Page 138 of Inflict

That was all that mattered.

The rest could wait.

• • •

Sunday mornings were made for laziness and good food. He had nowhere to be, nowhere he wanted to be, and no one to tell him where to go because he was the one who decided things. Connor was convinced of those facts, and no one was going to change his mind.

That was until …

“Connor?”

“Mmm.”

“Get up,” Evelyn murmured into his ear.

Usually, he’d love all her noises, even if they were too early in the morning, and the cause of him waking up.

“No,” he said simply, rolling to his stomach on the bed. The pillow made for a good face rest, even if he couldn’t breathe, and his voice was muffled. “No talking until I am out of bed on Sundays.”

“Connor.”

“No.”

He was tempted to tell his lover to go away, but he couldn’t gain the balls to do so. She had been back with him for a couple of weeks, and while it was easy for him to slip back into a routine with Evelyn, he had not forgotten that she had just gotten up one day, and left him behind. Actually, it was feckin’ impossible to forget. He did have her close for now, though, so he kept her that way.

Even if that meant having her annoy him awake on a Sunday morning.

“I missed it last week because I slept in and you never go, but I don’t want to miss it this week,” Evelyn said, bringing Connor out of his thoughts.

“What?” He rolled over to his back, and rubbed at his eyes. Seemed he had missed a part of her conversation somehow, as he didn’t know what in the hell she was talking about. “Missed what last week, lass?”

“Church.”

“Oh, feck that. No.”

Connor rolled back over, this time, using his arms as a pillow and the actual pillow to cover his head. He didn’t do church. His father had gone, but that was mostly for appearances, as anyone who knew Sean was well aware the bastard was going to hell.

Connor probably wouldn’t get to heaven, either.

If such a place even existed …

“Connor, I want to go,” Evelyn said firmly, her hand skimming up his back.

“Stop touching me.”

“Why, is that helping my case?”

Just to make a point, Evelyn’s hand skimmed back down his spine, over his naked arse, and then back up again.

“If I roll over, will you just focus that on my cock?” Connor asked.

Evelyn laughed. “Obviously, it’s not helping my case, if sex is all you’re thinking about.”

“I’m naked. You can get naked. We’re already in bed. This doesn’t have to be difficult, love.”

“We don’t have time for that—I want to go to church, and I know the one down the road has Mass that starts in an hour,” Evelyn said firmly.

Then, her hand smacked him hard on the arse, making Connor jump and curse. By the time he had gotten into a sitting position, Evelyn was already wrapping herself in a robe as she flew out the bedroom doorway.