Page 60 of The Hitman’s Final Job

Then I start laughing.

I can’t help it. Vaughn lifts his head, quirking an eyebrow in question.

“That’s not usually the post-sex reaction I get,” he says.

“You have nothing to worry about. Your performance is nine out of ten.”

He pushes inside me, stealing my breath. His cock is still a little hard. “What does a guy need to do to get the extra point?”

“Oh, that’s easy—make me come again tonight, and you’ll get your extra point with a cherry on top.”

“What were you laughing at, then?”

I scrunch up my face. This is probably too weird to admit. “Is it weird that I don’t want your come to slip out of me?”

He stares at me for one second, then he reaches around my hip and puts a finger inside me.

“That,” I say, “is also a little gross.”

“Nothing we do is gross.”

We stare at each other with silly grins, then I pull him down and kiss him, slow and thorough.

When we separate, I’m aware of the state of the bed. “These bedsheets are a mess.”

“Good thing I have a spare room,” Vaughn says.

“You want to sleep with me?”

“Don’t you want me to sleep with you?”

“No,” I say. “I mean, yes. I want you to sleep with me.”

He kisses me again. “Then let’s shower, and then we can fight over who gets to be the little spoon.”

“Me,” I say. “Obviously.”

He slaps my ass and gets up, extends his hand, and pulls me to my feet. We walk to the bathroom together, and as the light comes on, I watch us in the mirror. This is the one thing I’ve been avoiding for thirteen years. It’s also the best thing that’s happened to me in thirteen years.

I study Vaughn’s reflection, and he catches my eye and smiles.

Worth it.

Completely, entirely worth every careful, distant year.

NINETEEN

VAUGHN

I wake up slowly, with dawning awareness I’m not in my own bed. The sunlight comes from a different angle, but that’s not it; it’s the warm body against mine that gives it away. It’s the arm around my chest and the warm, heavy breathing on my neck.

Silas’s head is in the crook of my neck. I can feel his heartbeat where his chest presses against my side. I can feel every point of contact between us.

When was the last time I woke up like this, with someone wrapped around me after a night of laughing, making out, and more orgasms than I can count? Not for at least a decade.

I’m going to enjoy every moment of this, and I’m going to be thinking about last night for a very long time.

I turn my head slightly to see Silas. The line of his jaw, the dark lashes against his cheek, the short beard he keeps well-trimmed, the messed-up waves on top of his head. He looks almost younger like this.