The morning sun filtered through the lace curtains like spilled gold, softening the silk sheets tangled around us. I stirred before Adrian a rare occurrence and lay watching the steady rise and fall of his chest.
Sleep softened him. The sharp edges of his jaw relaxed; the weight of our world momentarily lifted. His dark lashes brushed his cheekbones, and I resisted tracing the faint scar beneath his left eye—the one he’d earned in Rome shielding me from a deal gone sideways.
He shifted, slow and deliberate, the way he always did when he sensed my gaze.
“I can feel you staring,” he murmured, voice rough with sleep.
“I’m allowed to stare at what’s mine,” I said, smirking as he cracked one eye open.
“Is that so?” He pressed a kiss to my bare shoulder, then tilted his head up. “Planning t
