Free Forever Wicked: A Wicked Lovers Novella (1001 Dark Nights) by Shayla Black

and she bore most of the guilt for their faltering marriage. Throwing his thoughtfulness in his face now would only be juvenile.
    “Yes, please.”
    He relaxed, as if pleasantly surprised that she hadn’t rebuffed him. Then again, after months of rejection, why should he have expected anything else from her? Guilt gnawed at Gia again.
    “Open up.” Jason sat on the edge of the bed and spooned up some of the mousse, then brought the heaping chocolate toward her mouth.
    Willingly, she opened for him, cradling all the goodness on her tongue while he fed her. The independent woman in her probably shouldn’t like this, but why lie? Sometimes, he could be so attentive, even tender, that she simply melted.
    In silence, he lifted one bite after the other onto her tongue until she’d swallowed the last of it. Gia couldn’t contain the happy little sigh that escaped her throat. “Thank you. That was incredible.”
    Jason brushed a piece of hair away from her face. “You’re welcome. How are your hands and wrists?”
    Though she was still cuffed, everything was surprisingly comfortable. “I’m all right, except I don’t know why you left the room with me restrained. I wasn’t going anywhere.”
    “You weren’t,” he confirmed. “But that orgasm you pleaded for earlier is mine. I’ve waited nearly a year for it. I wasn’t going to let you take it from me by your own hand.”
    “I wouldn’t have.”
    He shrugged. “I wasn’t taking chances. Are you still hungry?”
    “Tonight’s dinner was more than I usually eat in three days. I’m stuffed.”
    His lips tightened. “You’ve lost weight.”
    “I can’t eat when I’m stressed.”
    Jason didn’t comment directly, he just reached over to uncuff her wrist on the far side of the bed. His chest hovered near hers, their faces inches apart. Gia couldn’t deny how much she craved his kiss again.
    Instead, he stared, silent and inscrutable, as if trying to see down to her soul. His sharp blue eyes enthralled her. Stubble covered his strong jaw. His broad shoulders eclipsed so much of the room beyond. God knew he was good in bed. Maybe she could resist if she didn’t love him.
    Finally, he popped a latch, and her left cuff sprang free. Jason eased back and released the other, then began massaging her shoulders. “Do they ache?”
    Gia wasn’t dumb enough to lie. Besides, she deeply suspected that her wrists would be in those same cuffs again in the very near future.
    “A bit.”
    “Come with me.” He peeled off her shoes and helped her to her feet.
    Swallowing down her questions, she trailed him to the massive bathroom as he began running the tub. As the water turned warm, he eased the stopper down and added a bit of some exotic bath oil with a hint of coconut and musk before turning to her.
    At the gravity of his stare, she swallowed. With fingertips skimming her shoulders, he slid the baby-doll nightie down her arms and off her body. When she stood bare before him, raw lust seared his face. That expression said he wanted to lower her to the floor and fuck her right that second. Gia wanted to let him.
    He held out his hand, looking her up and down. “Get in.”
    It didn’t once occur to Gia not to comply. She closed her eyes in delight as the warm water enveloped her feet and lapped at her ankles.
    Since she’d moved in with Mila and the kids, the little house’s only bathtub was on the other side of the place, and Gia hated to intrude in the children’s space. She’d missed the luxury of being immersed in warm, fragrant water.
    “Sit back.” Jason helped ease her down into the water.
    Though she usually liked to wait until the tub filled to avoid the cold surface against her skin, she didn’t argue. But when she lay back, Gia was shocked to realize the entire surface of the tub was comfortably warm.
    “The back is heated?”
    He smiled faintly. “Yes. It’s also an air tub with colored LED lighting. The towels are heating now. So is the