His hands go back to his pants, and he pulls them down. I whip around, closing my eyes, but not before I get an eyefulof his perfect cowboy butt in the process. A sight I won't be forgetting anytime soon, even if the humiliation of the last few minutes makes me wish I could.
FOURTEEN
Levi
The next morning,I make her a full breakfast. Toast, eggs, grits, and a bowl of fresh fruit. The drip coffee is nearly ready, and I put the cream and sugar on the table, peeking through the open door to the bedroom to see her stirring. I left it open so I could keep an eye on her, still too nervous about whether or not she’d run to give her any real privacy.
I slept on the couch, not that I ever got much sleep, and she fell asleep on the bed almost as soon as her head hit the pillow after dinner. It's been a long few days for her, and now I have to press her one last time. Hopefully, with a full night’s rest, a shower, and a belly full of food, she'll see reason and be willing to open up a little more.
“Levi?” she calls out. I put slack in her chain last night so she could sleep comfortably, but not enough that she could leave the room.
“Coming!” I call back, making my way inside the small bedroom.
Her red hair is loose around her shoulders, a change from its usual braided or bun-tied state. It makes her look a little wilder and a little less prim to see the way it falls in curls around her neck and down her chest. She tugs the hem of my T-shirt lower around her thighs to keep it from riding up, but it doesn’t change the fact that her long legs are on full display and her nipples shadow through the soft white cotton of my shirt. For a moment, she looks like mine.
“Can you let me out of here? I need to use the restroom.” Her voice is still raspy from sleep, and my mind wanders with thoughts of what might be possible in a different universe.
“Yep.” I clear my throat when I realize I’m still frozen in the doorway and set to work. “Your bra and panties are dry. I brought them in this morning and set them on the sink in the bathroom,” I explain as I undo the locks to free her from the bed.
“Thank you.” Her brow furrows with a question as she inhales the coffee and buttered-toast scent that’s working its way into the bedroom. “Did you make breakfast?”
“Yes. I made us breakfast.”
“It smells amazing.” Her stomach grumbles, and she runs her palm over it in circles.
“Well, the bathroom’s open, so you can get ready. I’ll have it on the table when you’re done. How’s your ankle? You need help getting there.”
“Better this morning. The ice helped. The rest of my body is sore though.”
“Hopefully some rest today helps. No climbing out windows.” I tease her, and she smiles back.
She gives me a small grin and then crosses to the bathroom. I finish up breakfast and get the table ready while I wait for her to come back, pouring myself a cup of coffee and scrolling through my phone for information from Grant and Charlotte. She didn’twaste any time getting to work on the archival materials I brought back.
When Zephyrine emerges from the bathroom, she’s slightly more buttoned-up than before. Her hair is braided again, and she’s less sleepy-looking. I pour her a cup of coffee, adding cream and her requisite three scoops of sugar. Her brow lifts in curiosity, and she has to smother a small smile that threatens at the corner of her mouth. She takes a big gulp as she sits down and lets out a happy sigh.
“Who knew room service in captivity was so bougie?” She grins over the rim of her cup.
“Did you sleep okay?” I ask as I watch her snatch up the buttered toast from her plate and add a dollop of jam.
“Would have slept better if I wasn’t chained to the bed, but otherwise, yes.” She takes a big bite, and her eyes close for half a moment while she chews. I ordered in her favorite sour cherry jam. The same kind she ate every day at the convent.
Every morning, her routine was the same. Except Sundays, when she added an extra helping of eggs and bacon. She told Father Levi it was to help her get through the multiple Masses and tours of the crypts, and she always piled a couple of extra pieces of bacon on my plate for the same reason. Small indulgences she called them.
“Well, maybe if we can come to an agreement, we can do something about that.”
“Maybe.” Her eyelids flutter, and she lets out another soft sigh of appreciation as she chews her food. “This jam is delicious. Almost tastes like the one we have at the abbey. What kind is it?”
I set the jar in front of her, and she looks at me in surprise.
“You remembered that?”
I nod.
“This, the coffee, and the pot pie last night.” She gives me a mock look of suspicion. “If you’re not trying to poison me, then what is this? A last meal?”
“I'm trying to make you see this doesn’t have to be painful if we don’t want it to be.”
“I see. So you’re buying me off with treats then for my cooperation?”
