get up and get dressed," she says. "I have to make breakfast."
"Okay," I say, kissing her shoulder.
"Can you get out?"
I scoff. "No. This is my house."
Saige huffs before climbing out from under the covers, quickly pulling on a pair of straight-legged jeans that hug her ass and a scoop-necked cropped top. She ties her freshly fucked hair into a bun on top of her head, keeping her back to me the entire time.
I left a hickey on the side of her throat, just below her left ear, but I'm not going to tell her that. I like leaving a mark.
It just makes me want to fuck her again.
She's definitely not the same girl who walked into Aurora Cove two years ago. You can see it in her eyes. Elias broke her down long before she shoved what's-his-face off the balcony; what's left now is all sharp points and jagged edges, which works for me. It means she might last a while.
The tattoos covering her chest and arms are new, too. I don't know who drew them, but I could do better. I like to put my name in them…discretely, so they won't notice until it's too late.
I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, pulling on my discarded sweatpants, adjusting my hard dick so it's slightly less imposing.
"Hey, baby." I approach her from behind, wrapping my arms around the front of her body and then pressing my lips to that same spot behind her ear. "Let me ask you something."
"What is it?"
"You're on birth control, right?"
"Right…"
"When was the last time you got tested?"
"Tested?"
"For STIs."
She freezes—I feel her body tense before she pushes me away.
"Get off me," she hisses, scowling as she leaves the room.
The fuck did I do? Safety first.
I'm left scratching my head for a minute before…oh.
Right. We did kind of convince an entire town that Saige was a walking STI. I guess I can see how that might make someone sensitive about the subject. But come on—we all knew he made that up because he didn't want anyone else to sleep with her. Keeping people from fucking his stepsister was a full-time, all-consuming job for Elias; he barely had room for anything else.
And then he dropped her at my feet.
I leave the room, making my way to the kitchen, where she's aggressively scrambling eggs.
"Saige…" I say cautiously, leaning against the counter beside her.
