Sea Haven 02 - Spirit Bound

discipline. At all. Not when it comes to you.”
    Stefan took her through the open French doors to her bedroom, bending his head to reach her tempting mouth. She tasted of chocolate and passion, an inviting combination. He acknowledged to himself it might have been a mistake to kiss her. Once he started, he always found it difficult to stop. Kissing her was fast becoming a favorite pastime and it definitely led to other, erotic and pleasurable things, but she really was exhausted and he had work to do.
    With a small sigh, he lifted his head and took her on through to the master bath. “Brush your teeth and I’ll rinse out your chocolate mug.”
    “You don’t have to do that.”
    “You never go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink.”
    She shrugged. “I don’t like to wake up to them.”
    He sent her a small, smug smile over his shoulder as he went to collect the mug. “I know.” He had made it his mission to know everything about her in the short time they were together. He retained information, small details, easily and he filed everything about her away, her likes and dislikes, the things that annoyed her and the things that intrigued her.
    Essentially, Judith was a happy person. She enjoyed life, loved her sisters and her work. She saw in color and to her, everything and everyone was a blank canvas she painted in her head. She took great joy in making kaleidoscopes for people all over the world, choosing each thing that went into them with tremendous care. The scope she had completed for Hannah Drake Harrington, the sheriff’s wife, was a perfect example. Hannah intended to use the kaleidoscope to focus on during her labor, and Judith had made it as easy to see the images as it was to turn the cell during difficult labor.
    Maybe that was her secret: the caring of individuals. He didn’t have that, and maybe he never would, but he could feel the intensity of her spirit and it made him proud of her. He “got” her. He saw her. Even her sisters couldn’t see her the way he did—well, maybe Blythe could. Blythe was different. Not an element, but she had tremendous gifts.
    “Are you coming to bed?”
    Judith sounded drowsy, sexy, and her voice played his body the way her fingers did. He found himself smiling, aroused and happy for no other reason than that she could do that to him. His little miracle. “I’m on my way.”
    She was already in bed, not a stitch on, just the way he liked it, her long hair in a braid, as if it was really going to stay that way. He shucked his jeans and stretched out beside her, gathering her close, curving his body around hers protectively. His hard cock snuggled perfectly between the soft firm globes of her ass. His hands stripped off the tie at the end of the braid to release the thick mass. He smiled at her resigned sigh, cupped the soft weight of her breast in one palm and held her close.
    “Go to sleep, angel. Sweet dreams.” He kissed her bare shoulder and lay quietly, waiting for her even breathing.
    It didn’t take long before she succumbed to her exhaustion. Stefan took another half hour for himself, just enjoying being able to lie so close to her before carefully slipping from the bed as he had each night they’d been together. He was surprised how reluctant he was each time to put on his “shadow skin,” but there was no safe place for them until Ivanov was out of their lives. Sorbacov had no idea of Thomas Vincent, but Ivanov did. He’d tried to draw him out and so had Lev, but either Ivanov was really hurt and lying low, or he was too cunning to be tricked. Stefan suspected the latter.
    He looked down at Judith, her face relaxed, long lashes two thick crescents on her face. He loved that she slept naked for him and never protested when he took the braid from her hair. No matter how often he reached for her, she always met him eagerly. No matter how often he stripped off her clothes, she laughed and complied no matter where they were in the house and once, out on the grounds. Even now, he was tempted to reach between her legs and caress her, knowing she’d be damp and ready for his possession.
    He reached down and took strands of her silky hair between his fingers, his heart in his throat. She took his breath away every time he looked at her. He could hold her forever. It seemed a miracle to him to be able to curl his body around hers, the soft weight of her breast resting in his palm, breathing in the scent of her, of them, combined. Most of the time