The Commander Trilogy #1 Shadow and Gold

Chapter Three

When she opened her eyes the sun was already awake. Awake and directly overhead from the window, nearest right of where she lay on the bed. The sun lingered on the horizon, as if it was waiting for the closing clouds. Rolling onto her back, her muscles screamed, howling underneath the sudden pain from her aching bones. Last night, she'd performed moves she didn't even know she was capable of. Specking of last night, she was rolled onto her stomach from her back now, legs shot up into the air, face cuffed in her hands. Her light brown eyes filled with sunshine at the sight of him. Cardin Crow flashed her a glance, as the sun seemed darker along his features. His gental, rose, colored lips, thinned, completely devoid of emotion. ''Sleep well?'' he asked, smooth, innocent, and gental, as he approached the bed. Their faces inches from one another, as she tried to capture a kiss, though he caught onto what she was doing, and slammed away from the bed. Faith frowned, mind concerned, as she pushed herself to her knees. It was quite early and the sun looked to not have been up for very long, the birds and animals were just beginning to sing, joyously. Faith was thrilled to hear their melodies, but to her surprise, things were about to take a twist. And a bad one at that. She crawled over to the end of the bedside, climbed off, and reclaimed her spot on the floor. Standing, she motioned towards him. Her eyes adjusted to the morning sunlight peeking inside, only when she noticed Cardin was holding something, did she turn her head, questioning.

He was holding his hunter's jacket with one finger. The jacket looked neat, and pressed, almost like he hadn't worn it yet, like this was the first time. Faith expected it, before he pushed the jacket into her, slamming the piece of heavy material at her chest, staring down at it, she frowned. ''What the hell?!'' she hissed, her fingertips gliding down the dark shades of the sleeves. The dark colors of it burned into her mind, as below her feet, sat the silver, weapons belt. She wished with desire, to grab the belt and secure it safely around herself, like she always did, but she couldn't help but notice Cardin staring at her, narrowing his expression, his eyes glued to the middle of his own hunter's jacket. Just that look seemed powerful enough, for her mind was already triggering wonderful memories of last night. His handsome features, his sleeping body pressed against her own, the effects of last night, wouldn't stop from playing over and over again in the walls of her mind. Suddenly she watched as Cardin's honey colored eyes disappeared, only to reappear, brighter.

He was closest to the window now, his skin was golden from the rays of the sunlight peeking, which only brought out the sweet, gental, coloring of his eyes, causing them to glow with the otherworldly beauty displayed by his shirtless structure. ''What do you want me to do with this?'' Faith finally asked eyes drawn to the center of the dark, hunter's jacket. He rose his eyebrows at her, then stretched his arms to the air, yawning as if he still needed sleep. ''I was going to ask you, if you'd wear my jacket.'' he yawned. ''I think you'd look hot in it.'' She couldn't stop her cheeks from turning a bright shade of pink, as the warmth of the jacket pressed into her. Without a second thought, she was slipping the jacket on, placing her arms through the sleeves, and doing up the zipper, which caused a small, squeaky sound, from months without oil. Cardin drew himself across the floor, over to her, till they were pressed against one another, wrapping his arms lovingly, around her waist, his voice drew out in fire filled sentences.

''It fits you perfectly, it comes in either light blue or medium blue, and has a cuffed ankle making it extremely flattering! If you desire another more simple color...'' His voice trailed past her, as she took in every inch of his touch. His hands were rough and calloused, but at the same time, was light and opening. Opening the comforting flow of electricity between them. The smell of him this morning was almost to intoxicating. His hands clamped onto her waist, them moved - one going to cup her cheek, the other sliding between them, this, this was the moment when it was just him doing all the work, nothing between them, as he swept her up in his arms. Pressing his face against her own, as he took this opportunity, his tongue scraped the roof of her mouth, as his fingertips dragged down against her skin, where the jacket hadn't been zipped all the way.