them. I had been the one out the door with the desire to put the man in my past, my body and heart dissatisfied.
Knowing my smile was stretching into a full, slightly demented, grin, I tried to force a more sober mask in place.
"None of that, pudding," Simon admonished. His head dipped down for a sedate kiss against my forehead. "Whatever you're feeling, I want to see it."
My hands slid from the mattress to capture his narrow waist. The urge to run my fingers elsewhere almost overtook me. My nails dug lightly at his skin before I planted my palms against his chest and gave a light push. "All I'm feeling right now is my bladder."
His chest flexed against my hands and his shoulders gave a light jerk as a short laugh erupted from him. He rolled off me, stealing all the bedding so that I had only the thin, sleeveless, and nearly skirtless nightgown to protect me against air that had chilled overnight.
"Off with you then." He gave my thigh an understanding pat and then a little push. "I'll order morning tea while you're away."
I started to bound off the bed when I remembered the prior evening's promise -- no chance of sex until the morning tea.
My gaze darted in his direction to find a fat grin on his handsome face. He arched one dark blond brow, the narrow strip of daylight sneaking into the room dancing mischievously in his eyes. "Unless you want to skip the tea and get straight to the cream?"
I gasped, a little surprised despite everything that had happened. Surprised and pleased, heat spreading across my skin at the thought of crawling back into bed.
Without answering him, I hopped up, snatched the bedside robe and disappeared into the bathroom. With the door shut, I pushed my panties down to my ankles and relieved the pressure that had built overnight. I wiped, squirming because my flesh was very sensitive to the touch. Sensitive and coated with arousal that had started flow from inside me, my juices clear and sticky from the idea of a morning with Simon -- in his Vault.
Heart thumping, I washed my hands then soaked a washcloth with hot water. I ran it over my face then peeled off the nightgown, rinsed more hot water through the cloth and ran it over my shoulders. I knew I wanted Simon, but complications remained.
In the middle of my twenties, I shouldn't have even thought about talking to my oldest brother before having sex with a man I desired. If I had to talk to Dylan first, I didn't know how long I would be waiting because I absolutely couldn't pull his attention away from Mishka.
Lost in thought, I refreshed the washcloth several more times, giving myself a bird bath when I could have stepped into the shower instead. I ran the steaming fabric over my aching nipples, across my stomach, between my thighs. A shiver ran through me, my entire body starting to shake.
That decided the matter. Talking to Dylan would have to wait. He didn't have a veto right, anyway. Things would be smoothed over -- eventually. His opinion of Simon would have to change because mine wouldn't.
Finished freshening up, I returned to the bedroom, the nightgown and my panties abandoned on the bathroom floor. I had a moment to scan the room and find Simon absent before I almost had a stroke at the sound of a well-oiled cart being wheeled into the outer room.
The paintings!
I was about to race back into the bathroom to hide for the rest of my life when Simon returned to the bedroom, his body wrapped in a thin silk robe as black as the room hiding behind the big screen TV.
"Pudding, what's wrong?"
"I heard the service cart. Please tell me..." I couldn't bring myself to even speak the possibility that one of the staff had seen the paintings.
"I met the bellboy at the elevator." Softly smiling, Simon pushed against me, his hands sliding into the robe to find my flesh. He planted one palm against the small of my back. The other cupped one cheek, the fingers squeezing at my bottom as his mouth covered mine.
Oh, my sweet, merciful...
My