Chapter 40: Life At Rafe's

When I wake, I'm surrounded by the most exquisite smell.

I roll over, still drowsy, wanting nothing more than to bury my nose in that comforting scent. My face is pressed against the softest pillows I've ever felt in my life, and when I inhale deeply, I recognize what smells so good and comforting.

It smells like Rafe. The whole bed does. The cloud-like pillows, the silky sheets, all of it. It's like his scent is caught between all the tightly knit fibers.

This is his bed, I realize with a start. Not a guest bed, like I was expecting. His actual bed, the one where he sleeps every night.

I roll over again, wanting to sink into the smell of him, and my back brushes against something warm and solid. I stiffen.

Now that I'm more fully awake, I hear it - the soft rise and fall of another person's breathing. I don't have to turn over to know who it is. Rafe is in bed with me, and by the sound of it, still asleep. When did he climb in next to me?

I glance at the clock on the nightstand.