We talked about Kymaris, the prophecy, Custodia angels, and everything in between that we’d learned so far. When he plated up the food, we ate standing at the counter with no awkwardness, although I found his naked proximity a little distracting.
There was none of that dead silence I usually don’t know how to fill. He certainly didn’t become detached and remote as I was slightly afraid might happen after reality set back in. I was afraid there’d be regrets.
But there wasn’t.
Carrick actually seemed… unburdened.
When we finished eating, I somehow found myself on the counter with the shirt gone and Carrick doing all sorts of wonderful things to me on top of the granite. When we were done, I made a mental note to myself to come back later and clean up before Zaid came back, whenever that may be.
The rest of the afternoon, we relocated to Carrick’s bedroom. It was hazy hours of long kisses, intimate touches, sometimes hard furious sex, and for me, napping in between. I’d wake up to find Carrick hadn’t left, but was working on his laptop beside me in bed. I found that endearing as he could have easily gone to his office. I also found it shameful I needed the naps, but I’m not a demi-god like he is. It was more than just sex that sucked me dry at times. It was the myriad of emotions he conjured within me that left me depleted. Because things seemed a little too good in the precious hours we’ve had alone. I felt like one of those women who could say all my dreams had come true while, at the same time, be waiting for something awful to happen to ruin it.
But one thing that I felt with certainty was that every time we came together, I’d feel something different snapping into place… or settling might be the better way to describe it. Each time we joined, I felt that a different part of me was clicking with him, perhaps cementing us together, and I can’t explain it. I can only chalk it up to destiny.
I’m where I’m supposed to be—with him.
Were we fated to be together?
Maybe I was destined to disobey Carrick today to see the Strathertons, which would lead to him getting incredibly angry and kissing me.
And well… things just naturally progressed from there.
I yawn and then stretch, finally pulling myself up against the pillows, which rest against a padded headboard of cream leather. Modesty still a thing with me, I pull up the sheet to cover my breasts and tuck it under my arms.
I look around his room—a place I had yet to see in all the days I’d ever been in his condo. It sits at the southwest corner of the floor and has two walls of glass so that he can choose to gaze at the Olympic mountains or Mt. Rainier, whichever hits his fancy. I worried about people seeing in, but Carrick assured me the outside glass was mirrored, and we could prance around naked all we wanted.
Which we didn’t.
Prance, that is.
I look around, studying details. His bedroom is as I would have expected. Heavy, masculine furniture done in soothing tones and clean lines. It matches the rest of the decor in the condo, except the grays here are a bit heavier with blue and cream accents. His closet door is open, and I can see into a cavernous area that’s almost as big as his bedroom. My closet at home is barely three by five feet, and I have envious feelings.
The bedroom door opens, and I’m hit with a rush of adrenaline and excitement to see Carrick. Except it’s Zaid who walks through with a breakfast tray in his hands.
Shrieking even though I’m completely covered, I yank the sheets up to my nose. Zaid purses his lips in disapproval and moves right to the bed, setting the tray over my lap.
“Carrick says to eat, shower, and get dressed. He wants you to meet him down in the library when you’re done.”
That actually hurts. That he didn’t come back in himself to wake me up with a kiss, perhaps make love to me, and—oh my God, Finley—get a hold of yourself and stop romanticizing this.
It’s sex.
Nothing more.
No, wait… it’s more. It’s great sex—the best—and I feel deeply for him.
But that doesn’t mean he feels the same. I need to stop wanting what I cannot have.
“You need to keep focused on your mission,” Zaid says almost gently. He’s an empath, and there’s no doubt he was just reading my feelings about Carrick.
I totally lay it on thick. “I know. I’m all about the prophecy. This thing with Carrick is just… fun. A way to alleviate stress. Nothing more.”
“It’s more,” Zaid says dryly as he moves to the door. “You know it, I know it, and, trust me, Carrick knows it. But you can’t let it cloud your common sense.”