Brothers of Paradise Series

His fingers grip mine tightly as he leads me through the living room. “God, Faye, you’re really testing the limits of my self-discipline.”

“It seems limitless.”

“I thought so too, before you.” He pauses by my bedroom door, hand still in mine, exactly like we’d been the day before. Only this time, he’s the one who tips my head back. “Only to sleep.”

“I promise.”

His gaze travels down across my lips, my chest, my body, until I feel like I might burst from the scrutiny.

“Come on, then,” I say softly, and pull him into my bedroom. He follows, watching me in silence as I fold back the covers and light the bedside lamp.

“Are you going to sleep fully clothed?”

He smiles at that and starts to undo the cuffs of his shirt. “No.”

I walk into the en suite and brush my teeth, ignoring the thunderous beat of my heart. Judging from my reaction to him, you’d think I’d never slept in a bed with a man before-not to mention slept with one. In the mirror, my cheeks are flushed, my eyes excited.

Henry’s kicked off his trousers and is standing by the bed in just his boxers. His shirt hangs unbuttoned, revealing the same powerful chest I’d marveled at earlier today.

I slide into bed and pull the covers up. “You’re just going to stand there?”

He huffs out a breathless laughter. “Ruthless, Faye. As always.”

“You wouldn’t want it any other way.”

He shrugs out of his button-up. “I’ll be right back.”

When he returns from the bathroom, I’ve already turned the light off and snuggled deeper under the covers.

Henry lifts the covers and the mattress dips as he lies down. For a few seconds, we lie side by side, completely quiet.

“Well,” he says finally, “you’re right. The bed is very big.”

“Thanks for confirming it.”

He huffs. “You never stop taking me to task, do you?”

“No,” I say softly, trying and failing to ignore how close he is in the darkness. With his head on the pillow next to mine, our bodies separated by nothing but willpower.

“All right,” he murmurs. “Sleep well then, Faye.”

“You too, Henry.”

Maybe it’s the hours we spent at sea, or all the socializing at Lily’s, but my eyes drift closed of their own accord. The bed is too comfortable for me to resist.

I’m cuddled against something warm when I blink them open again. Henry is settled behind me, the warmth of his body curving around mine. He’s taller than me, but it’s never been as noticeable as now. He’s everywhere.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

He’s also tense, angling away from me.

I peer over my shoulder and try to catch his eyes in the darkness. “Henry? Did I roll over to your side?”

He’s fully awake, judging by the faint sigh. His strong hand on my hip turns me back. “Go back to sleep, Faye,” he whispers.

I catch his hand and thread our fingers together. His skin is warm and dry against mine. I like the feeling of our hands together-I have ever since he first linked them together, days ago. “But you’re awake.”

“Yes.”

I turn my body toward him and feel exactly what he’s been trying to hide.

Heat flushes through me, my skin burning everywhere we touch, from his bare leg beside mine to his chest against my back.

The thick hardness of him against my hip.

“Yes,” he says. “Another point to you.”

I crane my head to meet his gaze. In the darkness, his eyes look black. “It’s a bit hard to hide this one, isn’t it?”

He turns his face into the pillow. “Yes,” he mumbles. “It’ll go away. Ignore it.”

But there’s no way I can ignore this. Heart beating hard in my chest, I turn over on my back and look at him. Our hands are still interlinked, and I rest them on my stomach, directly beneath my heart.

“Won’t that be uncomfortable for you?”

His head turns back to mine. I can’t read his face when he responds, voice gruff. “Yes.”

“Hmm.”

“Say what you want to say, Faye.”

I smooth my thumb over the back of his hand and stare up at the ceiling. His hardness is still a heavy pressure against my hip. “No, it’s just, I’ve always wondered. Not having one myself, you know. I’ve heard that it can be painful sometimes. To not get… release.” God, my mouth is just running. I can’t look at his face for fear of seeing teasing amusement there. It sounds like I’ve never seen one before, when in truth, I’m just nervous because it’s him.

Henry’s exhale is warm against my shoulder. “Sounds like you’ve been thinking about this a lot.”

Damn. “A bit, sure.”

His hand tightens around mine. “You want me to answer your questions.”

It’s a statement, not a question, but I nod nonetheless. In all honesty, I have no idea what I want. I want him, and I don’t want him to move away, and I know we can’t go further than this.

Even if the throbbing hardness of him is making that fact very difficult to remember at the moment.

“What does it actually feel like to be hard?” I ask, and wince inwardly at the silly question. At any moment, he’ll pull the plug on this, angle himself away and cut the intimacy between us.

“Uncomfortable, at the moment,” he says darkly. “Like an itch you need to scratch. But they’re not always the same.”

“Not all erections?”

“No.”