“Come,” he rumbles, jerking his chin at the mirror. “Come see.”
For once, there is no challenge in the words. Just a simple request.
I wonder what hidden weight it holds for him to hand it to me so delicately.
I sweep my legs off the bed and stand, pillow slip clutched to my chest as I walk toward him.
There’s no point trying to hide it now.
It’s too late for that.
Rhordyn’s black button-down is rolled to his elbows, and the vision of his corded forearms glazed in firelight has my stomach knotting.
Every cautious step results in the hem of my shirt brushing against my naked thighs, but his gaze doesn’t drift to the bare show of skin, and I don’t bother attempting to hide myself. Don’t see the point when he’s already planted inside me in ways I doubt I’ll ever be able to explain.
I halt, staring up at his impeccably carved profile, internally cursing the world for sowing me in the presence of his baited beauty.
My attention roves to his bunched fists and white knuckles, as if he’s holding every ounce of tension in the tight balls of his powerful hands.
“Laith.”
Our stares collide.
There’s torture in his eyes, and I fail to draw a single lick of sense from it.
Slowly, I lower to the stool, bare ass colliding with the cold grain.
A shiver rakes up my spine.
I peep at the mirror; take in the man now standing behind me. Study the unfamiliar softness in his eyes.
Frown when I realize it’s not the sort of softness that tears down walls and lets other people see your true self ...
It’ssorrow.
I’ve seen that look before, years ago, but I can barely grasp the memory. Or perhaps I just don’t want to.
I clear my throat, hands twisting together in my lap.
Rhordyn draws a deep breath, then motions toward my hair. “May I?”
Curious, I nod.
My lids almost flutter shut as his fingers explore the heavy knot atop my head, unraveling the band, releasing a heavy curtain of flaxen locks that cascade around my shoulders and down my back. He gathers it all up, the calloused tips of his fingers brushing the delicate skin behind my ear, and I bite down on a shiver.
My thick waves are pushed forward over my left shoulder while he takes large gulps of my reflection.
I watch the ball in his throat roll, watch his chest swell, then deflate before he reaches for the latch at the back of my neck.
He fiddles with it, battles it, his regard finally splitting from mine to study its delicate workings, well-defined brows a pinched mantle above his stormy eyes. The chain falls, tumbles to my lap, and his gaze darts back to my reflection, those silver swirls becoming pools so wide they seem to dominate the room.
I hear his heart skip a beat, watch the color drain from his cheeks as a tightness peels off my face, down my neck, across my shoulders ... like paring the skin off a mandarin and freeing the fruit beneath.
Rhordyn releases a sigh that has its own chaotic tempo.
“Wh—”
Something glimmers in my peripheral, and I steal a peep at my own reflection, stilling the battered organ in my chest.
