Throw In The Dice

Chapter 2

It was about ten A.M when I woke, bright light streaming through the windows with traffic and New York life bustling outside. I yawned, rubbing my eyes and stretching before I felt something shift. Serena was snuggled peacefully into my chest. I chuckled softly and rubbed her back, watching her sleep in awe at how amazing she was.

Her dark skin contrasted beautifully from our red sheets and her skin radiated warmth. Her braided black hair with blue highlights was slightly tangled like it normally was in the mornings we actually woke up next to each other. She shifted again, resting her arm lightly over my waist, pulling me out of my thoughts. It was one of our semi-rare quiet moments. It was hard to believe this was the same girl who could hack into almost anything in the world.

I reached over and grabbed my phone where I had put it on the nightstand to charge, careful not to wake her. Since we worked on our own schedule, who said I couldn't work from bed? I spent some time setting up meetings with clients, including one to talk about a kidnapping, before I ended up scrolling through my phone. I placed it screen-down when I heard a soft groan from next to me, pulling me out of my thoughts. Serena yawned, rubbing her eyes and settling back into my arms.

"Morning, sleepyhead.", I murmured softly. She grunted softly, peering up at me with her beautiful brown eyes, dark as melted chocolate. "No, you can't stay in bed.", I grinned, rubbing her shoulder.

"Why not? I wanna stay...", she mumbled sleepily as she stretched. I smiled gently, shifting onto my side to face her and resting my head on my arm. She was still drifting in and out of sleep, fluttering in and out of reality and fantasy.

"Maybe for a lunch break, we can sneak back here? If you finish that phone?", I asked, stroking her hair. The braids were rough in my hand as my fingers weaved gently through them. She purred.

"Yes, please.", she murmured as I leaned in to kiss her. She pulled me closer and wrapped an arm around my neck to keep me in place until she was done kissing me as if we had all the time in the world. She was pretty enthusiastic for having just gotten up, but I liked her for that.

We probably would have gone farther if there hadn't been a clearing of a throat. Serena flipped him off, either way. I was the one who pulled away, gently stroking a thumb across her soft lips before looking over my shoulder at Mason.

Mason was well-built, with muscled tanned skin mixed with softly highlighted scar tissue, short, soft dark hair, and brown eyes that had seen so much they could be black as charcoal. He wore a white shirt and camo pants with combat boots. He always looked especially great in camo, which he usually was, given he was ex-military. Mason was our top sniper, had a steady hand, and was overall, fairly handsome.

"Was there something you needed?", I asked, trying not to laugh at Serena's pout because we got interrupted. She huffed, rolling her eyes and flipping herself over. I nuzzled her shoulder for forgiveness.

He nodded, holding up a tray of coffees in one hand and a bag in the other. "I need for you two to stop being cute and get out of bed so we can get started. I have coffee and bagels to speed you up.", he announced.

Serena threw a book laying on the nightstand at him before rolling out of bed and stumbling her way to our walk-in closet like a zombie. I followed her in getting up, swinging my feet over the edge of the bed. I didn't care if Mason saw anything as I undressed. He had never really expressed any sexual or romantic desire towards anyone since I met him and if asked, he would describe himself as asexual and aromantic.

Mason strode over and flopped himself into one of the chairs by the window and set the coffee on the wooden table next to his chair. He grabbed the remote, turning on the TV. He sipped his own coffee and opened the bag, too preoccupied with rustling around for one of the bagels to change the channel. Serena turned her back to him and watched the screen as she undressed. She grabbed the remote before he could, and started surfing the channels. Her arm dropped to her side when she found the next news channel.