Spellbound

Original Edition: Thirty-Nine

When I woke up the next morning, I could feel the warm sun shining on my bare shoulders, and I smiled before I even opened my eyes, remembering the night before and how Soren had made me feel. No one had ever worshiped my body like he had. And no one had ever made me want to return that adoration tenfold.

I stretched my arm to the other side of the bed where Soren slept and felt butterflies beat their wings against my belly when my palm landed on his chest. He'd stayed in bed with me. I'd not even asked him to, never mentioned how important it was that I not be alone after sharing such an intimate moment.

Something Archer had never seemed to care about, and he knew. I'd asked him not to leave me. And he had. Every time.

But not Soren. Not this perfect, precious creature that lay next to me now.

Rolling over on my side to face him, my eyes traced every detail of his face—the slope of his nose, his dark, arched eyebrows, smooth olive skin, and his long, black lashes barely grazing the skin under his eyes.

He was truly the most beautiful man I'd ever encountered, and although he was genetically identical to Archer apart from their eyes, his beauty was on another level. It radiated straight from his heart and soul, and that made him perfect. There was no comparison when it came to him.

I brushed a stubborn piece of hair from his forehead, and he stirred awake. His eyelids fluttered open, his icy blue gaze piercing me to the core.

"Good morning, Soren," I whispered, leaning forward and planting a kiss under his ear.

He stretched his arms above his head and groaned with a wide smile on his face. Looking down at me, he said, "Good morning, Gemma. I can't remember the last time I slept that well."

I snuggled in the crook of his arm and tangled my legs with his. "Me either. Thank you for staying in bed with me. I assume that," I glanced at his alarm clock, "11:27 A.M. probably isn't your usual wake-up hour."

"No," he said, his voice cloaked with a sexy morning rasp. "But I'm normally not completely exhausted when I go to bed either. But I really enjoyed the activities that put me in such a state."

"Me too."

"Would you like me to make you breakfast?"

I sat up and nodded eagerly. "Yes. But...isn't Archer here? I really don't want to put up with that after such an amazing night."

Soren ran his fingers up the bumps of my spine. "He lives here. Are you planning to hide in my room until you're sure he's gone?"

I ran my fingers through his hair and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Is that an option? Because I wouldn't mind hanging out here with you indefinitely. It's not like I'll have anywhere else to be in a week or so."

"The only problem is that your brother will notice you're missing and say something to your parents, and your evil cousin will be more than happy to turn this hotel upside down looking for you and then claim it a total loss. Do you see where I'm going with this?" He turned his head and kissed me. "Up with you, Gemma. You can't hide your life away in here with me, I won't allow it."

Soren stood, swept me into his arms, and tossed me over his shoulder. He carried me into the bathroom where there was a modern stone tiled shower. Setting me on the bench that could easily accommodate both of us, he turned on the shower. The water flowed down from a large square showerhead hanging from the ceiling and slowly fogged the glass door. He took the handheld head from the wall and drenched every firm inch of his body.

"I'm happy to clean your back if you like," he said with a cheeky smile.

I pulled my hair out of the poor excuse for a bun that sat on top of my head and let the strands fall around my shoulders. "What about my front?" I asked, biting my lip to keep a straight face.