Plié (Lost Birds Book 2)

Part 22 Kitten.

The warm refreshing scent of sandalwood and wintergreen wrapped around me and clouded my senses. It was a strange combination. Earthy and sweet but there was an undertone to it. Something metallic and explosive. I inhaled again trying to figure out what the lingering tinge was exactly. It took one more slow breath. I couldn't seem to place it but I knew the combination of scents. Sabbatian.

I turned in the bed to see if I had guessed correctly. Sure enough next to me was a very unconscious Sab. He was stretched out on his back with his arms up by his head. From this particular angle it almost appeared that he was completely naked except for the sheet wrapped around his waist. My heart fluttered in surprise and I wondered if he had forgotten that I was here last night. Maybe he had climbed into the pullout bed half asleep and not even noticed.

I didn't move. I didn't want to wake him and make this even more awkward. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. His usually tense features were all relaxed. Even in a relaxed state I could see the bulky outline of his muscles. They shifted and hardened with each breathe he took.

I'd never seen Sab with his shirt off but now that I had I understood why no one dared mess with him. It was terrifying. All of his stress and frustration was clearly handled in a gym. And, as if he wasn't intimidating enough just being a giant wall of muscle he was covered in tattoos.

On his right arm he had a dark half sleeve. It was mostly black and grey with just a few touches of white. The image was of a beautiful woman standing near a line of trees. She had her hand up and it blocked part of her face just enough to where it would be hard to figure out who she was.

On his left chest he had an image of a rose. It was red and bleeding but even with the gruesome details of blood it was beautiful as well.

My eyes traveled down his stomach to where a huge and very realistic tattoo of a tiger covered him. The picture was so large the edges of the tiger stretched down past his waist and the sheet hid the rest. The tiger was angry. It was snarling and looked ready to attack. I shifted and tugged the sheets down slightly to see if I could see the end of the tattoo. The sheets shifted down and then the entire bed moved.

Sab caught the sheet, grabbed my hands, and pinned them to my chest before I could even realize what had just happened.

"What are you doing princessa?" Sab grumbled. His accent was thick and his voice was groggy with sleep.

"I-" I stuttered out before I could realize what I had been doing. I'd only meant to get a better look at his tattoo but now that I was thinking about it... depending on how far down his tattoo actually went... I would have been looking at a lot more than that.

"I'm sorry." I said quickly.

Sab huffed and shook his head.

"Answer." He demanded.

"I was just... I didn't mean to... I just wanted to see your tiger." I said.

Sab raised an eye brow and scanned my face. The corner of his mouth lifted when he realized I wasn't lying.

"Ty kak kotenok." He grumbled releasing me.

"What?" I asked blinking several times in confusion.

"You are like a kitten..." He laughed shaking his head.

"A kitten?" I repeated.

"Adorable, naïve, and curious. Kotenok." He repeated with a nod.

"If you want to see then look princessa..." He sat up on his knees in the bed and stretched. The movement gave me a full view of his torso. Only a thin pair of black basketball shorts sat just past the dark trail of hair and the deep v in his waist. His thumbs hook in the edge of his shorts and he slid them down and down. I gulped but I couldn't look away. The further down he inched his shorts the more dark hair I could see mixed with the ink of his tattoo. Sabs hands stilled and my eyes snapped up to his. It was the end of the tiger but I still hadn't seen all of his tattoos. There was more of the dark ink on his thigh.