Page 96 of Dark Destiny: The Turning Of The Loom

Annani was pressed against him, her hair spilling across his arm, her breath on his collarbone, her perfect breasts touching his chest and leaving burn marks.

Figuratively.

It was the most excruciating awakening, and at the same time, the loveliest.

He did not move, did not dare take a deep breath, because he wanted to savor these moments. He just lay there in the same position he had woken up in, watching her sleep and cataloging every inch of her skin, her hair, her bone structure.

When she woke, it was all at once, the way she did everything. Her eyes opened, and when they found his, her face brightened with a happy smile.

"Good morning, sa-mu." She lifted her head and kissed him on the lips. It was just a peck, but it was soft and precious, and he wanted more but did not ask.

"Good morning," he said instead.

She did not get up at once, and neither did he, and after a moment he realized she was waiting for him to decide who would get up first.

"You should use the bathroom before I do," he said.

She smiled. "I know what you want, naughty boy."

He wished he knew what he wanted, and apparently she was going to tell him.

"You want to watch because you did not get to last night."

She slipped out of bed, slowly, deliberately, letting him see her beautifully nude body from every angle as she turned this way and that, searching for her discarded nightgown.

Her body was small and perfect, slim yet rounded in all the right places. She looked delicate, fragile, but Khiann knew better.

Annani was a goddess, and a powerful one at that. She could lift the bed with him in it if she wanted to.

She did not. Instead, she bent and picked up her nightgown from the floor, giving him a mouthwatering view of her backside, then slid it over her head in one fluid motion. The only thing she took time with was freeing the incredible mass of her hair from the garment. It was red and heavy, reaching nearly to her thighs, and he could not imagine how long it took her to brush it.

"You are breathtaking, Annani. Painfully beautiful."

She pouted. "I do not want anything about me to pain you."

He rubbed his chest. "It is the good kind of pain. The kind a male looks forward to."

The bright smile returned. "Then I am happy. Are you going to join me in the bathroom? I have dreamt for so long of sharing my mornings with you."

"In a moment."

He could not get up, and given her sultry smile, she knew why.

"Do not be long, my love." She blew him a kiss and sauntered to the bathroom.

When she closed the door behind her, he let out a breath.

The towel was on the floor where he had dropped it, and as he got out of bed, he leaned down for it, tied it around his hips, took the crutch from the nightstand, and followed Annani.

She stood at the vanity, brushing her teeth, and he smiled at her in the mirror. She smiled back around the brush, and he went past her into the small separate room with the toilet and shut the door.

He was very glad of that door. Whoever had designed this house had understood that there were things a man did not want to do in front of his mate on the second morning, or the thousandth.

When he came out, she was gone, but he could hear her moving around in the closet.

Annani came back in a gown cut almost exactly like the nightgown. The fabric was darker, a deep teal that was the perfect backdrop for her red hair, which fell in perfect waves down her back.

She leaned against her side of the vanity and watched him brush his teeth.