Love is Lost | Reloaded

19 - An Endless Night

Naya

The sunlight passed a small crack in my curtains and directly hit my eyelids. Its random brightness was unwelcome, but I found myself opening my eyes to slowly adjust to the morning. As I gathered my bearings, I remembered that I wasn't alone in bed and this was no ordinary morning.

Somewhere during the night, Lucio and I turned to sleep on our sides. One of his arms had snaked over my waist to bring us closer, my backside flush against his front. That same arm ended with his palm right over my heart, caging me in so I couldn't go anywhere. I smiled to myself.

I heard his subdued breathing at my ear, felt his sinewy muscles all around me. Our legs were tangled underneath the blankets. The swath of covers over us and the closeness of our bodies only made it cozier. It was early enough for the sound of softly cooing pigeons to soothe me all the more. It was like a dream come true, one I never wanted to wake up from.

No ordinary morning indeed.

Suddenly, the arm that was around me squeezed and I heard his long intake of breath. With a small groan, he tensed awake, finally relaxing when I guessed his eyes were open.

"Good morning," I chirped, still facing the blinds.

He was silent for a moment, taking in his surroundings since this was no ordinary morning for him too. Then, I felt his lips on my shoulder, planting feather light kisses onto my skin. His hand over my chest lowered until it met the swell of my breast, massaging and lazily pinching my nipple. I sighed out, letting the sparks travel throughout my body.

"Good morning," he responded with a smoky voice that made my nerve endings short circuit more than they have already.

"It was a good morning but now it's a great morning," I murmured. I pushed further back into him, hearing and feeling the chuckle erupt from his chest.

He continued gifting me with his touch, moving his head to the crook of my neck to kiss there too. When he stopped, I could've had the deepest frown on earth if it weren't for him shifting me on my back so he could lean over me. My heart leapt.

The sunlight streamed over his eyes and made them an illustrious blue. His hair was long and wild from sleep, framing his gorgeous face. He was shirtless, obviously, but his ripped body should've held a caution sign for how scarily attractive he was.

What made it more special was his tracing my features, over my eyebrows, down the slope of my nose. At times he would play with my curls with a childlike interest, wrapping them around his fingers and watching them bounce or recoil. I was being admired by the only man in the world I wanted to be admired by, and I felt a pang in my chest.

"Too many times," he voiced, gazing at me. "I've dreamt of having you like this."

Although I smiled a big-toothed smile, it was concealed by the palm of my hand. Amid his studying, I kept my hand over my mouth, just watching him. He probably thought I did so out of fascination to us staring at each other in this way, so he didn't question it before. Now, I watched puzzlement bloom across his face.

"Why are you hiding from me?" Lucio addressed.

I shook my head and stared back at him when I finished. It wasn't until his eyebrows continued wrinkling that I gave him a muffled answer. "I'm sparing you."

"You're sparing me?" He repeated to make sure he heard it right. I nodded. "From what?"

I felt my cheeks redden, coming to terms with saying it. "Morning breath."

My cheeks grew redder from Lucio's laugh, one that I loved to hear but under different circumstances. When he finished, his eyes reflected the happiness he'd just expressed.