Chapter 18 Eighteen

Chapter 18 Eighteen
REINA’S POV

Morning light filtered through the kitchen windows, soft and golden. I woke up tangled in Orion’s sheets, the faint scent of him and lavender still clinging to my skin. My body felt heavy with sleep and something sweeter, something that made me smile before I even opened my eyes.

I padded barefoot down the hallway in the short cotton nightdress I had worn to sneak into his room. The hem barely skimmed the tops of my thighs. I didn’t bother fixing it. I wanted him to see me like this, sleepy and soft.

He was standing by the open fridge, back to me, pouring orange juice into a glass. His shoulders were tense under the plain white T-shirt he had pulled on sometime during one of his many cold showers. His pajama pants hung low. I could see the line of his spine, the way his muscles shifted when he moved.

I walked up behind him quietly.

He turned just as I reached him.

“Good morning, husband,” I murmured.

Before he could answer I rose on my toes and kissed him.

His lips were cool from the juice, but they warmed instantly under mine. He made a low surprised sound. I pressed closer, hands sliding up his chest to his shoulders. The fridge door clicked shut behind him as I pushed him gently back against it. The cold metal met his back. I felt him tense, then relax, his free hand coming to my waist.

I kissed him deeper, slower, tasting the orange and the faint salt of his skin. When I finally pulled back just enough to breathe, our foreheads rested together.

“I love kissing you,” I whispered. My voice was husky from sleep and want. “I really, really love it.”

His eyes were dark, pupils wide. His breathing was uneven. His fingers flexed against my hip like he was fighting to keep them still.

“Reina,” he said, voice rough. “You’re killing me.”

I smiled against his mouth and kissed him once more before stepping back. My nightdress had ridden up during the push, revealing smooth thighs. I didn’t fix it. I just watched his gaze drop, watched his throat work as he swallowed hard.

He stared at me for a long second, his control visibly fraying. Then he muttered something under his breath and bolted past me toward his bedroom.

I leaned against the counter, heart racing, lips tingling, and smiled.

ORION’S POV

She pushed me against the fridge like it was nothing. Her mouth on mine was soft and insistent and devastating. She whispered that she loved kissing me and I felt the last thread of my restraint snap taut.

I could feel every inch of her pressed against me: the thin cotton of her nightdress, the warmth of her thighs, the way her breasts brushed my chest with each breath. My body reacted instantly, painfully. I was hard and aching and seconds away from lifting her onto the counter and forgetting every rule I had ever made.

I ran.

Back to my room, door shut, hands shaking as I dressed for work. I put on my shirt, tie, shoes and jacket while my mind replayed her whisper, her smile, the sight of her thighs in that tiny dress.

When I came out she was waiting in the hallway, still in the nightdress, hair mussed, looking sleepy and satisfied.

She stepped close, rose on her toes, and kissed me goodbye.

A soft and sensual kiss. It was lingering just long enough to make me groan against her mouth.

“Have a good day, husband,” she murmured.

I rode the elevator down with a hard-on that refused to subside. The mirrored walls reflected my flushed face and the obvious strain against my trousers. I adjusted my jacket, willed my body to behave but I failed miserably.

By the time I reached my office I was strung tight enough to snap.

I closed the door, sat at my desk, and dialed Gran before I could talk myself out of it.

She answered on the second ring. “Orion, darling. Early for you.”

“Gran,” I said, voice tighter than I intended. “I need to move up the wedding. As soon as possible.”

Silence. Then delighted laughter.

“Oh, my boy. Finally admitting defeat?”

I rubbed my temple. “Something like that.”

She was still chuckling. “I knew that girl would get under your skin. How soon is ‘as soon as possible’?”

“Next month. Two weeks if we can manage it.”

“Two weeks?” She sounded gleeful. “You must be in quite a state.”

I closed my eyes. “Gran.”

“Don’t ‘Gran’ me. I’m thrilled. I’ll call the planner today. Venue, flowers, dress for Reina, the works. You leave it to me.”

“Thank you.”

She paused. “You sound… tense.”

I exhaled. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re smitten and suffering. It’s adorable.”

I couldn’t retort. She was right.

“I’ll call you later with details,” she said. “And Orion? Don’t wait too long to tell her you love her. Life’s too short for cold showers.”

She hung up laughing.

I stared at the phone, then at the faint lavender scent still clinging to my sleeve.

She was right about one thing.

I was in quite a state and I had never been happier about it.