Gunner (EDITED/REWRITTEN)

10- Aria (EDITED)

Waking up next to Gunner with him staring at me tickled my belly and my heart skipping a beat. He looks just as good with a morning face as he does later in the day. His good looks, charming smile, caring heart, and how he portrays himself are all qualities that keep drawing me closer to him.

Last night with him was different. We may not have had sex as I hoped, and I may sound like a slut for wishing it would have happened. But what he did to me and how he made me feel was amazing. The orgasm he gave me on the couch was exciting and intense.

No man has ever given me an orgasm the way he did, and the crazy part I cannot get over is he knew just where all my happy points were to satisfy me sexually.

Seriously... what man knows how to do that to a woman?

The safe word he wanted me to come up with is something I will have to get used to. It's nice knowing if I were to say the "word," he'd stop doing whatever he's doing, just like when I had to say it when he was torturing my nipples. And that still confuses me about why he did that.

I didn't like it, but the more I lay here, staring into Gunner's morning eyes while thinking about last night, the more I think I liked it. More than anything, I feel the problem is that it scared me—scared me that I enjoyed it.

Sigh...

His arm extended over me, and then he pulled me closer to him. Then, with his eyes on me and a smile accentuating his gorgeous face, he quietly said, "Good morning, Aria. Did you sleep well?"

I smiled and hummed, "Morning. I did. And you? Did you sleep well?"

"I did. You got me to sleep like a baby."

My brows lowered. "How did I do that?"

He pulled me tighter against him. "Because you allowed me to sleep next to you."

I smiled.

"You can sleep next to me anytime. I enjoyed opening my eyes and seeing you still in my bed."

"That was the best part—waking up beside you." Gunner's hold on me tightened. "I haven't slept this well in ages. And when I opened my eyes and saw you sleeping so beautifully and peacefully, I couldn't stop looking at you. It's been a long time since I woke up to a beautiful woman, and it felt fantastic. So thank you for allowing me to do that.

He sure knows how to say the right things that make me feel good, and it had me smiling in awe. "You're welcome."

"I suppose its time for you to get out of bed and ready for work?"

"I do. Old man Clayborn is looking forward to seeing me today. And if I'm late, he'll call me out on it."

"Oh? What's the occasion?"

"Today is cribbage day. The only day he looks forward to kicking my ass," I giggled.

"I love playing cribbage."

"I do too." But then, it just hit me that he plays cribbage, and my eyes widened. "Wow. I'm surprised you know how to play. It seems that not too many people know how to play cribbage."

His lips curled upward. "I haven't played cribbage in years. It was something my father and I played while we were out on the road or plane, traveling to the next city for a match I was competing in."

He lights up every time he brings up his father, but then I notice a sudden change in his expression or tone after realizing he brought him up. He looks hurt, and he becomes quieter. So because of his actions, it makes me more curious about what happened to his father.