Page 69 of Life Or Death

“Come on,” he says, holding out his hand. “I’ll take you home.”

I blink. “What? No.”

“It’s been a long day, Jess. And this party ain’t ending anytime soon. They can serve their own drinks.”

“It’s not like I sleep anyway.”

Concern flits across his face. “Are you still having nightmares?”

I shrug, because I don’t want to have this conversation, not with my body still humming from what he just did to me. “I actually don’t know. I just—I’m afraid I’m going to have one and Poppy will wake up. So, I try to sleep when they’re not home.”

His expression grows serious, that hard set to his jaw that means he’s about to say something I don’t want to hear. “You can’t go on like that. You need sleep.”

“I’m fine.”

“Jess.” His voice drops. “It’s been months.”

“I know.” I cross my arms. “I’m used to it.”

His jaw ticks. “You’re sleeping in my room tonight. You don’t have to worry about waking anyone.”

I open my mouth to protest, but adrenaline from the orgasm is already draining out of me, leaving me exhausted. So I relent and let him take my hand. He escorts me out of the chapel, down the hallway, past the noise and the laughter. He pushes the door open to his room and immediately moves to the bed. I watch as he pulls back the comforter, then steps aside.

“Do you want something to sleep in?”

I shake my head. “I normally just sleep in a tank top and a pair of panties.” I cock my head, looking at him. “Speaking of which—are you going to give those back?”

“Not a chance.”

He reaches for the waistband of my skirt and pulls it down over my hips, his knuckles brushing my bare skin. “You don’t need panties. Get in bed.”

I roll my eyes, but I climb in anyway. The sheets are cool and clean, and I sink into the mattress. My gaze moves back to him, and he’s just standing beside the bed.

“Well? Aren’t you going to join me?

He hesitates, looking down at me with that unreadable expression. Then he shrugs out of his cut and hangs it on the bedpost. He sits on the edge of the mattress and works his boots off, one at a time, dropping them to the floor. Then he climbs in beside me.

I can feel the heat radiating off him, the solid weight of him settling into the mattress.

“Do you always sleep with your clothes on?”

“No.”

“Why tonight?”

“Go to bed, Jess.”

He turns into me, and his arm slides around my stomach—firm, possessive, warm. He pulls me flush against him, my back to his chest, and I feel his breath stir my hair. His body is a wall of heat at my back, and for the first time in months, I close my eyes and let sleep claim me.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

LUCIFER

I doze off, but when my eyes spring open again, the room is still dark. I can hear the faint thump of bass from the party still going strong in the main room, but in here, it’s just us.

Jess is still in my bed, sound asleep, her body soft and pliant against mine. The tank top she slept in has ridden up, exposing the smooth plane of her stomach, and my arm is draped across her waist, my hand resting on the curve of her hip. I’m painfully aware she’s naked from the waist down, and it would take nothing from me to slide my hand between her thighs.

I close my eyes and try to think about anything else, but my brain keeps circling back to the chapel. To the way she looked spread out on that my table with her skirt bunched around her waist and her thighs shaking. The sound she made when she came. The taste of her on my tongue when I sucked her fingers clean.