Waking with a man in her bed—waking in a man’s arms—ought to have been claustrophobic and caging. It wasn’t. Instead of panic, Ella felt contentment, joy, relief. Her heart was filled with rainbows today, filled with happiness and freedom.
They’d changed position while they slept. They now lay like spoons nestled in a drawer, her back to his chest. One of Decimus’s arms was around her waist, his fingers entwined with hers.
Hedgepeth had been into the room; the curtains were open. Gentle morning light illuminated the bedchamber.
Ella spent several minutes admiring Decimus’s hand, admiring his fingers, his knuckles, his nails. It was a very masculine hand, strong and capable, and yet beautiful, too. Her favorite hand in all the world.
His mouth was her favorite mouth in all the world, to
