“Anything I want?” Joseph swallowed. In a situation like this, doing nothing didn’t seem remotely conducive to sleep.“Of course. I’m yours—do whatever you like, as long as it makes you happy.”Alice’s voice was honey-sweet. As she spoke, she tightened her arms around him.The restraint Joseph had been clinging to snapped. He bent without thinking and captured her soft, dewy lips with his own.Alice closed her eyes, basking in his tenderness and answering it with her own.Soon, the room was far from quiet.At some point, they drifted into a deep, exhausted sleep, still wrapped in each other’s arms.Joseph didn’t wake particularly early the next morning, but Alice and Mason Alvarez slept even later. When he stirred, Alice was still blissfully out.“It’s getting late. I’m getting up,” he murmured.“Mm, go ahead. I’ll sleep a little longer.”“Joseph… this feels so good.”“Your bed is so warm, so comfortable—I love it.”Her drowsy murmur was pure siren-song. It made Joseph’s composure wob

“You still don’t know how mature I am? I’ve been ripe for ages,” Mason Alvarez said, casting Joseph a languid, smoldering look that left him squirming. She was a siren, pure and simple—who could resist if a woman like that chose to fall into your arms?“Alright, can you just eat your breakfast properly?” Alice finally cut in, exasperated, giving Mason a nudge.They bantered their way through the meal. With Mason’s outrageous mouth, Alice ended up blushing to the roots of her hair more than once.After lunch, once Mason confirmed the appointment with the department, she and Joseph headed for Nova First Hospital. Mason took the passenger seat while Joseph focused on the road.“So, bastard, has that little vixen stolen your soul?” Mason asked, a hint of grievance in her tone as she glanced at him.“What’s that supposed to mean?” Joseph looked like a man on trial for a crime he didn’t understand.“I left my door open for you last night. Why didn’t you come?” she demanded.“Ahem—wasn’t I w

“Then promise me you’ll stay with me tonight—or I’ll start something right now,” Mason Alvarez said, cheeks softly flushed, her gaze roaming Joseph’s chiseled features, brimming with a tenderness on the verge of spilling over. She looked at him not as a man, but as prey within arm’s reach.“Alright. I promise. I’ll stay with you tonight—satisfied?” Joseph said, helpless. There was no winning with this woman—and she certainly had the allure to back her demands.“You said it. I’ll be waiting,” Mason replied, finally settling down.Joseph let out a quiet breath. If his body weren’t so far beyond ordinary, he’d have been a husk by now. For a man, nothing matters more than sound health.After a bit more tugging and teasing, Mason finally behaved and rested. Joseph took the opportunity to nap as well.A little over two hours later, they arrived at the diagnostics unit. With Mason and a few nurses assisting, Joseph went through a full examination before moving on to the strength test.It was

Still, Alice was thin-skinned by nature. Even as she teased, a rosy flush crept across her cheeks. She wasn’t like Mason Alvarez, who could say the most shameless things without so much as a blink.“I can’t wait, no. Easy for you to talk when you’re full.”Mason sighed.“It’s only been two days, and you’re already this ravenous?”Alice kept up the ribbing, though her face burned even hotter.“Can you blame me? When something’s that delicious, you never tire of it.”“Your Joseph is delectable—I could never get my fill. I adore him. I’ll never let him go, not in this lifetime.”Mason spoke as she slid her long legs over Alice’s lap and curled her arms around Alice’s neck.“Old woman, you’re shameless. There’s nothing you won’t say.”Alice clicked her tongue, exasperated.“What’s unsayable about it? You know perfectly well how good he is.”“Could you really walk away from a man like that?”“Men dream their whole lives of being like him. Compared to Joseph, all the ones out there are just

The silken rush of sensation pulled Joseph under; without realizing it, he gave heat for heat. That night, they laid their hearts bare—speaking in touches and replies, letting action carry what words could not.Mason Alvarez felt herself falling deeper and deeper for Joseph. Once, she’d dismissed men as trivial—countless outstanding suitors, and not one worth a second glance. Until Joseph. With this man, whose life seemed bound to hers by a thousand unseen threads, she finally understood what love meant—how loving a man could mean giving him everything.They lingered in that tenderness for a long while, until Mason, spent and trembling, drifted into sleep.In the morning, Joseph rose early. After last night, he took care not to wake Mason. She, for her part, showed no inclination to get up—truly exhausted.“Joseph, where’s that old woman?”He was in the kitchen making breakfast when Alice walked in.“Uh… probably still asleep.”He felt heat creep up his neck at the thought of the nigh