“Yeah.”
“You can spend the night in one of those and I’ll seal the doorway with this. Do any of them have a double bed?”
“Two of them have queens. Why?”
He grinned. “Because I’m sleeping in there with you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Orion climbed under the floral bedspread I’d bought for Mia. I’d spent a fortune on it, but then she told me she hated it. Hated her room in my house. And said I had terrible taste in decorating. Good memories. I pushed my daughter out of my mind, and focused on getting settled in for what was left of the night.
Orion had already ‘sealed’ the doorway with salt, then closed the door and poured another trail on the inner crack. I didn’t argue about sleeping in the same bed with him. These were extenuating circumstances, and if I protested too much, I’d either appear homophobic, or I’d give myself away. Also…I absolutely wanted to sleep in the same bed with him. If he was surprised that I hadn’t protested the sleeping arrangements, he didn’t show it. Maybe it really was no big deal to him. Or maybe we were both pretending it was no big deal.
But I was nervous. Orion was still in his pajama pants and tee shirt. I’d grabbed a robe before running downstairs after the ghost incident, but underneath, I only had a pair of boxer shorts on.
“You wanna leave a light on?” he asked as he curled up under the covers.
“Yeah,” I said. “You gonna call me a baby if I do?”
Hugging the pillow, he looked up at me. “No. It’s natural to be scared of the dark when you know something’s lurking.”
“You’re not helping.”
“I’m teasing you. Nothing’s gonna come in here, the room is safe. But you can leave a light on anyway.”
“Overhead is too much. I’ll put that lamp on in the corner.”
“Sounds good,” he yawned.
Orion didn’t seem nervous at all. But then, he was probably used to sleeping with men. Either way, he obviously trusted me. But I sensed he knew I was uncomfortable, and by the time I’d flicked the lamp on and got to the bed, he’d turned onto his side with his back to me, facing the wall. I took my robe off and climbed in beside him, then lay on my back, staring at the ceiling. The room was dim, but bright enough for me to relax and not worry about moving shadows or any other spooky shit.
“Close your eyes,” Orion mumbled. “Nothing’s gonna come in here. You need more sleep.”
“How do you know my eyes are open?”
“I can feel it. Go to sleep. I promise there’s no monsters in the closet or under the bed.”
“Just in the bed, right?” I smacked his leg gently over the covers.
He chuckled. “You’re the monster. Go to sleep.”
Sighing, I rolled onto my side, staring at Orion’s back. His hair was tangled, but still sleek and shiny. I wanted to curl one of those little ringlets around my finger so badly I actually reached for him, stopping myself at the last minute.
“You okay?” he asked, probably sensing my movement.
“Go to sleep.”
“Not until you tell me you’re okay.”
I smiled. “I’m okay.” I did it then—reached over and touched his hair, just a quick comb of fingers down the back of his head. It was baby soft, like I knew it would be. “Thanks for doing all this,” I said. “With the salt and all. My personal ghost buster.”
“Do that again,” he said softly.
I swallowed hard. “What?”
“Touch my hair like that. Feels good. Helps me relax.”
My heart pounded. But I couldn’t stop myself from succumbing, and combed my fingers through his hair again, allowing myself to play with one of those soft ringlets. I played with his hair until his breathing grew deep and even. My cock swelled, but there was enough distance between us in the bed that I wasn’t worried about him noticing. When I decided he was asleep, I stopped touching his hair—but not before doing something completely stupid and self-indulgent. With one brown ringlet around my finger, I leaned over and inhaled. He smelled like heaven, clean and powdery with the sweet perfume of sweat spiced in.
As I released that lock of hair and rolled away, I heard his breathing change, a quick hitch. Shit. What the hell was wrong with me? I sniffed him. I fucking sniffed him. And he wasn’t asleep yet. He knew. I closed my eyes tightly, but felt the bed shift as he rolled over. “Kurt.”
I was on my back, but turned my head to look at him. “Yeah?”
He said nothing, just stared at me with those shiny brown eyes, and while I had zero psychic abilities, I felt I could read his thoughts. He’d promised downstairs he’d never try anything with me. That he wasn’t going to come on to me, or cross any lines that might make me uncomfortable. I believed he meant it when he said it. But now I’d touched him. I’d smelled him. I’d broken the rules. And I’d obviously confused him.
I could see the questions in his eyes, the vulnerability. And the desire. Desire I’d put there, because I was careless and selfish and needed to touch his damn hair and know what he smelled like.
“You all right?” I asked, playing dumb. When he didn’t answer, I rolled onto my side, facing him. “What is it?”
His gaze flicked over what was visible of my bare shoulders and chest above the blanket, then his brow furrowed as he met my eyes. “I’m not sure I want to move into your guest house.”
That wasn’t what I was expecting to hear. “That’s all right. It was just an idea.”
“It’s a good idea,” he said softly. “Just not sure I want you as my landlord.”
“Oh. Can I ask why?”
His hand slid over and caressed my jaw. “Because of this.”
My throat tightened and my breathing grew shallow. I didn’t pull away from his touch, but didn’t make any move to encourage him. Everything slipped away but his eyes, and the feel of his warm hand on my face.
I kept silent as his fingers threaded through my hair, then returned to my jaw, caressing. I felt paralyzed with longing, hypnotized by him. I’d never experienced desire quite like this, and it rendered me speechless, breathless, and unable to move.
“Say something,” he whispered, his eyes searching mine. When I didn’t respond, he frowned, but ran a thumb over my bottom lip, making me inhale sharply. He shifted closer to me, the fabric of his PJ pants touching my bare leg under the blanket. “Don’t go mute on me.” When I still didn’t speak, he sighed. “Okay, I’ll talk then. I think sometimes you want this as much as I do. But then you shut down and I can’t get a read on it. I feel like I’m going crazy. Am I? Say something. Please.”
“Sorry,” I forced out with a heavy breath. “I can’t…I can’t breathe when you’re close. Makes it hard to talk.”
His expression was almost pained, that confusion still in his eyes. “You ain’t scared of me, are you?”
The spell that had me tongue-tied broke, and a laugh bubbled out of me, bringing a cautious grin to his face. “No, why would I be scared of you?”
“Well I don’t know! You said you can’t breathe when I’m…oh. You meant something else.”